Sinful (17 page)

Standing in the middle of the hallway, Jensen stared at the closed door for a few minutes. Maymi’s personality and wonderful sense of humor impressed him tonight. She hadn’t asked him too many questions but he wasn’t worried. She was very inquisitive, so it would only be a matter of time before she had some questions of her own. Jensen slid his hands into the pockets of his slacks and then moved in the direction of the elevator happier than he had been in a very long time.

He liked the idea of looking forward to another date with Maymi and seeing where it would take them. He wasn’t usually fond of not having an agenda about the future, but this was a rare time he wasn’t going to plan everything out every single detail. Sometimes the unknown could be a lot sexier than he was giving it credit for.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“Are you actually going to stand there icing cupcakes like we aren’t standing in front of you dying to hear about your date last night?” Tatum asked, placing her hands on her hips.

“Yeah, I mean I was up waiting for a phone call that never came. I’m hurt,” Jazmaine chimed in, glaring at her.

Placing the pastry bag down on the counter, Maymi wiped her hands on a towel before she reached for the sprinkles. “There isn’t anything to tell,” she said, shaking the colorful sugar over the chocolate icing. “Jensen took me to the Botanic Gardens for dinner and then gave me a quick tour of the place. After that he drove me home then walked me to the door and that’s it.”

Picking up the cupcakes, she stepped around the two nosey friends and went through the door into the bakery. She didn’t know what they wanted to hear, but she wasn’t about to tell them anything more than she had.

Some of her date last night had to stay with her because it wasn’t any of their business to know that she almost slept with Jensen. God, they would never let her hear the last of it.

“Maymi Raven Monroe, don’t you dare walk away from us. You know that I’m going to keep asking until I get what I want.”

Rolling her eyes, she twirled around and found Tatum staring at her.

“You haven’t been out on a date in forever and a day. How can you give us the Cliff Notes version with the sexiest man alive, Jensen. Did you really not kiss him or at least plan a second date?”

“Well, maybe we did share a kiss or two,” she admitted.

“Did he get to second base?”

“Jazmaine!” Maymi gasped staring at the woman standing next to Tatum. “I’m not going into details with you.”

Tatum’s eyes moved away from her over to Jazmaine. “I know one thing didn’t happen and that was a home run because our girl might love this bakery, but not enough to leave handsome Jensen alone in her bed. Besides, she’s just having a little fun for the moment. She isn’t about to fall in love with the guy.”

“Okay, enough,” Maymi sighed. “My sex life, or lack of it, isn’t the concern of either one of you. How about you get out of here, so I can finish up stocking up the desserts before Olivia comes in? She was nice enough to close the bakery for me so I can start decorating for the party tonight. I need to make a few stops before I head home and get everything ready for tonight.”

“Fine, Miss Spoilsport. I’m leaving,” Jazmaine said. ”I need to finish up something at the office anyway. Mr. Mashiro is still trying to get me to go out with him. It’s getting harder and harder to turn him down.”

“I saw him giving a press conference about joining Kent Publications. I swear if his exotic face wasn’t a turn-on, his voice would do it for me in a hot second. Is there something seriously wrong with your head? Why aren’t you saying yes?” Tatum asked.

Maymi wanted to admit she had wondered the same thing more than once. Mr. Mashiro was a very attractive man, so why wasn’t Jazmaine interested in going out on at least one date with him. She wasn’t buying her excuse about office romances.

“I’ve told you why, because it wouldn’t be very professional for me to date a client. I love my job and dating a wealthy client wouldn’t look good for me. I can’t say how many work relations I’ve seen go downhill at my job, and when it’s over the woman is the one out looking for a new 9 to 5.”

“They aren’t you. You can’t turn down Mr. Mashiro because of them,” Maymi pointed out.

“Look, I can’t stay any longer. I need to go, “Jazmaine said, walking past Tatum and heading for the door. “I’ll be at your house a little before seven.”

Maymi watched as Jazmaine rushed out the door without looking back in their direction. Jazmaine was hiding something from them. There was another reason why she was turning Mr. Mashiro down for a date and she would get to the bottom of it before long. Tatum might be good at keeping secrets from her, but Jazmaine wasn’t.

