Page 91 of Bossy Hero

But neither of us has come right out with it.

Foolishly, I’ve been trying to pretend this was a fling. Something fun. Companionship and contentment with hot sex. I was lying to myself.

I knew what this really was. He did too.

And he finally let it out.

I long to do the same, but I won’t.

Thankfully, he can’t see the dumbstruck expression on my face. I don’t want to dull his pleasure or make him think I’m rejecting him.

I’m not.

I still want him. And I don’t want to hurt him. Ever.

Yet I won’t say it back.

I can’t.

Not because I don’t feel it. But because I think I do.

And if I give him that last part of me, what will be left of me?

?*

Note: If you have not yet read “A Bossy Secret” (free short story for Newsletter Subscribers), this would be a great time to do it (based on the timeline of Big Al and Maddie’s relationship). However, it’s optional and not mission critical to the plot.

PartTwo

The Present

Chapter15

Dinner and disaster: The night everything changed

Maddie

Three months ago — Clearwater

Alan Lancaster is temptation incarnate.

Or, as my daughter would call him, a silver fox.

He’s devastating when he trains his hungry eyes on me. That covetous gaze always leaves me feeling like a slice of banana bread, which is his favorite treat. Only when I make it, though.

But Alan is absolutely lethal when he smiles.

And for some reason, he saves those for me.

He flays me with one of those killer grins from across the table at our favorite restaurant, Mystic Fish. For the last three plus years, we’ve come here at least once a month. Alan said he wanted to change my memories of this place after that ill-advised date he saved me from. My sexy white knight.

Eyeing me over the rim of his frosty beer mug, he says, “I think I’ll ask for this table from now on.”

Reflexively, I scan the area. There’s an aquarium over the back of our crescent-shaped booth. Cutouts in the recessed ceiling are in flowing shapes, resembling waves. Stained glass window squares outline the front of the restaurant.

I love it here.

“Why?” I ask.

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