Page 22 of March 5

Maverick returned to the counter. "You truly are an asshole if you think that."

Leery of asking Skye's dad what he meant by throwing his own words back at him, he dropped the subject of Skye and concentrated on filling the next box.

But keeping busy only stopped the conversations with Maverick. Keeping his hands busy failed to shut off his thoughts; his head worked overtime.

Despite trying not to think of Skye naked in his bathroom, he'd thought of a hundred ways he could fuck her.

Chapter Eleven

Mariah grabbed the collar of Skye's crop top and pulled, ripping the cotton material six inches down her chest. "Totally legit."

Skye rearranged the material. "I look like one of the bitches at the clubhouse."

"Good." Mariah tilted Skye's face and applied more eyeliner. "Like the bitches, we don't have time or money to go buy different clothes, so we're going to chill and use what we have."

"Dio will see straight through me and laugh his ass off," she muttered.

Mariah stepped back, studied her up and down, and smiled. "I'd bang you."

"You wouldn't, but I love you for saying that." She inhaled deeply. "If I'm going to do this, I better go before he takes off for the clubhouse."

She'd gone by his house an hour ago to make sure he was there before rushing to the apartment to get ready. After that morning with the shower fiasco and screwing up her big plan to seduce him, she wasn't sure he'd welcome her back to give him a massage and do his exercises.

Mariah grabbed a perfume bottle. "Walk."

She stepped through the spray of scented mist. "Wish me luck."

"You won't need any." Mariah followed her through the apartment and to the door. "Balls to thewall, girlfriend."

"Ew." She waved over her head before she chickened out and hurried toward the stairs.

Mrs. Homola from Apartment 4 stopped on the top step and gasped. Skye's face warmed. She understood what she looked like.

"Costume party." Skye smiled widely, lying through her teeth. "Have a good evening, Mrs. Homola."

"Put some clothes on before you get arrested."

She waved over her head and kept going. At her car, a chill ran through her. The night air had already pushed the heat of the day away. She started her car and turned the heater on. Most of the goosebumps on her body came from her hesitation to go through with her plan.

Dio expected her to come over morning and night for a while until his back felt better—at least he had until he walked in on her naked in the shower. She wouldn't be surprised if he went back on his opinion of wanting a massage.

That's why she couldn't give him time to overthink the situation.

Showing up in cutoffs that showed the bottom of her butt cheeks every time she walked, a top that highlighted the swell of her breasts in a black bra, and heavy dark makeup on her face was supposed to throw Dio off balance. She wasn't his Skye tonight. She was a woman. A woman who'd waited a lifetime to show Dio how much she loved him.

She stopped at the one stoplight between her apartment and Dio's house. Looking in the rearview mirror, she rubbed her lips together. The tinted glosshad plumped her mouth into a kissable size.

A car honked behind her. She startled and put her foot on the pedal, shooting off through the intersection. She looked behind her and blew out her breath. Her heart raced at how reckless she'd become in her pursuit of Dio. She needed to pay attention.

The steering wheel moved. She looked down at her dash. Why was her car moving like that?

She looked at the road. There were no bumps.

A vibration came from the front of her car. She looked behind her and put on her turn signal, pulling off to the side of the road.

As soon as she stopped on the gravel shoulder, the car sounded okay.

She turned off the engine and opened the car door. Instantly, she spotted the problem. The front tire was flat.