A Major Seduction (11 page)

“Really? You’re not just saying this to make me feel
better?”

“I’m talking. Just listen.”

“Yes, sir.” She gave him a one-finger salute, and he had to
grin.

“Look. You were fifteen. I was twenty-two and lusting after
my little sister’s best friend. It was creepy. So I forced myself to stop
seeing you like a real woman. You became this little girl in my mind. It was
safer that way. I didn’t want to go to jail.”

“Well, at least that’s something.”

“I’m not done. Shut it, Thompson.”

“Asshole.” She pouted, but she was listening.

“Then I went away for a few years. I come back to find you
all grown up and smokin’ hot. I’m sitting at my parents’ table for dinner and
getting a hard-on for little Maria Thompson. Except you’re not so little
anymore. You’re funny and cute and smart and a billion other things that make
you someone I should avoid.”

“But why?”

“Because if I screw up, I mess up you and my entire
family—who love you like crazy.”

She sniffed. “
They
have good taste.”

“I do too.”

She just stared at him, suspicious.

He sighed. “I tried to keep away. God knows I did, but you
got to me. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Even after we had killer sex, I
just wanted to
be
with you half the
time. And, yeah, you cheat at mini golf. I caught you and still let you win.
What’s that if not love?”

“Quit playing with me.” Her eyes pooled again, and he spoke
quickly to hold off another spate of tears.

“I’m not kidding. You scared the hell out of me because I
was falling for you. Hell, I kissed you in front of my parents. I nearly beat
Brad to a pulp when I thought he was making a move. You’re mine.”

“Then why did you treat me like shit? Why avoid me last
week?”

“Because I love you.” His heart raced. He’d said the words.

“Yeah, right.”

He scowled. “I’m not kidding. I wanted us to be together. A
couple, just you and me. And then you scared me with the
love
bomb. I’m not ready for marriage.”

She snorted. “Neither am I yet, genius. I’m not sure where
my life is going. Unlike you, I’m only twenty-four, Methuselah.”

“Thirty-one isn’t that old.” He felt nothing but love and
relief that he’d misread her.

“It’s older than me.” She smirked at him.

“See, that’s part of why I love you. You don’t take my
shit.”

“So what? That just means I’m not a pushover.”

“Baby, I hate to break it to you, but most women do whatever
I want to keep me around.”

“You and your ego.”

He grinned. “You don’t treat me like the handsome stud we
both know I am.” She muttered something uncomplimentary under her breath that
he ignored. “I have a problem with commitment. There. I said it. It scares the
shit out of me.”

“But why? Your parents are so happy together.”

The twenty-million-dollar question. How best to put it into
words?

While Maria waited for Mike to answer her, she tried not to
accept the hope burgeoning in her breast. Mike had driven over three hundred
miles to see her. And him spouting stuff like he loved her, had noticed her at
fifteen?
She discreetly pinched herself.
Nope. Definitely awake.

She hadn’t let herself expect anything when she’d come to
her aunt’s to lick her wounds. Her mother had told her to give Mike time, but
honestly, did everyone expect her to put her life on hold because some numbnuts
couldn’t handle her loving him? But she couldn’t bring herself to talk badly
about him, though her aunt had cautioned her not to hope for too much from a
Marine disabled with a Y chromosome.

“Shit,” Mike swore. “I’m afraid. Okay?”

He looked more than nervous, and that lack of confidence was
something she’d never, ever seen on his face.

“Why?”

“Mom and Dad are so happy and in love. But I only know a few
other couples who’ve made it. All my friends are divorced or unhappily married.
And Brad, who seemed to have everything with Dana, had a really rough time when
she fucked him over. I figured I’d date, maybe find someone. But nobody ever
came close to freaking me out like you did.”

“Thanks. I think.”

He stood and started pacing, and she could only watch.

“I started falling hard for you. I went against my common
sense and made love to you. And it was better than anything I’ve ever felt. You
really rock my world.”

She gave him a half smile.

“But it’s more than that. I love being around you. I want to
be around you all the time. That scares me too. You mean so much that when
you’re not there, I’m alone. You matter to me. I can’t afford to fail with
you.” He clenched his fists. “I’m pretty much good at everything, Maria. But
I’m not good at relationships. If I fuck us up, I’ll never forgive myself.”

