My Curvy Valentine: A Perfect Fit Novella (9 page)

He pulled her closer, wanting to pull off dress, wanting to feel her bare skin against his, but she broke away. Their kiss ended abruptly. “Alex?” She stared at him in confusion.

“Yeah?”

She reached up and touched his face, slid her hands over his cheek and then when that wasn’t enough she pressed her lips to it.

“Are you really here?”

“No, I’m in Denver. What the hell kind of question is that?”

She blinked at him, shaking her head. “I thought I was dreaming about you again.”

“Again? You dream about me kissing you?”

“You kissed me! You
kissed
me,” she accused him, seeming distraught. “Why did you do that? What the hell is your problem? I should kick you in the balls, buster!”

“You’re blaming this on me? I just gave you a little kiss. I didn’t expect you to turn around and kiss me like that. Damn it, Maggie May. You’re one hell of a kisser.”

She stood up and paced away from him. “What the hell was that?” She raked her fingers through her hair in a frustrated motion. “You pulled my hair, and you threw spiders at me, and you ignored me half the time when we were kids. You called me a nerd and you teased me unmercifully. You still pick on me now.” She looked back at him. “You don’t even like girls like me!”

He stood up, grabbing hold of her wrist and pulling her closer. “I was a kid then and you
were
a nerd and of course I ignored you, because nobody wants their best friend’s little sister hanging around. But I’m a man now, Maggie.” He slid his hands down to her hips. “And you still are a nerd.” He leaned to kiss her throat. “And I would still like to tease you.” He kissed her again, a little lower, getting a little thrill when he heard her breath quicken. “But I would like to tease you in an entirely different kind of way than when you were twelve and I was fourteen.” He slid his hand further, cupping her behind in his hands. The reaction he had to all that beautifully rounded flesh was physical. Primal. His damn heart raced and the blood rushed out of his head. And something in his head said,
mine
. His. He wanted her. There was no denying that. And there was no going back.

*

Maggie had had boyfriends before. She had dated some cute guys. Smart guys that she could discuss the finer parts of thermodynamics with. Sweet guys that she liked going to Comic-Con with. She always thought she would end up with a guy like that. In fact she preferred a guy who’d rather play chess than watch football, but none of those guys had made her feel an ounce
of the heat that Alex made her feel. None of those guys had made her want to rip off their clothes and climb them like a tree. But Alex did.

He always seemed to hold her closer than anyone had before. He looked at her like he was a starving man and she was the juiciest piece of meat in the world and he always spoke to her with his lips close to her skin, in that low sexy voice that make her body tingle and her nipples grow tight.

And right now he had her ass cupped in his hands like he owned it, like it was his to touch. If it were anyone else she would have smacked them away, but it was Alex and she liked the way his big hands felt on her. It made her wish that they weren’t in the middle of the storeroom, that they were in her bedroom and that there was nothing between them. Not even clothes.

“Mags?” He kissed down her neck to the opening in her dress. She wanted to shut her eyes and enjoy the moment, but the door was open and she was at work and anybody could walk by. She should have pushed him away, ordered him to stop.

But she didn’t, because his hands and lips felt too good, and knowing they could get busted made her a little more excited. “Yeah?” She swallowed.

“What do you mean, girls like you?”

“I’ve met Roya. Your exotic super-model-looking ex that I could eat for dinner and still have room for dessert. Then there was Kini, the half Japanese, half Trinidadian Pilates instructor. Oh, and don’t let me forget Erica, the German girl you used to date who could give Heidi Klum a run for her money.”

“I think that proves,” he set a light kiss on her mouth, “that I have a varied taste in women.”

“It proves you like exotic skinny girls, not chubby ones with mud brown hair and skin so pale that even I mistake myself for a ghost.”

“Don’t say stupid shit like that. Women with no confidence annoy the hell of me.”

“I don’t lack confidence. I think I’m pretty cute, but I know I’m not your type.”

