A Major Seduction (3 page)

“I know.” He wiggled his brows.

She laughed.

“Well, well. Young love.”

She tensed. She knew that voice. Slowly turning around, she
noticed Mike standing away from the water, his hands in his pockets as he
studied them with derision.

“Who the fuck are you?” Bobby asked, putting her behind him.
She appreciated his protective stance, but she sure didn’t want to get him
involved with Mike. Besides not wanting Bobby to get his ass handed to him
because of her, she also didn’t want him getting in trouble at work. Mike, a
major, definitely outranked Bobby, a sergeant.

She angled herself between Bobby and Mike and put a hand on
Bobby’s chest. “Bobby, this is my friend, Mike.”

Bobby blinked then gave a slow smile.

Hell.

“Well, shoot. I’m sorry.” Bobby walked to Mike and stuck out
his hand. “Any friend of Maria’s is a friend of mine.”

Mike seemed reluctant to take the hand, but he did anyway.
“Mike Cava.”

“Nice to meet you.”

The men seemed to hold hands a second longer than was polite
before disengaging. Then Mike turned an angry gaze on her. What the heck did he
have to be so mad about?

“Maria.”

“Mike.” She nodded and reached for Bobby’s hand. “See you.
Have a nice night.”

“You too.” Another low growl.

Bobby let her pull him a short distance ahead then leaned
down to whisper, “Let’s give him something to think about, hmm?”

Before she could ask what he meant, Bobby stopped them in
their tracks and kissed her, pressing his body into hers. He might have been
putting on a show to tease Mike, but that pole in his pants was no joke.

Unfortunately, the knowledge Mike watched turned her on. For
him, not for Bobby. She withdrew from Bobby’s embrace before they walked again.
A few moments later, a glance over her shoulder showed Mike had gone.

“Oh yeah. He hated me on sight.” Bobby laughed. “Bastard was
jealous, Maria. What do you make of that?”

“What? No.”

“Yeah.
Jealous.
Honey, if I liked you any less, I’d seduce you into some amazing sixty-nine action
back at my place. But this is the guy you’ve been crushing on forever.”

“Who, Mike? Nah, not anymore.”

“Please. You’re lying.” Bobby tugged her to a stop and
leaned his forehead against hers. “This guy who can’t see what a great gal you
are is seeing now. He about pulverized my hand back there.”

“He did?”

“Yep.” Bobby pulled back to watch her. “So what are you
gonna do about it? You over him? Want to come home with me and fuck like
rabbits or make the man jump through some hoops to grab on to you with both
hands?”

“That jumping through hoops option sounds nice.”
Oh my God. Mike is jealous?

Bobby sighed. “Thought so. How about one more romp, for old
time’s sake?” At her look, he groaned. “Hell. Well, let’s take you back so I
can get home to masturbating.”

“TMI.” She laughed. “Bobby, you are such a perv.”

“But an honest perv.”

“Yeah.” She hugged his arm, and they turned around, walking
back the way they’d come. They passed the Cava house, and all the while Maria
wondered what to do about this new information, and what it might mean. She had
to talk to Olivia again then feel Mike out…so to speak. No sex with the guy.
Not yet.

Though God knew that couldn’t come soon enough. Bobby
wouldn’t be the only one going home for some self-gratification.

She groaned. “It’s going to be a long night.”

“Amen.” Bobby paused. “You’re sure you aren’t game for a
quickie?”

She smacked him, and they teased all the way home, where he
dropped her off. She tried a quick cold shower, which didn’t work. Followed by
some fun time with Mr. Happy and her rechargeable batteries. Finally unwound
enough to sleep, she ended up dreaming about Major Mike the control freak
throughout the night.

When she woke the next morning, her eyes felt like they’d
been rubbed by sandpaper. She had a kink in her neck, and she couldn’t stop
thinking about her dreams involving Mike Cava, body butter, and an all-over
massage.

“I think I hate him,” she muttered as she rolled out of bed
into what would no doubt be a long-ass day.

Maria glanced at the clock, waiting for Olivia to finish her
classes so they could plan for the weekend. After ringing up a customer, she
smiled and waved, alone again on a Friday afternoon at Sew and Go and More, her
current employer thanks to her
in
with the owner—Laura Thompson, her mother.