“But you already did that.”

“Yeah, and I’m losing sleep over it. I guess I figured if I
stopped us now, before we got really tight, I wouldn’t suffer later, when I do
or say something to piss you off and you leave.”

“Mike, you already piss me off. That’s not why I left.” She
stared at him. “Didn’t you and your exes ever argue?”

“No.”

“Really?”

He looked sheepish. “I told you they pretty much did
whatever I wanted. When they got clingy, we broke up.”

“Define clingy.”

He grimaced. “Begging me to buy them things. To stop going
out with the guys and spend time with them. It’s not like all I did was fuck
and roll. I stayed and tried to be with them. But, Jesus, I hate shopping. And
talking about their friends or the latest sale got old fast. I find dentistry
and finance boring. What can I say? They got on my nerves, and I wanted them
gone.”

“Like me.”

“Yes.
No.
Hell
no.” He vehemently shook his head. “First of all, around you I couldn’t keep it
in my pants. I have never lost control of myself like I do with you. You think
I liked being unable to say no to you before my field op?”

She shrugged.

“Second, I like being with you. You’re fun. And you like
stuff with substance.”

“You mean I like the same things you like.”

He grinned. “Well, yeah.”

Man, that grin turned her inside out. “What if I want to go
shopping?”

“I’ll go with you. I can’t explain it. But with you it’s
different.” He paused. “I can be me with you. God knows you put up with my
demanding ways in bed.”

“True.”

“I kind of freaked out a few of my exes.”

“No. You?”

He flushed. “Anyway, I love you. I want you. Please forgive
me?”

“What do you want, exactly?” She narrowed her eyes. “Spell
it out for me.”

He swallowed loudly, and she loved his vulnerable side. “You
come home with me, and I’ll be honest with you. I swear. I love you, Maria. I
have for a long time now, I think. I was just too scared to see it. And, hell,
you were too young.”

“Lecher.”

He turned redder and coughed. “Anyway, so you and I take it
slow. I’m still skittish, and I’ll probably piss you off loads more. But you
can’t run away.”

“I wasn’t running. I was giving you ‘space’.” She ended with
air quotes.

“I deserve that. But no more. I’ll shoot straight with you.
Baby, like I said, I love you. But the thought of marriage gives me hives.”

“Fine. Let’s be straight. I want marriage and babies. I want
all of it with you.” When he blanched, she grinned. “But not now. I’m too
young. I figure we date a while, live in our own apartments until we’re both
comfortable with moving in together, and that’s a big if—you’re a neat freak,
and you scare me. Plus I’d like to travel a little before settling down with a
full-on family. If we can both still stand each other after all that, we’ll
have a long engagement. I’m not dying for a ring, Mike. If you don’t want me,
it’s no good.”

“I want you. Too much.” He drew her in for a large hug.
“Forgive me?”

“Maybe.” She drew a circle on his chest with her finger and
heard him suck in a breath. “Show me you’re worth it.”

He kissed her before she could tease him again, and she
melted into his arms. Before she could blink, he had her naked on the bed, his
mouth and hands everywhere.

“Take off your clothes,” she pleaded as she writhed under
him. “Come with me.”

He stopped kissing her to yank off his clothes then joined
her naked, hard and hot. They both groaned. It felt like forever since they’d
been together, though it had been little more than a week, if that. But when he
slid inside her, filling her with all of him, she’d found her piece of heaven.

“Maria. Baby, I love you so much,” he rasped as he watched
her while they made love. The connection was so strong, so deeply wound between
them, that as she crested into orgasm she felt him tense and join her. The
perfection of the moment seared into her mind, and the beauty of their
connection became the defining moment—when she knew to her bones that Mike Cava
was the love of her life.

They caught their breath together, watching each other and
smiling. “Want to go for best of three?” she asked.

He laughed. “Yeah, but give me a moment.”

“Lightweight.”

“Hey, I was stressed out. You ran from me.” He shuddered and
hugged her tight. “Scared me to death. Don’t ever leave me, Maria. Please.”

She saw a shine in his eyes and felt her heart break for
him. “Same goes, big guy.”

“I love you,” they said, together.

