“I smelled coffee and bacon. Now, why are you up?”
“Couldn’t sleep. Had an issue that wouldn’t go away.”
He gives me a stupefied look. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Man, your dick is going to fall off one day. You need sex addicts anonymous or something.”
I give an amused shake of my head. “Can’t help it, but if you think I’m going to talk about my feelings with a room full of assholes then you can think again.” He looks down at his feet, making me feel like an asshole because he goes to AA twice a week most weeks. “Sorry, man.”
“It’s fine. I know you love me.” He waves me off while he pours his coffee. He jerks his head toward the room Heaven is staying in and whispers, “she come out yet?”
He hands me the cup he poured as I shake my head. “Nope, not a peep from her.”
“Think she’s still in there?”
My brows shoot up, and a thrum of panic begins to form. “You think she left?”
She wouldn’t have just left, would she? It’s over two hours back to Manhattan. That cab fare would be insane. Besides, I would have heard her, right?
Maddox’s shoulders lift, but he remains expressionless. “Girls have run out for less.”
“Not on us they haven’t.”
“She’s not like the rest. You know that, or you wouldn’t like her.”
“I don’tlikeher. Not like you’re insinuating,” I grunt.
“Uh-huh,” he grins over his coffee cup. “Your words just a few hours ago were that we were in this together.”
“Because she won’t get so attached if it’s both of us,” I argue.
“Yeah, sure. Except that’s never been an issue with you before. You do what you want until you’re done with them. You’ve never been concerned with anyone getting clingy.”
“Whatever,” I grunt. “Food is ready. I’m going to check on her since you wouldn’t let me earlier.”
“Why don’t you just leave it, Ry? It hasn’t been that long. She’s probably just sleeping. I doubt she could afford a taxi all the way back to the city.”
“I’d rather know,” I say as I walk toward her room.
“Uh-huh.” I hear the smirk in his voice. I fight off the urge to throw something at his head.
I knock on her door before turning the knob. Seems like she forgets to lock doors too.
I stave off a groan at my own bad decisions last night. I don’t want to take it back. It was so bloody sexy watching her while she watched us. I boast of control, and I was in control of that decision. It just wasn’t the smartest decision.
I walk into the room to find her propped in the bed with notebooks and notecards spread all around her. She doesn’t look up, but I can see the red already tinting her ivory skin. She’s definitely still embarrassed.
“I have breakfast and coffee.” She still doesn’t look up. I move closer to thebed andcatch a small twitch in her cheek. Her knee starts to bounce, and her toes start to wiggle. She’s nervous. I wonder if she will bolt like a scared animal if I sit.
Ah, well, she can’t get far.
I take a seat on the bed, and she becomes positively motionless. She’s not even breathing. It’s like she thinks if she doesn’tmove,I won’t see her. I can’t help the chuckle that escapes me.
I take in her lavender hair that is a mottled mess. I can see her roots showing, making me grin. Not one girl I’ve ever met would let that happen. Her roots are a coppery red color. The fair skin and green eyes make sense.
She has this adorable smattering of freckles across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose that brighten when she blushes. Her lips are lush and plump but not overly so. She has her skinny legs raised in front of her with her purple painted toes wiggling.
I don’t have a foot fetish or anything. In fact, I seldom look at a person’s feet. But hers are cute. They’re child size. So isshe,I guess. She can’t be much over five feet tall and probably weighs one hundred pounds. Her tiny shoulders are hunched in and her tiny hand clenches her pen to the point of breaking.
I don’t understand how something so tiny is so sexy. I’m not sure if it’s her attitude or what. I just know that the minute I walked past her in that diner, I wanted to fuck her.
