“Okay,” he agreed. Maverick walked her to the door. He opened it for her and stepped outside with her.
Queen paused for a moment.
“You’re right. I know bad cops. I still can’t figure you out, but I don’t think you’re one of them.”
“Thank you,” he said.
“Time will tell,” she said and smiled.
“G’night Queen.”
“G’night Maverick.”
Maverick watched her go and closed the door.
DELILAH FROZE. IT WASN’T the weather that stopped her cold. It was what she saw. Just as she walked out of her back door, she spotted Queen. Her friend walked out of the front door of her guest house with Maverick. He paused on the porch, and the two spoke in a familiar way. Queen shrugged and smiled as if flirting. The sight of them confused and alarmed Delilah. Queen rarely smiled and flirted. She watched with her mouth gaping in shock as Queen went to her car.
“What the hell is going on?” she mumbled. Delilah closed her coat tight to brace the cold and hurried in her Ugg boots across the snow. Underneath her coat, all she wore was lingerie. She was going to surprise Maverick. Seduce him again for just a few hours and then sneak back into the house before the sun came up. Why was he meeting with Queen?
She pounded on the door with her fist. Maverick opened the door. “What the hell is going on? Why was Queen here?”
Chapter Eighteen
FOR THE LOVE OF FAMILY
“What are you and Queen meeting about!” Delilah’s nostrils flared with fury, and those lips he loved to lick were pursed tight with anger. Maverick’s gaze swept down her seductive appearance with curiosity. She arrived in an oversized man’s trench coat tightly belted around her waist. The coat swept the floor, and her boots tracked in melting snow. She’d straightened her hair but tucked it under a man’s fedora hat. She reminded him of the cartoon character Carmen Santiago. Did she do this dress-up routine for him? It was late. It had to be after midnight.
“Answer me, Maverick! I saw you too. Flirting!”
Maverick walked over to the kitchen table. On top was a forgotten page from the investigation into Delilah’s past. He hadn’t seen it before Queen left. He casually picked it up and balled it into a tightwad, and made a jump shot with it to the small trashcan near the patio door. He then dropped down in the chair.
She approached him with her hands placed on her hips. “When did you become friends? Huh? Tonight? What did you tell her? She knows we’re sleeping together, ya know? She saw us on the camera doing it!”
“Doing it? Doing what. Wait, what camera?” Maverick frowned.
“Don’t change the subject. Why was Queen here? You like her now? You friends with her now?”
“Why would I become her friend,” Maverick asked.
“I saw her smile at you. I saw it!” She pointed back at the door. “Queen doesn’t like you! She doesn’t smile!”
“You don’t want another woman to smile at me?” he asked.
“Huh? No. That’s not it. Queen doesn’t smile, I said.” Delilah crossed her arms before her. “And she doesn’t like you. You two have nothing to discuss unless you’re talking about me. I told you our secrets. Did you tell her what I told you?”
“Would Queen smile at me if I knew your secrets?” Maverick reasoned.
“Stop twisting my words,” Delilah took off her hat and tossed it to the chair. It landed upright. She paced with her hands on her hips in her husband’s coat that nearly covered her hands. Maverick sat in the chair, watching her. The idea of him undressing her with his mind almost made her forget her anger. It had hurt her feelings to see the same smile on his lips for Queen that he reserved for her. Why hurt often turned to fear of losing someone for her was a mystery to Delilah.
“What’s under the coat?” Maverick asked. The question and the look he gave her held a double meaning. Of course, he wasn’t going to answer the accusations she hurled at him. Maverick had proven since his arrival he wasn’t a man who could be chastised like she often did Charles. Second, he intended to end the fight and focus on her only. Delilah wouldn’t let him seduce her anger away, even if seduction was her intent. “You’re in my house. If you’re trying to play games with my friend and me, I’ll send you back to New York, and we’ll let the courts decide. How about that?”
“Take off the coat,” Maverick said. He rested the side of his face in his hand with his elbow propped on the table. His gaze dropped from her eyes to her shoulders, to her breasts, and then latched to the belt holding her coat tightly closed.
“No,” Delilah said.
“I thought I wasn’t going to see you again tonight. You come back for me?” Maverick asked.
“No. I saw you and Queen, so I came to see what you two were up too—”
“Then prove me wrong because I think what’s under that coat is for me. Take it off. Please.” Delilah moved in closer, and Maverick grabbed the belt to pull her in. Delilah kept her arms folded while she pouted, and Maverick brought them down.
“I’m glad you came back. I needed to see you again tonight,” Maverick said.
“You sure, because I can always call Queen back?” Delilah said.
Maverick shook his head, smiling. “You really are jealous?”
“Of course not,” she replied.
He kissed her hand. “You don’t ever have to be jealous of me.”
She felt compelled to question her feelings for him. Were her emotions all about sex? Because sex with him was something, she couldn’t go a single night without.
“You want to know why she came?” Maverick asked as he unbuckled her coat and admired her body. Delilah smoothed his hair over the top of his head.
“For you. To protect you. From me. Do you want to know what I told her?” Maverick asked after he pressed a kiss to her navel.
Delilah nodded. And she did.
“I told her she didn’t have to protect you. That’s my job now. I’m the one falling in love with you. But you aren’t easy. Are you Dee?”
“You said that to Queen?” Delilah asked. Maverick didn’t answer. He parted her coat. She’d chosen something she knew he’d like. A scarlet red bra and panty set of all lace revealed her nipples and the dark strip of hair over the lips of her sex. She wore a garter belt with stockings. He stared at her body as if he were photographing her with his eyes. She was right. This was what he wanted.
“Am I a hard woman to get to know, to trust Maverick?” she asked.
Maverick ran his hands down her thighs. “You overthink everything, Delilah. I’m a hard man to trust and know. We all are.” He looked up into her eyes. “It’s because we’re human. And now I know I owe your friend a better explanation. I’ll have to call her back to give her one.”
“For what?” she asked with alarm in her voice.
“I was wrong. I’m not falling in love. I already am.” He let his hands go up both thighs to reach around to squeeze both butt cheeks, and he pulled her in between his legs. He pressed a kiss to her navel and then pushed his nose into it. Maverick then turned his head and pressed the side of his face to her stomach.