Page 62 of Hart of Darkness
Women were so darn intuitive.
She giggled. “Because you’re holding your stomach, and your face is rather pink. It’s good to see that Maggie brings out a side of you I haven’t seen.”
I didn’t want to know what side she saw. “When did Maggie get here?” I didn’t see her VW Bug outside either. “Who is she talking to?” Rafe wasn’t due in to work for four hours, and Hunt had the late-night shift.
Norma went back to her desk. “Kelton. He showed up about ten minutes ago. They’re both here to see you. I told them you were busy, but they wanted to wait.”
My office was down a hall, away from the main area of the house. So I wouldn’t have seen or even heard them come in. “I was doing paperwork.” I wouldn’t call that busy. Now if I were locked in my office with Maggie, then I would classify that as busy.
My groin tightened. I was losing my battle to leave my feelings at the door with her. Norma was right. Maggie had an effect on me that scared the hell out of me and made me want to shout to the world that I might have found a woman who met all my needs, and fuck if she didn’t meet my needs in the bedroom. Her stripping had to be the sexiest darn scene I’d ever laid eyes on, and I’d watched some good porn over the years.
I padded through the common room, my hand whisking through my hair. My hands were always in my hair, and suddenly I wanted Maggie’s hands pulling on my hair like she’d done several times that night at my house.
Stop torturing yourself.
My self-torture turned into jealousy. I shouldn’t have been jealous of Kelton. After all, he had a girlfriend.Yeah, the same girl you kissed and the last woman you kissed. You didn’t even kiss Maggie.
I couldn’t fuse my lips to Maggie’s. I couldn’t allow myself to feel that intimate connection, no matter how fucking hard I’d been dying to capture her tongue in my mouth and kiss her lights out while I pumped inside her. That would make me feel something other than the off-the-chart orgasms I’d had with her. I couldn’t test those waters, afraid she would leave me the way my mother left my old man.
All thought left me when I laid eyes on Maggie and Kelton. The Maxwell god leaned over, resting his elbows on the island. Maggie stood across from him, mimicking his position. They chatted like two lovers who had finished having sex moments ago. I clenched my fists, wanting to throw the man through the sliding glass door.
Kelton’s a flirt, and you know that.No matter how much I knew he would never cheat on Lizzie, I didn’t want him touching Maggie.
Suddenly, my head cleared. I was jealous, like extremely mad jealous. I’d never been one to resent another. I’d never had low self-esteem. But that swirly feeling in my stomach soured.
I was beginning to understand why Kade Maxwell sneered anytime a man other than his brothers dared to get near his girl, Lacey. I was beginning to understand why Kelton had wanted to ram his fists into me when I’d sheltered Lizzie from him. I was beginning to understand that maybe I had more than lust for the braided blond woman who had an ass that was mine. She was fucking mine.
I cleared my throat because they hadn’t heard me. I didn’t expect them to since I was barefoot.
Maggie’s head swiveled, and Kelton snapped up as if he’d been caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to.
“Hey, man,” Kelton said casually, wearing one of his infamous arrogant grins that I wanted to wipe off his face.
My girl’s eyes filled with concern. “What’s wrong?” One thing I’d noticed when I was balls deep inside her was that her irises shifted from light to dark green, giving me the feeling that I was diving into the deep waters off some tropical shore.
“Are you sure it was just drinking and dancing between you two?” I directed my question more at Maggie.
Kelton rolled those dark-blue eyes that women loved. “Seriously?” He lost that flirty air about him as a snarl formed.
Maggie stuck her hands on her hips and pushed out those breasts I wanted to play with. “You’re jealous?” Her full cupid lips curled. “Remember, no feelings.” Her tone was light and devoid of any taunts or rudeness, even though she was throwing my words back in my face.
A growl was stuck in my throat.
Kelton tucked a hand in his pocket. “Whatever is going on between you two is none of my business. What is, though, is your brother Denim. Are you opposed to Maggie hearing any of what I have to say?”
Denim’s case wasn’t in the least bit private. Yet I appreciated Kelton’s professionalism.
“Shoot, man.” My gaze never wavered from Maggie’s.
Kelton snapped his fingers. “Dude, I need your full attention. I’m on the clock here.”
That statement got me out of my funk, even though I wasn’t paying him for his advice.
My hands stuck to my hair.
Maggie approached me like a cat slinking down the sidewalk, watching a dog come toward her—hesitant, but ready to use those claws—or maybe she was going to get the paddles from the table behind me.
“I need to talk to Norma,” Maggie said. “So you two have the floor.” She stopped at my side, placed a hand on my abs, and batted those long eyelashes. “I’m not going anywhere.”
