I groaned and rubbed my hand down my face. “This can’t be real. You’re making this up.”

She burst into laughter and yelled through it, “I swear it’s true! I swear on your giant mangina!”

Scowling, I grabbed my cock through my jeans, mentally telling it to block its ears. “Hey, now! We talked about this. I do not want that word associated with my penis. He’s sensitive.”

When her laughter gentled to a mild chuckle, she sighed. “I’m sorry, Quinn. But I really do love that word. Anyways, so she leaves and my boss explains that was his ex-wife, and the reason he had to take the bus was because she got his cars as part of the divorce settlement. So then I asked why she hates him so much and…”

I choked on a laugh. “Why would you even ask that?”

Maya smothered down a giggle. “God, I don’t even know. I’m socially awkward. You should know this, so I’ll tell you…I don’t really have a filter. But that’s beside the point! He answered me.”

This girl was killing me. “Oh, man, you’re a socially awkward woman who asks inappropriate questions, and your bus-taking boss is an over-sharer. Geez. You’re a match made in heaven.”

“I know, right?” She gentled her voice to a whisper, as if she was telling me a secret. “He told me he cheated on her!”

“What. The. Fuck?” That was all I could manage. Where the hell was Maya working to have this much drama on day one?

Sounding excited and pleased with her story-telling abilities, she stated a happy, “I know!” Then she sighed contently. “I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.”

I smiled with affection, even though she couldn’t see it. “You’re adorable.”

She paused a moment, and I thought she would end the call, but instead she replied with, “You don’t know that. I could be a total troll.”

I nodded. “You could, but I don’t think you are. Are you?” Yes, I was digging for more information on this unknown woman who had occupied my mind for the last week. I needed to know more.

Her smile came through in her teasing voice. “I guess you’ll find out on Sunday. Please excuse the big, hairy wart on my nose. I’m seeing a specialist about it.”

I grinned. “That’s okay. I can shave it for you. You know? If that’s your thing.”

She chuckled then added in a husky voice, “Ooh, stop it. You’re turning me on.”

My brow creased. I was curious, and that was never a good thing. I told myself the question I was about to ask was purely for professional reasons. That Maya would be my client, and in order to do my job, I needed the facts.

I was lying to myself.

“What turns you on, Maya?” I heard her squeak, and mentally scolded myself for being so blunt. Before she could say goodbye and hang up, I went on, “Listen, this is just us talking, remember? We’re friends, aren’t we? If it helps, I can tell you what turns me on?”

I was hoping that would work.

I was right. It did.

In a small, anxious voice, she uttered slowly, “O-okay. A question for a question, right? You tell me and I’ll tell you.”

Yeah, that’s right. Come to Papa.

Sitting up against the headboard of my bed, I cleared my throat and started, “Okay, good.” Then I thought hard. “Let’s see. Well, I really love watching a woman eat. Especially if it’s something sweet.”

Sounding breathless, she waited for me to continue, but I simply smirked. She asked a hushed, “What else?”

Gotcha.

I shook my head and tsked. “No. That’s not how this works. What if I tell you all I’ve got then you decide you don’t want to tell me anything? For insurance sake, I ask that we reveal one thing at a time.” She made a growling noise and I tried to hide my laughter, but was doing a pretty crappy job of it. “C’mon, Maya. Let me in. Give me a damn inch, woman!”

She sighed and I could her the frustration in her voice. My heart panged at how real that frustration sounded. “You’re just going to make fun of me.”

I sobered in an instant. “Really? You think I’d do that?”

Then she just sounded sad. “No. But you’ll be thinking about it.”

Something about this girl had me wanting to protect her, and it sparked something inside of me I’d never experienced before. “I don’t know who made you feel like this or why, but I swear to God, if you told me who they were, I’d track down every single one of those assholes and feed them my fist.”

O-kay…‘cause that wasn’t creepy or anything.

Her silence told me she thought my passionate statement was as weird as I thought it was. But then she spoke. “Wow. That was probably the nicest empty threat anyone has ever made for me.”

I wanted to tell her the threat wasn’t empty, but instead rubbed the back of my heating neck as I muttered a partially embarrassed, “Yeah, well, I’m a little protective of my friends.”

She coughed then blurted out, “I really like watching a man’s throat work when he drinks. Especially if he’s really thirsty.”

My brows rose. Who knew something so simple could be a turn on for a woman? In order to keep our conversation moving along, I told her, “I love the dimples on a woman’s lower back. You know? Just above the butt? Love ‘em.”

She admitted, “I love a man’s smile. Not the fake ones to be pleasant with company, but the real ones that come after they’ve laughed hard.”

I smiled then. A real one. “I love when a woman wears white underwear.”

As if she’d said it without thinking, she muttered a husky, “I’m wearing white underwear.” Then she added a mortified, groaned, “Oh, tell me I didn’t just say that, Quinn.” I took that as permission to laugh. She uttered, “See? Can’t take me anywhere.”

I shushed her then ordered, “Don’t think you’ll distract me with your feminine wiles. Save your sex sorcery for our meeting, wench. C’mon, give me another one.”

She puffed out a breath. “Yeah, yeah.” Then she paused a moment, taking a second before responding quietly, “You know that thing you have? That trail of hair from your belly button to your…um…yeah.” She whispered, “I really like that.”

That pleased me a whole fucking lot. I looked down at the evident bulge in my jeans. I needed to calm the fuck down. I barely choked out, “Good. That’s good. I think we’ve made progress today, Maya. You did good.”

Her voice quiet, she reminded me, “You’ve got to go.” I grunted in confusion. She added an amused, “Your appointment. You’ve got to go, right?”

That brought me back down-to-earth with a jarring jolt. I had a client in less than an hour. If I didn’t hurry, I’d be running late. I jumped off the bed and rushed out, “Shit, yeah, I do. Thanks for reminding me.”

“You’re welcome, Quinn. Talk soon?”

The soft lilt of her voice made me want to yell ‘fuck it’ and stay talking to her all damn night, but I couldn’t. I had a job. Responsibilities. Trying not to sound like an over-excited puppy, I stated, “Tomorrow. If you’re free again, call me tomorrow.”

I heard that smile of hers as she said, “Tomorrow’s good.”

“Have a good night, Maya.”

“You too, Quinn.”

I thought twice before adding, “Sweet dreams, babe,” but said it anyway. Before she could say anything in return, I disconnected the call then got ready for my client. But I thought about Maya.

I thought about her the whole damn night.

Chapter Fourteen

Mia

My day passed relatively quickly. I couldn’t believe Ella, Pip, and I managed to organize a charity event from top to bottom in only two days, but that was why we worked for Addison Ltd. We were good.

After my meeting with Nicholas the morning prior, I was called into the office of Addison Dietrich. It surprised me an awful lot that she still carried her ex-husbands last name. But then, that wasn’t my business.