Next To Me Read online

  “We just ate!” While the man didn’t yell, his tone brokered no nonsense and defined extreme fatigue. Ah. Family vacations were such bonding treasures of time.

  “But I’m huuuuuun-ga-ry.”

  I bit back a smile as they moved out of my sight, and I couldn’t help but recall when I’d flown here when Violet was about that kid’s age. She hadn’t been pesteringly hangry, but she’d been mopey about moving to Florida at first—leaving her schoolmates and buddies behind.

  It hadn’t been easy to up and move, but we’d needed the fresh start away from her father and his parents. In-laws? Nah. That was too nice of a term. But whatever titles they could claim, they were now far, far away.

  I’d run from one man and here I am again, doing the same damn thing.

  It wasn’t a solid case of déjà vu, comparing my decision to move away from my ex-husband and his oh-so-opinionated family to my sudden desire to claim some much-needed distance from Mav at work, and home.

  It wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have to see him literally everywhere…

  I shook my head, peeved that no matter what, my musings came right on back to the tall, broad-shouldered, husky-drawling sexy bastard.

  Thank God I’d been facing forward and missed the chance to actually witness him lowering to the kitchen floor, crawling between my bare legs. Seeing that headful of thick, wavy hair sinking down and down until he was under me, his dark gaze burning me up as he’d lick his lips and—

  “Oh, come on!” I uncrossed my legs and crossed them again. I really had to get a hang of this.

  Shriveled-up, my ass, I thought as Lexi’s words came back to haunt me.

  I didn’t act on or obey any principles of attraction, but my body wouldn’t let me remain blissfully blind to the world—or Mav.

  All because of that stupid cupcake…

  I fisted a handful of my hair and held it from my face.

  All I needed was a change of scenery and a night away, even if for work. I’d come back tomorrow morning and be ready to face that smug ass without my libido shifting into a shaky overdrive.

  Even if he’d approach me with that damn smirk he always wore for me.

  When he’d stride in my direction, his tall and muscular form confidently cutting through the space like a man on a mission.

  If—

  No. Not if. When. He was coming for me. Right now. Walking through the terminal, his long, lean legs in jeans bringing him closer and closer. He wore denim and a fitted black t-shirt instead of his typical suit, giving me ample opportunity to truly ogle him without delaying my fantasy of getting him bare—no buttons to decide how to remove. Casual Mav, the at-home, laidback Mav that I saw at our building. The more lethally sexy of the two daily outfits he sported.

  I blinked as he headed straight for me, dodging the beet-faced sunburned folks bumbling their ways to terminals.

  Mav was here? At the airport? Did my godawful lusty imagination summon the man like a damn voodoo spell?

  My jaw dropped as he headed my way, so close there was no way I could have been imagining him or mistaking him for some super-athlete incognito.

  “Mav?”

  I pushed to stand on both feet, no longer feeling at ease to lounge. Standing tall and sure, I still faltered. Inside, I was wobbly at his approach. That cock-sure grin. Straight at me. Nope, I was unsteady and nuclear heated.

  No. Please, please no.

  “Did they call for boarding yet?” he asked in that deep, gravelly tone.

  I closed and opened my mouth again. He leaned forward and chucked his knuckles on my chin, prompting me to stop acting like one of his usual adoring fans.

  Swallowing too much saliva, I coughed. Sputtered. Cleared my throat and shook my head.

  “Good.”

  No, I wasn’t answering his question. I was launching phase one of denial. He was not— He couldn’t be—

  He dropped the duffel bag he was holding. It landed with a soft thump and I stared at it. A bag.

  He was. There was no could about it.

  Mav was coming with me.

  Four

  Mav

  “Why are you here?” she asked.

  I couldn’t look at her, her mouth hanging open, inviting too many filthy thoughts. If that was a blush coloring her high cheeks—

  Jesus.

  What could she be flustered about? Me? She’d never truly let a crack in her icy Elsa-like façade before. But witnessing her reaction to me being here felt too risky, like a beacon to set sail for. Her awareness of me was dangerous turf to explore.

