Fantasized by You Read online

  I laughed and moved back into position so that I was towering over her. For the next hour, I massaged her from head to toe while we listened to Shinedown, Breaking Benjamin and more music from The Black Keys. I focused on her arms and shoulders before moving down her back. She asked me questions about how I became a personal trainer and how Jones Jym came about, and I answered them. I found more tattoos all over her body. She was still as I worked the knots and muscles of her back, but when I got down to her legs she flinched.

  “Something wrong?” I asked, taking my hands off of her.

  “No,” she said tensely.

  I worked my fingers into the backs of her calves and she flinched again, but this time, I heard her stifle a laugh.

  Aha. She’s ticklish.

  And because I wanted to hear her laugh even louder, I dug my fingers in to the back of her calves again and proceeded to drive her crazy. She laughed out loud and wiggled beneath my touch, and I was thankful she couldn’t see the effect she had on me. Her laugh had instantly climbed to the top of my list of favorite things. It was sweet and sexy all at the same time, which only made me want to continue torturing her.

  “Mav!” she said breathlessly, swatting my hands away. “Please, stop! That tickles!”

  “Okay, okay,” I laughed. “Ticklish behind the calves. Good to know.” Instead, I grabbed one of her feet and started to rub, and she relaxed back into the table. When I was finished with her feet, I moved back up to her head. I removed the elastic band from her long brown hair and ran my fingers along her scalp and massaged. Her hair was still a little damp and yet it still felt so soft running through my hands, and the smell of berries was even stronger; it had to come from her shampoo. After finishing with her scalp, I pulled her hair back up into a bun and she eyed me playfully.

  “What?” I asked, shrugging my shoulders. “Elly didn’t learn how to do a ponytail until she was ten.”

  “Really?” she laughed, running her hands over her head.

  “Pathetic, I know.” I walked over to the lights and turned them back on full. “Okay, my hour’s up. Don’t forget to grab your music. I’ll let you get dressed and meet you in the lobby.”

  “Sounds good,” she said, sitting up.

  I left the room, desperately wishing I could’ve stayed and watched her get dressed. She had a great fucking body, and I wanted nothing more than to admire it all day long. But instead, I returned all the oils to the supply closet and washed my hands. I gathered my keys and my phone and slipped them into my pockets just as Harper joined me in the lobby.

  This time she had on a gray hoodie and matching yoga pants. She slid her gym bag over her arm and smiled at me. “Thanks again, Maverick, for the massage. It was really nice.”

  I walked over to her, pulling my hoodie on as I walked, and when I poked my head through the hood, I pulled the material down around my waist and smiled back at her. She stood only a few inches away from me, and I so badly wanted to reach out and touch her. I couldn’t let her leave without knowing when I’d see her again. “Have dinner with me tomorrow night.”

  “What?” she asked, blushing at my blatant request.

  “Would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow night?” I asked.

  “Uh …” Her eyes broke away from mine reluctantly, and she bowed her head. “It’s not that I don’t want to.”

  “Then what is it?” I stepped closer to her and tilted my head down to look her in the eyes. I wanted to know whatever was stopping her from readily agreeing to spend time with me.

  She looked up at me, smiling warily. “It’s just that … you should know that dinner with me usually means a night of potentially being spotted by the paparazzi and signing autographs for fans who recognize me.”

  “Well, it’s a good thing I didn’t plan on taking you out to dinner then.”

  Her smile stretched so wide it reached all the up into her eyes, making them sparkle. “You want to cook me dinner?”

  “Yeah, if you give me your number so I can text you my address,” I replied, grabbing my phone from my pocket.

  She rattled off her number, and I texted my address to her. She looked so happy as she read my message and saved my number into her contacts. “First a massage, and now dinner. You know, I already forgave you for being an asshole.”

  I laughed and shook my head. “Maybe I just wanna get to know you better.”

  She laughed lightly as we walked out of the spa. I locked the doors behind us and she stood next to the doorway. “So, do you cook dinner for all the women you want to get to know better?”

