5. Katie
Chapter five
Katie
I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d ruined the mood with Maverick on Sunday night. One minute, we were talking. And the next thing I knew, I was grinding in his lap shamelessly, with his hand up my shirt.
At first, it had been intimidating to sit there and feel… everything . The ridge of his cock growing harder beneath me with every passing second and the rumbling groan in his chest when I pressed up against his erection at just the right angle. Even though we were both fully clothed, the sexual tension had been so utterly intoxicating that I could barely breathe.
I pinched the bridge of my nose to focus.
Dozens of orders had piled up in my shop over the weekend. I hoped if I stayed busy with all the packing I needed to do, I could distract myself from Maverick.
But my thoughts kept straying back to him anyway.
Why did I have to blurt out my insecurities at the worst possible moment and make everything awkward? Just because it was true didn’t mean I had to bring it up right then.
For years, my curves had been a target. I wished I could forget the disparaging nicknames that had eroded my confidence so badly throughout high school and college—Katie the Whale, Miss Porky Pig, Butterball McMann.
I wished I could allow myself to fully soak up Maverick’s hey gorgeous instead.
Those wounds wouldn’t vanish overnight though. Even with someone as sexy as Maverick telling me everything I wanted to hear. He treated me like a goddess, touched me like a man starved and he couldn’t get enough. I just couldn’t make myself actually believe it yet.
From somewhere beneath the mountain of packing supplies on my kitchen table, I heard my phone ring. Digging around, I found my phone and glanced at the screen—Maverick. I blew out a breath to brace myself and answered it.
“Hi.”
“Hey, sweetheart. How do you feel about playing hooky?”
“What do you mean?” I replied.
“Since it’s Monday, I assume you’re working a nine-to-five gig that keeps you chained to a desk. God knows I’d go stir crazy in that lifestyle. So, I thought I’d take you away from it for the afternoon.”
“Actually, I run my own small business from my apartment. I do have a desk, but I’m not chained to it.”
Maverick hummed with a deliciously sinful rumble that never failed to make an empty ache bloom between my thighs.
“Wait. Don’t tell me. Let me guess. You’re a cam girl.”
I snorted a laugh of disbelief.
“Absolutely not.”
“Then you’re selling feet pics. I’m sure of it.”
“Maverick! No, not even close.”
I sank into a nearby chair, smiling like an idiot. I shouldn’t be hanging on his every word like this. Getting attached would mean heartbreak. Maverick had clearly stated right from the start that he wasn’t sticking around. Our arrangement wasn’t long term. So it wouldn’t lead to anything serious. Just because I aroused him, didn’t mean he loved me.
“Then I guess I’ll find out what line of work you’re in when I swing by to pick you up and take you away for the day,” Maverick said.
I surveyed the kitchen with dismay. Tea party kits were stacked on chairs, piled up on the counter. Boxes towered near the door, ready to be shipped out. I couldn’t really afford to take the day off.
On the other hand, Maverick said he wouldn’t be in town for long. Maybe I should seize the opportunity before it slipped through my fingers…
“My place is a mess actually,” I hedged.
“You’re talking to a biker, babe. I’ve slept in some pretty sketchy motels in my time. My favorite dive bar on Route 66 would make your skin crawl. Your mess won’t bother me.”
I still spent the next fifteen minutes frantically cleaning my apartment in a rush before the rumble of a motorcycle engine emanated from the street, signaling Maverick’s arrival. I hurried out to meet him.
“Where are we off to?” I asked.
“Not so fast, dove. I want to see this top secret business you’re operating from your apartment.”
I poked a finger in his chest, pushing him back.
“You can’t expect a girl to spill all her secrets right away.”
Maverick’s eyebrows shot up with a laugh of surprise.
“Oh, little kitten is learning how to play coy. I could pry it out of you if I really wanted to.”
He crowded closer, towering over me with his broad shoulders and smoldering dark eyes. My heart leaped into my throat.
I was proud of my shop and how much it had grown over the years, but the prospect of telling Maverick about it made me feel silly for some reason. Maybe because he was older than me, more experienced in everything life had to offer. Talking about tea parties only highlighted how much younger I was compared to him.
“You wouldn’t force a lady to do anything she didn’t want to,” I retorted, lifting my chin with more bravado than I felt. “You don’t taste or touch without permission. That’s what you told me when we first met.”
