Page 24 of The Maid

"Uh…" Addie began. She was frazzled by their impromptu bathroom fuck and the fact that she didn't want to be seen with Gun in the capacity of date.

Gun pulled Addie by the waist to his side. Why wasn't he as frazzled? "Sure." The photographer took a few photos and jotted some notes, and then they were leaning against the bar.

"Are you sure my hair is okay? I look like I just had sex, Gunther!" she whispered into his ear.

He laughed. "You look fine, babe. I swear."

She stroked her ponytail, making sure it was intact. "I'm still not used to all of this. I knew you were famous but damn."

"It takes some time to get used to, then you sort of forget they're in the background."

"Don't know how you can forget something like that. It's like you’re living your life in a fishbowl."

"It is sometimes. But it comes with the territory, you know?"

"Yeah, I know."

"And anyway, you want to rub elbows with all these people, you better get used to it because it'll probably become part of your life too."

"You think?" She made a sour face, then she straightened up and fussed with her hair. "I wish I'd have dressed a little nicer or at least worn make-up or something."

"Nah." He took the beer the bartender handed to him and slid one to her. "You look perfect." He said, holding the bottle to his lips, and his eyes pinned on her. She looked into his eyes for a few intense seconds before looking down at her bottle.

She cleared her throat. "Thanks for inviting me tonight. I got a couple of meetings set up, already. It was exactly what I needed to get my name out there."

"That’s good. And thank you for the bathroom sex. It was exactly what I needed."

She snorted. "You're crazy, you know that? Oh crap, look, I think we're coming up. We missed the last round." She said pointing to the lane. He looked over his shoulder and then nodded and extended an arm to give her space to move.

"After you." The rest of the evening was spent laughing and talking to everyone, but he couldn't take his eyes off of her and he caught her looking at him a few times. Some were just quick glances where their eyes locked, other times she sought him out when he was on the other side of the room talking to someone, and when he made a strike, she cheered the loudest and when he struck out, she teased him even louder. All in all, it was a great night. He gave her the space she wanted but still kept her close. If she wanted that illusion of being separate, he’d give it to her. She may not have wanted to admit it, but it was obvious she was into him too.

It was the last round and they were lagging behind by just a few points; Addie was their last hope. The team cheered for her and she had on her focused face. Everyone stood and inched forward. She looked nervous as she stood by the line, stretched her arm back and flung the ball forward. Not once in the entire night had she missed completely until now.

"Damn it! Gutter!" Someone on their team yelled. She turned, looking crest fallen and went to the carousel to grab another ball. Again, she walked to the line and held the ball a few seconds then looked over her shoulder quickly. When her eyes locked on his he winked at her, and her lips tilted upwards. She turned back, breathed in deeply and let the ball go. The entire bowling alley stopped. All noise ceased, except the sound of the ball rolling down against the wooden alley. Gun found himself moving closer to her and closer and then he heard the sound of the ball crashing into the pin. "Spare!" She yelled and jumped up.

"Hell yeah!" He yelled back and caught her in his arms as the rest of the team roared. He spun her around. "You did it! We won!"

They'd won and raised a ton of money for the charity, and he had Addie in his arms, it was a great fucking evening. Even without the sex, it had been perfect. It wasn't only the sex with Addie that was spectacular, just being with her, made his day.

"We won!" Addie said, her arms around his neck. Then, the flashing lights of nearby cameras began, and she froze and released him. "That was fun." She said as she took a step away and smiled. The moment might have seemed broken, but he knew better. There was a connection between them that couldn't be denied. She was enveloped by a crowd and the next half hour was a whirlwind of hand shaking, high fives, and picture taking.

Addie's cheeks hurt from smiling so much. It had been a fun and carefree night, something she hadn't remembered feeling in such a long time. Her focus for so long had been solely on success, she hadn't taken a moment to just relax.

"Thanks for bringing me," she said as she put on her seatbelt.

"You already thanked me." He reached over the center console, took her hand and brought it to his mouth for a kiss. "I should be thanking you. This is always one of my favorite nights of the year, but we never win, and we never have that much fun. And I've never fucked during it. So many firsts."

He placed her hand on his lap, his hand on hers. She was laughing but then glared at their joined hands. "Gun…This isn't a good idea. I know I'm sending mixed signals. We have sex and then I pull away, but I just can't seem to say no to the sex."

"But you can say no to me?"

"I'm really trying," she admitted.

"I want you to come home with me."

She tried to pull her hands away, but he held on tighter.

"I can't."

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