by Lex Martin
“Need some help?” I call out to Maddie from my doorway.
She spins, dropping her groceries with a small scream.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.” I’d laugh except she looks genuinely freaked out. Bending over, I help her pick up the fruit that’s rolled across our shared hallway.
One of the bags has torn open, and she obviously can’t hang on to her groceries while she balances her briefcase, purse, and keys.
“Here.” I hand her a stray apple and take the keys from her.
She still hasn’t spoken or made more than fleeting eye contact. Guess we’re back to her being closed off, which does not bode well for my plan.
However, the fact that I feel fucking electrified seeing her again is the only answer I need at the moment. Girls don’t play hard to get with me. Girls hang on my arm in public or crash whatever event I’m at wanting to screw. But this one sneaks out of my bed in the middle of the damn night, and I feel like I might suffocate if I don’t see her again. None of this makes sense. I suppose playing hard to get makes a difference. Except I don’t think she’s playing anything. Because she doesn’t look pleased to see me.
Maddie’s teflon armor sets off every alarm in my head. Christ, does she regret what happened?
Bracing myself for a rejection, which is likely given her what-the-fuck-do-you-want expression, I return my attention to her keys. Three hang on a hoop, which is attached to a small charm. One key is obviously for her car, the other for our mailbox, so I grab the third and slip it into the door.
Once it’s open, I turn the chain over in my palm. “Paris?” The miniature Eiffel Tower gleams in my hand.
She stills, and her eyes drop. “Just somewhere I've been hoping to visit.” Her eyes sweep up, a hint of sadness behind them. “My parents honeymooned there."
I want to ask more, but she scoots past me and heads for the kitchen. It’s dark except for a small lamp on the counter.
Clearing my throat, I ask, “Is Sheri around?”
She shakes her head. “Out of town.”
“I came by earlier this week. But you weren’t home.”
She turns to face me, her eyebrows raised like that was the last thing she thought I’d say, but then she schools her features. “I’ve been working overtime.”
“Why do you look surprised I came by? You left my bed in the middle of the night, Maddie. I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
She unfreezes and places the groceries on the counter before reaching over to flip on the recessed lights above. Her white blouse is paired with a gray pencil skirt and black heels. Simple yet stunning on her.
She keeps her back to me when she speaks. “That was a mistake, Daren. We never should have slept together.”
I chuckle. “Sweetheart, you make it sound so mundane. I believe we ‘fucked each other’s brains out.’”
The sharp inhale of her breath gives me some satisfaction that she’s been affected by this. I know I have been. Were it not for my brutal training schedule and Sunday’s game, I would have camped out in front of her door sooner.
Because when I woke up alone that morning, I should’ve been relieved. Instead, I was disappointed. And now, days later, she’s hijacked my brain, my dick and everything in between. Before I’m tempted to wonder if this is one-sided, her chest rises and falls like she just came in from a workout, and I smile.
For all of her aloofness, I think she wants this too. Because a person doesn’t forget sex that sublime.
Finally, she turns around.
“Can we talk about what’s going on here?” I ask, motioning between us.
“What do you mean? We are talking.” Her face is impassive, which only gets under my skin.
“I mean, can we cut the bullshit and get real for a minute?”
Her eyes narrow. Good. I can work with anger. “Real? Okay. I can get real. We hung out. We hooked up. It was fun. Now it’s over. Is that what you want me to say?”
She rolls her eyes at me before she returns to her groceries. I step up behind her and still her hands, caging her in.
“Stop.” Leaning down to whisper in her ear, I fight the urge to toss her over my shoulder, carry her back to my cave, and spank her ass. “What’s with the fuck-off vibe? I thought we worked past that.”
Her shoulders still. “This can’t happen,” she whispers.
“What can’t happen?”
“This. Us. I thought you just wanted a good time on Friday night. I don’t understand what you’re doing here.”
“Ouch, Wildcat. That hurts. Where’s your neighborly affection? I thought we got along well. So I want to hang out again. What’s the big deal?”
