The Mane Event Read Free

didn’t matter, though. Not to Mace. That was just the cherry on top.
    For him, it had been more than her big tits and luscious mouth. Dez actually liked him back then. Just the way he was. Ninety pounds soaking wet, barely five foot three, a head of hair he couldn’t control, and the attitude of a giant. Most people didn’t like Mace. Dez, however, found him funny and smart. Even his sisters never saw him that way. To a fourteen-year-old, that meant everything to him.
    Then she left him. Walked out of his life and never came back. At the moment, Mace was completely ready to push her up against the wall and demand she tell him how she could leave him like she did.
    For years, a part of him kept expecting to see her again. Although he always wished he could forget about her. Lose himself in some of the other women he met since he last saw her saddle shoes walking down the school hall and out of his life. But he never could. No matter how hard he tried, he could never forget about her. Hell, he still dreamed about her. She was older in his dreams, thank God, but his dreams didn’t do justice to the woman now standing in front of him, an NYPD badge hanging on a chain around her neck.
    “Mace Llewellyn? Is that you?”
    So, she did remember him. Good. Now he could tell her what a bitch she’d been for leaving him. For breaking his fourteen-year-old heart into a million pieces and stomping on it with her saddle shoes. He geared himself to do it, too—until she smiled at him. A smile that practically knocked him on his ass.
    After all these years, the woman leaped beyond perfect. Especially when she literally threw herself at him, her arms looping around his neck.
    “Jesus, Mace! I can’t believe it!”
    His eyes almost rolled to the back of his head when she pressed her curvaceous body against his. Without even thinking about it, he wrapped her in a bear hug and lifted her off her feet. She actually squealed, which sounded strange with that voice of hers.
    “I don’t believe it, Mace!” He didn’t either. How did anyone smell this good? How was it humanly possible?
    She laughed. “Stop sniffing my neck!” She pushed against his shoulders and leaned back, but he wouldn’t let her go. “I can’t believe you’re still doing that.”
    “You smell good.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
    “So?”
    “So, what?”
    “Answer my question.”
    “Your question?”
    “Where the hell have you been?”
    “Aw, Mace. Gimme a break.” She tried to pull out of his arms, but he held fast. “Are you going to let me go?”
    “I’m comfortable. Answer my question.”
    “My family moved, Mace. To Queens. My sisters and I went to a different school. I assure you it was nothing personal.” He stared at her. “It wasn’t!”
    “Did you write me?”
    “No, Mace.”
    “Did you think about me?”
    “Oh, come on!”
    “What? It’s a valid question.”
    “You know, you come from one of the wealthiest families in New York. You could have tracked me down if you really wanted to see me that badly.”
    “I was in military school.”
    Dez tried not to laugh, but it was a sad, weak attempt. “Sorry. I guess I just have a hard time imagining you taking orders from…you know… anybody. ”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “Come on, Mace. It’s me.”
    He gazed down into her face. “Yeah. It sure is you.” Their eyes locked and, for several moments, they did nothing but stare at each other.
    Dez shook her head. “Okay. Put me down.”
    “Why?”
    “Mace!”
    He dropped her, forcing Dez to rock back on her heels. This, of course, forced him to grab her ass to steady her before she fell back.
    “Hands off, Llewellyn. Or I’m turning your nads into a necklace.”
    He smiled as he released her. “Well, you haven’t changed.”
    “Neither have you. I see Captain Ego still lives.”
    No other woman existed who he let get away with calling him that. He glanced down at himself. “I haven’t changed? Not