Page 7 of Tight Spaces

Chapter two

Max julienne sliced the carrots while he reminded himself all the reasons why the sexy little doctoral student currently studying in the living room was off limits.

One - despite her advanced education, she was six years younger than him. Two - that education disparity was just another reason that nothing between them could work. After barely graduating high school, he’d gone directly into the Marines and learned how to kill people. No amount of reading and online courses since then could bridge the gap between the two of them.

And hell, why bridge a gap for a casual fling?

Which was the next biggest reason he needed to keep his hands to himself. Three - Max didn’t do serious, and Danusia Chernichenko deserved more than a casual roll in the sack, no matter how hot it was. And it would be desert at high noon hot, too.

He wanted to undo the dark brown hair she always wore in either a long ponytail or braid down her back and bury his fingers in the silky strands. Damn if it didn’t make him some kind of walking cliché, but he wanted to see that long dark hair spread out under her while he drove into her small, but curvy body over and over again.

While she shared the rest of her family’s pale coloring with almost black hair, unlike the rest of them, Danusia wasn’t more than average in height. She couldn’t be more than five and a half feet tall with bones like a sparrow.

Too fragile for a man like him, but that didn’t stop him wanting her.

Hell, if she didn’t deserve more than he could ever give though.

The biggest reason, she was off-limits? Four - she was his friend and team leader’s baby sister. A smart man did not play with that kind of fire. It was likely to burn him to ashes for his trouble.

And five – if he needed a five, was that they didn’t even live in the same state. Not that he spent a lot of time here, but it was home.

Which again implied he was thinking long term, which he wasn’t. Because he never did. He’d lived his whole life watching his mom struggle with what amounted to single parenthood while his daddy spent weeks on the road as a long-haul trucker.

Max’s job not only took him away for weeks at a time, but there was no guarantee he’d come back. His missions were dangerous, if necessary.

He wasn’t putting a woman through that kind of pain, or himself through the struggle between his job and his family. His daddy’s weeks on the road had taken their toll on him as well and he’d died young from a heart-attack.

Max wasn’t following that path, no way, no how.

But, damn, he wanted Danusia. Had wanted her at Elle’s wedding and the hot need had only grown since. He might not have seen Danusia in the intervening time, but he’d dreamt about her. A lot.

Which was just plain crazy.

Even crazier, he’d pictured her face on more than one woman’s body as he was screwing them. It didn’t make him proud either. He might not do serious, but he respected the women he had sex with and knew it was wrong to bury his cock in one woman’s body while thinking of another one.

Which went a long way in explaining why he’d gone without sex for longer than he had since his first time with the divorcee who lived across the hall when he was fifteen.

His agitated thoughts did not stop him from noticing the muted sounds the moment she stood up and started moving around in the other room. He knew she’d come into the kitchen before her sweet, floral scent told him she’d moved into his personal space.

She leaned around him. "Looks good. Can I help with anything?"

"I’ve got it."

"I really am a decent cook."

"You’re a Chernichenko. I doubt there’s anything you don’t do well."

She laughed, but the sound was more sad than humorous. "Isn’t it obvious? I’m not like the others."

Sliding the carrots into the steamer, he fought the urge to turn around. And lost. He put the lid on the cooking vegetables and then turned to face Danusia.

She was mere inches away and it was all he could do not to reach out and pull her the remaining distance so their bodies connected. "What do you mean?"

She rolled her eyes and stepped back. "You don’t have to pretend to be nice. I know my limitations."

What the hell? "Don’t you know how proud of you Roman is?"

"Sure. I’m the freak among freaks, right? My siblings are so smart, they scare people and I’m even smarter. That’s really something great, isn’t it?"