Page 38 of Defending Madison

“Yes.”

My heart pounds in my chest at her answer. Patience has never been one of my virtues, but I’m learning. A few minutes later, the omelets are done and as I plate them, I ask. “Do you still like to hunt?”

“What?”

Oh yeah, now I’ve caught her off-guard. “Hunt. Do you still hunt?”

“To be honest, I haven’t gone hunting since that trip with you.”

“That’s a shame. Let’s go.”

“On a date?” She sputters again.

“No. when the season is over.”

She blows out her breath. “Who says we’ll be talking at the end of the season?”

I hand her the plate and move to sit beside her. “I do.”

“Pfft.” Her focus falls to the plate before her as she swipes the fork into the omelet. Her smile is my undoing. Watching her eat makes me happy. I never thought of myself as the nurturing type of man, but making her happy and giving her what she needscould easily become my obsession. She brings her eyes to mine. “This is so good.”

“Anytime, sweetheart.”

“There’s that word again. I haven’t decided to forgive you yet.”

I move within inches of her ear. “Sure, you have. You’re here. You wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t forgiven. Admit it. You’ve decided to start over with me. Haven’t you?”

She shrugs. “I can’t seem to stop myself.”

I raise my hand to tuck the loose tendril behind her ear. “Eat your food, so you can get to bed.”

As she finishes her last bite of omelet, licking her lips, she glances at her bags, sitting in the living room. “I should get going.” The statement hangs in the air waiting.

“I’ve got a guest room. You could just sleep here and go home in the morning.”

Her forehead crinkles in thought. “Guestroom?”

I slip my hand around her neck and finger the hair on the back of her neck. “Unless you want to sleep in my bed.”

Her lips twitch and my cock springs to attention. “And if I say I don’t want to do anything with you in your bed.”

Smiling, I pick up her empty dish and carry it to the kitchen. “Sleeping is just fine for an activity.”

On cue, her hand covers her mouth as she yawns. “I’d like that.”

I step back to her and take her hand in mine. “Want a t-shirt to wear or do you still sleep in the nude?”

She smirks. “I’ll take a t-shirt.”

Sadness creeps up from the depth of my soul that she’s choosing to wear a shirt because she doesn’t trust me. I think she actually does, but she doesn’t want to admit it to herself. We head to the back of my apartment, walking into my bedroom as I flip on the light by my bed. I open the third drawer of my wood dresser and hand her an old SEAL shirt. She pulls it from myhand and escapes into the bathroom. I strip off my clothes, down to my briefs and climb into the far side of the bed. She steps out as I lift the corner of the bedding as an invitation to join me.

“No funny business.”

I nod as she snuggles down into the bed. I touch the light to turn it off, dropping the room into near complete darkness. “Good night, sweetheart.” I place my arm across her waist and will my cock to relax. It’s only moments and her breathing softens. She’s asleep.

Chapter 13

DIXON

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