A Major Distraction (14 page)
Read A Major Distraction Online
Authors: Marie Harte
“Bobby wants to do you.” Olivia, blunt as always.
“So maybe I want to do him back.”
“You can do whatever—and whomever—you want.”
“Only you use ‘whom’ in regular talk. Seriously, Olivia. I know I’m lame, but you’re worse. When’s the last time you got laid?”
Olivia blushed and looked around.
“Easy. No one’s here but you and me.”
“My point was that you can have sex with anyone you want. Just do it because you want to, not to somehow be getting back at Mike. And before you say that’s stupid, I know you.”
Crap, she did. “It’s like you’re the left side of my brain. But I’m in your head too. So answer the question—when’s the last time you got laid?”
“I’m too busy to date. You know I have my five-year plan.”
“For Cava’s Java, I know. I’m there with you, girlfriend.” As a means of emotional support and manual labor when her friend opened her dream of a coffee shop in town. “I wish I had your drive. Is it bad I just want to find someone to love and settle down with? I want a family.” She was twenty-four, old enough to know what she didn’t want. No professional career to take up her free time. No backbreaking job that would force her to miss the sunset over the ocean, keep her from sharing high tea with her mom, or stop her from daily runs on the beach.
“No, it’s not bad. It’s good to know what you want. I’m so close, Maria. Just two more grand and I’m ready to hit the bank for a loan. Cava’s Java. I can almost see the sign out front.”
“I’m with you.” And planning to invest, though Olivia didn’t know that yet. The woman worked her tail off with two jobs and overtime to achieve her goals. Maria envied her that passion. Unfortunately, Maria had never had that kind of fervent desire for anything but Michael Cava. And now even that seemed to be waning.
“Come on. It’s just dinner. My mom and dad miss you.”
“Really? Because I had breakfast with them last weekend.”
“Yeah, but that was four days ago.” Olivia grinned. “Look, come to dinner. You’re over Mike, right? Dinner should be a no-brainer. We’ll have great food we don’t have to cook, a good time, and you can still go out with Bobby afterward.” Olivia’s sly smile gave Maria goose bumps. “Wouldn’t it be satisfying to let everyone know you have a date and you can’t stay? No waiting around for Mike or slobbering over his every move—”
“Hey.”
“—while you’re out with sexy Sergeant Bobby Thorn.”
She thought about it. “Hmm. You have a point.”
Olivia continued, “Besides, Brad will be at dinner, and he could use some friendly faces. He’s still getting over his bitchy ex-girlfriend.”
Maria had always had a soft spot for Olivia’s other older brother. “Well, for Brad, I guess. But I’m going out with Bobby after.” And if Bobby couldn’t make it, she’d call someone else. “Fine. What time?”
After a long run after work, followed by a well-deserved shower, Maria knocked once before walking into a house that might as well have been her own, for all the time she had spent in it growing up. Thick as thieves, she and Olivia did everything together. Everything except college. While Olivia finished attending classes to learn the world of finance, Maria worked longer hours at her mother’s store. She liked interacting with people. Most of the customers interested in crafting and quilting were women, many of them older ladies who loved nothing more than smiling and talking about quilting fabrics, yarn, and patterns.
For all that she enjoyed her work, though, it didn’t make meeting men any easier. In a Marine Corps town, she ran into them by the droves. Most were fun and nice enough, and she could tell the types just wanting a piece of ass from the nice boys wanting more. Fortunately, she’d met enough decent guys to have a thorough sex education under her belt. At the time, she’d thought she’d been developing skills to someday impress Mike. Now? Bah. Mike Schmike.
“Hello?” She followed the noise into the dining room and spotted Brad first. Like all the Cavas, the guy had looks. Tall, muscular, and wearing a grin that always had her smiling back. He had military-cropped black hair and whiskey-brown eyes that gleamed with amusement. So much for Olivia’s description of the man in mourning about his ex.
“Hey there. My favorite girl. Maria.” Brad opened his arms, and she flew into them. He swung her around with ease. “Do you even weigh a hundred pounds? It’s like holding a feather.”
“Bradley. You know better than to ask a girl her weight.” Elizabeth Cava chided her son as he set Maria down. “Hey, sweetie. Grab a pitcher of tea for me, would you?”
Always glad to help, Maria accepted the kiss on the cheek Elizabeth gave her and moved into the kitchen to fetch the tea. The heavenly scents of good old Southern home cooking filled the room. Fried chicken, corn on the cob, a nice salad, and there, her favorite. Elizabeth’s homemade slaw. She moved to grab the pitcher of tea and was nearly run over by a Mac truck.
“Whoa, sorry, honey.” Large, rough hands steadied her. “And who are—Maria Thompson?” Mike Cava—her crush/true love/adversary all balled up into one huge hunk of amazing.
Maria steadied her breath and pasted on a bland smile, giving lie to the racing of her pulse. “Oh, hey, Mike. Welcome back.” She grabbed the tea, winked, and left the kitchen.
Her heart refused to stop hammering. Well, shit. I’m not over him yet. Time to see Bobby, stat.
Find out more in A Major Seduction
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