Chapter Two Maya #2
How did he smell so good this early? The longer he was next to me, the more of his cologne I inhaled.
A scent that was spicy, but not in a hot sauce kind of way.
This was as if several different kinds of woods came together and blended with exotic teas, creating an aroma that was seductive and rich and confident—like him.
“I grew up in the city,” he said. “Not in this section of town, but not far. I have a brother who’s two years older. I’m thirty-three. Never been married, don’t have kids.”
“I assumed, you know, since you don’t date.” I gave him another smile.
“Maya, you’re learning fast.”
“I listen.”
“I like that. Attention isn’t something that can be taught. It’s something you’re born with.”
“Are you a listener?”
“No. In fact, my lack of listening is the reason I’m such a good driver, like the woman we just witnessed. Similar to her, I ignore all traffic signals and pedestrians and take on the road like it’s all mine. I only drive Porsche, by the way.” He winked.
“A lead foot like a NASCAR driver with a mouth like a litigator. Check and check.”
“Litigators are too clean. I like to fight dirty.”
I could tell.
So could that throbbing spot between my legs.
“Is that where the muscles come from? Twelve rounds of dirty fighting in the boxing ring?”
“Are you telling me you appreciate my body?”
We turned at the next street, our gait picking up a little, but the quickness in my stride wasn’t why my face was turning red. “It was noticed. Like you noticed mine.”
“I did far more than just notice, Maya . . .” His voice drifted off. “Let’s say the running helps my stamina. The gym gives me strength. And I’ve been known to hit the bag on occasion.”
My brain circled right back to the conversation I’d had with Em.
The kind of guy who has the power to pick you up and throw you against a wall.
Ravaging every inch of you and fucking every ounce of breath out of your body.
That was Jordan. There was no question in my mind.
“You must have a lot of time on your hands to get in at least two workouts a day,” I said.
“When you want something, you make the time.”
“Not to keep harping on the dating thing, but time must not be a factor, or you would have fit a woman into your schedule.”
“I’m fitting you in right now.” His arm brushed across mine as we stayed in line with each other. “Aren’t I?”
“This isn’t a date,” I reiterated.
“But I’m answering your question. Time isn’t the problem. Although it’s precious, in a sense, because I don’t have a lot of it. Women are the reason I don’t date. I haven’t found one who’s worthy of my time.”
“Yet you spend an hour each day staring at my ass.”
He laughed.
A sound that was deep.
Guttural.
Sinful.
“I spend that time getting in five miles of cardio. Your ass—and let me tell you, it’s fucking perfect—is motivation to not stop after four.”
“My ass contributes to your stamina.” I laughed. “Now that’s one I’ve never heard before.”
“But have you experienced a man who dominates in that arena?”
We reached another crosswalk, and I jogged in place while waiting for the car to pass. “Have I experienced . . . stamina?”
He stood in front of me. Completely still. His eyes doing all the moving despite being locked with mine. They didn’t have to lower because I could feel them inside me. “You don’t have to reply. I already know you haven’t.”
When I drew in a breath, my chest became tight, the rest of my body like Jell-O. “You don’t know anything about me, Jordan.”
“When a woman has had the best sex of her life, you can see it on her face. It’s like looking at a sentence that has either a period or a question mark—the punctuation defines the result.
” His eyes gradually dropped. To my waist. Thighs.
Calves. And slowly back up, stalling at my stomach, my chest, and finally my face.
“When I look at you, I know exactly what I’m seeing. ”
I felt naked.
I felt like there was a spotlight shining over me.
I felt more vulnerable than I ever had in my life.
But what I also felt was turned on. In a way where my skin was flickering like the end of a match.
“What else do you see when you look at me?” I stopped while I waited for his response, realizing I hadn’t denied his statement.
The sex I’d had in the past didn’t deserve best in its description. It didn’t deserve an exclamation point as its punctuation. It didn’t deserve praise either.
He took a step closer. He wasn’t in my personal space, but he wasn’t far from the border.
“A woman who’s painfully stunning and completely unaware.
You don’t use your beauty, Maya. Not like most women.
You don’t wear all white to attract my eyes—you wear it because it’s comfortable.
Because you like the color. Because it makes you feel good when you’re working out. ”
“This is fascinating.” And accurate. “Please, keep going.”
“So if you’re not using your body or your looks, you’re using your heart.
You take the soft, delicate approach.” His eyes narrowed as he stared at me.
“When it comes to men, you find their weakness and try to fix what’s broken, don’t you?
And when they’re healed—if you can even call it that—you hope they’ll be what you pictured in your mind.
” He smiled. “But they never are . . . are they?”
I was stunned, whispering, “I’m an RN.”
His head tilted back, and he laughed. “And I’m a fucking genius.”
I held my chest, waiting for it to unlock. “All right, genius. Explain why I’m talking to you right now. Because you don’t seem like someone who needs fixing. At least not in the way I’m used to.”
He smiled, and goodness, it was beautiful. “A man who spends over four miles a day staring at your ass, fantasizing about all the ways he wants to get you off, isn’t someone who needs to be mended. What I am is someone who wants to make you fucking scream.”
A shiver ran through me as he turned silent. One that came with goose bumps.
“The men you’ve been with wouldn’t know how to fuck you even if you gave them step-by-step instructions.
Me? I’d have you coming within seconds. The difference between those guys and this”—he tapped his chest—“that’s what entices you.
It’s what gets you out of bed when your alarm goes off instead of hitting snooze.
” He lifted both arms and clasped his hands behind his neck.
“If I’m wrong, I’ll run back to where I came from, and you’ll never see me again. ”
“And if you’re right?”
“Tell me, Maya. Am I right?”
He was.
But was I comfortable saying that?
I’d never been with a man like Jordan. Someone who held nothing back, who praised my body before even touching it, who was more focused on pleasure than dating, and whose self-assurance radiated off him.
I gripped my hips, feeling the tightness of the fabric, how it hugged me in a way that left little to the imagination, and I wondered if I should start wearing looser clothes.
“I’ll let you think about it.” He caressed the side of my cheek. He didn’t cup it. He just gave my skin a single swipe with the backside of his fingers, causing a wave of sparks to jolt through me.
His touch lasted only a second before he jogged off.
I couldn’t believe I was staring at his back, that I was frozen and breathless.
And shockingly wet.