Page 23 of New in Town

“That was it? You fell asleep in the guy’s arms, Maddie. Are you sure you didn’t want something to happen?”

“Well, that’s a different question,” she mumbles, picking at a loose thread in her scrubs.

“Wow,” Jules breathes.

“I know. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever wanted something to happen as much as I did that night. But he was cornered into this arrangement with me, so I need to stick to the rules.”

“Babe, I don’t think this man gives a damn about those rules.”

Maddie sighs, it would be nice if Jules was right. The first part of the week had passed slowly. Still with no work to do, she spent nearly every moment recounting her date with Grey. And each time she remembered the feel of his arms around her or the heat in his eyes when he saw her in his sweatshirt, she felt that tug of need in her core.

“I see him again tonight,” she admits to her best friend. She needs to be getting ready for their next date at this very moment, actually. Grey had explained that Sterling Ridge has a summer kick off festival complete with fair food, rides, and games.Plenty of people around, he had promised her. The problem is, she can’t help but long for another night alone with him instead.

“Just remember babe, rules are made to be broken,” Jules sings through the phone.

12

GREY

Thus far, they’ve spent more time alone than in public, and Grey knows he has to follow through with the deal for time in town at the carnival tonight. If only he could bring her home and sleep with her in his arms again after. There was no sweeter way to wake up than with her curled up on him. He wonders if she remembers turning on her side to slide closer to him and hooking her leg over his.

Parking the truck in front of her place, he moves to get out and head to her door. But before he can, he sees her coming down the walk. He sucks in a breath as she drifts towards him in white, knee-high cowgirl boots and a short little sundress. The pink dress is covered with tiny flowers and the straps are so thin they might as well not be there. The dress clings to her before falling straight down from her hips so that it has a way of flitting around her legs as she approaches his truck.

As she gets closer, he can see a dainty line of trim along the top edge of the heart shaped neckline and all he can think about is tracing along it with his mouth. He knows he needs to get himself together before she sees him staring at her amorously. Willing himself to look away, he leans his head back on his seat and sighs. The door clicks open, and he rolls his head to the side just as she is climbing inside the cab of the truck, a smile on her lips.

“No motorcycle today?” she asks by way of greeting.

“Would you have mounted it in that dress?” he returns, his eyes traveling to how it lays high across her thighs now that she’s seated. She shrugs in response, one of the straps sliding from her shoulder at the movement.Fuck me, he groans internally, the attraction he feels for her is getting stronger by the day.

Throwing the truck in drive, he heads towards the festivities that await them. He’s desperate to change the subject and get the image of her straddling his bike in that dress out of his mind. “Rides, games, food, what are the top things you want to make sure we hit?”

She tilts her head in thought. “No rides where we are upside down. Or like, plummeting to our death. But I do want to eat something fried that definitely has no business being fried. Other than that, you tell me.”

“I think I can manage that.”

They arrive in a matter of minutes, the parking lot already filling up.Nice and public,he thinks begrudgingly, coming around the truck to get her door. Unlike the farmer’s market, when he reaches for her this time it’s to grasp her hand. She intertwines their fingers and steps closer to him as they walk.

The gravel of the parking lot gives way to a paved path as they cross through the entrance to the carnival. Above them, music floats through the air, intermixed with the sound effects of various games and the lively chatter of the crowd. To most, this would be a fun scene to step into. Grey, though, can already feel the tension in his shoulders and jaw increasing. The first booths inside the entrance are food, and he’s jolted from his thoughts as Maddie stops in front of the shaken lemonade stand. He orders her one of the green and yellow cups larger than her head, and feels warmth edging out his tension at the sight of her sipping happily.

“I like your boots,” he says as they head down the game alley. He notices a couple of women look in their direction and turn to whisper to one another. He knows one is the mother of a guy who tried to fight him in middle school, and he’d first met her in the principal’s office. His heartbeat races, hoping they are saying kind things about the adult he became, but suddenly worries that this plan is actually not going to help Maddie.

“Thanks! I wandered into that Ned’s Handmade Boots place on my lunch break the other day. I know white isn’t practical at all, but I couldn’t resist.”

“They’re perfect on you,” he assures her, happy to see her face flush at his compliment.

“Ready to lose?” she asks, pulling him over to duckpin bowling.

“Sweetheart,” he chuckles. “Tell me, what do I get when I win?” Grey smirks as the boy working the booth sets the game up. There are many things he wants with Maddie.

“Winner picks the first ride we go on. But they still can’t be upside down or plummeting ones.”

“Deal.”

They shake on it and begin the game. He easily beats her and finds himself relaxed enough to laugh with her. Even when she slaps his arm. “Don’t you know you’re supposed to let the girl win on a date?”

“I believe in earning things,” he teases, taking her hand again to continue on their way. “Besides, you don’t seem like the kind of girl who would appreciate that.”

She bumps him with her hip, “Well you are right about that. I’ll get you on the next one though. Double or nothing, winner picks two rides.”

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