Page 39 of Cold As Ice

“I didn’t think it meant I couldn’t make you breakfast. We had fun, didn’t we?” She gave me her eyes again, trying… failing to hide the hurt there. “It’s only bacon, Austin. It doesn’t come with strings.”

Didn’t it, though?

In my experience, women were pretty fucking good at reading into signs that weren’t there.

But you’d said you didn’t make a habit of turning up like this, asshole.Yousaid that.

I’d been inside her then, though, totally overcome by how good she felt—how right. I couldn’t be held responsible for any of the shit that came out of my mouth.

“Just sit down.” She rolled her eyes. “You fucked me twice last night and once again this morning. I think you can eat bacon with me.”

My brow arched. “Fair enough.”

I sat down, surprised at how much I liked her feistiness.

Madison was… Well, she was a fucking mystery still. A pretty package with secrets. Secrets I wanted to know but had no right to ask about. Because that shit went too deep, and we’d agreed to keep things uncomplicated.

She plated up the bacon and pancakes and shoved one toward me. “Help yourself to syrup, and there’s juice or coffee.”

“Thanks, this looks great.” My stomach growled in agreement, and she chuckled.

“See, your stomach thanks me even if you didn’t want to stay.” She peeked up at me through those long lashes, a hint of a smile playing on her lips.

“It wasn’t even like that.”

“Sure, it wasn’t, hotshot.”

We ate in comfortable silence, stealing little glances at each other, sizing each other up.

It felt like a battle of wills.

A game of who would break first.

I needed to leave. To walk out and keep the line intact.

Fun.

It was… fun.

But I couldn’t stop myself from obsessing over the way she ate her bacon. How cute she looked, nibbling on the perfectly cooked strips. The way her lips moved, the shape of them.

Jesus. She was in my head and under my skin.

What was it about her that got to me so much?

“What?” she asked, the question ripping me from my thoughts.

“Uh, nothing.”

“If you say so.” She gave me a teasing smile.

“Well, this was nice and all,” I said, shoving my plate away to stand. “But I really should go.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?” I frowned.

“Sure, I mean, we had fun. You placated me and stayed for breakfast. My work here is done.” She got up to collect our breakfast plates and move them to the sink.

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