Page 27 of His Secret Obsession

I’ll try again tomorrow.

The next evening, I leave work early again. Andrew doesn’t even bat an eye when I ask him to close the shop for a second night in a row. The kid might be a bit of a clown, but he has a good heart and he’s responsible. I make myself a mental note to give him a raise.

I’m sitting half-way up the staircase with my legs stretched out in front of me when the door opens. Maddie walks inside, wincing as she bends down to take off her high heels. Once they both dangle from her hand, she turns toward the stairs. When she doesn’t seem to notice me, I clear my throat.

A shrill yelp spills from her lips as a hand flies to her chest. I laugh, low and amused as she shoots daggers with her eyes. Slowly standing up, I hold my palms up in a surrendering gesture and smirk. “Didn’t know you spook so easy.”

She pinches her eyebrows together, a befuddled expression on her face. “What are you doing there?” she asks.

I shrug. “Waiting on you.”

She scrunches her nose. “What? Why?”

“Because we need to talk about why you keep avoiding me.”

When her shoulders slump and she blows out a breath, I feel guilty. I asked her to come back because the idea of her sleeping on her friend’s couch didn’t sit right with me. I also couldn’t fight the urge to make her life easier, more comfortable for her. Me harassing her to talk when she clearly doesn’t want to is the opposite of that.

Maybe I’m a selfish bastard after all.

But if Maddison Raddix is going to be living under my roof for the next few months, I’ll be damned if I don’t finally bridge this gap between us for my own selfish and personal reasons. I can’t be with her because of who she is to my brother, but I just want a little bit of her time.

“I’m not avoiding you.” She can’t quite bring herself to make eye contact with me when she says that.

“Liar,” I purr, sauntering down the steps toward her, not pausing until only three steps remain between us. Her head tilts up as I tower over her. It’s so fucking cute how she thinks she can lie to me. As if I wouldn’t see right through her. She swallows, and my eyes follow the movement of her throat before dipping down to her collarbone.

“Do we need to talk about it?” I ask softly. That dainty, pink tongue of hers darts out to lick across her bottom lip. And fuck if that doesn’t conjure up all kinds of dirty images in my brain.

“Talk about what?”

Focus, Jax.

“Are you really going to play coy?” Descending the last three steps, I pause in front of her. My heart begins to pound in my chest. Why am I standing so close to her? Is she breathing a little faster now?

When she crosses her arms and gives me a stubborn look, irritation heats my insides.

“If we need to have this conversation so you can stand to be around me for more than a few minutes, then let’s have it,” I begin. Taking another step closer, I dare to crowd her just a little more. A fierce pleasure surges through me when she tilts her chin up and gives me a defiant look. I love that she refuses to cower to me.

“Okay, let me recap the situation for you. Four years ago, we met in a bar. I took you out to my truck, and you almost came on my fingers.” At this, her eyes and nostrils flare. She sucks ina harsh breath, and I give her a wolfish grin. It fades as I begin speaking again. “I walked away because I found out how young you were, and a few months later, you started dating my little brother. I spent the next four years ignoring you and acting like I don’t still find you incredibly attractive. Then a few weeks ago, I stood in your doorway and jacked off.”

She gulps, and my eyes dip to her lips.

“Does that about cover everything?” I whisper. She nods. I swallow, hating the butterflies that flit about in my belly.

“If I ever made you uncomfortable, then I sincerely apologize. But if you’re avoiding me because you think it’s always going to be awkward between us, or you think I’m going to make a move on you now that my brother is gone, you have nothing to worry about.”

“Jax, I—"

I hold up a hand to stop her as I smile gently. “He’s the only family I have left, so I could never do that to him. Nor would I want to pressure you into something if I thought you weren’t one-hundred percent on board with me.” I lower my voice then, letting it drop into a low staccato as my eyes dip down to her lips again. “It doesn’t mean I don’t fight the urge to bend you over the counter and fuck you every goddamned day.”

A quiet whimper tumbles out of her lips, but she tries to cover it up with a cough. That sweet, delectable sound makes my entire body tighten.

Shit, this is going to be harder than I thought.

“Jax, I don’t know what the hell I’m supposed to say to that.” She blinks up at me with wide eyes, her lips parted.

I shrug. “You don’t need to say anything. I just wanted us to clear the air and say that this thing we do,” I say, pointing from my chest to hers, “where we ignore each other, let’s not do that anymore. There’s no reason why we can’t share this house without tiptoeing around each other. We can be…adults aboutthis.” I rub the back of my neck and shift on my feet as I wait for a response.

Surprisingly, a nervous flicker of fear flutters in my gut.

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