Page 67 of Deadly Forever

“It is what it is,” Maverick said. “It never really bothered me until recently.”

Mandy leaned forward, intrigued. “What bothers you about it now?”

“You.”

Mandy’s eyebrows flew up her forehead. “Me?”

“Not you specifically,” Maverick explained. “It’s all of you. I was raised to think there were two types of men in the world. There were alpha men – like the dudes in there – who were all tough and did the whole ‘love them and leave them’ thing. You know, banged a woman for a night and left her with a broken heart.”

“How charming.”

Maverick ignored the sarcasm. “I also thought there were men like me who were smarter than the dudes out there,” he said. “I believed all of the hype that I would eventually get the girls when they matured and the alpha dudes would get fat and lose the girls.”

Mandy bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. “And how is that working out for you?”

“I’m lonely.”

Maverick’s earnest answer was enough to tug on Mandy’s heartstrings. “I’m sure we can find a girlfriend for you,” she offered. “You’re a handsome guy and you’re smart. You just need to learn to occasionally filter yourself. Not mentioning underwear would be a great start.”

“It’s not just that,” Maverick said. “I see how those dudes are with you women, especially how James is with you, and I find myself jealous. I always thought guys who looked like that were superficial and they would get vapid women. That’s not what happened here, though.

“All four of those guys are smarter than I ever gave them credit for and they’re kind of romantics at heart,” he continued. “They all got pretty and smart women and they seem happy. I want that. I want to be like the dudes I always hated and looked down on.”

“Do you know why they got the girls?” Mandy asked.

“Because they’re hot.”

“It helps that they’re hot. I’m not going to lie,” Mandy said. “They also got us because they’re sincere … and loyal … and giving. I think you have all of those traits inside of you. You just need to learn how to package them better.”

Maverick looked hopeful. “Do you think you could help me package them? I want to ask out Darcy.”

Mandy stilled, surprised. “Darcy?”

“She’s so pretty and cool,” Maverick said. “She’s been around the office a few times this week and she’s always nice and talks to me. I like her.”

Mandy chewed on her bottom lip as she considered the possibility. “Here’s the thing, Maverick … um … I think you’re a good guy, but Darcy has been through a terrible ordeal. She might not be ready to date. That’s not because of you. It’s because of what happened to her.”

“You mean because she was raped?”

The question was simple, but there was no easy answer. “Yes. That’s not something someone can just get over.”

“I don’t expect her to have sex with me right away or anything,” Maverick said. “I just want to hang out with her. She’s really interesting … and she knows a lot of stuff. I would never pressure her.”

“That’s good,” Mandy said, and she meant it. “I just don’t know if she’s going to be ready for everything you have to offer her. You won’t know until you try, though, and there’s no harm in trying.”

“Yeah, I’m definitely ready to try.”

Mandy shifted her eyes to the open door when she felt James’ familiar presence. Instead of looking at her, though, his eyes were thoughtful as they rested on Maverick.

“You can come out with us tonight,” James said after a beat. “I changed my mind and think you’ll be a good fit.”

Mandy internally grinned. James had a soft heart when it came down to it.

“Cool, man,” Maverick said, smiling. “I guess it’s good that I figured out who tried to hack us, huh? Now we’ll be able to get done early so I can get my drink on.”

“That’s definitely good,” James agreed. “What have you got?”

“An address.” Maverick rattled off the address in question and James wasn’t surprised when he recognized it.