“I don’t have a type. You’re beautiful, Maggie.” He ran his fingers across her chest just above her cleavage. “You’ve got long legs and puppy dog eyes and a pretty smile. You’re built like a woman should be built, you feel like a woman should feel, and I like you.” He kissed her mouth again, and this time the kiss lasted longer, this time his mouth opened over hers and he went a little deeper, this time she closed her eyes and let herself be kissed, because he was one hell of a kisser and nobody had ever made her feel half as good as he did.

“Ugh!” She pulled away, unwillingly but she pulled away. “What the hell is happening? You’re my friend, probably my best friend and I love you, but we can’t do this.”

“Why not?” He searched her face. “This feels good. We’re not kids anymore. Give me one good reason we can’t do this.”

“Because this is just insanity and because it’s Valentine’s Day and because we both haven’t had sex in a while. This could be disastrous.”

“It doesn’t have to be.”

“Please, Alex. This has to be it for us. Okay?”

He sighed, stepping away from her. He didn’t nod his head, or say okay or give any indication that he was going to follow her wishes. He just said, “See you later, Mags,” and walked out.

And that, more than anything, scared the shit out of her.

Chapter 6

The bakery was finally quiet again by seven o’clock that evening. It had been a busy day without his two bakers, but he and Alina had managed to get through it. All he wanted to do was go upstairs and relax. Pop open a bottle of beer and let his mind go blank. Only he couldn’t let his mind go blank. There were far too many thoughts of Maggie circulating around it. And he knew if he went upstairs, he would have to walk past her apartment that was right next door to his. He would hear her moving around, the sounds of her television, and her voice when somebody called. It was too dangerous to be in his apartment when he knew she was alone there. There was nothing stopping him from knocking on her door and kissing her senseless the moment she opened with it.

Let’s be friends
.

Just friends
.

It was a phrase no man wanted to hear. Especially him. Especially coming from her.

He used to think that it was bullshit before, that no man and woman could truly be close friends. He didn’t have close women friends. He didn’t want them. He had girlfriends. He had acquaintances. He had women he hung out with, women he liked. But then there was Maggie. Maggie whom he had known forever. Maggie whom he simply liked to hang out with. Maggie who was honest with him, and was always there if he needed her and never expected anything in return.

She really
was
his friend. A lifelong friend that he didn’t want to lose, but it still didn’t stop him from thinking about that kiss, or the way her body felt pressed against his. It didn’t stop him from wanting her.

A knock on his door caused those thoughts to abruptly stop. There was a guy out there, big, bearded, wearing a hoodie and a ratty jacket. At first Alex thought it was a homeless man, but as he moved closer to the door he saw it was Clayton, Maggie’s brother, standing outside.

He opened the door for him, letting him inside along with an icy blast of air. “Hey, man. I didn’t recognize you for a minute. I was about to chase you away with a broom.”

Clayton stepped inside, his hands still buried deep in his pockets. “You thought I was a bum?”

“I always thought you were a bum. I still think you’re a bum. I had simply mistaken you for someone without a home. But if I hadn’t recognized you, your ass would still be freezing out there on the street.”

“You wouldn’t feed a cold, hungry, needy man?”

“Dude, you see the size of you? Plus you look like a serial killer with the hoodie and the beard.”

“I’m six-three. You’re six-six. You ain’t no lightweight.” He yanked the hoodie off his head to reveal a mess of sandy brown curls. Clayton had gotten his father’s fairer coloring. Maggie’s hair and eyes were dark like her mother, but once upon a time it was easy to tell the two were siblings. Now Clayton was barely recognizable.

“I played against you in rugby, remember?” Alex reminded him. “You almost knocked my damn brains out.”

“Yeah,” Clayton grinned at him, showing him a spark of the kid he used to know. “That was a good time.” It was rare to see his friend smile. It was rare to see his friend at all these days. Clay had gone to West Point right out of school and then to the army and then to war. He had come back mostly unharmed and received an honorable discharge, but Clay had been a wild man and Alex definitely noticed that his friend was much different than he used to be years ago. Long gone was the clean-cut party boy. Alex wondered where the hell he went.

“You come here to see me? You haven’t stopped by since I first opened.” He went behind the counter and pulled out some brownies that he had left over from this afternoon.