“So you just want to fuck me?”
I laugh. “I wouldn’t put it as bluntly as that, but yeah,” I say, leaning closer, “I’d love to fuck you again. But truthfully, I like your company. That feisty mouth and all. Nudity is optional, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want it on the menu.”
Goosebumps break out on her arms.
“We can’t.”
“Why?” She’s quiet for so long, I grab her shoulders and spin her around. “Why, Maddie? You can’t tell me you didn’t enjoy what we did. Because if I recall, you enjoyed it at least three or four times on Friday night.”
Her cheeks flush with embarrassment, her eyes looking anywhere but at me. I tilt her chin up. “Look at me and tell me you don’t want to hang out again. Say those words, and I’ll leave you alone.”
She braces her shoulders back. “Hang out? As what? As friends?”
“Yeah, as friends.”
“Friends with benefits?”
“I don’t know. Something like that.” I let go of her and run my hands through my hair, my frustration growing. “Let me put my cards on the table. I don’t screw around. Not during the season. If I’m in a relationship, fine. But I don’t fuck around with girls. I don’t drink. I don’t party. One, because I’m not wired that way, and two, because football sucks up every ounce of energy I have. I don’t have the time to date a girl right now. And relationships come with baggage I’d rather not deal with. God knows I come with more than a carry-on, and judging by the mistrust in your eyes, you do too.
“So me coming here breaks my own rules. Because I’m not looking for anything serious. I just got out of a long-term relationship, and I’m not interested in diving into another. At the same time, I think you and I definitely connected. We had fun even before I got you naked. And the naked part? It’s given me spank bank material for the next several years.” Her eyes widen, a smile ghosting her lips. “But you do live right next door, which is pretty convenient. So if I’m faced with the choice of rubbing one out at night or having your hot little body wrapped around me, then I’m gonna choose door number two. But I’m a modern man, so this arrangement would go both ways. I seem to recall you having a pretty insatiable sex drive yourself. If we do this, I’d be at your booty call command.”
I expect her to laugh or tell me I’m wrong and say we didn’t connect on some kind of cosmic level when we were naked. Instead, she braces her hands on the counter behind her. “We can’t.”
“So you’ve said. I need more than that.”
Shaking her head, she sighs. “I’m back on the sports segment, Daren. I’m interviewing you on Thursday. I’m not sure if you realize this, but sleeping with a source is generally frowned upon in journalism.”
Okay, that kind of sucks. I get her reluctance. But I still think there’s a way we could go about this without jeopardizing her career. “This is sports. It’s not as though you’re covering Watergate. I’m a quarterback, for fuck’s sake.”
“And I need to maintain a professional relationship with you. It’s bad enough I’ve basically licked my way up your body.”
Goddamn. What a memory. “Thanks for the visual, babe.” I wink and she blushes again. “Let me ask you this. How are you supposed to cover me? What angle are you supposed to take?” I don’t mention the obvious, like hori
zontal, diagonal, or upside down.
“The same way we did the first interview. You teach me the basics of football.” She shrugs. “People really liked our rapport. They liked the quasi-flirting, so I need to keep things light.”
“Give me more credit. I was fully flirting with you.” She cracks a real smile, and I’m wondering if we’re getting any closer to the goal. “Think of it this way. We need to have a good relationship so you’re more relaxed in front of the camera? Right now you look like you’d rather get your appendix removed with a rusty blade than hang out with me.”
Her smile grows. “Not true.”
I edge closer and lean down to whisper in her ear. “Think of this as my way of helping you to relax around me.” I stroke her soft hair, and after a moment she leans into my palm. “Our own kind of aversion therapy.”
Her head tilts back. “How do you know about aversion therapy?”
“I was a psych major, or at least I was for two years before I switched to business, but I paid attention.”
She studies me, her teeth nibbling on her bottom lip. “So this would just be something casual?”
I nod.
