by Sable Hunter
“Micah really. Let’s just find another table. It’s fine.” She stood up.
Micah tugged her back down. “No. The view here is perfect. I love sitting right beside the tree. Just have a seat. If the phone owner comes back, we’ll move.”
During Madison’s life she’d been a firsthand witness to too many confrontations. The last thing she wanted was for something silly to spoil their evening together. She took the seat across from him uneasily.
Micah turned the phone over on the table. “It is a nice phone though.” He gave it an inspection. “Brand new. And look. Pink, your favorite color.”
Madison took it from his hand. “Maybe you should just leave it on the table. We don’t want to be accused of messing with someone’s property.”
He got up and came around to her side of the table to sit close enough that they touched. “Let’s just take it,” he whispered.
“What? No!”
“Oh come on. You could use a new one and someone obviously didn’t care enough about it or they wouldn’t have just left it here. Open your purse.”
“Micah, no.”
He slid the phone screen open. “Look. It’s brand new. You need a new phone, don’t you?”
“I could use one, I guess. But I’m certainly not going to steal it.” She grabbed at his hand. “And neither are you. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
He gave her a grin that made her heart turn over. “Look at this, Madison. There are no actual buttons, just a touch screen. And look, the five works.”
A group of men came walking towards their table. Madison was sure one of their girlfriends owned the phone and they were going to be angry when they saw Micah messing with it. “Can we just go, please?”
“Hang on. I want to see who it belongs to.” Micah slid up the contacts list, but Madison was busy watching the group of men who were almost at the table. “I don’t have my glasses on. Can you read that name for me, Fellows?”
Micah held the phone up for her to see and Madison looked at the screen. There was only one name on the screen. “Madison Fellows?” Her name was there on the screen, her phone number right underneath it. “But…but…?”
Micah put it in her hand. “I guess it’s your phone.”
Madison looked at it. She’d forgotten all about the men she’d been worried about a few moments ago. “You got me a new phone? How? Why?”
“Yes. I bought it. Why? Because I think I saw your current phone in an exhibit of dinosaurs at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. A caveman was holding it up in the air trying to get a signal.”
Holding it delicately in her hand, she thought she might cry. Madison had never owned something like this. Everything she’d ever owned was second hand. Hell, she’d taken the bus to meet him because her old rattletrap car had died on her. Biting her lip, she played with the screen, moving things around and looking at all the fancy icons. “I can’t accept this, Micah. Thank you very much, I love it. But I know how much these things cost and it’s too much.”
“Nonsense. I hate to throw salt in my own game here, but I didn’t pay full price if that’s what’s bothering you.”
She placed the phone on the table. “Whatever you paid. It’s still too much.”
“I’m not asking you to put-out for it or anything.” He said the words with such a smirk on his face that she knew he was joking.
“Oh, really? Thank God.”
They both laughed. What he didn’t know was, that he didn’t have to buy her gifts, she was already more than eager to give herself to him.
Micah took her hand out of her lap, holding it in his, rubbing his thumb gently on her palm. “Listen. Just take it. You don’t have to do anything for it. You don’t owe me anything. Just put it in your purse. Take it home and think about it.”
“Okay.”
They drank their coffee and ate the pastries, speaking casually of their day. Finally, Micah reached across the table and grabbed her bag. “I’m just going to put the phone in your purse.”
“Okay,” she said softly.
He could tell she wanted it, but she didn’t know how to accept. Madison knew about how much a gift like this would cost and even if he hadn’t paid full price, he’d still given more for it than she would ever be able to pay. “I have to confess one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I lied. I do want something from you.” He’d wanted her body from the moment she’d agreed to go out with him, but he would wait. The kiss had been pure heaven to him, but Madison was special and he’d stall the physical stuff to make sure she knew he valued her. “First.”
“First?”
“Yeah. There are a few things, actually.” At her surprised look, he chuckled. “What can I say? I’m greedy. First, I want you to promise you’ll start texting with me. I know you’re busy with work and you can’t afford to be on the phone with me all the time. I don’t want you getting in trouble, so we’ll text instead of talking.”
“Well. First. If I decide to keep the phone, I will agree to your request. If I decide to keep it.”
“Your if may be non-negotiable. But that’s fine.”
“Why is it non-negotiable?”
“Let’s deal with my other demand and then I’ll explain.” Madison was so lost in his eyes that all she could manage was a nod of approval. “I want a kiss.”
“A kiss?”
“My other stipulation. I want a kiss on the cheek and I want it right now.” He offered the left side of his face.
Madison’s head was swimming. He’d given her a very thoughtful present and he looked incredible. Her whole body was trembling with the need to be touched. Madison lost all her inhibitions. She placed her right hand on the side of his dear face and put just enough pressure on it for him to turn and face her fully. “I don’t want just cheek.” Before she chickened out, she planted a kiss right on his full lips. This time, jaws came unhinged and their tongues met ever so briefly.
Micah’s desire for her flamed too brightly and for a moment he forgot himself. Moving his hand to her knee, he allowed his fingers to slip beneath the silky material of her black skirt. Madison’s legs parted at his touch and briefly he pressed the palm of his hand between her thighs. The heat that he found there almost burned his fingers. “Fuck, baby.”