He smirked with a gleam in his eye that I was beginning to recognize meant nothing but trouble.
“And clearly you haven’t stopped thinking about it ever since. Was it the tasting part that’s been taking up so much space in your pretty head? Or was it the touching part?”
I faltered and my face grew hot. Glancing away, I skirted around him and backed up toward his bike. I scooped the helmet off his handlebar.
“Do you ever get your mind out of the gutter?”
Maverick chuckled and shook his head.
“Not when you’re around.”
My mouth went dry and I suddenly became all thumbs as I fumbled with the buckle of my helmet. Maverick brushed my hands aside and clipped the straps together neatly. He grazed his knuckles along my jawline with a wink. I cleared my throat.
“What—um—what about you?” I asked, desperate to change the subject so I could think straight for two seconds. “What do you do for a living?”
“I thought we weren’t spilling secrets,” he protested.
“ I’m the one who’s not spilling secrets. You can say whatever you want.”
Maverick tugged on the strap of my helmet with an amused hum.
“Is that so?”
“I meant within reason,” I quickly amended.
He grunted, studying me for so long that I shifted in place under his gaze.
“Hustling. Poker and pool mostly. Every once in a while, I’ll take an odd job if I’m sticking around one place long enough to pick up a paycheck.”
“I’ve never played poker. Or pool.”
“I could teach you,” Maverick suggested. “Starting with strip poker.”
And I was blushing. Again. I sputtered a laugh, pushing at his chest.
“You never let up, do you?”
“Wouldn’t matter what cards you played,” he continued. “As soon as your clothes started coming off, I’d be waving the white flag of surrender. I fold. You win.”
“I don’t think that’s how the game works,” I replied.
He flashed that devastating smile and my stomach swooped. Damn it, he looked so good, it wasn’t fair.
“Ditch the rules, dove. Use what you’ve got to your advantage.”
Maverick smoothed his hands down my back, cupping my ass. I gasped at the possessive grip of his fingertips digging into my flesh, and the searing warmth of his body heat, palpable through my jeans.
As tempted as I was to take up his offer, I knew I would never have the guts to go through it. I’d balked at making out in a dark movie theater, simply because I worried what Maverick would think about seeing my body. Playing strip poker was absolutely off the table.
“We should—um—probably get going,” I pointed out.
Maverick traced his tongue over his lower lip, panning his gaze slowly over me. I still didn’t know what to do with myself when he looked at me like that—as if he was seconds away from devouring me.
“No strip poker then?”
“Only in your dreams.”
He huffed with amusement and pinched my chin lightly.
“That mouth of yours is getting a little sassy. It’s cute.”
I grinned, settling into my seat behind Maverick.
We rode for over an hour, with the wind tugging at our clothes and the hot summer sun beating down on us. I didn’t know where we were going, but I didn’t care as the landscape flew by us in a dizzying blur of blue and green.
Misty Mountain grew smaller and smaller behind us, until the little town faded from view entirely. Maverick slowed to a leisurely pace, covering my interlaced hands with his palm. I rested my cheek against his back, leaning with him into every dip and curve of the road.
I wouldn’t be uprooting my life to get a bike of my own anytime soon, but I could see why Maverick loved this. The freedom of it. Following the road wherever it would take him.
Just as my stomach began to grumble for lunch, we reached the outskirts of Pleasant View, Colorado. I still recognized a few of the places I used to visit during my college days—my favorite noodle shop, the park that had nearly doubled in size, and the antique store where I spent my Friday afternoons picking up supplies for The Enchanted Teapot.
Even though Pleasant View still had the modest population of a small town, it was twice the size of Misty Mountain, and it seemed to be growing.
Maverick steered toward a pizzeria, with the delicious yeasty smell of dough lingering in the air. My mouth watered at the thought of grabbing a bite to eat.
Then he sailed past it, and turned into the parking lot of a sleek black and silver boutique, with a sign in looping silver letters that read Noir Delights. A window display showed a dozen sets of lingerie in a range of colors.
My hunger pangs turned into a knot of dread.
After I graduated college, I visited Bristol in New York for the weekend to celebrate our newfound freedom and the promise of our future to come. We spent hours visiting one shop after another and seeing the sights in Manhattan.
When we stumbled into Victoria’s Secret, I was entranced by the silks, satins, and lace. Every article of clothing was breathtakingly beautiful.
