Maverick (The Family Simon 3)

“I can see that.”

She seemed surprised that he’d answered, and liking the fact that he’d thrown her off her game a bit, Maverick smiled (When in doubt revert to charm is what his mama always taught him). “Wanna beer?”

Lips pursed tightly, she walked past him and scooped up a Bud from the table beside the sofa. She twisted off the top and tossed it onto the pizza box before taking a good long drink. It was long enough for him to get a glimpse of the soft skin at her neck and he couldn’t lie, the sight of her throat muscles and that mouth wrapped around the beer bottle was totally hot.

It was long enough for him to catch her scent, sultry vanilla and something else.

It was also long enough for his eyes to travel down and touch on a shapely, round ass made for a man’s hand. Christ, but the woman could fill out a pair of pants, and the boots…

He groaned silently, running his hands through the hair at his nape, and felt something electric shoot through him when he looked back up and met those pale, stormy eyes. Oh yeah. He hadn’t been wrong. There was definitely something between the two of them. Something hot and electric and in that moment, he knew that it was something they were going to explore.

Right or wrong didn’t seem to matter. In fact the more wrong it seemed, the more alive it made him feel. Christ, was it hot in here?

He shoved his hands into the side pockets of his Nike’s, because shit, he didn’t know what to do with them. And truth be told he was starting to get hard. Like a damn teenager, he was horny as fuck just watching this woman. He hadn’t reacted to a female this way since he’d been sixteen and had snuck into the pool house with Amanda Leery. She’d taken off her bikini top and he’d nearly exploded in his shorts.

But seventeen-year-old Amanda Leery had nothing on Charlie Samuels. He swallowed hard. Nothing.

Charlie did a slow perusal, her gaze running the length of him, stopping briefly on his bare chest and stomach, before dipping lower, and Maverick couldn’t be certain that his growing erection was hidden.

“Aren’t you cold?” she asked, though it wasn’t really a question because she gave him no time to answer. “Never mind. I don’t care.”

But she did care about something. He saw that she was upset and he’d have to be a moron not to know why.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “About tonight.”

Her eyes widened a bit and her nostrils flared as she took another long pull from her beer. She licked her lips and set the bottle on the table beside the sofa, glancing at the mess of papers. For several moments there was nothing, only the sounds of her quick breaths and the blood roaring in his ears.

When she turned back to him, her eyes had darkened to a slate grey/blue and her hands were fisted.

“Are you alone?” she asked.

“Excuse me?”

“Alone,” she said as if he was an idiot. “Or is there some woman here that I can’t see.”

Surprised, Maverick shook his head. “No. Just me.”

“Great. This would have been so much better if there was at least someone here with you.” She glanced back toward the sofa. “But no. It seems that you blew me off for a night of pizza and beer.”

“Charlie, that’s not what this is about. Trust me, I didn’t want to blow you off. I didn’t’…” Shit, how was he going to explain? He thought he’d been doing the right thing when obviously it had exploded in his face.

“I don’t want to hear your excuses.” Her eyes flashed and she took two steps toward him. “You owe me four hundred and thirty-nine bucks.”

A shot of adrenaline rushed through him and damn, but his dick was stirring something fierce. “Four hundred and thirty-nine bucks,” he repeated slowly.

“Yep.” She took another step forward and if he wanted to he could have reached out and touched her. Could have run his fingers across that pale skin, over her delicate collarbone and up to where her pulse beat at her neck.

And to say that he was dying to do just that would be an understatement.

“You and Davis coerced me into this date and Ava dragged me out shopping.” She ran her hands over her hips and the dip in her top exposed more creamy skin than he was ready for. “This outfit cost a lot of money that I shouldn’t have spent considering you blew me off for pizza and beer.”

Her eyes blazed and damn but that tongue darted out, touching on wet, shiny lips. Maverick leaned closer to her, his body tight, his mind going places that he had no right to go.

“I said I was sorry.”

“You owe me,” Charlie replied, not backing down.

His gaze dropped to her neck once more. Her pulse had increased and he knew she was just as affected as he was by their close proximity.