Maceo (Filthy Rich Alphas)

“You’re a pretty hard man to forget.”

“Hmmm.” The sound of a car starting up blared to my end. “I may not be hard to forget, but I’m damn sure the fool.”

“And why’s that, my romantic fool?”

“It seems that no matter how much she says no, I keep coming back for more of her mania, just to one day hear her say yes.”

My body rippled with desire. “Yes.”

The phone went quiet. I could hear some music come on, maybe it was his radio, but he lowered it after a few seconds.

“Maceo?”

His next words sounded more like a growl than ones being spoken from a human male. “Are you still at your club?”

“Yes.”

“And will you make sure the door is open?”

“Yes.”

“Hmmm,” he whispered.

“What?”

“You’re saying yes a lot tonight. How many shots did you have?”

“Ten, but who’s counting.”

“So then I should have brought a towel?”

“I promise not to throw up on your dick.”

A chuckle escaped his lips. “I rather looked forward to that part.”

“You’re so nasty.”

“Only with the one I choose to be.”

I tensed. “Meaning?”

“I’m not the fool for everyone.”

“Just a select few?”

“No, Christine. I’m just the fool for you.”

That was my turn to be silent, my moment to be fearful and wonder if I’d been doing the right thing. He was on his way over, after just one drunken call. All this time I thought that he was done with my running, yet there he was, ready to hold my hair up and help me through my drunken stupor.

“Tell me something, Christine. Is this call because you missed me and are ready to pursue something more on my terms, or are you just drunk and horny?”

He wanted me to have sex with only him. No others could serve as bed mates. No one else could be my one night stand as he supposedly courted me.

I knew I could do it.

Like Dylan joked, I didn’t really have many pipe cleaners that I would miss. Plus, Maceo proved that he was so much more. He cherished me when most just hoped for sex. He took the time to learn what made me smile versus trying to assume. I hadn’t known that a man like that was missing from my life, until he stepped through those doors and convinced me.

I sighed. “Yes to all of the above.”

He said the next words with a fierceness that I’d never heard from him. “I want to date you. There can be competition. Fine. I’m never scared of willing suitors around my lady, but what I won’t do is share your body while I’m trying to tame your heart.”

“I can agree to what you want for now.”

“For now?”

“Let’s take this day by day.”

He remained silent.

“Maceo, I just like to take my time. Weeks ago, I never even considered dating a man seriously. Now here you are here. Let’s take our time, but I promise you … there’s no one you have to share me with for now.”

He blew out a long breath. “I’m on the way.”

The phone line clicked. It represented the signal of a buzzer when starting a race. I jumped up in the darkness and searched for my lamp. Once I turned it on, I rushed to make myself less … drunk-looking.

I resembled a walking disaster—hair all over the place from Dylan giving me noogies all night. Clothes wrinkled and stained from tequila and nacho dip that Douglas had brought out to suck up the liquor in our stomachs. And several scents surrounded me, Denice had a bunch of perfume samples. Her cleaning lady sold Mary Kay part-time and was always peddling new products to her firm. I couldn’t resist the urge to try them all.

I reeked of various scents.

Awesome.

I stumbled around the office, searching for my bag, which had my make-up and stuff to do my hair. It was a pitiful quest. Everything appeared blurry. My movements came out less efficient and slow. At some point, I decided to take a break on my couch. A yawn left my lips, yet I told myself I had all the time in the world, right as I closed my eyes.

Chapter 9

Garden Lover

I woke up hours later.

Maceo’s huge arms encased my body from behind. I wasn’t surprised that he lay next to me. What shocked me was that I didn’t recognize the room we cuddled in. Shadows danced around a large space—windows with white blinds, black and white checkered tile, and a huge cherry red bedroom set fit for a king.

Is this his bedroom?

I scanned last night’s memories, trying to decipher the real from dreams. I remembered that he was on his way and that I lay on the couch to take a break. Everything else shifted to black. Well, not all darkness. I did remember something about dueling wizards and pink rabbits.

Now that had to be a dream.

I climbed out of his warm hold and stretched my arms.