Breaking Free

Breaking Free

Part One in the Liar Liar Series

C.A. Mason

Copyright © by C.A. Mason

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Breaking Free © 2014 C.A. Mason

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June 2000

“Hey, Coop, who’s the dude your girlfriend’s dancing with?”

I spun around so fast I would have been wearing my beer had my buddy, Jimmy, not grabbed it. “I don’t know who the hell he is, but I’m about to find out.”

I ignored the taunts from my so-called friends as I made my way to the dance floor. Maura was supposed to be out with her girlfriends, not letting some punk grab her ass in a bar full of people. She had her back to me, which worked in my favor. I always preferred to have the element of surprise going for me when I confronted a cheating girlfriend.

“You want to tell me what the hell you’re doing here with this loser?” I asked, reaching for Skater-Boy’s shoulder to bring the dance to an abrupt end.

“Oh my God,” Maura said, her jaw dropping when she saw me. “What’re you doing here?”

“I was about to ask you the same question.” I glared at her boy-toy, who looked as though he was about to slink away with his tail between his legs. As if I’d let that happen. He was going to answer for his actions as soon as I got through with Maura. “I thought you were out with your friends tonight.”

“I am,” she said, pointing at a table of girls.

They giggled and waved. One even winked and blew me a kiss.

I hadn’t met any of Maura’s friends since she didn’t want her parents to know we were a couple, so I couldn’t very well march up to them and demand to know whether my girlfriend was cheating on me. Not that the thought hadn’t crossed my mind. Maybe that was why she was so secretive about our relationship—because she didn’t want her
real
boyfriend to find out about me. I’d been seeing Maura for a few months, since my crew and I rebuilt the pool house at her parents’ estate. Every one of my co-workers had made a play for her, but in the end, she decided it was me she wanted. Or so she claimed. Now I wasn’t so sure she hadn’t been playing me too.

“Ben asked me to dance, so I said yes.” She reached for my forearm. “It was no big deal, Coop. I didn’t even know you’d be here.”

She’d mentioned she might come here with her friends, and when one of my co-workers had suggested going for a beer after work, the idea of checking up on her appealed to me. I knew I was jealous and possessive, probably because she seemed so determined to treat me like her dirty little secret.

“Ben?” I glared at the guy. “Not the same guy you were going out with before you met me?”

Obviously sensing the fury radiating from me, she placed her body between me and her ex. “It was just one dance, Coop. For old time’s sake.” She planted her hands on my chest, looking at me. “There’s nothing going on between us, I swear.”

I couldn’t look at her. If I did, I’d let her convince me I had nothing to worry about, and I wasn’t so sure. The dude looked like a punk to me, but they’d dated for a year and a half before she dumped him for cheating on her, so she had to see something in him I didn’t.

“Look at me,” she said, cupping my face as she tried to draw my attention away from Ben. “I’m glad you’re here. I missed you.”

I wasn’t sure if she was trying to placate me or if she really meant it. My temper was almost legendary. As a mixed martial artist, I competed nearly every weekend, and I had yet to be defeated. She knew if her pretty boy pushed me, I’d wipe the floor with his skinny little ass.

“It didn’t look that way from where I was sitting.” I got in his face, forcing Maura to step aside. “It looked to me like this little prick was grabbing your ass, and I didn’t see you trying to stop him.”

“It wasn’t like that,” she cried, pulling on my arm. “He told me I looked good, and I told him I’d hired a personal trainer. He was checking my muscle tone, that’s all. It was a joke.”

“Yeah, well I’m not fucking laughing.” I poked his chest. Man, the kid was a bone-rack. I’d sworn to fight only inside the ring unless I was defending myself or someone else, and there was no way I could convince anyone this guy had made me feel threatened. “You touch her again, and I’ll make you wish you hadn’t. Are we clear?”

“Yeah, no problem, man. I got it,” he said, backing up. He ran into a girl behind him and barely spared her a glance, much less an apology. “I hear ya. I’ll back off.”

I let him get away, mainly because I had no choice. I’d taken up mixed martial arts a few years earlier to curb my impulse to engage in street fights. My assault record was as long as my arm, and my old man, a cop, wasn’t amused.

“Dance with me,” Maura said, slipping into my arms when another slow song started. “I meant what I said. I missed you. I’m glad you’re here.”

“Could’ve fooled me.” I had my arms around her, but I wasn’t over my jealousy. Maura made me crazier than any other woman ever had. In the past, if I suspected a girl was cheating, I just moved on to the next girl. But it wasn’t that easy with Maura. She had my heart, and she knew I wasn’t going anywhere.

“Come on, don’t be like that.” She pouted. “I’m glad you showed up.” Standing on her toes, she planted a kiss on my lips. “Why do you think I told you where I’d be? I was hoping you and the boys would pass by.”

“Oh yeah? If that were true, you wouldn’t have let that punk-ass little shit put his hands on you.”

Possessiveness consumed me whenever I thought about someone else touching her. She was mine. I wanted the world to know it, but she swore her pretentious parents would have a coronary if they found out she was dating me. I got it. They were blue blood, I was blue collar. Maura was going to an Ivy-League school, and I’d barely finished high school. They wanted the best for their little girl, but no one could love her as much as I did.