“And you’re not going to screw around with other girls?”
“Nope. I would just screw you. Frequently.”
She fights a laugh and then her smile disappears. “But we wouldn’t be in a relationship?”
“Just friends.” Even as the words leave my lips, I recognize how that doesn’t feel right, but I’d be an idiot to think we could start some kind of relationship right now. One where I’m always off at football practice or recovering from a game, or trying to find the energy to wine and dine her when I need to be thinking about the hundred new plays I still have to memorize.
She holds her breath in the world’s longest pregnant pause before she speaks again. “On three conditions.”
To be honest, I’ve been waiting for her to knee me in the nuts for making this proposal. But Maddie always surprises me. And I like surprises.
“Shoot.”
“One, you really are monogamous. You’re faced with girls who throw themselves at you on a daily basis, and I understand that temptation, but if you want to mess around with other people, we can’t sleep together. However, since we’re just friends, it shouldn’t be a big deal for you to give me a heads up. Can you do that? Can you be that honest?”
I answer without hesitation. “Not a problem.” I push closer until she’s up against the counter again. Her chest rises and falls in a quickening breath. “What’s the second condition?”
Her tongue swipes against her lower lip, and I fight the urge to taste it myself. “That we keep this a secret. We can’t tell anyone, which means we can’t go out. My job is on the line, and I don’t want to jeopardize it with a casual fling.”
Bracing myself on either side of her, I run my nose against the slender column of her neck, inhaling her sweet scent. “Deal.” She shudders against me, her breasts pressing into my chest, but she's quiet. Too quiet. “And the last condition?”
“That we always use condoms.”
I nod. “Goes without saying.”
She takes a deep breath and nods. “I'm on birth control. It's just... ”
“No explanation needed. I understand.”
Maddie takes a deep breath and whispers, “Okay.”
And just like that, we are happening. Fuck yeah.
I kiss her forehead and the tension in her body melts. “Will it be a stretch to pretend you like me during our interview?” I ask, resting my hands on her hips, leaning back to see her beautiful face.
She shakes her head, trying to fight that smile again.
“Can you admit you missed me?” I kiss her cheek and that smile widens.
Taking a deep breath, she nods, her hands coming up to rest on my chest. “Yes, I missed you.”
“Madeline,” I whisper, enjoying the way her full name sounds on my lips. “Have you thought about what we did that night? Do you replay it in your mind?”
Her hands tremble against me. “Yes.”
With those words, the clarity I’ve been desperate for since she fled my bed settles over me. I don’t know why, but I need this. I need her in my life. It’s like her presence settles something inside me.
Wrapping her in a hug, I lift her off her feet until she laughs, and I swear I feel lighter than I have all week.
When I place her on the floor, I let her body drag against mine slowly before I thread my hands into her hair and pull her into a kiss. Her lips are soft when I brush against them, but she pulls back as I seek her mouth. She’s keeping in a laugh, her eyes playful. I lean in again, and she backs away, her lips tilting up. God damn it.
“C’mere,” I growl and pull her against me for a searing kiss. She gives up her coy game and moans into my mouth, her tongue eagerly stroking mine. When I think my dick is about to break through the zipper in my jeans, I come up for a breath and press my lips against her forehead.
“Why, Maddie McDermott, does this mean I can get you naked now?”
Her arms tighten around my waist. “Yes, you can get me naked.”
“Thank fuck.”
She laughs against me, but before I can sling her over my shoulder and carry her back to my place man-style, her phone rings, and Eminem’s Lose Yourself blasts through her quiet kitchen. Her smile drops, immediately replaced with that no-nonsense demeanor.
“I’m sorry, but I have to get this.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
- Maddie -
Setting down the phone, I look up, expecting Daren to give me that judgmental sneer I got so accustomed to seeing from my ex. Jacob hated that I’d drop everything for work, which is a total double standard. Men do it all the time without a second thought, but if a woman does it, she’s cold, heartless, or worse.