  Why was I here? For work. Nothing more. Surprising her was just a fun bonus. “Making sure Felicia gets that ring on her hand.”

  I raised my gaze enough to catch her crossing her arms. In the background, the attendants announced boarding for commercial class.

  I pounced on her mute state to pull off some chivalry. “After you.”

  She snapped to, dropping her arms and scowling at me. “What? Richard doubts I can do my job now?” Her tote-carry-on thing was already on her shoulder but she hefted the strap even higher. Then wrung her hands. Back to the strap to twist it. She huffed, clearly not in the mood to wait for my reply, and went for the boarding line.

  “It’s not that,” I said to her back. Switching my duffel bag to my other hand, I held my ticket and ID ready for the attendant.

  “No?”

  “No.” Richard didn’t have any grounds to doubt her. I wondered if any fool could. Carly didn’t just talk the talk. She walked the walk too. Many women could think they were capable to tough out any storm, but I knew this one was. Richard wasn’t a slave driver, but he was…particular. No matter how asinine some of the tasks were that Richard gave to Carly, she handled them all. Like a pro. Even when he’d dispatched her to resolve his dog humping the Roomba situation. Or when he’d asked her to anonymously investigate and purchase herbal remedies for bunions. And— Well, the list was endless.

  I waited until her ticket was scanned and gave the attendant mine. Carly continued onto the plane and instead of allowing me to immediately follow her aboard, the airline employee got chatty. Flirty.

  Not now…

  My companion was already at her seat by the time I caught up to her. Standing on her tiptoes, she reached up to stow her carry-on in the overhead compartment. Mere inches too short, she stretched as tall as her petite frame would allow. A grunt sounded from her as she tried to pull off an elastic woman pose.

  For the second time today, I was at her back, free to watch her unaware. Her slender body not stiff and standoffish as it would be when she faced me.

  I swallowed back a smile and stepped forward at the same time another person approached her. “Need a hand?”

  A tall, blond, boy-toy kind of a prick in a suit stood next to her, offering her his hand. His lips turned up as she startled at him, and my lips sank down.

  “Oh.” She lowered to the balls of her feet and graced him with a small smile and light laugh. “Sure. Uh, thanks.”

  When she handed him the bag, I slackened my face into a scowl. I butted in, nearly wedging myself between them as I tucked my bag in the compartment.

  “Oh,” the stranger said. “Excuse us.”

  Ass. Excuse them? Who was he to sidle up to her like that, putting his hand on the small of her back like she was his prop? Pretending to be a good Samaritan, lending her some assistance when earlier he’d been staring at her chest while we’d waited in the terminal?

  She slid sideways, away from him, effectively rejecting his possessive gesture.

  There she is. That was the tough woman I knew. Carly would never be a damsel in distress who’d welcome a knight in shining armor’s coddling touch.

  I scooted past them and took my seat, avoiding her gaze. Glare. Yeah, I felt the cold blast aimed my way. Too bad her chilliness only heated me up more. Tuning out her thanks and their small talk of have a nice flight, I stared at the closed window blind.

  “Did you hav
e to plow through there like that? Kinda rude,” she whispered once she was next to me.

  Maybe. But she’d get over it. I glanced at the stranger and the prick ceased staring our way.

  As she buckled in, she said, “And why, exactly, did Richard send you here?”

  “He’s uneasy about having that rock unaccounted for.”

  She slid her purse to the narrow space between our thighs. Patted the pocket where I’d seen her stick the ring. “Because in the last eight months I’ve worked for him, I totally proved I’m untrustworthy.”

  “No. Because it’s worth a significant amount of money. He wants to ensure it’s secure. So, until she’s wearing it, I go where the ring goes.”

  Her brows slanted to cause a crinkle above her nose. Yet she didn’t argue the fact.

  “So if you want to hang on to the ring…” I shrugged and splayed my hands out to suggest whatever rocks your boat. “I’ll be hanging out with you.”

  “As if we don’t see enough of each other.” She extended and retracted the dining tray. Then double-checked the seatbelt. Fiddled with the buttons for the air. Tray again.

