Page 54 of Desperate Pucker
I glower at him. “Say that to her again and I’ll rearrange your fucking teeth.”
He holds up his palms like he’s surrendering and stumbles back. “S-Sorry.” He scurries off, and I turn back to Maddy, who’s gazing up at me, her stormy eyes wide.
I reach down and wipe her mouth and chin.
“You’re very intimidating,” she murmurs.
“Only when I need to be.” I sit next to her on the bench. “Sorry that creep bothered you.”
She shrugs. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine. You shouldn’t have to deal with that shit.”
She picks at the bun of her hot dog. “You surprise me, Ryker,” she says after a quiet moment.
“In what way?”
She looks at me, thoughtfulness in her gaze. “When I first met you, I thought you were a jerk. Your face was all mean and grumpy too.” She’s quiet for a long moment. “But you’re a really good guy.”
I take in the softness in her gaze as she looks at me.
“That means a lot coming from you. Thanks,” I say.
She hesitates for a second, then she says, “I think about you sometimes.”
I’m about to ask her what she means, but she turns away, like she doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. She finishes her last bite of hot dog.
“Want me to take you home?” I ask. She nods.
I help her up, and together we walk three blocks down the street where my car is parked. I help her into the passenger seat, buckle her up, hop in the driver’s seat, then plug her address into my navigation app.
The whole drive, she’s quiet as she gazes out the window. I almost ask her what she meant when she said that she thinks about me. I want to tell her that I think about her too. A lot. But I don’t. She’s drunk. She’s probably just saying random stuff. I don’t want to make it weird.
I pull up to a luxury apartment building on the edge of downtown Denver and park in one of the fifteen-minute spots out in front.
I hop out of the car and help her climb out of the passenger seat.
“I can walk from here,” she says. I study her eyes. They’re clearer than they were earlier, but I can tell she’s still a little tipsy.
“No. I’m taking you all the way to your front door.”
I expect her to roll her eyes or fight me, but she just nods. Together we walk to the entrance. She scans her key fob to enter, and I hold the door for her.
I glance at the elevator bank at the far end of the lobby, but she doesn’t even look at it. She just walks past it and goes straight to the stairwell. Gently, I hold her arm as she makes her way up to the third floor.
When we reach the door of her apartment, she unlocks it and starts to open it, but before she walks in, she turns to me.
I expect her to tell me goodnight, but she doesn’t. Instead, she gazes up at me, those gray-blue doe eyes bright.
“What we did in the elevator…” she rasps. “Do you ever think about it?”
“All the fucking time.”
Her eyes widen the slightest bit, and her mouth parts open. She lets out a shaky breath as she gazes at me.
Heat races across my body as I stare at her and breathe in her perfume. I’m aching to kiss her until she’s breathless and clawing at my body. I’m not going to though. Not when she’s drunk.
I step back. “Goodnight, Maddy.”
