Page 24 of Chance Encounter

“What are you doing here? I thought I’d see you tomorrow?” He greets me.

Stepping out, I shake my head at him. “You can see me todayandtomorrow. But I thought we’d go out and do something today, and maybe if I’m lucky, you’ll let me stay the night.” I move up the stairs and kiss the corner of his upturned mouth.

He steps away and holds the front door open for me. “Why do I have a feeling I might not like whatever you have planned?”

His defense is already up, which is natural for him. “Because you like to fight with me. Now, why don’t you listen to what I have to say and give it a chance.”

“Fine,” he rolls his eyes at me. “Hit me with whatever you got, but who’s saying I don’t already have plans today?” He smirks, walking through his house to his bedroom.

This asshole is fucking with me, and I don’t appreciate it. “Because you don’t have plans with me,” I say, slamming the door behind me.

“It still doesn’t mean I don’t have plans. Who said I’m done with my horses?” He looks over his shoulder and finally takes in what I’m wearing. His face scrunched up in confusion. “Don’t tell me we’re going to look for Sally.”

“I don’t have a death wish,” I laugh, grabbing his snow pants that are hanging over the arm of a chair by the front door. “Dress warm.”

He starts to do as I say, which is surprising, but stops. “You’re not going to tell me where we’re going?”

A smile tugs at my lips, but I fight it. “I’ll tell you if you really want to know.”

He sits down on his bed, pulling on his pants. “Of course, I want to know. The last time I wasn’t prepared—”

“And look what happened,” I interrupted, unwilling to hear what was about to come out of his mouth.

“Right, but I’d rather not go through that again to...” he clams up and rushes to finish getting dressed.

“Why don’t you finish that sentence?” I urge him.

Mad shuffles around his bedroom, glancing over at me standing in the doorway every few seconds. “If I say what I was about to say, it will sound too... serious.”

I step inside. “It’s okay. As long as you mean it, I won’t read too much into it.”

He lets out a humorless laugh. “You say that now.”

I move to him and place my hands on his shoulders. “I promise I won’t.”

“Fine,” he huffs. “It brought me, you. Okay? Are you happy now?”

Yes, I am indeed happy and already reading into his words just as he said I would. I can’t help it. Maddox Blackburn just admitted there’s something between us.

“I—”

“Nope,” he puts his hand up. “I see you over there, and you need to stop,” he demands.

“I didn’t say a word,” I laugh.

“No, but you want to.” He looks down at himself and then back to me. “What else do I need?”

“Everything to be outside for a good while.”

“Why are we going to be outside?” He whines. “What if I’m tired?”

“Too bad because we’re going out, and we’re going to have fun.” I grab his hand and start to drag him out of the house.

“I think we can have more fun here. Don’t you agree?” The seductive tone in his voice almost,almosthas me stopping, but I continue forward until we’re out the front door.

Rounding my truck, I open the driver’s side door and hop inside. “Don’t try to distract me with sex.” His blue eyes widen for a fraction of a second before they go back to their normal state of distrust. “You can do that later.”

“Thanks for the permission, but I may not feel like it later, especially since you don’t seem willing to tell me what the hell we’re doing.”

---