With her mom due to return next week from her business trip
to Charlotte, Maria only had ten more days to manage the store. She couldn’t
wait for her mom to come back. Normally she put in thirty to forty hours a week
working retail, a lowly but happy worker bee. But with her mom gone, she’d had
to be in charge and put in longer hours. It wouldn’t have been so bad except
the older ladies who normally worked the weekends could be such a pain, taking
themselves—and crafting—way too seriously. Not like her mom at all.

Maria had never gone through the awkward teenage years where
she’d loathed her mom. With her father and his family deceased and her mother
without living relatives, Maria had only her mom and her friends to call
family. They’d grown closer as the years passed.

Olivia breezed through the door and joined Maria behind the
counter. “I’m here, I’m here.”

A familiar face entered the store and headed straight for
the quilting section.

“Oh hey, Mrs. Lawrence,” Olivia said before Maria could.
“Making a new quilt, I see.”

Fannie Lawrence smiled. The woman had to be breaking ninety,
but she came into the store at least once a week for supplies. “I am. My
great-granddaughter just turned nine. She’s visiting next week, and we’re going
to quilt together.” She gave Maria a disappointed headshake as she approached
the counter with her purchase. “Poor Laura. So sad her own girl won’t quilt.”

Maria huffed. “Come on, Mrs. Lawrence. I’m working for her.
That’s got to count for something, right? I just don’t have the patience for
quilting or knitting or sewing.”

“Or standing still, apparently,” Olivia murmured.

Maria laughed, feeling nervy. She couldn’t help it. She
really couldn’t sit still. Even when sitting, her knee bobbed like a sewing
needle. “It’s my own fault. I didn’t get my run in yet today.” Running, her
favorite exercise if she didn’t count sex. Since she hadn’t done the horizontal
snake dance in several months—ahem, half a friggin’ year—she needed to stick to
running on the beach.

She rung up Fannie.

“Oh well, get yourself a nice break and enjoy the weather. I
hear it’s going to be cooling off, in the high eighties this weekend.” Fannie
nodded, grabbed her change and her bag, and slowly left the store.

“I want to have that much gumption when I’m ninety-six,”
Olivia said.

“Is that how old she is?”

“Yep. She’s going to be a regular at my coffee shop when it
opens—she told me.”

“You sure you won’t be breaking her budget? As it is, Mom
gives her a huge discount because she’s a regular.”

“Nah. I know her son, and he’s loaded. Said his mom is
sitting on a wad of cash because she has so few expenses.”

“Good to know you’re aware of everyone’s finances in town.”
Olivia could be a little scary.

“I’ve done some market research. Stats on Swansboro’s average
income, age, gender, you name it. I’m on track for this town. And best news
ever”— Olivia beamed—“I just had my
last
class
today. For good. Now all I have to do is save a little more, and I’m
in
. Woo hoo!” She made a few fist bumps
to the ceiling while the bell above the door jangled.

“I didn’t realize knitting was so exciting.” Mike stared
from his sister to Maria and raised a brow. As usual, the man intimidated just
by breathing. He stood heads above her, probably at six three or four. He wore
jeans and a tight T-shirt. The breadth of his chest, the size of his biceps and
thighs, and his amazing washboard abs gave him a power over Maria she should
have found embarrassing.

When she could stop wheezing, she’d blush. She knew she
would.

“You okay?” Mike frowned.

Olivia elbowed her in the side.

“Ow. Fine.” She coughed. “Er, just had something go down the
wrong way,” Maria rasped and coughed again to give truth to the lie. “So what
can we help you with, Mike? Looking for knitting needles? Yellow yarn? A fold-away
cutting station?”

He laughed. “Yeah, right. I’ll get right on knitting as soon
as I finish my needlepoint.”

Olivia leaned closer to Maria and confided, “He did make a
latch hook Snoopy rug when he was little. He finished his before I did.”

“Hey. Mom made me.” Mike flushed.

God, he was hot. Maria cleared her throat. “So what can we
do for you?”

He stared at her and frowned. Even his annoyance attracted
her. So not fair. She concentrated on being done with him. Trying hard to
forget her crush.
Really
trying.