Daren frowns for a moment and then sighs. “I get it. Work calls.” He motions toward my cell with a smirk. “Eminem, huh?”
I smile back, distracted by his sexy charm as he runs his hands through his already disheveled hair.
The relief in me is palpable. I didn’t realize how much that bothered me about Jacob. How his judgment weighed on me.
But it’s still early. Wait until you’re half naked in Daren’s bed and the phone rings.
I shake my head, wanting to clear my thoughts of the negativity. “I swear they call at the worst times.”
The words just come out, like I’m testing him. Maybe I am. Why, I’m not sure. He said it himself. We’re just fuck buddies, which is a new frontier for me. It should bother me, taking something as serious as a sexual relationship so casually. But it doesn’t. A part of me feels liberated, like I’m taking charge of my life and getting what I want. Because I want to have sex with him again. He made me come so hard I half wondered if I had blacked out. I’ve never come more than once with a man, and I’d probably light on fire and go straight to hell if I tried denying I’ve thought about little else this week.
He’s marking new territory for me left and right. Can I still consider him my first one night stand if we plan to sleep together again?
What a stupid thing to be mulling over right now when I have to get back to the office.
After listening to the message on my cell, I mutter, “I… I need to go,” as I try my best to ignore the throb between my legs. He felt huge against my belly a few minutes ago. I take a deep breath, trying to find a sense of balance. Being around Daren is disorienting, like I’m on a non-stop carnival ride.
He nods, a resigned smile on his lips, like he understands the demands of my job.
I should be racing out of here, but I can’t help but study Daren, who showed up on my door wearing a worn, long-sleeved Henley and jeans. He’s rich. Loaded. But nothing about him screams obnoxious wealth aside from his address. Even his condo, although decked out with lots of big boy toys, isn’t flashy.
He glances down at his watch, a beautiful Patek Philippe, a luxury watch without the flash of a Rolex. That frown
returns. “It’s late. Can I drive you?”
I can’t help the shock in my voice when I ask, “Didn’t you just have a ten hour practice?”
He tilts his head, unsure of where this is headed. “We watched film and had meetings in between the scrimmages and workouts, but yeah, it lasted about ten hours. Why?”
Who knew Daren Sloan was such a sweetheart? My heart melts a little, and I resist the urge to stroke his handsome face.
That’s when this sinks in. How this is a bad idea. The worst. I may want to experience some casual fun, and sure, “hanging out” with Daren might help me be more relaxed when I interview him, but this man is all kinds of sexy and he’s thoughtful.
When my phone buzzes again, I know I don’t have time to think about this any longer. I decline Daren’s offer because I’ll need my car to get home later. He makes me promise not to walk out in the middle of the night alone, and my heart thuds a little faster.
“I’ll get security to escort me.”
He grabs his phone and looks up at me as though he’s waiting. “Well, are you gonna give me your number or do I have to wait on your doorstep like a lost puppy whenever I want to see you?”
“I don’t know.” I look him over, unable to resist messing with him. “Are you housebroken?”
“Hmm. I’m not gonna pee on your leg if that’s what you’re worried about, but I can’t guarantee I won’t bite.”
And then he gives me that look, the one that makes me want to incinerate. Would it be strange to hand him my panties right now and beg him to find hidden places on me to leave his mark?
I give him a weak smile because it’s all I can do to focus. Reaching for a pad of paper, I scribble down my number, jamming it in his outstretched hand a little too hard. But then those bear paws grab my elbow as I head for the door, and he leans down to whisper, “Let me walk you to your car.”
Of course he wants to walk me to my car. He isn’t the cad that Jacob was. Why did I even date Jacob? The reasons, which I could rattle off a few weeks ago, seem fuzzy all of a sudden.
Daren soothes back a stray hair behind my ear and says, “By the way, I’ll be thinking of you later.” I glance up at him and he gives me a devilish grin. “In the shower.” And then he nips my earlobe.