“I better go and make sure she’s okay,” Tatum said, rushing by her and out of the building.

She would have liked to go and check on them, but she still had a few more things to do before she could leave. Olivia would be here in less than an hour and she wanted to be ready. Heading back to the kitchen, she was halfway here when her cell phone rang. She took it out of her apron pocket and smiled when she noticed the name on the caller ID.

“Hi,” she said, answering the phone.

“Hi, yourself,” Jensen’s rich voice whispered into her ear. “How are you doing this morning? Did you sleep good last night? I know I had a very hard time because I kept replaying our kiss in my head.”

“I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow,” she answered. “I wanted to tell you that I had an excellent time last night. I loved eating out underneath the stars inside the dome. I wasn’t expecting you to do something so romantic or creative for me.”

Stopping at the end of the counter, Maymi stared out the window watching as Olivia’s car pulled up at the curb. She liked how she always kept her word and showed up on time for work. She was becoming an invaluable part of Sinful.

“Babe, there’s a lot about me you don’t know. However, I would love to show you some more if you’re up to it,” he flirted.

“Are you asking me out for another date that doesn’t include the party tonight?” Maymi asked, trying to keep the enthusiasm out of her voice. “I mean we’re both so busy. I can’t promise I’ve the extra time to spend with you. Do you think you’ll be able to top yourself?”

The long pause on the other end of the phone made her nervous. She waved at Olivia as she walked through the front door. She wondered what Jensen was thinking.

“Oh, what, no answer?” she teased, trying to get him back into the conversation.

“Darling, I have an answer for you. I can top last night’s dinner, but why should I tell you what it is when you aren’t giving me an answer to my question?”

From the corner of her eye, Maymi noticed Olivia standing at the side munching on a cookie while eavesdropping on her conversation. She wasn’t going to be able to give Jensen a response without Olivia teasing her about it later.

“Fine, I’d love to go another date with you, Jensen. Honestly, I was looking forward to seeing you tonight at the party. I think you’ll have a good time with my friends.”

A deep masculine voice chuckled in her ear sending a tingling sensation straight to her pussy. God, Jensen was making her realize how long it had been since she’d made love to a man.

Would he be the one able to get rid of her dry spell
?

Without a single doubt in her mind, she knew Jensen would have the keen ability to make her body sing with pleasure. Just the size of his hands had her wishing they had touched her more during dinner, but he was a perfect gentleman and left her at her front door with only a good night kiss.

“I know that took a lot on your part to admit that you wanted me,” he exclaimed.

Maymi nodded then stopped when she realized Jensen couldn’t see her. “Yes, it did. Don’t make me regret telling you the truth.”

“Oh, you won’t baby. I have some excellent plans for us. I hate to cut this phone call short, but my class starts in a few minutes so I probably won’t see you until tonight.”

“Alright,” Maymi answered. “Don’t forget to bring Casper.”

Jensen sighed on the other end of the phone. “I won’t forget my little brother. He’ll be there unless he has other plans. Casper is never without a date, but I’ll make sure he understands that she isn’t invited.”

“Oh, I didn’t know Casper was seeing anyone. I was hoping—”

“What were you hoping for?” Jensen cut in with a little heat in his voice. “Is there another reason that you asked me to bring my brother?”

She heard the hint of anger and Maymi wasn’t about to end their pleasant conversation on an argument. “It was nothing. Forget I even brought it up. I’ll see both of you tonight at seven. Bye Jensen.” Maymi hung up the phone before he could toss another question at her.

She hated to even admit this to herself, but she was truly looking forward to seeing Jensen tonight at her place with everyone else.

After the kiss they shared, it might be a good idea for them to be around other people this time. Since Jensen’s kisses were becoming more and more seductive to her wavering senses., they were leading her down a slippery slope she wasn’t ready for.

All she was trying to do was have some fun and do a little harmless flirting on her date, but something happened that surprised her. Jensen showed her another side of him. The romantic, carefree Jensen wasn’t anything like the demanding bully who had barged into her business.