  She was antsy. Of the flight, or me?

  I reared back, reclining to the side with my elbow to the armrest and my chin in my hand. It wasn’t as though commercial seats were bursting with room.

  Content to watch her, I stayed silent, unsure how to interpret her comment. We did bump into each other a lot. Maybe more than the typical coworkers might. But, hey. It wasn’t my fault she took the last apartment in our complex. Working with her and being neighbors was a coincidence, one that had never bothered me.

  As caustic as she was with me, for reasons I’d given up comprehending, I wasn’t put off by her presence in my life. Hell, I looked forward to seeing her. She intrigued me. Every witty retort at the offices had me primed to antagonize her more. Each time she’d stop by to pick up her daughter from hanging out with my niece had me wishing she would stay. And seeing just a hint of her luscious legs bracketing me when I’d crawled under the sink…

  Get out of there. Checking her out that intimately wasn’t going to become a pastime for me. There was temptation, and then there was obsession. I was safe from being completely addicted to her—as long as I kept my physical reactions to her in check. At an arm’s length. That was best for both of us.

  “Nervous?” I finally asked when she’d gone through all the buttons on her armrest panel five times. It was either I stop her from adjusting the brightness of the overhead lights or she give the old lady behind us a seizure from the strobe effect.

  “Huh?” She whipped back to face me, frowning slightly.

  “Are you a nervous flyer?”

  Shaking her head slowly, she started to smile. “No. I’m good.”

  “Coulda fooled me.”

  “I’m good,” she repeated.

  Then it was me. I had her flustered. Maybe this little trip wouldn’t completely suck. I’d annoyed her plenty. On purpose and just by being alive, it seemed. Flustered, though… New twist in the game, folks.

  Between our thighs, her phone buzzed an incoming call from her purse.

  “Crap. Forgot to shut it off.” She dug into her purse and I didn’t budge. I really couldn’t. My left side was already smashed to the wall. When she pushed at my right leg, I chuckled.

  “Could you freaking move?”

  I gestured to my lap. “I’m in my seat.” Then I pointed to the summery dress that stopped before her knees. “You’re in yours.”

  “Well, stop man-spreading. You don’t need to sprawl out.” Another harsher shove to unwedge her purse between us. “There’s no room.”

  “This is how a man sits.”

  She pulled a face at me. “Like he’s waiting for a lap dance? Airing out his balls?”

  I let go and laughed then.

  She smacked my knee and pulled her purse free with too much momentum. The bag flung out and over her shoulder, hitting the headrest across the aisle and spraying its contents everywhere.

  “Oh, for…” She growled and unbuckled. On her hands and knees, she scrambled to retrieve her belongings rolling along the walkway. Before her handy—handsy—helper from before could get to his feet, I joined her and grabbed her stuff. I made sure to block her ass in the air from the other guy’s line of sight.

  “Don’t cram it in between the seats like that anymore,” I said.

  She hastily stuffed a gum package and her wallet into her purse. “Don’t take up all the space.” Glowering, she snatched the birth control pills and romance novel I’d picked up for her.

  “Not like there’s any to begin with.”

  She shrugged. “Then shrink or something.”

  I licked the corner of my lip, holding back a comment about being too big for her. A mom with a baby sat just in front of us. No need for talking naughty around an infant.

  Settled again, she kept her purse in her lap. She took her phone out and scrolled down the screen. “Did they say to shut them off yet?”

  I slid the window screen up with the tip of my finger. “Looks like they’re still loading luggage. You got a few minutes.”

  “That was Violet,” she said as she pressed the phone to her ear.

  “Is she enjoying camp?”

  “Seems like it.” She tilted her head to the opposite way as she dialed her daughter’s hotel room’s number. “Hey, girlie.”

  I tried not to listen to every word, focusing on making scrunched-up goofy faces at the baby that was crawling over the mom in front of us. The chubby face popped just over the headrest and drooled as it stared at me.

  Carly explained she was going to New York for the night for work.

  “No, I’m not alone. Mav has to go, too.”

