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  Bo was on his third round of Solitaire as he waited for Maya to come downstairs. He hoped like hell he hadn’t spooked her off earlier. He was no stranger to messing around with a girl at a pool, or in the Gulf of Mexico for that matter. But he understood why it freaked her out and was pissed at himself for putting her in that position. He had to do better next time.

  His heart ballooned as she walked down the steps in a black and white sundress that showed off her smooth shoulders and arms. He stood. “You look beautiful.”

  She smiled. “You cleaned up well, too. I’m glad you brought those clothes.”

  “I didn’t want to drive home wet.”

  “Yeah, hate it when that happens.” She laughed a little, and his stomach did that fizzy thing again.

  He put her in his truck, and they headed down 30A toward PCB. He liked it in South Walton, but Panama City Beach was his home and he was looking forward to letting her see a little of his town.

  She pointed. “Oh, look. Is that Pier Park?”

  “Yeah. You want to go there and eat?”

  “You probably wanted to take me to some place only the locals know about.”

  “I just want to take you where you want to go.”

  She scrunched up her little nose. “I kind of want to go there.”

  He wheeled it into the parking lot and found a place. Holding her hand as they walked past the shops seemed like the most natural thing in the world, like they could have done it a thousand times before.

  “How about here?” she asked.

  “You do know that’s a pub, don’t you?”

  She shrugged. “I can eat pub food for a night.”

  “Really? You won’t resent me in the morning for taking you there?”

  She crossed her heart. “Promise.”

  “All right.” He held the door open for her, and kept holding it for a couple of girls who were coming out.

  “Bo,” one of them said.

  He blinked Jennifer into recognition as she brought him in for a hug. “Hey,” he said into her hair. Jennifer wasn’t someone who gave him a good feeling, but he’d known her since high school and she was sort of a PCB staple. There was no avoiding her.

  She tapped him on the chest with the back of her hand. “What are you doing? Come with us. We’re headed two doors down. We’re meeting Sam and them. They’d love to see you.” She looked him up and down. “And so would I.”

  He looked over at Maya, who had walked a few steps away from him. He had no desire to mix those two worlds, but he didn’t want Maya to think he was ashamed to introduce her to people he knew. “I’m here with someone.” He held out his hand, motioning Maya over, and she stepped toward him. “Maya, this is Jennifer and Tiffany. We went to high school together.”

  Jennifer looked Maya over. “What, are you here on vacation?”

  “Yes,” Maya said.

  Jennifer nodded with a hint of an eye roll that he hoped Maya didn’t catch, but there was no missing the look she gave Bo, like he was the biggest cliché on the planet. She got a wicked smile on her face. “I saw Angela last week. She’s working over in Destin. Asked if I’d seen you. Wanted to know if you’d gotten married yet.” She shook her head, hand on her hip. “Girl couldn’t catch a clue with a net.”

  The last thing on earth he wanted was to be talking about Angela at that moment, especially with Jennifer, who had the biggest mouth in the panhandle, and right in front of Maya. He had such a small amount of time with her, and digging into his distant past wasn’t something he wanted filling that space. He put his hand on Maya’s lower back, starting to guide her away. “Good to see you both.”

  “You leaving this weekend?” Jennifer asked Maya.

  Maya frowned. “Um, yes.”

  Jennifer scooted toward the door, giving Bo the eyes. “Call me next week.”

  She made the request like it was something he usually did. He hadn’t called Jennifer since he was fifteen years old. She was just marking her territory or something pointless like that. He was usually proud of who he was and where he came from, but it was moments like that he wished he didn’t live where the whole town knew his business.

  The hostess sat them and handed menus over with an extra-long gaze at Bo before heading off. He leaned in toward Maya. “I’m sorry about that at the door. She’s not a close friend.”

  “That’s okay.” She smiled, but he could tell she was curious. She opened her menu, but then in a second she asked, “Who’s Angela?”

