Page 3 of Maid in America

Barrett nodded and glanced at the intoxicated man hovering in her personal space. His posture straightened, and he cast a threatening glance despite the casual smile spread across his mouth. “Nice to meet you.”

“Mark is in tractor sales. Isn’t that fun, honey?” she asked. She motioned to the leathery fifty-something in a white Stetson, plaid shirt pulled taut over his protruding gut.

Barrett stared down into her stunning eyes. “Baby, don’t settle for table scraps when you got prime rib right here.”

“Pfft. Fuckin’cocktease.” The bedraggled man grumbled, waving her away. Then, he looked at Barrett like he wanted a fight. “Who the fuck you callin’ ‘table scraps,’ asshole?!”

Barrett flexed, standing rigid and ready to pulverize the man. He stepped toward him, hovering nearly a foot taller. “Mark, was it? Mark, if you so much aslookin my woman’s direction again, I will hit you so fucking hard, you’ll shit your own molars.”

Barrett’s heart raced excitedly at the notion, at the familiar, invigorating feeling of his knuckles colliding violently with a man’s skin and bone, sweet pain radiating back through his extremities. His hands twitched, fingers aching to ball into fists.

The man gritted his teeth and swatted the air between them. “Ain’t about to catch a case over some dumb cunt like her. You can keep her.”

Normally, Barrett would have given chase, dragged the old man out to the parking lot, and made him eat a curb. But tonight, he wanted to stay with the alluring temptress, the one trying to hide her gorgeous smile with a cupped hand.

As the man disappeared into the crowd, she broke into giggles.

Barrett looked down and smiled. “You like the idea of an old man getting his ass put in the ICU over you?”

She looked Barrett up and down, taking all of him in for the first time. He was all too aware of that look. The lust, the stunned amazement, his muscular frame stoking flames of red hot heat that always seemed to flush women’s cheeks.

But she seemed…different. She seemed like someone whose smile could not be easily forgotten when the morning sun arose, and the flattering haze of beer goggles had lifted. Hers was a face he wanted to memorize, a rare gem among a shoreline of pebbles, eyes sparkling with a brilliance that made time stand still.

“You got a name?” he finally managed, staring, lost in the allure of her velvet lips. He could picture himself parting them with his tongue and suddenly wondered what flavor of gloss she wore.

She smiled, one infused with a tempting mixture of mischief and chaos. “Aphrodite.”

He rubbed his fingers through the neatly shorn stubble on his chin. “Either your parents have an odd sense of humor, or you’re screwing with me.”

She shrugged and smiled playfully. “Maybe it’s my name. Maybe it isn’t. Either way, it keeps things exciting.”

“Well,Aphrodite,” he said mockingly, “if that ugly prick bothers you again, come find me.”

She laughed. The sound was pure and sweet, something he wanted to make her again.

And again…

“Barrett, right?” She stuffed her hands into her back pockets. “I overheard someone call you that a few minutes ago.”

Her wicked grin made heat bloom through his groin, hardening his cock as he wrapped one of her rainbow-colored curls around a rough finger. “Oh, it’sAdonis,actually.”

Her breath caught as Barrett’s knuckle grazed her cheek. She swallowed hard, losing some of her steely resolve. He waited for her to shy away from his hand, but she leaned against it instead. “Mighty high opinion of yourself.”

He leaned down and brushed his lips against her ear. “Can’t you see, Aphrodite? You and me… it’sfate.”

She chuckled and crossed her arms over her breasts.

“Right. Well,Adonis, thank you for helping me ditch that guy.” She patted her palm on his chest, shocked by the marble-hard muscle beneath his shirt. She resisted the desire to let her eyes widen in shock, to ruin the cool facade she’d established. “Enjoy the rest of your night.”

“Alright.” A pang of disappointment plummeted down into the pit of Barrett’s stomach.

“Stay away from wild boars,” she joked.

He scrunched his brows. “Excuse me?”

She replied with a laugh. “You must not know your Greek mythology very well.”

“You got me there.” He licked his bottom lip and forced a laugh as she waltzed backward toward rows of line dancers. “See you around, Aphrodite.”

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