Page 47 of New in Town

It’s a subtle motion, no one would notice how his thumb brushes inches from her center. He smirks as her eyes widen. “Are you just saying that because you’re worrying about me?”

“No, I’d prefer to be out there too. If it helps you, I guess that’s just a benefit,” she answers. She’s not sure that he buys it, but he nods anyway.

Outside, their corner is no longer available. Grey approaches an empty table and pulls out a chair, motioning for her to take it, before moving to sit himself.

“I do like being able to look at you better out here,” he says, leaning back and crossing his ankle atop his knee. He takes a pull of his drink, his eyes darken as they hold her gaze. In this light, they match the slate blue button down he’s wearing.

He’s so handsome, the picture of cowboy appeal basking in the neon and moonlight. She would never know what has been raging inside him, and she wonders if she’s fallen for the façade on more than one occasion. Suddenly, it’s urgent that she knows the answer to a question burning inside her.

“Did you agree to all of this because Arlo pushed it that day?”

He raises his eyebrows in surprise. “Fuck no.”

Her heart stutters at his response. What does this mean then? Despite the social anxiety it would cause him, he had wanted to take her out?

“Do you believe me?” he asks. “You’re not saying anything.”

She rests a hand on his knee. “I do.”

“Okay…” he hesitates and takes another drink before speaking again. “There’s been a question on my mind, too. Not as long, but… I want to know what you thought about after we hung up on FaceTime.” His voice is velvety, enticing.

“That wasn’t a question.”

“Humor me?” he asks with a smirk.

“I thought about you,” she says quietly, lifting her eyes to meet his. “And I thought about us doingverydirty things together.”

“How dirty?”

She presses her crossed legs tighter together, the desire between them heightening to an impossible intensity tonight. So impossible, she’s not sure how much more of this she can take. “Dirty enough that I had to do something about all the tension it was creating in me.”

“Maddie,” he breathes, raking his hand through his hair. “I should have been the one taking care of that for you.”

She finishes her drink and stands, holding out a hand to him. “I agree.”

22

MADDIE

Athrill shoots through her when Grey accepts her hand and allows himself to be led out onto the sidewalk. She’s not overthinking tonight—no rules, no fears. She wants this, she wants him.

They make it a block before he presses her into an alcove. He guides her back against the white painted brick she recognizes as the wall of West & Honey. His hands run down her back, stopping to grab fistfuls of her skirt.

“And just where are we going, sweetheart?” he whispers in her ear.

“My place,” she manages as he pulls her hips against him. “I was thinking you could show me how you would havetaken careof me the other night.”

A low growl sounds in his throat as he trails his lips down her neck. “You’re sure this is what you want?”

She stretches both arms up behind his neck until her elbows rest on his shoulders, forearms crossing loosely behind his head. She smiles up at the night sky, aglow with glittering stars, as his mouth reaches the hollow of her throat.

“More than anything,” she tells him. “Do you want—”

“More than anything,” he echoes. He drops a kiss to the top of her shoulder. Then another. “I’m going totake careof you so well, you’ll be fucking ruined for anyone else.”

“You’ve made a lot of guarantees. Take me home, now.” The words no sooner leave her mouth than he is pulling her back out and heading for her apartment.

They make it back in half the time it took to get to the bar. Arriving at her door, their lips crush together once again, one of his hands tangling in her hair and the other dragging up her thigh. She moans into his mouth, fumbling with her keys in the lock. Throwing the door open, they tumble inside, kicking off boots on their way up the stairs.

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