  “No,” I said, looking her straight in the eyes. “I’ve never cooked dinner for anyone but myself.” I knew she was teasing, but I also wanted her to know that I didn’t have a playbook I used when it came to women. She deserved the truth, and the truth was I’d never cooked dinner for anyone, not even any of my friends.

  “I see,” she said, nodding. She pushed off the wall and followed me down the stairs to the first floor. I led her to the back entrance of the gym.

  When we got to the door, she turned to face me and smiled brightly. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

  “Come over anytime after six,” I said, holding the door open for her.

  “Sounds good!”

  She smiled back at me before she hopped into the backseat of the black car waiting at the curb for her, and as I watched it leave the parking lot, I started thinking about what I should cook for the woman who, in less than a week, had turned my world upside down.

  Chapter Five

  Harper

  Saturday morning, after another sleepless night, I got out of bed frustrated. Last night was the fifth night in a row that I dreamed about being on the brink of that elusive O only to wake up sweaty in a tangle of sheets. So, I busied myself with household chores like laundry and cleaning—anything that would keep me from replaying yesterday over and over again in my head. I’d had hundreds of massages in my life, but none of them compared to the waves of pleasure Maverick’s hands gave me. If his massages sent me into a blissful state of wonderland, I wanted to find out where sex with him would take me. It had taken everything I had not to pull him down on the table with me yesterday and ask him to do just that: take me.

  And the fact that he knew the story behind my tattoo only piqued my interest even more.

  He was smart. He was gorgeous. He was everything I’d always dreamed about. Just when I was giving up the plan, Maverick Jones walked into my life and I couldn’t stop thinking about him.

  And he wanted to cook dinner for me. He didn’t want to take me out to some fancy restaurant to impress me like other guys had. He wanted me to come over to his place. He wanted to get to know me. When he confessed that he’d never cooked dinner for anyone before, my heart and I were sold. I’d never dated guys who really wanted to get to know me—the real me. All they ever seemed to care about was showing off. I hadn’t had guys want anything from me except fame and fortune, but Maverick wanted neither of those things.

  He just wanted me.

  And I loved that about him.

  Yes, I said love. We hadn’t known each other long, but the way he looked at me after he found out why I left Camille’s funeral early … I’d never seen someone look at me like that. I knew he was different then, but after that massage yesterday, I knew I wanted more than just dinner with him.

  When I heard my phone chime with an incoming text, I wondered if it was from him.

  It wasn’t. It was from my younger sister, Bayler.

  Bayler: Hey, can you Skype right now?

  Me: Sure. Just a sec.

  I booted up my laptop and, a few seconds later, I had her up on my screen smiling back at me.

  “Hey, how’s it going?” she asked groggily.

  “Everything’s good here,” I replied, taking a sip from my coffee. “I met with Elly and Tessa on Sunday and we talked about dresses!”

  Bayler instantly perked up. “What did she say? Did she try on her mom’s dress? W
as it beautiful?”

  I laughed. “Her mom’s dress … words cannot describe how beautiful it is. It’s in perfect condition. No discoloration or anything. Elly tried it on and she looked absolutely amazing in it. It fit her so well, I’m going to use her mom’s dress for the base of her wedding dress.”

  “She’ll love that!” Bayler cheered. “So, are you designing our dresses, too?”

  “Yes, and she’d like us all in something different,” I said, reaching for my sketchbook. I opened the book and flipped to a blank page. “But they’re all going to be charcoal and short.”

  “Dammit,” Bayler said, shaking her head. “I was hoping she’d pick long dresses.”

  “When you get married, you can pick whatever you want.” I grabbed my pencil and scribbled Bayler’s name at the top of the page. “Okay, so, is there anything specific you want for your dress? Like do you want it to be haltered or regular straps?” I’d made enough dresses for Bayler to know she wasn’t a fan of strapless.

  She pursed her lips and thought about it for a moment. “I think I want straps that go into a deep V in the back. What do you think?”

