Page 51 of Fall at Once

“I’m sorry too, Madi.” Abigail had a hand on Riley’s car for support. She looked queasy. “I also need to lie down with a barf bowl and maybe some crackers to soak up all the alcohol. What was I thinking?”

“It’s Bookers.” Riley laughed. “You always get drunk here.”

“True. They have the best margaritas in the entire world. But I’m pissed we never got to eat dinner.”

“Do you need a ride home?” Riley asked me. “We could drop you off.”

“I’ll walk. It’s just around the corner. Maybe the fresh air will do me some good.”

“My kids are with my ex tonight, so I don’t have to rush home. I’ll drive her,” I volunteered. Cozy Creek was a pretty safe town. But it was getting late, and she was upset.

“Good. Thanks, Cole. We’ll call you in the morning, Madi.”

We waved goodbye, and then I led her to my truck. “Let’s get you home.”

I guided her to my truck, taking her hand to help her climb into the cab. She’d put on a good show for her sisters, but I could tell she was still shaken. I leaned over and helped her buckle up. “You’ll be okay,” I whispered.

Her eyes, shiny with unshed tears, met mine as she nodded. A feeling of rightness settled into my chest. I kissed her foreheadand then closed the door.

The drive was short, just up the street. I pulled to a stop near the alley behind the Confectionery where the outdoor entrance to the apartments was.

“Thank you for driving me.” She opened the door to get out, and I touched her shoulder to stop her.

“I have to apologize to you again.”

She turned to face me. She was breathtaking in the moonlight.

“Are you sorry it happened?” she asked. Her gorgeous brown eyes shimmered, and her lips were still swollen from our kisses. She was more beautiful than any woman I’d ever seen in my life. “Or are you sorry because you think you took advantage of me in a weak moment?”

“I meant it to be a peck. A way for you to show everyone you’d moved on. I didn’t mean to make out with you against the wall. I took advantage of you, and it was wrong. I let my feelings take over when I should have been taking care of you like I said I would.”

“You didn’t take advantage of me,” she insisted. “I wanted it. I asked you for more, didn’t I? I’ve been thinking about what it would be like to kiss you ever since I arrived in Cozy Creek. And I want to do it again. For real, this time. With nobody around. Can we?”

At a loss for words, I blinked and didn’t answer.

She wanted me to kiss her?

She ducked her face, hiding from me behind the fall of her hair. “Um, unless you don’t want to. Did I misread you, Cole?”

“Misread me? It’s taken all I have in me not to kiss you every time I see you, Madi. So, no. You have not misread me.”

“It felt real. In Bookers, I mean,” she whispered.

“Because it was real. But I’m not going to kiss you again right now. I took advantage of the situation, and it was wrong.”

“Oh.” Her eyes drifted out the window, dejected.

“You kiss me this time. Do anything you want to me. Climb in my lap, shove me against the door, take what you need, go as far as you want?—”

She grabbed my collar and yanked me close, bumping our noses together. “God, I’m so sorry,” she whispered as she smoothed over the fabric of my collar with a dainty hand, then stroked down the bridge of my nose with a delicate fingertip. “I get clumsy when I’m nervous.”

Damn, that tiny touch on my nose almost undid me. I felt it to the tips of my toes.

“You don’t have to be nervous with me, and please don’t be sorry, Madi. Just kiss me, and don’t fucking stop. Please,” I begged, pressing my hands to the seat at my sides. I didn’t want to scare her off with my eagerness to be close to her. I was hers to take, and I silently vowed not to touch more than she offered me.

I would never take advantage of her again.

Her lush breasts pushed my upper body back against the door of my truck as she leaned across the seats and pressed herself close to me.

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