Can he feel it? Does he know?
It was impossible to tell. His hand stayed on hers for a few seconds more, and when he finally let go, Pilar sighed with relief but almost cried out with disappointment at the same time.
Don’t stop touching me!
Maverick leaned back, his eyes still deep and intense as if there were hidden depths to this man she had to discover. His scent was filling her nose again, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to think straight when he was this close to her.
“Really, thank you,” he said with feeling.
“My pleasure,” Pilar breathed, trying to control herself. The words were supposed to come out as a platonic declaration of societal convention … but instead, they had been whispered on a hot breath through wet lips as if the two of them were already lovers.
CHAPTERFOUR
MAVERICK
Maverick took his hand back swiftly after the soft touch to Pilar’s fingers. At the time, he had just wanted to thank her for comforting him, but the briefest touch of her skin was far more intense than what he had expected it to be.
He looked down at his plate, waiting for the moment to pass by. He wasn’t so sure that it would. Pilar was one of the most interesting people he had ever met … as well as being the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
When he looked up, Pilar was finishing off a piece of steak, looking completely calm and at ease. He might have imagined the intensity of the moment. After all, he was just a skinny nerd, and she was a tornado of sexuality wrapped up in lethal combat gear.
He watched her eat, loving the way she enjoyed her food without worrying about how she looked. Pilar had sauce around her lips and all over her fingers and hadn’t bothered to wipe it off yet, even as she moved on to the fries and steamed green beans. He decided that he didn’t mind having bad guys after him since it meant a beautiful woman was moving in with him too.
He looked away again, focusing on anything except her. She would never be interested in him. He was a smart guy, and he knew how the world worked. She needed someone as active and dangerous as she was … not to mention hot. For the moment, though, he could let himself dream.
It was hard not to, knowing she was going to be this close to him for an undetermined length of time. He found himself hoping they might have trouble tracking these guys, then he might get locked up with her forever.
He let his eyes slip to look at her again. She was staring straight ahead, obviously thinking about something and not paying him much attention. She was so aloof that he knew she had barely even noticed him.
I’m probably boring the hell out of her. Why didn’t I ever take up rappelling or something? At least I’d have something to talk about and a few dangerous experiences under my belt.
Maverick shook his head and started picking up plates and cardboard cartons. He might as well clean up … that was something his soft, lily-white hands knew how to do.
As he headed into the kitchen with the first armload of trash and dishes, he turned and was surprised to see Pilar right behind him, her arms full. She put the trash on the counter and the plates in the sink, turning on the water, and grabbed detergent.
“That’s okay,” he said. “I was going to handle it.”
“No, it’s fine,” she answered, barely looking up.
“I just … you don’t seem like the domestic type.”
Pilar laughed heartily. She tossed her gorgeous, long blonde hair as she turned to face him. Her smile was so beautiful and deadly that it felt like she had punched him in the chest.
“What?” she giggled. “You think I live in a pig pen? Or do you think I’ve got someone at home who cleans up all my messes for me? That’s it, isn’t it? You think I have a house-husband!”
Maverick’s blood went cold as if his poor, love-struck heart had stopped beating. He’d never considered that she might be married. She didn’t wear a ring, so he’d assumed she was single.
He walked slowly toward the sink where Pilar had started washing the dishes and took one from her, rubbing it with a towel. He didn’t trust himself to speak … not that he could think of a single thing to say.
“No one takes care of me,” Pilar went on as if he hadn’t just had a world-shattering moment and dropped out of the conversation in real-time. “I take care of my baby sister.”
“Baby sister?” he echoed. The idea of Pilar taking care of a baby was even crazier than her having a husband.
I’d prefer the baby, though, to be honest …
Pilar laughed even harder. “She isn’t a baby. She always will be to me, though. She’s nineteen. I’ve taken care of her by myself since I was sixteen … so, yeah, nearly ten years. I never really thought about it before, but it’s a long time, huh?”
“Yeah,” he agreed, taking the dishes from her and stacking them. “You really looked after her all by yourself?”