When he said that, Madison jerked–not away from him, but her whole body shook. Realizing what he’d done, Micah pulled both his hand and his lips away from her. “I’m sorry.” What a fool he’d been. Touching her like that had been the one thing he’d promised himself he wouldn’t do tonight, but his attraction to her was just too powerful. “I didn’t mean to do that. I’m so sorry.” He moved a good two feet away from her.
Madison was still breathless from his kiss and that incredible quick caress of his big hand on the front of her panties. “It’s okay, Micah,” she whispered.
He took a deep breath. This girl had him acting in ways he’d never acted before. Micah was a master at keeping his cool, but tonight he was seriously in danger of losing it. He never made stupid mistakes, especially when it came to women, but Madison had him flustered. He’d give anything to put his hand back down on her pussy, the heat he’d felt in that brief moment had turned him inside out. Now all he could think about was slipping his hand inside of her silky panties and tasting her from the tips of his fingers. Underneath the table, his cock was hard as a rock. Thank God his pants were tight or the tent in them right now would’ve warranted police intervention in such a public place.
Madison had never been an exhibitionist and she’d always liked to think she was a classy girl, but right now her body was begging for more of him. If Micah wanted more, she was willing to give it to him. Please don’t regret this, Micah, she said to herself.
“I uhh…We should.” Micah adjusted his dwindling erection in his pants. It’d settled against his right thigh and leaked a stream of pre-cum down his leg. “Would you like to go for a walk?”
Madison still hadn’t
regained her breath. “Yes. Of course.”
They left the coffee shop together, but Micah left a bit of distance between them as he led them down the walkway. Madison had been hoping for more handholding like earlier, but now he seemed distant and she was sure it must be her fault.
The normally, never quiet nor uncomfortable Micah was both at the moment. He figured he’d committed a huge blunder, maybe even ruined his chances with this amazing girl and he’d promised himself he’d keep his distance for the rest of the evening.
The night was gorgeous and the setting was beautiful, but there was a silence between them after the kiss on Mozart’s deck. “So why is my ‘if’ non-negotiable?” Madison asked as they walked, trying desperately to regain the closeness they’d felt.
Micah looked at his watch. “You’ll find out in about thirty seconds.”
They continued to walk and half a minute later, Madison’s purse began to vibrate. She stopped and looked at her date before fishing her new phone from her purse. She slid her finger over the screen. A text message awaited her. “But how could I be getting messages on this phone? Nobody knows I have it.”
Micah just smirked and shrugged his shoulders. “Weird. Who’s it from?”
Madison opened the message after a few missed tries. “Gonna take me a while to figure this phone out,” she said with a laugh.
Her words were music to Micah’s ears, it sounded as if she were planning on keeping his gift.
“It’s from you. But how?” he remained silent and Madison began to read the text.
I’m sorry to tell you that your cell phone information has already been switched over. I knew you might not accept my gift, so I have already made arrangements. Your old phone is now deactivated. Looks like you’re stuck with the new one.
It was certainly a bold move, to have her information switched. Either Micah was extremely resourceful or Madison needed to call up her provider and ream them out for letting anyone call and change her information. “How did you do that?”
“Not yet,” Micah insisted, holding up one finger.
The phone vibrated again. Madison looked at the screen.
Now, how about a kiss?
When she didn’t respond immediately, Micah felt it best to try and explain. “I often find myself in situations where I’m not sure if I’m going to get slapped or kissed–like earlier. And now I find myself in another one. I know it was an aggressive thing to do, but I couldn’t help myself. I want to be able to contact you and I want you to contact me. So, I’m just gonna close my eyes and accept whatever happens next. Hopefully, it’s not a pointy-toe to the balls.”
He closed his eyes and a second later once again felt the familiar touch of her lips. The kiss was quick, but precious. Micah opened his eyes and found her smiling up at him. “Sooooo much better than a kick in the balls,” he murmured as he pulled her in for a hug. All the awkwardness from a few moments ago was completely gone. “It’s a good thing you pulled away quickly or I’d have pushed you into those bushes and had my way with you.”
Madison giggled, broke free from his embrace and strolled up ahead of him with a little extra wiggle in her walk. “Night ain’t over yet,” she purred.
Micah watched her go. “My God,” he whispered to himself. Where had that body been hiding the first night he’d met her? The girl was blessed with a bounty of curves in all the right places. He felt his cock reawaken and twitch in his pants. “Down, boy.” They walked the rest of the way with Madison a few paces ahead. She didn’t know where they were headed, but Micah loved the way her ass moved.
Madison kept glancing back and it was obvious what Micah was looking at–he was watching her–or more specifically her backside. She worried a bit because he wasn’t looking where he was going. She hoped he didn’t trip. But–Lord Have Mercy–she loved him watching her.
Her enjoyment was doused a block later when Micah called a halt to their progress. “Hold it, cupcake. We’re here. Give me your hand.”