The sound of fingers snapping in front of her face jolted Maymi back from her inner thoughts. Turning her head, she found Olivia standing not five feet from her with a huge grin on her face.

“Care to tell me what has put that look in your eyes and that tiny smile on your face?” she asked. “Does it have anything to do with your date with the very attractive man next door?”

Smothering a groan, Maymi stepped back. “Alright, I did go out with Jensen last night, but you already knew I had plans with him.. I really had a good time. ”

Olivia’s eye rose in amazement. “Did you think you actually wouldn’t?” she questioned. “I mean every time the two of you are in the same room, everyone and everything else fades to the background as the sparks begin to fly. I’m surprised it took him this long before he asked you out on a date.”

“We weren’t....I mean I wasn’t
that
obvious,” she denied. “I thought I hid my fascination for him pretty well.”

Her employee made a
tsking
sound with her tongue. “If you believe that, you need to get away from those hot ovens even more. The sexual pull between the two of you almost made me feel like a Peeping Tom anytime I was around. However, I want you to remember something. Safe sex is always the best sex.”

“Olivia,” she gasped, shocked.

“Hey, I might be old enough to be your mother, but I do remember the days I was driven by explosive chemistry. It was so hard to say no, when all I wanted to do was strip him naked.”

Maymi had never felt so embarrassed in her life. She was actually getting sex advice from Olivia. She wasn’t some doe-eyed virgin. She knew about sex and what do to.

“Jensen and I are only in the getting to know stage. At any moment, he could say something about Sinful and we will be at each other’s throats again. Don’t read more into one date than there was.”

The words coming out of her mouth sounded so good. She only wished that she believed the half of it herself. The idea of making love with Jensen had entered her mind more than once since she met him. She had to get out of here before Olivia made her tell more than she wanted to.

“You know what, since you’re here, I think I can head on out.” Maymi walked away from Olivia and grabbed her purse from behind the counter. “Everything you need should be already in the cases. If you get any kind of custom cakes orders, tell them I’ll have to call them back.”

Olivia nodded as she walked past her. “I know. Don’t worry. Have fun getting set up for Jazmaine’s party. Sinful will be taken care of just the way you want it.”

“I know. Bye,” Maymi said, heading out the door.

****

Walking around the side of the building, Maymi was halfway to her car when she spotted a very handsome man coming out of Fitness 24’s doors making a beeline for her. Her eyes drank up the sight of Jensen wearing khaki pants and a white polo shirt with Fitness 24 embroidered across the left side on his upper chest.

He stopped only a few feet in front of her. “Were you trying to sneak away without telling me goodbye? I didn’t think you would do something like that to me.”

“No, I was leaving, no sneaking about it at all. Olivia is here now. I’m leaving so I can pick up a few more things before the party.”

“I was thinking once the party was over, I could stay and help you clean up afterwards.”

She was enthralled by what she saw, but she couldn’t fall for it. She had to see how he interacted with her friends first. Tatum and Jazmaine were a huge part of her life. If he didn’t like them then there wouldn’t be a third date.

“What has you thinking so hard you have this frown now?” he asked, tracing her forehead with his index finger.

“I was wondering how you’re going to get along with my girlfriends,” she replied honestly. “They’re both very opinionated and won’t bite their tongues about anything.”

For a moment, he studied her intently. His eyes seemed to be trying to get into her head like he was trying to make sure she wasn’t leaving anything out. She had never experienced the look before from any other man, not even Hudson.

“I hope your friends get along with me too. However, if they don’t I’m not going worry about it. You’re the woman I’m interested in getting to know better, not them.”

She found an immense satisfaction in Jensen’s words. He was telling her directly what he wanted so there wouldn’t be any confusion between them. She couldn’t resist touching his face loving how his slight five o’clock shadow brushed across her fingertips.

“You sure do know how to make a woman forget her bad first impression of you.”

“Maymi, I’ve a way of making a woman forget a lot of things,” he whispered, lowering his head towards her until his sensual mouth was only inches away.