“Mike?” Olivia prodded.

“Just wanted to see if her date went okay.”

“Oh?” Olivia exchanged a puzzled look with Maria.

Maria explained, “Bobby and I were walking on the beach and
passed by Mike last night. I hadn’t even thought about it. It’s just so easy to
park near the house and access the beach there.”

“Right.” Olivia had a crafty look Maria recognized. But she
sounded blasé when she asked Mike, “So what now? She’s fine.”

He opened his mouth then closed it. His brows drew closer
together. “So did he?”

“Did who what?” Maria asked, not sure what he wanted from
her.

“Did Bobby ‘go down on you’ again?” he growled. “He was
dying to, remember?”

Olivia gaped at him.

Maria didn’t know what to say.

“Well?” He put his hands on his trim hips, and his biceps looked
like fleshy boulders.

Olivia turned to her with a huge grin on her face. “Did he?”

“Oh my God. No, he did not.” She turned and snapped at Mike,
“Not that it’s any of your business. What the hell is your problem?”

All the tension seemed to deflate from him. “Oh. Good.”

“
Good?
” She didn’t
know what to think. “Where the hell do you get off asking me about my sex life?
I’m twenty-four years old, not twelve. Besides, I don’t ask you how many bimbos
suck you off on a daily basis.”

“Whoa.” Olivia looked from her to him and held up her hands
in surrender. “Easy, guys.”

“You want to know, just ask me.”
This
Mike she’d never before seen. And wow, she wanted to get to
know this angry, sexy, forceful man like nobody’s business.

“Well,
I
don’t
want to know. I’ll be in the back room.” Olivia escaped to the office and
closed the door behind her, leaving Maria and Mike alone together.

“Go ahead. Ask.” Mike crossed his arms over his chest.

“I don’t want to know,” she said primly. “But if I want
Bobby to eat me out, I’ll ask him. And fuck you very much if you don’t like
it.”

He just stared at her. After a moment, he said, “Nice mouth,
princess.”

“Whatever. Mike, get out.”

“Wait. What?”

“Buy something or get out. I’m running a business, not a
charity. Seriously though, my love life is not your concern.” Not that it had
been in middle or high school either, yet he’d still taken it upon himself to
look out for her.

“It is.”

“Excuse me?”

An older lady took a step inside the store.

Mike turned around to see who’d entered, still glaring, and
the woman turned around and left. He looked at Maria again and scowled. “You’re
like my little sister.”

“I am
not
your
sister. At. All. And you know, I’m glad.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re an asshole.” She let her festering anger
free. “I can date or fuck whoever I please. You don’t like it, too bad.”

He stomped three steps to the counter and loomed over her.
“I care about my sister. I care about you.”

Not the way I wish you
would.
“I’ve been living without you for a long time, Mike. My little-kid
crush disappeared years ago. I have sex. I like sex. And I like men. There. Now
you have the deets about my love life. Buy something or get out.”

He grabbed a ball of yarn and set it before him. “There.
Look. I didn’t mean to piss you off. I’m just not used to you—”

“Not following you around like a puppy dog? Lapping up any
stray form of affection? God, I was pathetic. But no more. I deserve a guy who
wants me for me. Besides, you’re too old. You’re what, thirty-four?”

“Thirty-one,” he bit out.

“I’m twenty-four and in the prime of my life. I need to live
a little, you know? Hell, you can barely handle me saying the word ‘fuck.’
Imagine me doing it.” She wiggled her brows, pleased beyond measure when his
expression darkened and his gaze traveled from her mouth to her breasts and
back up to her eyes.

Holy shit.
Mike
Cava had just given her the proverbial eye-fuck!

“Imagine, hmm?”

Excited but not willing to be drawn into a conversation that
would inevitably backfire and have him scurrying away, she shrugged off the
discussion. “That’ll be four-nineteen.”

“Huh?”

“For the yarn.”

He reached into his pocket and slapped a five on the
counter. “Keep the change.” He leaned closer still, until she could feel his
breath on her lips. “Honey, you want to play footsie with your guy friends,
fine. But keep that shit away from my sister.”