  I doodled around with her idea, sketching a design for her bridesmaid’s dress. “What about this? It’s a sweetheart neckline, but the overlay of lace will come up forming a V neckline in the front.” I put the pencil to the paper again and continued sketching the back of the dress. “Then this would be the back.” I held up my sketch for her to see the keyhole back with the A-line skirt. “What do you think?”

  Her face lit up when she saw it and she did a little happy dance in her chair. “Ooh, I love it! So, all of us will be in a different dress. Are you keeping some of the features the same beside the color?”

  “Yeah, I’m doing different designs for all of us, but each dress will have that same lace overlay and the same sweetheart neckline underneath the lace.” I flipped to my dress design and lifted it up for her to see. “This is my dress. It has cap sleeves with the lace coming up to a bateau neckline in the front and an open V back.”

  “That’ll be pretty,” she said, running a hand through her blonde hair. “So, what else is new with you besides helping Elly with the wedding dresses. Have you started mentoring yet?”

  “No, I’ll start next week,” I replied, sketching in the features of Bayler’s dress. “What about you? What’s new with you? Whose hearts have you broken this week?” I tried to live vicariously through Bayler, the queen of one-night stands. She refused to have a boyfriend or any other type of relationship, and it suited her. She never got her heart broken, and she always raved about the endless orgasms she had. I couldn’t have a one-night stand if my life depended on it.

  “I’ve been too busy at the bakery to break any hearts,” she laughed, twirling a piece of her hair around her finger. “And I’m not going to be able to come to Carter’s birthday thing because my boss booked me to do a wedding cake for a couple at the last minute. I asked for the time off, too, but whatever.”

  “Well, you are the intern,” I said, raising my eyebrows at her. “Interns get the bitch work.”

  “You can say that again,” she mumbled. “I can’t wait until this internship is over and I can move to New York and find a job at a bakery there.”

  “I know.” I flipped the page in my sketchbook and started on a design for Mom’s dress. As I doodled, I thought about Maverick and our impending dinner date. I still hadn’t decided what I was going to wear. Maybe a cute top and skinny jeans with my boots. It was supposed to snow later tonight, so boots and warmth were a must.

  “Hey!” Bayler shouted accusingly while pointing at me through the computer screen. “Is that a dreamy smile I see!? What are you smiling about? Better yet, who are you smiling about? Spill!”

  I blushed and shook my head. She was right. I hadn’t been able to stop smiling since yesterday. “Okay, I’m just having dinner tonight with one of Elly’s friends. He’s the owner of the gym I’ve been working out at. His name is Maverick Jones.”

  “Ooh, a hot gym owner. I already like the sound of him. Hang on,” she said, clicking around on her laptop. “I’m Googling him. Go on.”

  I laughed. “Why? I thought you were Googling him?”

  She rolled her eyes and smiled. “Just for a visual. Tell me about his personality. Is he cocky? Is he charming? Has he flirted with you? Have you flirted back? Don’t even answer that. You are completely oblivious to flirting.”

  “Hey!” I said defensively. “I’m not oblivious to it. I just … whatever, he’s not cocky. He was kind of an asshole when we first met, but he made up for it by giving me the mother of all massages yesterday. Seriously, it was one of the best massages I’ve ever had.”

  She clicked around, and when I saw her eyes nearly pop out of her head, I knew she’d found him. “Holy fuck, Harper! He’s hot! I mean, throw-me-on-the-bed-and-have-your-way-with-me hot! I wish I could give you a high-five right now,” she said, clicking through more pictures. “And you said he was good with his hands? That’s a plus!”

  “He’s just cooking us dinner,” I said, sliding my sketchbook onto my coffee table.

  “I swear, if you just have dinner with this man and nothing more, I will disown you,” she said, glaring at me. “It would be a sin to pass up a night of great sex with him!”

  “Bayler, I’m not sleeping with him tonight. I’m not that type of girl. I can’t do a one-night stand, and I’ve never slept with a guy on the first date. Hell, I’ve never even had a guy give me an orgasm! I’ve had to fake it with every guy I’ve ever been with, so the thought of sleeping with Maverick terrifies me. I mean, he’s hot and he’s a good guy and I want to have sex with him, but I don’t want him to be another guy I have to fake it with. I’m done faking it!”

