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“Oh no... you wouldn’t...” Jackie moaned. “Mom would kill you.”
“Mom would never know.” She gave Jackie a look, raising her eyebrow, although she couldn’t quite shake the guilty feeling either. Jackie was right, their mother would so not approve of Maria thinking about doing something kinky. But what mom didn’t know couldn’t hurt her. She seriously doubted Jackie had ever discussed her husband’s foot fetish with their mother. “He’s really hot. And nice and seriously sexy. It’s a good combination. Plus, I’m not exactly thinking serious relationship or marriage... I just need something uncomplicated and fun for a bit.”
“I don’t know why you’re not thinking marriage,” her sister muttered, giving her a dire look.
She shrugged. “Because thinking marriage has never gotten me anywhere.”
“Oh Maria...” Jackie’s voice trailed off, suddenly sympathetic and a bit worried.
“Oh no you don’t,” Maria pointed her finger right at Jackie’s face. “I am perfectly happy like this. I haven’t given up on love and marriage and babies and all that jazz, but it’s not like I’ve met anyone recently who I’d want to get serious with. And I have met someone who’s hot and seems nice, and if I learn a little something from it then that’s not a bad thing, right?”
The look Jackie gave her was unconvinced but resigned. “I guess.”
“Good.” The pedicurists put the finishing touches on both of them, smiling and shooing them over to the table where they could let the polish dry under UV lights. Wiggling her toes, Maria grinned. “Now let’s go let our feet bake and talk about where we’re going to go for lunch.”
They ended up going to a hole in the wall restaurant a couple of storefronts down, since they felt lazy and didn’t want to drive anywhere. The food was surprisingly good. Maria was enjoying her day off and spending some time with her sister. Especially since Jackie seemed to have gotten the message about not bothering her about her romances. Maria still bet there was a pretty good chance Jackie was going to contact her within the next week about some friend of Daniel’s Maria just “had” to meet. But she could live with that.
In the meantime, she was so not going to let Rick get away just because he was a little shy about whatever it was he liked to do in the bedroom. Right now, Maria was feeling up for a little exploration. She just had to figure out how to approach him again, without scaring him off. Maybe even just showing him that he hadn’t managed to scare her off would do the trick.
Since he wasn’t expecting anyone, when he heard his doorbell ring, Rick checked the peephole. Immediately, he recognized Maria, nibbling her lower lip as she waited outside his door. He nearly groaned.
It had been almost a week since he’d last seen her and made a complete fool out of himself. A period of time during which he’d been heavily distracted by working a job for Adam, trying to figure out what to do about Jared and Marissa and whether or not he could tell someone else without breaking Jared’s trust, and mentally prepping himself for the next time he ran into Maria. Of course, he’d thought their next meeting would be a chance run-in, he hadn’t actually expected her to come to him.
Why had she?
And why did he find that so appealing? As a dominant male, he usually wanted to be the hunter and didn’t like being chased but seeing her outside his door made his entire body come alive in anticipation.
Taking a deep breath, Rick opened the door, trying to keep his expression open without showing his pleasure at seeing her. This was exponentially harder when her face brightened the moment she saw him. He couldn’t help but wonder why she was so pleased to see him after the way he’d treated her... had she liked being pushed up against the wall? Had she been excited when he’d trapped her? Considering she’d shown up at his door again, without an invitation, she wasn’t exactly acting like a submissive but maybe...
Cut it out.
“Maria, good morning,” he said, determined to keep things neighborly and civil between them without anything more. “What can I do for you?”
Almost as if she was ignoring his demeanor, she smiled brightly at him. Her curls were pulled back into a fat, bouncy pony tail of curls and she was wearing a knee-length fluttering blue skirt and a white tank top with matching blue edging showing off a generous amount of cleavage. There was no doubt she knew what looked good on her and used it to her advantage. Rick would be quite happy to fall into her cleavage and snuggle in like a bear hibernating in winter.
“I was hoping maybe you’d have time to invite me in for that drink,” she said cheerfully, giving him a look bordering on flirtatious but wasn’t quite. Almost as if she was inviting him to flirt with her but wasn’t trying to push the envelope.
Rick was surprised at how much he wanted to do so, to get to know a little bit more about her and what made her tick. To test the waters, so to speak. Hell, they didn’t even really know each other. Ineffable attraction, that’s what it was.
Animal attraction maybe.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” he said, determined to stick to his guns. Having her come into his personal space was a terrible idea. Every little step he took toward getting to know her better, toward bringing her into his life, would probably just make him want to take more. She was a dark-haired temptress, offering inducements without knowing what the consequences might be for herself.
“Come on, it’ll be fun.”
Maria just slipped past him, before he could react, too surprised by her brashness to stop her. Dammit, he was tired if he couldn’t even keep one woman from getting through his doorway. Possibly stress induced fatigue from everything he’d had going round his head since the last time he saw her.
“Maria,” he growled, turning and holding the door open wider to indicate that she should get her gorgeous ass back outside, but she cut him off with another encouraging smile.
“Come on Rick, I promise I won’t bite. Unless that’s what you like...” She fluttered her eyelashes at him flirtatiously, but the look she gave him was more inquisitive than anything else. He had to stifle the urge to laugh, forcing himself to keep his expression serious and unwelcoming. “I have to admit, you made me very curious.”
Ignoring the open door, Maria stepped closer to him, tilting her head back to look at him with those beautifully dark eyes. Her voice was becoming breathy, filled with intrigue. Great, apparently, he’d woken up a curious little kitty who wanted to come out and play. “Exactly what is it you want to do to me? I’m willing to be... very open-minded.”
Rick narrowed his eyes at her, wishing his body wasn’t so very keen to take her up on her offer. While he might not be overly dominant outside of the bedroom, unlike some of his friends, he definitely should not have found her blatant come on so damned appealing. What was it about her? Or maybe it was just the way she was challenging him, as if begging for a punishment. He’d always had a soft spot for submissives who were teases.
But she wasn’t a bratty submissive and he needed to remember that.
“I think it’s best if you go,” he said. “I’m not looking for open-minded, I’m looking for someone who wants the same things I do.”