“Because she’s all virginal and pure? Please.” She laughed
at him, knowing Olivia would find that funny as hell. The girl acted all
prudish, but she liked sex as much as Maria did.

His eyes looked so dark she’d swear they were black.
“Please, what?”

She felt as if she’d fallen under a spell. She wanted to
look away but couldn’t even blink. He licked his lips, and she did the same.
“What?”

“Please,
Sir
.” He
reached his big hand forward and caressed her neck, and her entire body lit on
fire.

“Sir?” she squeaked.

“Yeah, that’s what they call me unless they want a good
spanking.” He gripped her chin with enough firmness to make his point. “Now
quit being a brat and behave yourself.”

Her eyes widened, realizing once again he was toying with
her and winning. “Brat? Fuck you, Cava. Get out!”

He smirked, gave her another one of those impossible leers,
then turned to leave with a swagger.

“You’re an idiot if you think I want anything to do with
you, Major Cava. That ship sailed long ago.” She tried to beam him with the
yarn but missed and hit the window in front of him instead.

He laughed. “Still the same old Maria.”

“Still a jackass,” she yelled back.

He left, and the store sat in silence. Maria digested all
that had happened, and by the time Olivia stuck her head out of the office,
she’d come to a decision.

“What the hell was that about? All that yelling about sex
stuff? Really? You and Mike?” Olivia stared at her. “You hate him now or what?
What’s going on?”

Maria walked to her best friend, took a few breaths to
compose herself, then hugged Olivia so tightly she choked.

“Can’t. Breathe.”

“Oh, sorry.” Maria glanced around, making sure Mike had left
the vicinity. “It actually worked.”

“What worked?”

“My new plan.”

“Hell. I knew it. What plan?”

“Well, I was trying to get him out of my head once and for
all. I meant to use Bobby to do that. And by use, I mean Bobby was down with
sleeping with me. No issue there. Then we saw Mike, and Bobby said Mike was
jealous. Jealous, Olivia!”

“Okay, that’s a new one.”

“I thought a lot about it. Maybe he was just acting
protectively, like he always used to. But today? Asking me about Bobby with
that tone? I swear he looked at my breasts, and I don’t even have them.”

Olivia snorted. “You do too.”

“Yeah, I do. But he never noticed them before. He did today.
So now I’m playing hard to get. And it’s
working
.”
She grinned so hard her face hurt.

“I thought you tried that before.”

“When I was ten, but he was too into chasing grown girls to
notice.”

“Ah. Right.”

“He thinks I’m with Bobby. That I’m no longer interested in
him. And it’s killing him.”

“Nice.” Olivia seemed to consider the situation. “Just don’t
overplay your hand.”

“Oh?”

“Too much distance might push him farther away.”

“Your brother? Please. He’s stubborn and thinks he’s always
right.” That bit about spanking? Calling him Sir? Oh wow. Maybe he was into
that D/s kinky stuff. She
so
needed
to find out.

“That’s true. Mike is a huge know-it-all. But he’s a good
guy. You’re not planning to use him and lose him, are you? To break his heart
to get back at him for your years of unrequited love?”

“Where do you get this stuff?” Maria shook her head. “No,
don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. Look, you can’t tell him any of this. But
I promise you. That man is mine. Now I just need to trick him into believing
it.”

“All’s fair and blah blah blah, right?”

“Yep. That man is mine.” She gave an evil laugh and rubbed
her hands together.

Olivia joined her. They spent her last hours behind the
counter debating about pizza versus Chinese food and how best to handle Mike in
the coming days.

And Maria made more plans…

Mike stormed back to his car and slammed inside. What
exactly had just happened in Sew and Go and More? The fairylike cutie he’d
expected had instead been a she-demon with a mouthy attitude that turned him
on. Aroused by a petite blonde he used to consider a sister.

The key words being “used to.”

What the fuck?

He had no idea how it had happened, but first seeing her in
that sexy sundress then with that fuckwad Bobby somebody, he now viewed her in
a completely different light. No longer the cute girl next door, his baby
sister’s best friend, Maria now put him in mind of hot, sweaty sheets and full
pink lips he kept imagining wrapped around his cock while he pumped in and out
of her mouth.