The Summer He Came Home (Bad Boys of Crystal Lake 1)

A single mom with a kid didn’t figure into that, but still…

Don’t go there, Maggie. Don’t fantasize about a future that doesn’t belong to you.

She sighed and relaxed in his embrace. Who was she kidding? The baggage she’d hidden away, the stuff from her past that she’d shared with no one…that wasn’t going anywhere, and besides, she wasn’t naive. Cain Black didn’t belong in her world any more than she did in his.

She’d done a bit of research, and she knew BlackRock was on its way up. Their last CD had garnered a lot of attention from the public and critics alike, and there was a lot of buzz about the next record. Cain would fly as high as he let himself and go where his career took him.

When he left—and he would leave—whatever this was between them would end. She needed to pull up her big girl pants and get with the times. But that nagging doubt remained. The one that said this wouldn’t end well for her.

Maggie gave herself a mental shakedown. She needed to be realistic. Modern women had affairs all the time and for a variety of reasons. They took what they needed and moved on with no guilt. No strings.

“Hey, why the frown?” Cain stretched and hugged her close, his hands roving her body, fingers seeking, caressing. He kissed her forehead. “No frowning allowed unless…” The lightness of the moment left as his voice trailed into silence. He cupped her face between his hands, his eyes intense as he studied her. “You don’t regret last night, do you?”

She shook her head. “No,” she whispered.

Cain leaned toward her and brushed his mouth across hers, then back again, this time parting her lips and kissing her with such tenderness that it brought tears to her eyes. When the kiss finally ended, she was sprawled across his chest, and she felt the hard length of him pulsing against her belly.

He traced her mouth and smiled. “Good, because I sure as hell don’t.” And then his mouth was on hers again, tasting, stroking, with an intensity that surprised her.

Maggie pulled herself up until she was perched above him, a sly smile falling across her face at the look of absolute need in his eyes. His hands claimed her breasts, and as his mouth closed around a turgid nipple, she closed her eyes and gave in. She would take this ride are far as she could, and she’d damn well enjoy every minute of it.

No regrets.

***

Her small kitchen table was laden with food. Scrambled eggs, home fries, toast and jam, fresh strawberries, and juice.

“Wow, you really are the king of breakfast.” Maggie grinned at Cain as she settled down across from him, a slight wince crossing her features.

“Problem?” he asked, a naughty smile on his face as he reached for the fruit and helped himself to a generous amount of eggs and toast. He knew exactly why her bottom was sore.

“Nope.”

Cain spread a liberal amount of jam on his toast and the smile never left his face.

They settled into an easy conversation, one that ebbed and flowed with laughter and wit. Cain was smart and funny and had a biting sense of humor that she liked. He was also damn sexy to look at first thing in the morning.

His jaw was shadowed with stubble, but it only emphasized his sensual mouth and classic cheekbones. His brown eyes glittered as he laughed, and his hair, that thick sexy head of hair, begged to be toyed with. He was dressed in boxers, which was something every girl should experience at least once in her lifetime.

“More coffee?” he asked.

Maggie nodded. This was foreign to her. Being waited on, looked after, coddled even…so not in her daily handbook.

“What you got planned today?”

She stretched, hissing softly at the aches and pains. “I have a client this afternoon.”

He poured her another cup of coffee. “Good job you didn’t have one this morning.”

Maggie inhaled the rich aroma and took a sip. “I canceled.”

A slow grin spread across Cain’s face. “Pretty confident, weren’t you?”

“I…” Once more her cheeks darkened, and she glanced down at the steaming cup of java in her hands.

He leaned over and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “I’m just teasing, though if you took the afternoon off, I’m sure we could find something to do.”

“I can’t.”