“I stopped by to say hello, but I’m really here to see my sister.”

“She expecting you?” He tossed Clay the plastic-wrapped treats.

“No. You care?” He raised a brow at him.

“What if I did?” He shrugged. “What if I told you I was with your sister and you might be interrupting our night?”

“Yeah, okay.” He opened the brownies and shoved a whole one into his mouth. “You would never go for my kid sister.”

“Why not? Have you seen her lately? Maggie May is not a kid anymore and she’s gotten sexy.”

“Maggie? Sexy?” Clayton looked at him as if he had three heads. “What the hell did you put in these brownies? I didn’t think that shit was legal here.”

“What makes you think I wouldn’t go for your sister?”

“Number one, I don’t want you to. You only broke up with Roya because she took that job in England and you two didn’t want to do long distance. My sister’s not your damn rebound girl and if I found out she was, I would knock your damn brain out then kick you in the nuts for good measure. Number two, she’s Maggie. She wears the dumbest slippers I’ve ever seen and even after all these years she’s kind of a dork. You don’t go for that.”

Clayton had a point about Roya. He had been happy with her and bummed when she left, but that was eight months ago. He had gotten over her quickly. Besides, he liked the way Maggie’s long shapely legs disappeared into her big goofy slippers. There was nothing dorky about that.

“You should give your sister more credit. She’s a lot more interesting than you think.”

“If you say so,” he said as he shoved another brownie in his mouth. “Walk me upstairs. I can’t get in the upstairs door without a key.”

“You hungry?” Alex watched him devour the brownie like a truly starving man. “I could fix you something before we go up.”

“No thanks. I’m not that hungry,” he said with his mouth full.

“You sure? By the way you’re sucking down those brownies it looks like you haven’t eaten for days.”

“They’re good. When you told me you wanted to be a pastry chef I thought you were crazy or trying to impress some girl. I never actually thought you’d be good at it. Besides if I was
really hungry I’d go to my mother’s house. She’d feed me until my eyes bulged, like any good mother would.”

“She might not be home. She’s dating.”

“Dating?” Clayton paused, another brownie halfway to his mouth. “Don’t play with me. I’m not in the mood.”

“A butcher. Nice guy named Gordon.”

“How do you know?”

“I met him. He offered to get me a cow. I think he might be sticking around.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“You don’t have to, but I have no reason to lie. Come on, I’ll let you upstairs.” He walked away from Clayton, smiling at the dumbfounded expression on his face.

“Where did she meet him?” Clayton asked as he finally started to follow.

“Online.”

“The Internet? No fucking way.”

“Yeah. I guess you don’t know your mother or your sister as well as you think you do.”

*

Maggie had been home for hours, three hours longer than she normally was on a work day. Belinda sent her home early, claiming that they owed her time off. Telling her that she would have to take some vacation time soon or they would fire her. It was true. She hadn’t taken a vacation at all since she had been made assistant manager over a year ago, but she really didn’t
need one. Even today when she was bone tired she hadn’t wanted to go home. That’s because she knew Alex would be here and after their run-in today she didn’t want to be anywhere near him. Well, that wasn’t strictly true. She wanted to be very near him, underneath him to be exact. But that was bad. Very, very bad.

She knew she only felt that way about him because they had spent a lot of time around each other recently. And that kiss only happened today because she was sleepy and he was warm and hard and smelled really good. There was nothing else to it. No feelings besides friendship there. Maybe there was a little bit of lust too, but that was it.

She thought about calling her mother to find out what dating site she was using. Maybe she was a little hard up if Alex was constantly running through her mind.

There was a knock on her door and her heart unwillingly beat a little faster. She knew who was there. It could only be Alex. He was the only one besides his father with a key to the upstairs door. He was the only one who would stop by without calling. She resisted the urge to run to a mirror and check to see that she wasn’t a mess before she opened the door. But there was no point. It was just Alex. He had seen her a mess before.

She opened the door to see Alex there, but he wasn’t alone. Clay, her big brother, was standing there too, looking like a cross between a lumberjack and an ax murderer with a scowl on his face.