Page 44 of Slow Burn
I'd wanted this. Wanted her here in my space where I could just be in her presence. But I didn't take a moment to think about how it would affect me. How I'd want more. And I wasn't talking about something physical. I wanted to sit with her and beg her to tell me about who she was, what her wants and dreams were.
I wanted to know everything.
My eyes fell shut when I heard her move behind me. In those few seconds before I felt her presence to my left, I willed my frantic thoughts to calm the hell down.
"Mmmm."
I opened my eyes; Maddie was leaning over the pot, using her hand to wave the aroma toward her nose. She took one last whiff before straightening and turning her body toward me.
Her gaze flicked to my scars and for the first time since I'd had them, I didn't immediately want to turnaway. Maybe it was because her face never contorted with disgust or possibly because her eyes didn't shine with pity.
She looked at me with curiosity. Like I was some sort of intricate puzzle that she needed to solve. Still studying me, the pink tip of her tongue darted out and slid along her bottom lip. "Can I ask you something?"
Those knots in my stomach twisted and turned. I swallowed roughly as I pushed away from the stove and began pulling plates out. "Sure," I rasped over my shoulder. "But I can't promise to answer."
Especially not if she was about to ask about the fire.
"You intrigue me, Adam. First, you move in here in the middle of the night. Then you nearly chewed my head off when I just wanted to introduce myself." She was moving again; I heard her soft footfalls steadily approach. "And as far as I can tell, you don't leave the house." Maddie came to a standstill next to me as the last words fell from her lips.
Taking a breath, I stared at my hands planted on the counter. "How would you know if I left the house or not?"
She made an incredulous sound. "Have you seen yourself?" My entire body froze, my stomach sinking to the floor like a rock. She must've noticed. Within a breath, her hand was curled around my bicep. "I don't mean…" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her shake her head. "You're a big guy, Adam, and you're not exactly terrible to look at. It's a small town, and tongues would have been wagging if you'd been spotted."
Head still bowed, I looked at her. "Not terrible to look at?"
Her cheeks went from pale to bright red within a second flat. I swear, it was the prettiest sight. She tucked a few strands that'd escaped her ponytail behind her ear. "You know what I mean."
Straightening, I leaned my hip against the counter and folded my arms in front of me. "I really don't."
Maddie mimicked my stance and I couldn't help but steal a quick glance at her chest. "Actually, you don't get to ask a question. I still haven't asked mine."
I cocked a brow. "You sure about that?"
"Oh yeah." She nodded once. "I made a few observations but didn't ask a single thing."
It scared the shit out of me to say, "Well, what do you want to know?"
With one arm still tucked beneath her breasts, she tapped her chin with her index finger. While she was pondering over her question, I came up with an idea of my own. Right when her pretty lips parted, my finger shot up.
"Just a sec." I waited until I had her undivided attention before I continued, "I think it's only fair that I get to ask you something too."
Maddie rolled her lip between her teeth, eyes roaming over my face for the longest time. "Okay," she answered carefully. "But can we eat while we partake in this game of twenty questions." With a small smile, she patted her stomach. "I'm starving, and the aromas coming from that pot aren't helping matters much." Pinning me with a stare, her tone turned serious. "I might bite when I'm hangry."
You can bite me anytime you want. I had to press my tongue against my cheek to keep the words from spilling out. "All right."
Dishing up, we silently moved around each other. Each brush of our arms or stolen glance charging the air between us. By the time we were seated opposite each other at the small dinette, every cell in my body felt alive and on fire.
When Maddie picked up her fork and eagerly tucked into her food, I found myself holding my breath. Slowly lifting the fork to her mouth, she trained her eyes on me. My heart ground to an abrupt halt before it fiercely started hammering against my ribs.
Her mouth closed around the bite of food, her lids fluttering closed a second later. I was about to take a much-needed pull of air when the most sinful, most sensual sound came from the back of her throat.
"Mmm," she moaned. "This is sooo good."
The air lodged in my throat wasn't the only thing that needed to go the hell down. Shifting in my seat, I snatched up my water and poured it down my throat when I really wanted to tip the contents over my head.
If I was going to make it through this dinner—that I had wanted—I needed to get a handle on my damn hormones. Surely, at the age of thirty-five, it shouldn't be that difficult a task?
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