Page 39 of Recklessly, Wildly Yours

“Why are you two being so fucking evasive?” he asks.

“We’re not trying to be,” Maddie says with a hint of disappointment. “I was just enjoying the anonymity for a bit.”

I tap my phone, pull up my music app and Maddie’s profile before sliding the phone to Dan.

After looking at it, Dan peers at Maddie and says, “Fuck me. I love your music. I’m sorry I didn’t know who you are but I don’t know what most singers look like.” Then, he shifts his gaze between us before resting it on me. “How the fuck did I not know that you know her?”

Maddie answers before I can. “We met three days ago. He let me use him for a kiss that saved me from having to get married.”

“Kisses,” I correct as my mind goes straight to those kisses.

Maddie’s eyes meet mine, holding as much heat as I feel after thinking about her body underneath mine and my lips on hers. “Kisses,” she agrees with the kind of sexy look any man would kill for. It’s pretty clear she’s remembering our meeting in the same way I am, but then that’s no surprise. Not after the conversation we had this morning while some asshole sounded his horn at us.

Dan breaks the moment between us when he says, “And after that, you guys just decided to become friends and drive to Louisville to see me?”

Maddie laughs. “Yes, that’s exactly what happened.”

“Jesus, Ethan, this might be your most outrageous relationship yet.”

“Fun, though, right?” Maddie says.

He looks at her. “Fun is Ethan’s middle fucking name. I hope you’re buckled in tight because this guy will lead you astray in a million different ways if you let him.” He narrows his eyes at her. “How long are you planning on staying friends with him?”

Maddie turns her attention back to me, her eyes demanding mine without even needing to. There’s no one else on my radar. “I think forever.”

The way her “forever” lands with me is unlike any response I’ve ever felt. I would have hated to hear anything else. And fuck me, we’re in dangerous territory now. I want something that I can’t have right now. Not when Madeline’s in the thick of a breakup.

“Right.” Dan stands, grabbing our empty glasses. “While you two eye-fuck each other, I’m getting another round of drinks that Ethan’s paying for. And when I come back, we’re gonna talk music. I have many questions.”

“No more drinks for us,” I say, ignoring the eye-fucking comment that was right on the money. “We’ve got a long day of driving tomorrow.” And I promised Leigh I’d keep Maddie out of trouble tonight.

“Well, I’m not driving tomorrow, so I’m having more,” Dan says. “And you’re paying my tab. You still owe me for our last drinking session that I funded.”

I study Maddie while she watches Dan walk away. That brunette wig she’s wearing is fucking awful but even it can’t hide her beauty. I could stare all night long.

“We could have had one more drink,” she says when she finally turns back to me.

“You’re at your limit, Miller.”

She rolls her eyes. “I think you really enjoy bossing me around.”

“Wait till you see what me bossing you around really looks like.”

Her eyes flare with more heat and I remind myself to avoid any kind of comment that could be taken in a sexual way. I may want something more with her, but it can’t happen while she’s all fucked up over her ex. If anything were to ever happen between us, it’d have to be after she’s worked her way through that and really knows what she wants. I’m not in the market for a relationship that’s doomed from the start because my partner is unclear in her feelings and intentions.

Maddie doesn’t make this easy for me, though, when she says, “Maybe you should try it and show me what I’m missing out on.”

Fuck.

I’m hard now, thinking about the ways I’d like to boss her around. Mercifully, her assistant takes this moment to text her.

“Sorry,” she apologizes as she checks the message.

She goes back and forth with Leigh for a couple of minutes, and I search her face for a hint as to her frame of mind. If I’d had my personal shit vomited all over social media like she has during the last three days, I wouldn’t be as calm as she appears. It’s confusing as hell to me, but that could be because my way of coping when someone hurts or angers me is to voice my feelings. And since the women I’ve dated have all been fiery and quick to temper, all I’ve known are showdowns. Maddie was angry earlier, but it was a quiet fury that she mostly kept on the inside, and she hasn’t shown any sign of it during dinner.

“What?” she says after she finishes with Leigh and places her phone down. “You’re looking at me like you’re trying to figure me out.”

“I’m trying to figure out if you’re okay.”

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