Three
and a half years later

“And then I forced him to admit he was a punk ass for
leaving me,” Maria was telling her audience, which consisted of Olivia and her
new husband, Brad, and Mike—Maria’s husband of two and a half years, as of
yesterday. Brad kept glaring at his cell phone, having a text war, apparently,
while the group enjoyed a quiet night in Maria and Mike’s home.

Major Kyle Waters, or Mr. Olivia, as Maria liked to call
him, grinned. “Guess I wasn’t the only bonehead who needed a good woman to whip
him into shape.”

Olivia laughed. “Nope. Mike had you beat.”

“Please. I was just getting into fighting shape with this
one.” Mike pulled Maria into his lap and grinned. “She’s a real ball-buster.”

“You got that right.” Maria hugged him back. Talk about the
man of her dreams. Mike had been pretty easy to mold into her fantasy husband.
He made love like a dream, complimented her cooking, and helped keep a clean
house since she didn’t have a knack for it. At all. Even better, he didn’t mind
that she was perfectly content to be Mrs. Mike Cava, not a professor, a doctor,
or a business executive. A part-time assistant in Olivia’s coffee shop, she was
happy enough helping her best friend run a successful business while spending
her free time playing with Mike.

“Where to for this anniversary?” Olivia asked her.

“We were thinking Alaska, right, honey?” Mike said.

She nodded, deliriously happy. “Yep. Sightseeing and
jogging, some hiking, and a cozy stateroom for our cold, cold nights.”

Mike sighed. “She’s a snuggler. My perfect woman.”

“Son of a bitch.” Brad shoved his cell phone in his back
pocket. “Biggest pain in my ass…”

Maria frowned. “Brad?”

“Bro, what’s up?”

Brad sighed. “Sorry. Don’t mean to bring you down.”

“Not possible,” Maria quipped.

He smiled, but his grin was strained. “It’s this civilian at
work. She is so full of herself. Making policy changes without consulting me
at all
. God. I want to wring her neck,”
he growled and ran a hand over his close-cropped hair.

“Counsel her,” Mike suggested.

“Yeah, what hardass said,” Olivia agreed.

Maria grinned. “Nice.”

Kyle chuckled.

“Not in my direct chain of command. Besides, she’s a tech
geek. I doubt she understands plain English.”

Maria exchanged a look with Olivia. It wasn’t like Brad to
be so snide, and especially not about a woman. He was more likely to charm a
woman into taking his side than battle with her. Like all the Cavas, he had
appeal in spades.

“What does she look like?” Maria asked.

“What the hell does that matter?” Brad barked.

Mike nodded. “Ah, she’s sexy and won’t give little bro the
time of day. I like her already.”

Brad fumed. “You’re not helping.”

“Look, just talk to her, Intel geek to Intel geek. If that
fails, I’ll sic Maria on her.”

Brad deflated and sagged on the couch. “I might take you up
on that. God, I’m getting too old for this shit.”

Olivia snorted. “Yeah, thirty-two is positively ancient,
Major Cava.”

“I’d say screw off, but you’ll just tell Dad on me.” Brad
groaned. “Man, you guys have it so easy. None of your women ever backtalk you.”

Kyle raised a brow. “Are you high?”

“He did
not
just
say that, did he?” Olivia asked.

Maria shook her head. “Sadly, it seems Brad has become a
sexist ass. And I had such high hopes for him. They even promoted him to major
and everything.” His family couldn’t have been prouder for him.

“That’s what she called me. Me! A sexist ass? Please.” Brad
stormed off the couch after swearing a few more times. The front door slammed
shut behind him as he left.

Maria just looked at Mike before they both burst out
laughing. Always on the same page—two heads, one heart.

“What?” Kyle asked. “I think I missed the joke.”

Mike sighed. “It’s the ones who get under your skin that you
have to be careful about.”

“Oh. Good point.” Kyle gave Olivia a look that had her
smirking.

Maria kissed Mike. “I wonder if Brad will invite us to his
wedding.”

“Major and Mrs. Pain in the Ass. They sound perfect for each
other.”

They all started laughing.

She winked at Olivia. “I told you he was mine.”

Olivia laughed. “So you did.”

The
End

Coming
Next: A Major Distraction