  His gut churned, and he scratched his eyebrow. “My ex.”

  “Oh,” Maya said, still looking over her menu. He said a quick prayer to anyone who’d listen to please let that be the end of that conversation.

  “How long were you together?”

  That was the one question he didn’t want to answer. “We were together in college.” That was true, but enough guilt built up in his gut that he had to clarify, “And after.”

  Bo’d never been happier to see a waiter in his life. He took his time having the poor guy repeat what they had on tap and making conversation about local versus imported beer, hoping to distract from any further discussion of Angela.

  After he left, Bo met Maya’s gaze. “I’m really impressed that you didn’t get a salad.”

  She leaned across the table like she was giving away government secrets. “I love fried oysters. I bet I haven’t had them in a decade.”

  “You’re on vacation. You should have whatever you want.”

  “I shouldn’t really. I’ve been so regimented for so long, I’m not sure what would happen if I jumped off my train.”

  He’d asked her earlier what she was here looking for, and she’d very blatantly avoided the question. But he wanted an answer. He’d have to find another way to ask it. He glanced around the place. “I want the record to reflect that you picked this spot for this date. I was going to take you to a fancy place. I’m sure that’s what you’re used to.” She sipped her water, giving away her answer. “Where’s the last place you went on a date?” he asked.

  “Oh,” she said, staring off in the distance like she was thinking. She rolled her eyes. “Trust me. This is better.”

  “What happened?”

  “This guy I used to work with asked me out. I never date anyone at the company. But he’d moved on, and I kind of did like him, what little I knew of him, so when he called, I went.”

  Bo hated him already.

  “He wanted me to meet him at Chili’s, which was okay, but it was half-off margarita night and he got wasted.”

  “He drank margaritas?”

  She chuckled. “He drank so much that he, well, let’s just say his body rejected them.”

  “There at the table?”

  “All over the bar. Poor bartender had to clean it all up.”

  Bo shook his head in disgust. “Unbelievable.”

  “Oh, believe it.”

  “I hope you left his ass there.”

  “I called a couple of the girls from work. Luckily, one knew where he lived, so the bartender and I got him in a car. I felt terrible for that poor driver. I gave a huge tip.”

  He considered her, knowing that look in a woman’s eye. “Did the bartender ask you out?”

  She looked up at him quickly. “How did you know?”

  “‘Cause you smiled a little when you referred to him.”

  She rubbed her thumb over her water glass. “You’re really perceptive.”

  “So what happened to him?”

  “Oh, he never called me again.”

  “I meant the bartender.”

  “Oh.” She looked down at her placemat. “I don’t know.”

  “Did you go out with him?” he asked.

  “No.”

  “How come?”

  She inhaled a deep breath and scrunched up her face. “I can’t go there.”

  He frowned, not taking her for a snob. “Really?”

  She grabbed his arm across the table. He liked how familiar she was get
ting with him. “No, not because I thought I was better than him or anything like that. God, no. It was just that he was really nice-looking.”

  Bo was confused. “That’s a problem for you?”

  She sat up tall and straightened out her dress. “Well, yeah. I mean…I don’t date hot guys.”

  All he could do was laugh at that one. “Boy.”

  She grabbed both his arms that time. “No, this is coming out wrong. I usually don’t date hot guys. Obviously, I’m making an exception this week.” He let her off the hook with a grin, and she let go of his arms.

  “What’s wrong with hot guys?”

  She made a little moaning noise. “Let’s just say I’m more comfortable with nerdy guys.” She met his gaze. “I really didn’t want to disclose this fact about myself, by the way.”

  “How come?”

  “Because. You don’t know the person I am at home. I kind of like the mystery of that.”

  He narrowed his gaze at her. “Are you hiding something from me, Maya?”

  She bit on her pointer finger. “No,” she said quietly. The server set two beers down in front of them. “Thanks,” she said.

  He nodded at it. “Are you gonna be able to drink that?”

