Free No Turning Back (Man-Maid) by Anne Rainey

ever since he’d arrived at Jason’s house that morning. To hell with it. Clearly, they weren’t going to get a damn thing accomplished on the new business today. They’d gotten the startup loan from the bank, and they were supposed to check out some real estate later in the afternoon. There were a couple of offices that appeared promising for the home of Man-Maid Cleaning Service, but all he’d gotten done so far was thinking about Marquetta. He kept replaying their phone call from last Friday night in his head. Christ, she’d been hot enough to fry his brain, but a week had gone by, and all he’d gotten from her was a few text messages. He’d even sent her flowers. A bouquet of orchids with a card that simply stated:
     
    To my beautiful guardian angel. Thank you for saving me.
    J
     
    Talk about a lovesick chump. He missed her like crazy. It was a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, but it could’ve been storming for all he’d noticed. He was useless as shit.
    Jason cursed. “Dude, what’s it going to take to get your head in the game here?”
    Jensen didn’t want to get into Marquetta with his brother. Until he figured out what to do about her, the topic was off limits. “What are you talking about?”
    Jason pushed away from the counter he’d been leaning against. “Ever since you met her, you’ve been steadily losing focus. I’ve never seen you like this with a woman. What gives?”
    Jensen knew his brother spoke the truth. He’d always been able to keep it together when it came to women. Now, he knew his actions were those of a lovesick kid. “It’s complicated,” he hedged.
    “No, it isn’t. Call her. Invite her out.” Jason snapped his fingers. “Done.”
    Jensen sighed. “I don’t want to pressure her. I get the feeling Marquetta’s been through a bad relationship in the past. I can’t go charging after her.”
    A smile slid across Jason’s face. “Yeah, well, if you don’t get off your ass, someone else might just take your place.”
    Jensen’s brows drew together. “What are you talking about?”
    Jason rubbed his chin. “Just that she’s a beautiful woman. And a pretty amazing artist, going by what we saw in her portfolio. Also, she knows her way around a motorcycle. Those protective brothers of hers are probably all that’s keeping the men away. With a woman like Marquetta, you’re liable to miss your chance if you wait too long.”
    Jensen knew his brother was right. A frenzy of possessive rage began to brew as he imagined her talking to some other man the way she’d talked to him. “Fuck,” he groaned.
    “Yep.” Jason slapped Jensen on the back. “Get off your ass and call that woman.”
    Jensen pulled his cell phone out of his shirt pocket. “I believe you might be right, bro.”
    He pulled up her number in his contact list and hit the Call button. She answered on the second ring. “Hello?”
    “Hi, beautiful.” She sounded winded. Had he interrupted her? “Is it a bad time?”
    “Jensen?”
    “Have a lot of men calling you beautiful, do you?” he asked, unable to contain the riot of emotions running through him at the sound of her voice.
    She laughed, and Jensen’s jeans suddenly felt very restricting. “No, just one very persistent man.”
    God, he loved her laugh. It was music to his ears. “This persistent man would like to see you.”
    The line went quiet for a moment, and Jensen thought maybe they’d been disconnected. Finally, she replied, “I’d like to see you too. And, again, thank you for the flowers.”
    His heart sped up at her softly spoken words. “Are you busy tonight?” he asked, willing her to say no. “I can make dinner. Say around eight?”
    “Eight sounds perfect.” She paused, then added, “Give me a second, and I’ll get a pen.”
    After he gave her his address, they hung up. Jensen looked over at his brother and noticed him staring. “What?”
    He pointed to the cell phone Jensen still had clutched in his hand. “You really