It didn’t take long before I found out they didn’t sell plus sizes though. Nothing would fit me. The more I searched the racks of clothes with no luck, the more it stung.
I wasn’t looking forward to repeating the experience. Definitely not with Maverick in tow.
“Is this what we came here for?” I asked. “Or did you get distracted?”
Maverick popped the kickstand of his bike down and removed his helmet.
“It’s hard to hate your body when it’s wrapped in lace and silk, dove.”
My heart sank. I wish he had told me where we were going before we left Misty Mountain. I could have saved him the trouble of that long drive.
“I’m on friendly terms with the owner,” Maverick replied. “I called ahead, so she’s expecting you. Buy whatever you want. My treat.”
Before I could protest, the door of the boutique opened and a woman emerged. She was stunning, with waist-length raven-black hair tipped in twilight purple, and warm brown eyes rimmed in dark kohl.
“Hey, Maverick,” she said, greeting him with a kiss to the cheek. “Good to see you again. Dad sends his regards. You’re welcome to stop by the clubhouse for a drink before you leave.”
A coil of slippery-green envy slithered through my ribcage. I had no claim on Maverick, no right to feel jealous. We weren’t together. He was helping me, teaching me how to flirt, to date, to prepare me for the moment when I met someone I could be serious about.
Someone who wasn’t Maverick.
“If I do that," Maverick countered. "I’ll be stuck for an hour, listening to your old man try to rope me into joining his club."
“He won’t stop until you say yes.”
“I can be a stubborn old dog, too,” he countered. Then he turned and gestured to me. “Lila, this is Katie. I told you about her on the phone. She could use your expertise picking out something that will give her a confidence boost."
Lila’s gaze flicked away from Maverick and settled on me. I fiddled with the hem of my t-shirt under her scrutiny. She was so stylish, with ripped jeans, black high heeled boots, and a dark purple crop top. I felt frumpy in comparison.
Then she smiled and hooked her arm through mine, leading me into the boutique.
“Maverick wasn’t kidding when he said you have curves for days. I selected a few things already. Why don’t you try them on and see how they fit?”
“You don’t even know what size I wear yet,” I replied. “What if you don’t carry it?”
Lila shrugged. “Then I’ll put in an order for more. When you grow up on Southern home cooking like I did, your hips become padded by one too many of Grandma's fluffy biscuits, and it's a pain in the ass to find cute panties that don't come in fucking beige. So, I started this shop with every body type in mind. If we don’t have it, that’s because we’re out of stock.
Besides, I quizzed Maverick over the phone and he described you perfectly, so I have a pretty good idea what size range you’re working with. He wouldn’t shut up about you by the way. My God, that man is obsessed .”
She scooped up a pile of lingerie from the front desk as we made our way to the dressing rooms. Curiosity fizzed on the tip of my tongue, dying to ask what he’d said about me. I glanced back over my shoulder to see Maverick approach the nearby seating area and settle into a chair, flipping through a magazine.
“You’re just saying that…” I hedged.
Lila shook her head.
“Trust me, I mean every word. I’ve seen men traipse through here who don’t give a shit about their ladies. The prettiest, most ethereal looking women you’ve ever laid eyes on…and their boyfriends and husbands can’t even bother to say, you’re beautiful, honey. Maverick, on the other hand, practically turned into the world’s greatest—and horniest—poet when he was talking about you.”
“Oh,” I said, speechless and flattered. “Were you two ever…?”
Lila raised her eyebrows.
“Involved? Sadly, no. Believe me, I’ve considered it. But my father founded the local motorcycle club. I’ve been steeped in biker testosterone for my entire life. They’re a pack of wild animals and I don’t need that kind of drama. Nomads like Maverick are the worst. I swear, they’re jacked up on some pheromone that makes you go ape shit. Right after giving you the hottest night of your life, they skip town. Then you’re left with a broken heart and eternal sexual frustration.”
She sighed and flicked a lock of silky dark hair over her shoulder, shaking her head.
“Anyway, I have to stop yapping so you can get down to business. Let me know if you need anything else.”
After Lila was gone, I sorted through the lingerie she’d selected for me. As I held it up to my body and checked the mirror, I met my gaze in the reflection.
For the first time in my life, I found a man that I might like to fall in love with someday. But he had his sights set on the horizon instead of a home, fueled by the wanderlust in his blood.