Page 16 of The I Do Over

Yeah. Neither could he.

With a careless shrug, he plugged in their order, paid, and put his phone down. “Thirty minutes.” Turning, he walked over to the refrigerator. “I’ve got drinks. You want a soda? Beer? Wine?”

“I’ll probably just have a soda since I’ll be driving.”

Knox grabbed their drinks and walked over to the kitchen table and put them down before facing her again. “I’m going to say something, and I want you to hear me out.”

“O-kay…”

“I know we talked a bit earlier and…you know…other stuff, but I think there’s more we need to discuss. Plus, I’d really like the chance to catch up with you and just hang out.” And before she could argue, he went on. “It’s crazy for you to go and stay at a hotel when I have a guest room right here. I know you’re probably thinking it’s going to be weird because of the sex, so let’s just take it off the table.”

Her eyes went wide. “Um…what?”

He nodded. “We agree right now that we’re not going to have sex again.”

“But upstairs you said…”

“I know,” he quickly interrupted. “But I think we’re mature enough that we can control ourselves and just hang out like we used to. We’ll have dinner, talk, maybe watch a little TV, and then talk some more. I have a feeling we’ll be up late so it just makes sense for you to crash here and then tomorrow I’ll go to work, you’ll head home, and we’ll know that we’ve said everything we’ve needed to say. What do you think?”

Then he held his breath, fully prepared for her to give him a list of reasons why she wasn’t staying here.

But once again, Maddie surprised him.

“I think that would be really nice.” The smile she gave him was sweet and a little shy, and he was so damn tempted to walk over and kiss her.

He didn’t, but…he had to hold on to one of the kitchen chairs to keep him where he was.

“Great!” he said, hating how high-pitched his voice went. Clearing it, he repeated, “That’s great. Do you want to sit here at the table or maybe go inside and sit on the couch while we wait for the food, or…?”

She looked a little indecisive before she gave him another shy smile. “The couch, but…”

“But…?”

“Since I’m not going to be driving, I think I’d like a glass of wine. Please.”

His bark of laughter was out before he could stop it. “No need to sound so serious about it!” Walking over to the wine fridge he had in the kitchen island, he checked out their options. “Any preferences?”

He was reaching for one of his favorites—a zinfandel—when Maddie asked, “Do you happen to have any zinfandel?”

Knox almost banged his head on the counter as he straightened.

“What? What’s the matter?” she asked.

He held up the bottle and this time his laughter was laced with more nerves than amusement. “Great minds, huh?”

“Oh, that’s actually my favorite!” Maddie said as she took the bottle from his hands. “You have excellent taste.”

Her smile told him she was teasing, but he was still a little freaked out. There were thousands of wines in the world. What were the odds of them sharing a favorite?

Handing the bottle back to him, she said, “Why don’t you pour us a couple of glasses while I go and grab my suitcase from the car?”

“Sounds good.” Knox turned and grabbed the corkscrew and then glasses and slowly poured them each a generous portion. When he heard the front door open and close, he flattened his palms on the counter and let out a long breath.

She was here and she was staying the night.

Taking sex off the table was the right thing to do. Even though he knew he’d practically kill for the opportunity to take her upstairs and take his time with her, there were other things that needed to be taken care of.

Things that weren’t the least bit sexy and would probably lead to them never having sex again, but…

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