Page 54 of Trust Issues
“I do not. I have high standards because it forces men to either rise to the occasion or get out of my way for someone worthy. I don’t want to have to build a man from the ground up. I’m not build-a-bear.”
“I didn’t say having standards was wrong. I said yours are so high for a reason.”
“Whatever, Max. Stop acting like you know me inside and out.” I realized I walked right into a verbal trap and winced at how easy it was for him to cut me off at the knees.
He didn’t though.
He did give me an arrogant smirk that said more than enough, however. I flipped him off and he shrugged. I walked into that one too.
Dammit, Kyla.
“You make it so easy, baby.” He did that deep laugh that made my toes tingle and my belly feel weird. It was getting harder and harder to ignore the feelings he set loose inside of me.
“Baby? Did I sign up to be your baby, Maxwell Parker? I thought we were just friends with benefits.”
“We’re friends with benefits who go out on dates. So you did sign up to be my baby. You’ll be my baby tonight…” he grabbed my waist then kissed my cheek and I giggled. I fucking giggled. “You’ll be my baby tomorrow night. The night after that and after that.”
“I didn’t sign up for this.” I let out a yelp when he slapped my ass then I looked around to make sure nobody saw. I didn’t know who I was fooling though. I wouldn’t have cared if anyone did see. I liked being around Max and I would have to start being real with myself. There was no sense in bullshitting.
We spent forty-five minutes outside playing with Barks until we all got tired and the poor puppy needed some water and a nap. When we walked back into the building, Mark turned toward his computer and pretended to magically become engrossed in his work again.
Max paused at the desk and chuckled, “Look man, I don’t know what she said to you but I promise you won’t turn to stone if you look at her.”
“Not taking any chances,” Mark replied shaking his head.
“Whatever, Mark. Don’t try to act scared now. You should be used to looking at stone. I’ve seen the type of women you flirt with.” My quip made him break eye contact with the computer to glare at me and I smiled.
“See?” He grunted at Max.
“See what? You still adore me. Deal with it. You know I’m just fucking around with you.”
“Hey, hey! I came at just the right time.” Cadence walked up behind me carrying a bag of snacks that I gladly took from her grasp.
“What’s up, Cadence?” Max nodded at her. “I’m sorry Kyle is rude. Being raised by wolves is tough. She has to integrate seamlessly into human society.”
“You two still go at it like that even though you’re…” I held my finger up and looked at her with enough heat to melt all the metal in the building.
“Don’t you dare say it,” I warned.
“What?” She gave me a big smile and I scoffed at her.
“I don’t know why you’re still in denial in public. You’re certainly not in denial in private.” Max tugged on my locs and my body pulsed remembering how he made me tremble and shake not too long ago.
“Ooh…girl.” Cadence shook her head and pushed the button for the elevator. We all rode up quipping back and forth at each other until we reached the eighth floor.
The minute Cadence walked in, Naima appeared seemingly out of thin air with a smile so sweet it may as well have been stuck to her face with candy. I let Barkley off his leash and Max fed him. I couldn’t help fucking with Cadence and Naima. I stared at them with a knowing grin until it was uncomfortable.
“Why are you looking at us like that? You’re such a creep,” Naima said, rolling her eyes. She still couldn’t fight that smile though.
I took the bag of snacks into the kitchen and started digging through it. I saw chips and salsa, a bottle of Patron and—most importantly—a bag of all pink Starbursts. I let out an audible gasp because I clearly hit the friend jackpot with that girl.
“You must have gotten her starbursts,” Max said highly unimpressed.
“I did. I know how to make Kyla happy.”
“I bet you know how to makeNaimahappy too, huh?” I said, poking my head around the corner. I had to get a look at the expression on both Naima and Cadence’s faces when I said it. The words landed as expected.
Both of them went wide-eyed with their mouths agape. I sauntered around the corner with my smile widening every second. I don’t know how long they thought they would hide their budding relationship from me.
