He stared at her, bewildered. Who was this woman? One minute she was angry with him, the next she was accusing him of launching a lawsuit. It was exasperating, but in a cute way, and as he stood there looking at her, he finally figured out what it was that drew him to her.
It wasn’t the fact that she was oblivious to his career, or the way her curvy body had felt pressed against his. It wasn’t the appealing blushing, or the killer legs, or how great her ass looked in that short skirt.
He liked her because she treated him like a…human being.
She knew who he was now, and she still didn’t care. She wasn’t trying to impress him, wasn’t holding her tongue because he was a big, bad movie star. Aside from his mother, this redheaded waitress was the first female who wasn’t scared to tell him exactly what she was thinking.
“Okay, then what do you want?” she repeated, her lips pursed in what looked like annoyance. “And don’t say a date, because I really don’t have time for that.”
He laughed again and decided this was the best conversation he’d ever had with a woman.
“What do I want,” he repeated thoughtfully. He pulled one hand out of his pocket and with it came those pink panties. With a chivalrous bow, he handed her the silky wad. “First, to return these. I don’t want your pretty little butt getting cold.”
A whisper of a smile crossed her luscious mouth as she tucked the underwear into her purse. “My butt is just fine, Mr. Barrett. I do own more than one pair of panties. And second?”
“Second?”
“You said the underwear was first. What’s second?”
He poked his tongue in his cheek and eyed her, experiencing one of those rare times when words escaped him. What did he want? Well, he knew what he needed, and that was to figure out where to spend the night without ending up on the news again.
What he wanted, though, was nothing more than to pull this quirky redhead into his arms and kiss the hell out of her. And then maybe go back to her place and fuck the hell out of her.
Then again…who said that his needs and wants were mutually exclusive?
He needed a bed.
He wanted this woman in bed with him.
Why couldn’t he have both?
“You’re doing it again,” Maggie blurted out, jolting him back to reality.
“Doing what?”
“Staring at me. Be honest, do I have something stuck between my teeth?”
He laughed. “No.”
Her features grew taut again. “Okay then, we’ve wasted enough time here, Mr. Barrett. I have to go back to work and you—”
“Let me stay at your place tonight.”
Maggie slammed her jaw closed so abruptly she could hear a few teeth rattling around in her mouth. Was this man insane?
Let me stay at your place tonight.
Seven words she’d never expected to hear, and yet the second he’d uttered them, a thrill shot up her spine.
Fine, so maybe the idea of ditching Summer and her steel drum and bringing this sex god into her domestic space was seriously tempting. But unlike most people, Maggie was pretty skilled at resisting temptation.
Yeah, Eve probably that thought too, before she took a chunk out of that apple.
Maggie stared into Ben’s dark blue eyes and wondered if he was joking. He didn’t look like it. No amusement in that sexy gaze. No I’m-just-kidding-around-with-you expression.
Did he actually think she would let him stay at her apartment?
“No offense or anything, but are you strapped for cash?” she asked with just a tad of hesitance in her tone. The guy’s financial status wasn’t any of her business, but she had to know.
“No, I’m doing all right in the finance department.”
He took a step back, but she still felt the heat radiating from his lean body. The leather jacket he wore didn’t emphasize his muscled arms or rippled chest, but she remembered those details well. She wondered if he had any other tattoos she might have missed in the dark. Then she wondered why her thighs trembled at the idea there might be more.
For God’s sake, stop checking him out and focus.
Right. It didn’t matter how many tattoos he might have hidden on that hard body of his. That was no reason to invite him to stay with her.
“Okay, so you’ve got money,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Which means you can afford to check into a hotel.”
“I’d much rather stay with you, Red.”
Eyes narrowed, she asked, “Are you in trouble with the law?”
“No. I just need a place to stay.”
“Why?”
“Do you always ask so many questions?” he teased.
“When a stranger asks to crash at my place, yes.”
“We’re not strangers.” He moved closer again and dipped his head so they were at eye level. “We’ve been in bed together, remember?”
He had to bring that up again, didn’t he?
“I just don’t get why you’re asking me this.”
He sighed, and his warm breath tickled the bridge of her nose. “Here’s the short version, Red. As you now know, I’m somewhat of a celebrity. I haven’t slept in days because the press is on my back for a silly scandal they fabricated. This morning they thought I was abducted. The cops gave a statement that I wasn’t, but the media is still camped out in front of my house.”