Page 53 of The Love You Win

Isla chuckles, drawing me out of my thoughts and back to reality. She’s stealing glances at a pair of middle-aged women a table over who are making bedroom eyes at me and doing some strangely sexual things to the straws in their drinks. They’re beautiful, there’s no doubt about that, but they don’t hold a candle to the woman on my right. “See? Your fan club would have happily entertained you. I think they’re pissed I’ve been monopolizing your attention tonight.”

“You haven’t been monopolizing anything. I’d give you all of my attention even if you didn’t want it.”

She chuckles, her cheeks going adorably pink, but doesn’t respond as servers flood the room and place small salads in front of us. Soon, the quiet clinking of silverware fills the room and I almost don’t hear her response. “What if I do want it?”

Oh, sweet, beautiful woman. She has no idea of the beast she’s just unleashed. I’ll still have to play this smart. Isla’s been hurt, I know that much. So despite wanting nothing more than to drag her from this cursed, crowded dinner and into my bed, I won’t. “Then get ready, beautiful, because you’ve got it.”

Her pink cheeks make the blue of her eyes even more vibrant as she stares at me from beneath long, dark eyelashes. She wants this. She wants me. But beneath that captivating bravery and bravado, she’s also scared. That’s okay. I’m scared, too. It’s been so long since I’ve felt this way about a woman, and I barely know her. She’s just as likely to hurt me as I am to hurt her, though I doubt she’d believe that.

Neither of us says anything as we take each other’s measure. Then her friends ask her a question, and the rest of dinner goes by in a flurry of laughter and conversation, but also stolen touches. My knee brushing hers, my fingers grazing hers, our shoulders touching as I lean over to ask her to pass the salt.

It’s the most excruciatingly subtle foreplay I’ve ever engaged in, and I’m fighting to keep my dick from straining against my pants every moment of it.

“Excuse me, folks,” Tracy, the woman who spoke before, says as we all nibble on our desserts. “It’s the time you’ve been so anxiously awaiting. I’m going to read off the winners for the silent auction. We’ll have a team of people available to answer any questions you may have at the end of the night, as well as to give you your items if you bid on a physical good.”

“I hope I win the yoga retreat,” Quinoa tells Griffin. “That resort has some amazing naked Bikram classes. It really opens your whole body.” Griffin’s eyes grow unfocused. He’s probably picturing a room full of Quinoas doing downward dog completely in the nude. I shake my head.

Tracy reads off winner after winner, congratulating them and giving a little description of what they won. Isla fidgets in her seat next to me, clearly bored. It is a rather long list of people.

“Our next winner is none other than our very own Maddox Graves, who has donated a very generous amount to win the romantic hot air balloon ride date for two. So if you see a beautifully illuminated balloon floating over the city in the near future, it could be your fearless captain enjoying some romance with the person of his choosing.” Tracy shoots me a wink. Every eye is on me now. Especially every female eye. But I only care about one of them.

“Ever been up in a hot air balloon?” I ask Isla.

She’s got her lower lip pulled between her teeth again and she’s staring at her dessert like it’s about to reveal the secrets of the universe. “Uh, no, I haven’t.”

“Me neither,” I reply, leaning in close to her. “I guess it’ll be a first for both of us.”

Those gorgeous sapphire eyes dart up to meet mine. “What?”

She’s so damned adorable when she’s flustered. And she is flustered. She doesn’t know what to say or how to respond, but there’s no hiding the excitement that flashes across her face alongside those other more unpleasant emotions. “I already spoke to the company that runs the dates. They can fit us in next week. Will you go with me? I promise to make it the best first date you’ve ever been on.”

She loses the battle with the smile she’s trying to suppress. “Maddox, we already had a first date.”

“That doesn’t count,” I tell her. And I mean it. There’s no way we’re calling that our first date. “Think of that one like a preseason date. It’s just practice. It doesn’t count on our record.”

This makes her laugh. It’s such a beautiful, free sound. I want to earn that reaction as many times in a day as I can. “A preseason date?”

“Yeah. Just a warmup for the real thing.” I grab her hand beneath the table and run my thumb over her delicate fingers. “Let me take you out on a real first date. Just you and me and a balloon pilot. Friday night before sunset.” Despite knowing how much she wanted to go up in the balloon, I still hold my breath as I wait for her answer. Because she has to want to go up with me.

“Okay, yeah,” she says, looking up at me through her lashes again. “Dinner before was only a practice test. It doesn’t have to count toward our final grade.”

God, she’s cute. My cheeks hurt from smiling so widely. “Then it’s a date. A real one, this time.”

I don’t hear any of the other winners they call out. I don’t hear any of the chatter around us. Hell, every single person in the room fades away except for the stunning redhead beside me. She’s willing to give me a second chance, and I won’t blow it.

I’m going to romance the hell out of Isla Harding. And I’m going to make her mine.

twenty-four

MADDOX

“You ready to head home?” Isla’s friend Jess asks her as the night winds down. Guests say their goodbyes and claim their winnings. I’m not ready for the night to end. I’m not ready to let Isla go.

The azure-eyed vixen chews her bottom lip, eyes darting my way before swinging back to her friend. She hums as she shrugs. “Yeah, I guess if you guys are.”

She doesn’t want to go any more than I want her to. Running my knuckle down her arm, I suck in a deep breath before speaking. “I can bring you home. If you want.”

Sapphire irises catch on me and linger. The attention sends zings of desire through my body. Images of those eyes looking up at me through heavy lids as I move inside her, my body braced over hers and caging her in, play in riotous technicolor in my mind.

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