Page 154 of Cold As Ice

“Nothing is set in stone yet. I’ve still got to sit down with their people, and I haven’t decided anything. So what do you say we ignore all the background noise, the what-ifs and maybes, and focus on the here and now?”

“If I remember correctly, we did that once before and it went horribly wrong.”

“Firstly, there was nothing wrong about anything we did.” A smirk tugged at my mouth. I couldn’t help it. Madison was fucking gorgeous, and I knew how good it felt to be buried deep inside her.

But it was more than that.

It was her laugh and her smile and the way she didn’t take any shit from me. It was how hard she worked for her daughter. How much she valued family and friendship.

Madison was everything I never knew I wanted. And I would do whatever it took to make her mine.

“And secondly?” she asked.

“Secondly, I will never knowingly hurt you again.”

“You’re saying all the right things…” She gnawed the end of her thumb, hesitation swimming in her ocean eyes. “But I don’t know, Austin. Are we just asking for more heartache?”

“You have reservations and I get it. I do, too. I’ve never done this, Madi. Ever. But being with you feels good. It feels… right. And I don’t want to lose that.

“I don’t want to lose you.”

“Okay.” It slipped off her lips barely more than a whisper.

“Okay?”

“Yeah, okay. But I want to take it slow, Austin. I need to this time.”

“I can do that.” I grinned, trying to rein in the sheer elation I felt.

Fuck, she wanted this too.

She wantedme.

“So what happens now?” she asked, putting me on the spot.

The confidence I’d felt a second ago wavered. Because fuck if I knew.

But one thing was certain, I couldn’t wait to find out.

* * *

I was nervous.

Clutching the bouquet of flowers in my hand like my life depended on it.

I’d never bought anyone flowers before, but I didn’t want to turn up empty handed. Besides, I was hoping it would soften the blow of turning up unexpectedly again.

After leaving Madison yesterday, after giving her nothing more than a chaste kiss on her cheek, we’d made no arrangements. But today, I’d watched my friends. Listened to them talk about their girlfriends, making plans for the future, and there was only one place I wanted to be after I got done with classes.

The owner of Sugartown spotted me first, giving me a bemused smile as I entered.

“Is she here—”

“Mr. Austins,” a familiar voice said, and I didn’t have time to think before Imogen was in front of me.

“Hello,” I said awkward as fuck. Because shit.

Shit.

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