  After blurting out my most embarrassing secret, all Bayler could do was sit back and stare at me in stunned pity. “Harper, I had no idea. I mean … I just … wait, so you’ve never had an orgasm before? Like, ever? I mean, not even … you know … going solo?”

  Ohmigawd. Why did I even tell her? Bayler was the last person who would understand what it was like to fake an orgasm. In fact, I would bet money that she’s never had to fake it.

  “Just forget I said anything,” I said, taking another sip of my coffee.

  “I can’t just forget that my sister just told me she’s never had a guy give her an orgasm!” she laughed. “Have you—”

  “Going solo is not a problem; it’s when I’m with a guy. I just can’t get there. I’ve done everything I can think of,” I said, abruptly. “I’ve talked to my therapist. I’ve talked to my doctor. Everyone tells me I just need to find the right guy and it will happen. But you know what? I’ve been looking for him since I was sixteen! You’d think I would’ve found him by now.” I ran a hand through my hair and set my coffee mug back on the table. “I’d love for Maverick to be the guy, you know? I’m tired of being single. I’m tired of not knowing what great sex is like. I’m almost thirty, and I don’t have the husband and kids I’ve always dreamed of having. And it’s just frustrating because I still want all of those things, but I don’t want to have to lie during sex either.”

  “You’ll get them, H, I promise,” she said, in a comforting voice. “And, who knows, maybe Maverick will be the guy. You won’t know unless you try.”

  “I know,” I said, smiling weakly. “I just hope I’m not disappointed again.”

  “With a man like Maverick,” she said, smiling enthusiastically, “I highly doubt you’ll be disappointed! I have great sex radar, and he looks like he knows how to please a girl.”

  I rolled my eyes at her and nodded. He looked like a walking sex fantasy. I was praying to all the sex gods that he didn’t disappoint. “Well, I’ll let you know whenever the time comes, but I don’t want to rush things.”

  “All right, well, I better go. I have to make sure a cake gets delivered to the right wedding,” she said half-heartedly.

  “Thanks, B. I’ll talk to you later.”r />
  Bayler disappeared from my laptop screen just as my phone started ringing. I picked it up and found Max’s face smiling at me.

  Sliding my finger across the screen, I smiled. “Hey, Hollywood! What’s up?”

  “Oh, not much,” he said, his voice laid-back, as always. “Except Secret Warriors topped the box office this week!”

  “Ohmigawd!” I screamed, dancing in my seat. “Are you serious?”

  “Dead serious!” he said, laughing on the other end. I could practically feel his excitement through the phone, and he had every right to be proud of such an accomplishment. He’d always dreamed of becoming an A-list actor, and his debut movie, Secret Warriors, had just released last Friday. Topping the box office chart was huge for his career.

  “That is so awesome!” I cheered. “Move over, Channing Tatum and Ryan Gosling!”

  “We have to celebrate!” he insisted, his tone turning serious. “How about you, me, dinner and drinks, tonight?”

  “I can’t,” I replied, remembering my plans with Maverick. “I actually have a date tonight.”

  “Oh,” he said, the excitement in his voice completely gone. “You’re still planning on coming with me to the Paris premiere, though, right?”

  “Of course! I wouldn’t miss it.” Now, I felt like the worst friend in the world, putting my love life before my best friend’s good news.

  “Okay.”

  “You should still go out and celebrate tonight, though,” I urged, hoping he’d take my advice. “We can celebrate when we’re in Paris in a few weeks!”

  He laughed lightly, and I felt myself relax a little bit. “You’re right. We can party in Paris.”

  “It’ll be so much fun.”

  “I can’t wait.”

  *

  When five-thirty rolled around, Imani walk into my penthouse. She lived on the second floor of my building, even though I’d told her she could live with me—since we practically went everywhere together—but she had refused. She wanted her own space and I respected that. It was nice to be alone once in a while in the quiet of your own home.