Page 4 of Madd Love

“Delivering orgasms. Do you think there’s a need for this service?” I smirk at her and chuck her under the chin.

“I’m sure you deliver orgasms to every city when you’re on tour.” Jen’s eyes narrow on me with suspicion.

We’ve had this conversation before, several times. Jen thinks I’m out on tour behaving like the rock star that I am. I used to do those things, but ever since she came into the picture, she’s the only girl on my mind and in my bed. Now if I could ever convince her of that.

“How many times have I told you that you’re the only girl for me?”

She scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Yeah, right. I believe—”

I cut that shit off. I lean in and kiss her. Every time she tries to deny the truth about us, she tries to deny that I am into her. I am seriously asking for more; well, I just shut her up. I close down this negative commentary that goes on in her mind about me, about the possibility of us. I have yet to figure out how to move us around this point. And maybe, yeah, it is my fault because I let us continue like this for far too long. Of course, she can’t believe that I want more because I never pressed her. I never pursued her beyond that first hook-up when I sent her flowers every day for ages, trying to convince her to keep fucking me.

It’s my bad. I set this tone, and we’re in this place now because of that.

THREE

Jen

“How’s the bakery business treating you?”

I look over the rim of my water glass and into John’s blue eyes. This is our second date, and John Barron is a looker.

He’s dressed to impress in his blue suit that makes his even bluer eyes pop. He’s left the tie in the car or maybe his office since he likely just came here from work. His white shirt is crisp, and he has left a couple of buttons undone, teasing me with a hint of dark hair and toned, tanned skin, which tells me two things about this man: John takes care of himself, and he spends time outside. Both things are working for him.

His ensemble is tailored to perfection. That also tells me John has money, but I already knew that.

He comes into the bakery with one of our regulars, Alaric Jagger, who owns a tech firm just down the street from the bakery. They usually come together once a month for lunch, since the bakery is the midway point between their offices. That’s actually how we met. John came for lunch with Alaric. We ended up just chatting, and John asked me out. I saw no reason not to go, and it’s not like anyone else is asking me out on dates.

John is a bit older than the men I usually date; well, when I date, I haven’t been doing much of that lately. The gray hair sprinkled throughout his trimmed beard backs up that theory. He is definitely a silver fox. He is also kind and, so far, fun and available for more than just sex.

Everything that Maddox Case isn’t.

“It’s good. We just catered a party for the Tennessee Mountaineers last night.” I sip my wine and look around the restaurant.

“Oh, so you did meet Rimmington Banks? He’s an old friend.”

I can’t help but laugh. Of course, John would be friends with Rim. They remind me a lot of each other—handsome, kind, and ridiculously wealthy.

“He’s actually married to my best friend.”

“Is he? I hadn’t realized he had gotten married. He used to do some business with us at our Vegas firm.”

“Yeah, they’ve been married for a while.” I am not going into the specifics; that isn’t my story.

“No matter how much this city grows, it’s still a small town.”

“Isn’t that the truth, John? So, how’s the security business treating you?”

I look around the beautiful dining room at Angelica’s Etoile. The space is gorgeous and formal, and this is the same restaurant that Glory attacked Beck in, back in one of the private rooms. I think about that story and smile.Our girl sure is a horn dog.

But my smile doesn’t last long because in walks Maddox Case.

“You have got to be shitting me,” I mumble under my breath, and I am confident the stem of this water glass might crack in my hand from the death grip I have on it.

“Excuse me, did you say something, Jen?”

Shit.I turn my attention back to John, where it should be.

“Sorry about that. What were you saying?”

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