Two Minutes (Seven Series Book 6) (5 page)

“Why don’t you go home?” he said sullenly.

“Because I don’t know where home is.” Tears burned my eyes and I clenched my teeth, refusing to give in to my emotional outburst.

Nadia pulled out a silver compact and began checking the makeup she’d lacquered onto her face.

Something flickered in Denver’s expression—an emotion I couldn’t read. “I’m sorry about this, Nadia. Maybe I better drive you home.”

She stroked his bicep and gave it a squeeze. “Sounds perfect. We can just leave my car at your house and pick it up in the morning.”

My stomach lurched, and two words raced through my head:
my
Denver.

When a smile touched his lips, I lost it. “Someday I’m going to be dead and you’re going to regret the way you treated me.”

When I turned to walk off, he flew out of his seat and caught my arm. “Maizy, wait. Look, I’m sorry, but I’ve got a date here and this is just awkward as fuck. You show up unexpectedly and now you’re drunk. Since when did you start drinking?”

When I faced him, my anger broke into pieces. “I just wanted to talk to you. Without all the walls and the drama. You were more than my watchdog; you were my best friend. But what was I to you?”

Denver’s hand curled around the back of my neck and he pressed a soft kiss to my head. “Don’t cry.”

As I began to lean into him, Nadia wedged between us. “I hate to break up the reunion, but I think we better leave.”

When I stepped back, the distance created a magnetic pull. I felt it, but I was doubtful that Denver did.

“Go home, Maze. Sleep off some of that jet lag, and you’ll feel different about all this in the morning.”

Nadia led him away with a tug of his hand. Denver didn’t seem like the type of man a woman like her would go for. He liked to hang around the house, snack on junk food, play horseshoes, and sometimes jump in the lake. Naya couldn’t have paired two people who were more opposite.

But maybe opposites really do attract.

Denver sat on the edge of Nadia’s white sofa, afraid of getting it dirty.
His mind was reeling and had been since earlier that day when he’d first realized the beautiful woman standing in their foyer was Maizy.

Even though the pack had taken pictures on their visits to Europe, looking at the photos had been too difficult, so he usually gave them just a cursory glance. It was as if she’d blossomed into a woman overnight—hardly recognizable from the child he’d once known, outside of her dimples and light blue eyes. Those were the only familiar markers to him; everything else belonged to someone he didn’t know.

“Would you like something to eat?” Nadia called out from the kitchen. “I have a little lamb left over from last night.”

“Your name wouldn’t happen to be Mary, would it?”

“Pardon?”

Denver stared at a massive curio cabinet filled with expensive-looking figurines. “Chips, if you got any. Anything with cheese.”

A moment later, Nadia entered the living room with a small tray of cheese. Not just mild cheddar, but the gourmet shit, all sliced up. She set the silver tray on the coffee table and put her hands on her hips. “I don’t know why you took your shoes off.”

Denver glanced down at his white socks, realizing he had a hole in the toe. “Habit. Didn’t want to track any dirt on your floor.”

Without warning, she climbed onto Denver’s lap and pushed him back, straddling him. “Mmm, I like a dirty man,” she whispered against his ear before nibbling on the lobe. Her tongue did things that made a shiver creep down his spine.

Denver immediately grew hard.

“Slow down, honeypie. Don’t you want to watch TV or something?”

She giggled against his neck and her hot breath made him tense up. “I don’t own a television. Is that what you normally do on a date? No wonder…” Then her mouth began sucking the skin on his neck.

Denver pushed her off him. “No wonder
what?
”

Nadia wiped the lipstick that had smeared across her chin. “Naya told me that you come off as a player, but you don’t actually…
play
. Don’t worry. I like my men on the reserved side. No one wants a car that’s been driven by everyone in town.”

“What the hell gives you the impression I’m reserved?” Denver shook his head. He was anything but shy.

She walked her middle and index fingers up his leg. “Because I’m over here and you’re over there?”

“Maybe I like the game of seduction,” he said, which was a lie. Denver either got down to it or he didn’t at all. The assertive women were often the ones who turned him off, and usually he’d split before they made it to the bed. That seemed to go against the grain of male instinct among Shifters.

“I appreciate a man with high standards, and I’m sure that’s why you’re so selective.”

Nadia stood up in front of him and turned around, giving him a full view of her backside. Denver stretched his arms on either side of the sofa, watching with curiosity. She reached around and slowly unzipped her dress until it revealed the fine curve of her spine. With a soft whisper of the delicate fabric, it slipped off her shoulders and fell to the floor.

He should have stayed hard, but it was as if the direction of his blood had been thrown into reverse. When she turned around, she lowered her arms unabashedly, revealing her magnificent breasts and small, brown nipples. His eyes were drawn to her belly ring, and he wondered why a woman would want her navel pierced.

“Why don’t you touch me and we’ll do this nice and slow?”

He leaned forward, feeling skittish. “We barely know each other.”

She reached for his hand and placed it on her warm thigh. “This is all you need to know. We’re both too old to be playing cat and mouse.”

When she let go of his hand, he held it there as if it were glued. “Are you looking for a mate?”

Nadia leaned forward until her bare breasts brushed against his face. “I’m looking for a man who will pleasure me—a companion who will treat me like a lady.” Her fingers curled in his hair and…

All he could think about was Maizy.
What the fuck?
He just left her alone at the bar… drunk. Sure, she was with the pack, but the protective watchdog instinct had resurfaced tenfold since she’d walked back into his life. And here he was, sitting on a plush sofa with award-winning breasts mashed against his face, and the only thing he wanted to do was get his ass back to Howlers.