Madison’s head was foggy. This had been one hell of a fun and yet confusing night so far. They’d gone from enjoying a kiss at the first sight of each other, to him giving her a very thoughtful gift–a gift that set off a series of events like dominoes being knocked over one by one. A mutual loss of composure. A touch that set her whole body on fire. An awkward silence. And now here they were, back to holding hands and smiling at each other. Being with Micah Wolfe was a dizzying rollercoaster and Madison wanted to keep riding it until the car ran off the tracks.
“Oh, Micah, I’ve always wanted to do this someday,” she said as they strolled down a walkway framed by low hanging branches of a huge oak.
The old steamboat Madison had seen from the deck at Mozart’s was docked and decorated with hanging lanterns. Music from a string quartet wafted up from one of the lower decks. Micah ushered her on and straight to the top. Part of the deck was encased in glass and they took seats right next to one another. One wall was a sliding glass door that was standing wide open. When the boat pulled away from the dock, Madison shivered in the cool night air. Micah got up from his seat and retrieved one of the blankets that were folded and placed on the end of a bench for passengers who needed to wrap up for warmth.
He draped the cotton throw over her lap and took a seat beside her. “I guess they expect a lot of ladies to get cold. Do you want to snuggle?”
“Yes,” she said simply, picking up the edge of the blanket and draping it over his lap too.
Micah rested his hand on her leg. Above the blanket to be safe, but still on her knee and Madison settled into her chair with their shoulders touching to enjoy the closeness. Outside, big houses with wide picture windows seemed to pass by. Inside those houses, people were going about their lives, some even looked up from a book or away from their phones long enough to wave.
Madison broke the silent reverie. “How did you get the phone switched over without my permission?”
“I know people. People who know things about computers. People who can quite easily hack into a cell phone provider and switch things at will.”
“Seems illegal.”
“You’d be surprised the things I’m willing to do to make sure we stay in touch, Fellows.”
The top deck was empty, it was just the two of them there and when Micah squeezed her thigh over the blanket, he glanced at her and their gazes locked. She thought she could see the desire she felt mirrored in his own. Madison wanted to slip her hand beneath the blanket and do some exploring of her own. She ached for him to touch her–anywhere and the kissing was a given. But since she couldn’t be sure, there was no way she’d make the first move.
Micah fought for control. He wanted to grab her up and let his passion explode. The heat between them had gone up by a million degrees, his need far surpassed a passionate kiss and a bit of light petting. Micah wanted to bury every inch of his cock as deep inside of Madison as he could get it. Under the blanket his hips bucked. He caught it right away and stifled his desire. He couldn’t rush this.
Sensing his inner turmoil, Madison sought to keep him talking. “Tell me about yourself.”
“Only if you tell me about yourself after.”
“Okay. Deal. Why do you come to the shelter to help out?”
“I can’t just do nice things for people?”
“You can. But you mentioned a friend. A friend no longer with us, if I remember correctly.”
“A friend of mine used to go to Angel House every once in a while. It was years ago. We were a lot younger then. He lost his life.” The words were hard for Micah to say. Nobody in his life knew he went to the shelter and did what he did–not Kyle, not Jet–no one. It’d been something he’d done on his own and something he always kept to himself. He liked Madison, but he wasn’t fully ready to open up to her yet. “I’d rather talk about you, if that’s okay.”
She gave him the way out he was clearly looking for. “Of course.”
“Why do you go there?”
“What? I
can’t just do nice things for people?” she said with a smile.
“Of course you can, but you had that bag with you. I know you didn’t come from your storage locker.” He didn’t want to embarrass her, but he wanted to know more about Madison Fellows and why she felt the need to sleep at a homeless shelter. “Why were you there that night?”
Madison’s blood went cold. The moment had come to reveal herself for who she was. She was just a poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks, unworthy of the attention of a man such as Micah Wolfe. “I went to feel safe.” She looked away, embarrassed.
Micah placed a hand on her cheek and turned her face toward him. “Safe from what?”
“My family.”
An edge of steel entered his voice. “Your family?”
Madison pulled away. “I’m sure you don’t want to hear about this. What do you do for a living?”
“That’s not going to work. Don’t try to change the subject. Tell me.”
Madison tossed the blanket off her lap and stood. “What do you want me to tell you?” She was emotional. Tonight had been amazing and now she was about to tell her dream guy about her ugly, troubled life. A knot formed in her throat as she stepped over to the railing, hugging herself as she went.
Micah gave her some space. “It’s okay, Madison. You can tell me anything.”
“Like what? Tell you that my mother is a drug addict? Or how I don’t even know who my father is? Tell you that my mom’s lowlife husband beats the crap out of her and has beaten the crap out of me before?”
“What?”
“Tell you how I want to be a nurse, but every time I save up enough money my mom calls and needs bail money or I have to pay off a debt of hers to keep her out of jail?”
“I won’t judge you, Madison. I just want to know you. Has he hit you lately?” Micah’s blood was boiling, but not with desire, with anger. “We can call the police right now and have him arrested.”
“He’s gone. They’re both gone. My mom and Rudy left for Fort Worth the other day. They’d been staying with me. That’s why I was at the shelter that night. That’s why I had the bag with me. I stuffed everything of value I could find in my bag, so my mother’s trashy husband wouldn’t steal it to sell for drugs.”