  She picked it up by the handle. “Absolutely. I’m at a pub. I’m not ordering wine.” She took a sip and then winced a little.

  “Do you want something else?”

  She shook her head, closing one eye. “Nope.”

  He sat back in his chair, holding the handle of his beer mug. “So what does a nerdy guy have that I don’t have?” He wasn’t as rich as Chase, but he did well, and she made him want to do better.

  “You scare me a little.”

  He frowned. “Like how?”

  She gave him a look, and then leaned in. “Call me next week,” she said, sounding more like Jennifer than he cared for.

  He closed his eyes, realizing he shouldn’t have thought he could get off that easy. He met her gaze. “You have to know I’m not into her.”

  “Honestly, I don’t think you are.” She glanced around. “You don’t seem to know other women are alive when you’re with me.” She nodded at the bar. “Have you seen these two?”

  He turned to find two girls sitting at the bar, each glancing at him and looking away. “I hadn’t noticed them.”

  “They’ve been staring at you since the little scene at the door earlier. And what about that hostess?”

  He rolled his eyes. “I did notice that.”

  She tossed up her hands. “How do you manage it all? It must be exhausting.”

  “There’s nothing to manage.”

  “Do you know how many women stared at or hit on Al when we were together?” She held up her thumb and finger in the shape of a zero.

  “Five-minute guy?”

  She gave a hint of a grin. “Yes, five-minute guy.”

  “All right, so you’re with a guy like me, and you have to worry about other girls looking at him, but then at least you get to go home and have decent sex.”

  “Do I?” she asked, eyebrow raised.

  He ran his tongue over the back of his teeth. “Fuck yes.”

  The waiter appeared with their baskets of food. Maya inhaled a deep breath, then gave the guy a huge smile. “Thank you.”

  He smiled back at her. “You’re welcome.”

  After the guy got out of earshot, Bo leaned in. “You’re one to talk.”

  “What?” she looked genuinely perplexed, which was really damn cute.

  He pointed to their waiter at a table a few down from theirs. “He was just smiling at you.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Bo, that guy is like twenty-five.”

  “So.”

  “So, he doesn’t see me like that.”

  “How the hell do you know?”

  She rolled her eyes again and popped in an oyster.

  He leaned in. “Let’s get something straight. You’re fucking hot. I don’t know if five-minute guy or whoever the hell else you’ve dated has ever told you that or not, but believe me, I’ve dated enough girls along the Florida panhandle to assemble an army, and I’ve never been prouder to have a woman on my arm than I am tonight.” He took a hard bite of his chicken tender and stared at her while he chewed.

  She, on the other hand, had stopped mid-chew during his rant. She sat up straight, tucking her hair behind her ear, smoothed her napkin out in her lap, and then went for her purse. He stared at her curiously, eating a French fry. He was about to ask if she was mad at him when she grabbed their waiter who was walking by.

  She handed him a card. “Please run this card for all this stuff here, quickly.” The guy nodded and headed off. She picked up another oyster from her basket and pointed at Bo’s chicken tenders with it. “Eat fast. We’re going to your house as soon as he gets back.”

  Chapter Twelve

  A large, black and tan dog met them at the door to Bo’s house. “Go on,” Bo commanded, pointing to a sliding glass door across the living room. “I’ll put his food outside. Give me just a minute.”

  She took the opportunity to scan the room and check out his bachelor pad, taking in another piece of him that she was excited to get to see. It fit what she knew of him—older, comfortable-feeling home with a big, cozy sectional sitting in front of a flat screen that stretched farther than the TV stand. Her attention was drawn to a photo in a frame on a shelf by the couch—a younger version of him dressed in a tux with his arm around a stunning, black-haired girl in what looked like a bridesmaid dress wearing a no-nonsense smile on her face. Maya took a step closer, noticing how alike the two of them looked. She wondered if it was Shayla.