  “Nope. … She didn’t have the baby yet. Probably a couple more weeks. … Yeah, me too. … Yeah. We’ll go visit. She wants me there when she goes to the hospital. … Well, yeah. Of course, you’ll come. … Then we’ll break you out of school for a couple of days. … Mm hmm. … Uh-huh…”

  I made a pouty face at the baby and it giggled.

  “What’s that?” Carly sighed and her body seemed to melt into her seat the more she chatted with Violet. Like even speaking to her only kid soothed her soul. Hell, maybe she was lonely without Vi there during this camp thing. Amber, my niece and Vi’s BFF, was at the same tween getaway, and even though she lived with my brother, not me, I missed the kid. She came over at least twice a week.

  Carly huffed but a smile softened her face. “No, come on. You can ask me anything.” Moment of silence. Her smile flipped to a stern frown. “Will Aunt Lexi poop on the baby?”

  I snorted and she smacked my elbow. “No! … Well, what… No, she won’t. … No. … I didn’t. … That doesn’t happen every time. … Because she’s pushing and trying to get a huge baby head out of a small— … Umm, it can hap—”

  She smacked her hand over her eyes. “No, Violet. … Yeah. … Uh-huh. I will. … All right, well, then I’ll wait for your call. Have fun and be safe. … Yeah, yeah, I know. … Okay, I’ll tell Mav you say hi.” She raised her brows at me and I lifted my hand in a wave.

  “Love you, too. Bye, Vi.”

  No sooner than she hung up did the flight attendant begin speaking.

  She turned her phone off, stuck it in her purse, and shoved the bag between us again. This time, she wasn’t even trying to be polite or gentle about pushing my leg over.

  “Do I want to know?”

  She closed her eyes and rested her head back. It pushed her curls forward and one ringlet dangled over her eye. Gave her a sexier allure, hiding and coy.

  “Damn sex ed… I’ve had the talk with her but she’s still so curious. I’d rather her ask me than her friends, or look online.”

  Just as I’d rather my niece go to you, too. Amber’s mom had passed away and it was obvious she’d taken to Carly as a mother figure. Every kid needed one.

  “But she doesn’t need to know everything about giving bir
th right now.”

  “Might scare her into abstinence though.”

  “True.”

  I patted her knee, clueless what, if anything, I could say to commiserate. Our awkward silence didn’t have time to fester though. Flight attendants lectured the usual spiel about takeoff and safety, and within minutes, we were in the air. When it seemed like she was calmed down—not a nervous flyer, my ass—and stopped gripping the armrests like they were all that held her to the plane, I cleared my throat and asked, “Do you have a plan? For Felicia?”

  “No. But Richard does. He thinks he’s marrying her.”

  Hi-lar-ious. “I meant how to find her.”

  She shrugged and shimmied her shoulders side to side. Like she had an itch or couldn’t get comfortable. Both were possibilities in this sardine can of a plane. “She’s supposed to be at her aunt’s.”

  It was a location Richard had accompanied her to before. A posh loft in Upper Manhattan. A destination helped, but we still had to have a plan.

  “So, we’re just going straight there, you give her the ring, and that’s it?”

  “It better be it.” She crossed her arms, her elbow jabbing into my forearm. “I don’t want to be responsible for this fortune of a ring. Nor do I want to hold you up from your ladies and nightlife. No point having you babysit me.”

  I nodded. Babysitting wasn’t quite how I’d term it.

  “It’ll be almost nine when we land. What else is there to do?” she asked.

  “Dinner?”

  “With you?”

  I smirked at her. “What happens if she doesn’t take the ring?”

  Her face contorted into a wince. “Please. Do not jinx this. She’s going to take the ring and I’ll—we’ll—be done with it.”

  “And then what?”

  “Stay the night and come home tomorrow.”

  I leaned closer, setting my elbow on the armrest between us and propped my chin in my hand. “Did you make reservations for one, or two?” She hadn’t known I was coming with. So if she got a room…

  “Get that idea out of your head right now. I’m sure they can find a room for you as well.”

  I murmured a sound of dissent and couldn’t help but tease. “Next to you?”