“Let me make it up to you,” she said, toying with a button on my plaid work shirt. “Take me back to your place.”

I was tempted, but I wouldn’t let her dismiss my concerns. I refused to be played for a fool. No matter how much I cared for her, I’d never be any woman’s doormat. “We can go back to my place, but this isn’t over. Not by a long shot.”

She slipped her hand in mine as she led me across the dance floor. “We’ll see about that.”

I watched the sexy sway of her hips before I noticed I wasn’t the only one. She was wearing high-heeled strappy sandals with a little black halter dress that was so short, it should be illegal.

As I glared at her admirers, I whispered in her ear, “If you were hoping I’d show up, why the hell are you dressed like you were hoping to pick up?”

With a saucy grin, she said, “You know it makes me hot when you go all Alpha male on me, Coop. I was trying to get a reaction out of you.” She spun slowly while holding our hands above her head. “Did it work, or what?”

“Introduce me to your friends.” It was time to bring our relationship out in the open whether she liked it or not. “As your boyfriend.”

She shrugged, seeming unaffected by my demands. “Sure, if it’ll make you happy. But they all know about you. Just because I haven’t told my parents doesn’t mean I haven’t told my friends.”

“You haven’t told your brother, either,” I reminded her.

Her older brother, Jason, was about my age, and whenever his car pulled into the driveway, she scurried into the house so he wouldn’t catch us together. Personally, I wouldn’t mind if we were outed. Her parents were snobs, no doubt about it, but I was used to dealing with people like them. They didn’t intimidate me.

“I will, eventually,” she said, dragging me to the table where her girlfriends were tipping back a few.

If they were all nineteen like Maura was, they weren’t old enough to drink yet. I assumed one of them must be banging the manager, or at least promising sexual favors, for him to look the other way. As long as it wasn’t my woman, I didn’t care.

“Hey, ladies,” she said, gripping my hand. “I’d like you to meet Matt Cooper.” Gesturing around the table, she said, “Matt, this is Leni, Sara, Bianca, and Kiara.”

“Nice to meet you, ladies.” I winked at the cute redhead who’d winked at me first.

Maura spotted it and pinched my arm. I hid my grin while covering her free hand with mine. I wasn’t the only one who got jealous. Maura hated when other women flirted with me, especially right in front of her. My sexy little siren was territorial, and I couldn’t deny I found it hotter than hell.

“Nice to meet you too,” the blonde said, licking her lips as she gave me a thorough once-over. She slapped Maura’s arm. “Girl, where have you been hiding him? And does he have a twin brother?” Wiggling her eyebrows suggestively at me, she said, “Or is he into threesomes?”

I coughed into my hand, trying to hide my smile. If college girls were this forward, I should have hung out on campus to pick up women instead of wasting my time in bars before Maura came along.

“Nice try, Sara,” Maura said, tightening her grip on me. “He’s one of a kind and all mine. Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re going back to Coop’s place so he can put me over his knee for dancing with Ben.”

I looked at her out of the corner of my eye. I wasn’t amused that she was taking my jealousy so lightly, and if she wasn’t careful, I
would
put her over my knee. Problem with that was that Maura would enjoy it. I’d introduced her to sexual acts she’d only fantasized about, and it seemed the more I pushed her outside of her comfort zone, the further she wanted to go. I loved that she was adventurous and inexperienced. It meant we would share a multitude of firsts.

“Okay, now I’m the one who’s jealous,” Sara said, propping her chin in her palms as she treated me to a full-on pout. “Why do you get all the hotties, Maura? It’s not fair!”

All the hotties?
As far as I knew, Ben had been her first serious boyfriend. When did she have time to lure in other hot guys?

When I shot her a questioning look, Maura laughed lightly. “Gotta go, girls. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Nice to meet you, Matt,” they called.

I waved, smiling at them over my shoulder as Maura pulled me away. “Wait a minute. I have to settle my tab,” I said as she tried to lead me to the door.

“Okay, fine.” She sighed dramatically. “But hurry the hell up.” She leaned in to whisper in my ear, “I’m a little tipsy and not wearing any panties.”

I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her against my chest. “What the hell did you say?”

“You heard me.”

“Where the fuck are your panties?”

“I left them at home.”

“Are you crazy? That dress is already way too short, and you’re not wearing panties? Don’t bullshit me, Maura. You were out to pick up guys tonight, weren’t you? You’re drunk and horny, and I just happen to be here. That’s why you’re going home with me.” I would have thrown her over my shoulder and taken her out to my truck to finish this conversation if that wouldn’t have given all the pervs a show.

She spun around, glaring at me. “You’re an asshole, you know that?”

“Don’t walk away from me,” I said, grabbing her wrist.

“Fuck you!”

She stormed off as dozens of males ogled her ass. I felt like kicking the shit out of every last one of them, but I was more concerned with catching up to her before she made it to the parking lot.

“Get back here! Goddamn you, Maura.” I knew I was bailing on my buddies and the bill, but they’d done it to me plenty of times.

She was walking toward the street by the time I caught up with her. Thankfully, she was wearing five-inch heels and couldn’t exactly sprint.