Page 54 of Bossy Hero

She glowers at me, eyes bulging with irritation. But it’s a put-on. Her smile breaks through the facade two seconds later.

As my laughter dries up, I indulge her. “Fine, Maddie. Why are you here instead of Sawyer?”

She throws it in reverse, checking the rearview. “Too late, mister. I’m not telling you anything.”

“Let me guess. Sawyer’s sleeping off his hangover in your guest room.”

“Wrong.”

She embellishes her denial with a buzzing sound, making my laughter return, more subdued this time.

Without even trying, she’s so fucking adorable.

My vision catches on her delicate hands as she flicks on the turn signal.

What I wouldn’t give to feel them grasp my shoulders as I taste her lips. Feel them sneak around to my nape to hold me close. I want to see those hands running all over my fevered skin. I want to make them grip the bedsheets as ecstasy overtakes her. I want to feel those hands dig through my hair, tugging at the roots while I lick her to climax after climax.

Her honey-toned voice yanks me from increasingly X-rated thoughts. “Sawyerislikely sleeping off his hangover, but that’s only because he knew I was driving you this morning. It was arranged last night after you left the party.”

“So you’re driving me to the airport or somewhere else?”

She peeks at me briefly, an indulgent grin decorating her face. “To the airport, Alan. I have no nefarious intentions. Your life isn’t in danger with me.”

My heart, on the other hand, is in grave danger.

“That’s a relief, Maddie.” I mockingly wipe the sweat from my brow. “Phew.”

After a minute of amicable silence, I say, “I’m curious what leverage Sawyer has over you. How did he force you to do his dirty work?”

“Dirty work?” She giggles softly, shaking her head. “Driving you to the airport isn’t work. And...” She nibbles on her lower lip like she’s trying to bite back her sentence.

I wait her out.

Right before my patience snaps, she finally continues. “I’m the one who did the bribing.”

My heart skips a clichéd-fucking-beat. “Bribed him with what? And why?”

Maddie steals another tiny glance at me, her cheeks tinged with pink. “I owe him a loaf of banana bread.”

“Oh, I’m sure he’s really broken up about it. He gets to sleep inandgets a whole fucking loaf of your heavenly bread. Poor Sawyer. Pass on my condolences when you get back home.”

She plays along. “Yeah, I really had to twist his arm. Breaks my heart to see him suffer this way.”

When our combined laughter fades, I prod her to explain. “Why, Maddie?”

My gaze catches on the bob of her throat as she forces down a swallow. “Um, I guess I wanted a chance to say goodbye.”

I don’t even need to look into her eyes to know she’s full of shit.

“You said goodbye to me last night.”

She lowers her chin in an overpronounced nod. “Yes, but I didn’t like how we left things.”

“Neither did I,” I confess, the truth freeing up some of the space under my ribs.

It wasn’t anything dramatic. We were cordial. By the fire, after she shot me down for the hundredth time, the conversation grew stilted. I made my excuses to leave not too long thereafter. We said goodbye at the front door. No hug or kiss on the cheek. No talk of future plans. No mentions of emails or phone calls.

Nothing.

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