  He shut the sliding glass door, and she jumped a little, feeling sort of caught, though she wasn’t being sneaky. “That was Jake. You can meet him later.” He drew her in to him pressing his lips against hers, opening her mouth with his.

  She let him lead the way, melting into his kiss. He ran his hands down her back, resting them on her bottom, and walked her backward toward the hallway. He finally broke away and took her hand, leading her to his bedroom where he wasted no time pulling her dress off over her head. She stood exposed to him, nothing on now but her matching strapless bra and thong. Instead of feeling exposed like she had at the pool earlier, a strong sense of pride in her body and raw sexuality came over her. He stood back, taking her in, and then he ran his hands over her waist, her hips, and her breasts. “You’re so beautiful.”

  She smiled in response, pulling his shirt over his head. Running her hands along his broad chest, she leaned in, trailing kisses over his neck, which had traces of his clean scent despite their time in the bar and grill. He groaned and guided her to the bed, fooling with her bra closure as they went. Hovering over her on the bed, he kissed her mouth then started a trail, leaving tiny traces of his tongue over her neck and down to her chest. He lifted up, pulling off her loose bra, and then both hands were on her breasts, circling her nipples with his thumbs.

  A shot of heat surged through her, forcing her to moan with anticipation as he took her breast into his mouth, running his warm tongue over her nipple. She grabbed his strong back reflexively and ran her hands up and down it, indulging in the rippling muscles. He gave her nipple a final sweet kiss, then moved to the other one for a repeat performance. He gave it the same treatment then headed down to her stomach, hovering over her, tracing her flattened belly with his talented tongue before moving down farther, which she wasn’t so sure about.

  Back in her twenties when she was with David, he’d gone down on her often, but never well. She made a few feeble attempts to guide him along, but he seemed to lack staying power and would give up just when she was finally getting somewhere. Eventually, she’d detoured him away from the area to avoid the frustration.

  Al had never made an attempt to move in that direction. Curious, she confronted him about his avoidance of that particular form of foreplay. He’d merely told her it wasn’t for him. She certainly wouldn’t force him, a
nd since her previous partner did it so poorly, part of her was relieved to not have to bother with the disappointment.

  She wanted this night to be perfect and she had no problem with orgasms through intercourse, so she veered him away from the area, not willing to take the chance on any sort of letdown this evening. She grabbed his arms and pulled him back up toward her mouth, then took his hand and guided it back down there. He responded, finding his way to her with ease. She moaned as he made contact. It’d been so long since a man had felt her there. His touch was brand new, like this was her real first time, even at her age.

  “You feel good,” he whispered in her ear, which released even more heat in her.

  He rubbed her right where she loved it, not on the spot, but just above it. The anticipation of the contact just below drove her even crazier than if he was touching her directly.

  He cupped her whole area with his thick hand and then slipped a finger inside of her, making her squirm. He easily found her spot, tickling it, making her grip his back hard. God in heaven did this man know what he was doing. She was afraid she wasn’t going to last long, and she wanted to save herself for him inside her.

  She tugged at his jeans. “Take these off.”

  “I was going to take my time with you.”

  “Please don’t.”

  He kissed her lips sweetly, and then moved off of her. Sitting on the side of the bed, he pulled off his jeans and boxers and then opened the drawer to his nightstand.

  “Wait, before you do that. Can I see you?” His body was ridiculous, and she didn’t know how many chances she was going to get to be with him. She wasn’t missing out on a thing.

  He gave her that grin of his. “What do you want to see?”

  “Lay down beside me,” she said through an uncontrollable smile.

  He turned to her, and her mouth dropped open. She reached for it, wrapping her hand around the bottom and easing up toward the tip. It took a while to get there.

  A jolt of excitement shot through her body, then realization set in. How was he going to get that thing inside of her? She raised both eyebrows. “I don’t even know what to say.”

  He chuckled. “Don’t be afraid of it.”