“Want me to keep the heels on or off?” she purred, beginning to climb aboard the Denver Express again. The only problem was the train wasn’t moving out of the station because it had run out of steam.

He gently pushed her back. “Wait a second.” He rose to his feet and looked down, unable to ignore all the nudity presented before him like a gift from the gods. “Look, you’re sexy as hell, but you’re a bag of nuts if you think I’m going to fuck you on that white sofa.”

She gripped his shirt. “Then let’s go to my bedroom.”

“You don’t even know me.”

“Do you appraise all your dates like a future bride? We had a stimulating conversation tonight. We get along, and you can’t deny it. Our personalities blend well, so who knows what will happen? I just want to see if the chemistry is there. Why drag this out for a week or a month when we can find out immediately if there’s passion between us?”

Her lips touched his and melted into a sensual kiss, one that awakened the man in him. His arms curved around her and felt the nakedness of her body. Need filled him—consumed him, as it had been so long since he’d last been with a woman.

“You were so eager at the bar,” she whispered. “Just give in. Stop thinking and do what your body wants. I need you inside me.”

He lifted her by the waist and headed toward the hall.

“Mmm, I love a wolf who takes charge in the bedroom.”

“We’re not there yet,” he said with an amused arch of his brow. When his phone rang, a curse flew past his lips.

“Ignore it.” She nibbled his ear and his pace slowed.

“Dammit, I can’t. It might be an emergency.” Denver let go and Nadia hopped to the floor, her brown eyes narrowing as she watched him pull his phone out. He checked the text message coming in and felt an unfamiliar knot tightening in his stomach.

Maizy: I’m going home with someone too.

Was she messing with his head? He gripped the back of Nadia’s neck and tugged her forward, planting a hard kiss on her mouth. One filled with all the passion he’d been restraining. She moaned beneath his lips, sending blood rushing to his…

Dammit
.

He pulled out his phone and dialed Austin.

“Yeah?”

“Aus, it’s Denver. Is everyone home?”

Austin chuckled and turned down the radio, which was playing some Kings of Leon song. “Lexi and I bailed on everyone to go parking. Let me call you back, brother. I’m a little
busy
.” Before the line went dead, Denver heard the gentle tap of a car horn.

When Nadia tried to take his phone, he angled away from her.

Next try: William.

“Greetings, packmate,” William said peevishly. “Something I can help you with?”

“Is everyone still at the bar? Austin said he headed out already.”

“Everyone went home except for Maizy and Naya. Something about girl talk, and they banished all the men from their table.”

Before Denver knew it, he was pacing.
Girl talk, his ass
. Naya probably set her up with one of the men at the bar. Ever since she started her matchmaking service and had a few success stories, she’d gotten a little full of herself. Most of her clients were happy, so Denver thought he’d give it a whirl. Couldn’t hurt. At least, not by the looks of the nude woman leaning against the wall in front of him and playing with her nipples.

“Thought you were busy playing Russian roulette?” William asked. “Did you run out of bullets?”

As much as Denver wanted to slide in a joke about two being aimed right at him, he kept a straight face. “Did you happen to notice when you left the bar that Maizy was tanked?”

“As I seem to recall, she’s an adult.”

Dickwad
. William was egging him on for some demented reason. Then again, so was Maizy. Denver had always given Maizy his full attention, except at parties when he had to get his mingle on. Then her mood would switch into that of a jealous child who wasn’t the center of attention. Or at least, his attention. Maybe some habits never went away.

Nadia sauntered out of the hall and gave him a moment of privacy.

Denver lowered his voice and faced the wall. “Do me a favor and call Naya. Make sure they got home safely. I can’t believe you numbskulls left them at the bar to get drunk.”

William sighed. “Naya is a responsible woman who knows how to call a cab. Try not to be too concerned. Maizy’s not likely to attract trouble in the bar with Rosie around, even though she’s scintillating. Did you notice how her blue eyes carry a different luster than they used to? It’s as if someone threw glitter into the summer sky. I never thought a woman with dimples could be so… stunning. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Denver hung up.

Nadia reappeared—fully dressed—and handed Denver his shoes. “Let’s do this again when you’re not so distracted by pack drama.”

“After all this, you want to go out with me again.” It was a statement of disbelief more than a question.

“I love your boyish charm. Drive me back to your house so I can retrieve my car.” She turned around, revealing her flawless back. “Do me a favor and zip me up.”

“I can always bring the car by tomorrow.”

Nadia laughed quietly. “The night is young, and what would I do with myself sitting around the house with a plate of cheese and a bottle of wine? There’s a club I frequent when I want to unwind and have a good meal. Naya thought we might get along because we’re both night owls, and I’m looking for a different kind of man than the ones I’ve been unfortunate enough to date.”

Denver brushed her blond hair to the side and pulled her zipper all the way up, cringing when it got caught on the fabric. He was already going through his mental checklist, trying to find out what was wrong with Nadia. Why had she gotten naked with him so quickly? Maybe that wasn’t exactly a flaw, but she was about to go to the club without him. He obviously had no claim on her, but it made him wonder how much he could trust her.

It could have been a perfectly sexual evening, and now he was going home to face the firing squad of brotherly judgment. Coming home early was like getting on a bullhorn and announcing he hadn’t gotten laid, so he was going to have to be elusive about how their date had gone. Guys judged each other on that kind of shit; it just went with the territory.

Then his mind drifted to Maizy and that knot reappeared in his stomach.
She better have gone home with Naya
.