Superb and Sexy (Sky High Air #3)(7)

“Clearly you have.”

“Look, you made me do this, and I’m going to see this through.”

To prove it, he got out of the Camaro, and walked through the woods to the back of Maddie’s place, and eyed the back deck and, bingo, the sliding glass door. Probably, it was locked. Not a problem for a former juvenile delinquent with talented fingers. “I’m going in.”

“Brody, you’re crazy. What if she calls the cops? I’m not going to bail you out again.”

“Once. You bailed me out of jail once.”

“You still owe me five hundred bucks for that, by the way.”

“Jesus. We were eighteen years old and in Mexico, and it was your fault I got caught with that open alcohol in the backseat since you were the one drinking it.”

“Just saying.”

“We’re miles from the nearest cop.” Brody was well aware of his past sins, many public knowledge, some not so much. After all, he’d been born in a gutter, had lived in one, and would no doubt still be there, or in jail or worse, if at age twelve he hadn’t tried to pickpocket an off-duty cop who’d decided to feed and house him instead of jailing him.

Later had come Shayne and Brody, and though they’d been codelinquents together for a while, meeting weekly, sometimes daily in school detention, neither of his two new partners in crime had really ever toed the line of the law like he had.

Somehow, their friendship had kept him mostly free of temptation and on the straight and narrow.

Except for the occasional f*ckup.

Now that he had the dubious advantage of maturity, he rarely felt the need to create mayhem by doing anything illegal. But he felt it now.

He eyed the deck. Yeah, undoubtedly, he had a big f*ckup coming his way. But come hell or high water, he was getting inside to talk to Maddie face to face, without a closed door between them.

With a stealth that came from a whole lot of years getting himself in and out of situations he shouldn’t have been in in the first place, he got to the deck.

Tested the door.

The sliding glass door was, indeed, locked.

Not a problem. Old habits died hard, and sticky fingers never forgot how to be sticky.





Chapter 4


M addie leaned out her bedroom window so far that Leena let out a terrified squeak and raced forward, grabbing her legs. “Don’t jump! Ohmigod, don’t jump!”

“I’m not!” Maddie pushed Leena’s hands away. “Are you kidding? I’m not crazy.”

“Okay.” Her sister gulped in air with a hand to her chest. “Okay, that’s good. You scared me.”

“I just wanted to see if he was really gone.”

“Is he?”

“Yes,” Maddie lied. She’d lied more today than she thought she’d ever have to lie again. She sure hoped Karma wasn’t paying attention because she could be a vindictive bitch.

Leena took a peek out the window as well, still breathing unevenly. “Sorry. I might have overreacted.”

Maddie shot her a look. “Really?”

“I’m nervous, okay? The Plan and all.”

Yes, The Plan.

They’d first hatched it when they were young, getting serious on their sixteenth birthday—run away and start a new life.

Only on the fateful day of execution, Leena hadn’t gone with Maddie.

Nope, it’d taken her ten years to decide to catch up, ten years during which Maddie had made a new life for herself. Now here Leena was, petrified, finally ready for The Plan, and Maddie was going to have to do it, have to start all over because she’d promised.

“It’s just that he’s so…” Still staring at Brody, Leena shrugged helplessly.

Big? Bad? Gorgeous? Pick one.

“Intimidating.”

“Not when you know him,” Maddie murmured.

“He was scowling at me. Like he wanted to eat me for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”

Maddie had seen that look from him before. Only, she hadn’t found it scary, but unbearably erotic. “He wouldn’t hurt you.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do.”

“How?” Leena took a deeper look at her twin. “How do you know that for sure? Are you into him or something?”

Or something. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“You are,” Leena breathed, shaking her head in disbelief. “You’re totally into him.”

“Trust me,” Maddie said with a laugh. “The two of us can’t even be in a room together without riling each other up. I drive him crazy. He drives me crazy. We both drive—”

“Each other crazy. I get it.” Leena continued to study her thoughtfully. They hadn’t spent much, if any, time together in years. Maddie lived in LA, Leena in Florida and the Bahamas. Maddie supported herself and kept her distance from her past. Leena clung to their past…

Or had.

Until now, when she’d come to Maddie for help.

“I thought you gave up men.” Leena was looking at her in surprise. “Back when—”

“I did,” Maddie said quickly, not wanting to go on a trip down memory lane. “Mostly.”

“Good. Because he’s…” She gave a helpless shrug.