Page 49 of The I Do Over

“O-kay…but I don’t have a TV in my room. Do you like to read?”

It was hard to keep a straight face as he approached her bed. “I’ve been known to enjoy a book or two, but the plan is to get you out of your clothes and make love to you properly this time.” He grinned at her. “Not that what we did earlier wasn’t spectacular, but this time I want to take my time and give my full attention to every beautiful inch of you.”

She let out a breathy sigh. “Really?”

“Yeah,” he gruffly replied. “Really.”

“I like the sound of that.”

Laying her down on top of the bed, he said, “Good, because I promise you’re going to love the feel of it even more.”

And much later, judging by the way she cried out his name repeatedly, he was confident that she did.

“I have a confession to make.”

They were walking around a local farmers market, holding hands and discussing the wonders of produce, and yet Maddie’s statement had Knox instantly on alert.

“Oh?”

She nodded but they kept casually walking. “I think I like this the most out of all the things we’ve done.”

Frowning, he asked, “You mean this weekend?”

“Nope. I mean everything from the time I showed up at your office until right now.” Turning her head, she smiled up at him. “Don’t get me wrong…I’ve enjoyed everything, but this? Just walking around and talking and looking for something fun to maybe make for lunch is just…I don’t know…this is my happy place.”

“Seriously? A farmers market?”

Groaning, Maddie playfully tugged at his hand. “Not the farmers market specifically, doofus. I’m just saying that I’m enjoying this low-key day with you. The fishing was fun but a lot of work. The hiking was also fun but exhausting. This is just a very laid-back activity and yet I feel like we’re learning a lot about each other.”

It would be wrong to call her crazy, but…he kind of thought she was crazy.

“I can tell by the squinky look on your face that you don’t believe me.”

That made him chuckle. “Mads, my face has been called a lot of things but squinky isn’t one of them.” He paused. “And what the hell does squinky even mean?”

“It’s all scrunched up and adorably confused. Squinky.”

“Remind me never to play Scrabble with you. I have a feeling you’d definitely cheat by making up your own words.”

“I happen to be an excellent—and honest—Scrabble player. I take my words very seriously.”

“Says the girl who just used the word squinky to describe my face.”

Her laughter was infectious and as they continued their stroll, she went back to her earlier logic about how they were learning things about each other. “Okay, in the last hour, I’ve learned that you don’t like curry, you’re not a fan of any of the citrus fruits, and you don’t like cherries or grapes if they have pits. Brand new information.”

“O-kay…now I see what you’re getting at.” Then he took a moment to think about what he learned about her. “And I learned that you are a sucker for any homemade candle that smells like fresh laundry, you are pretty much willing to taste anything—even if you swore it was something you didn’t normally like, and you come here so often that most of the vendors know you.”

“Guilty!” she happily replied. “Ooh! You have to try this cheese. I’m telling you, it’s amazing and super creamy and you’ll want to have it all the time.”

Knox let her lead him over to yet another vendor and he tried several varieties of cheese and had to admit, they were all delicious. After several minutes, they made their purchase and he had to hide a smile when Maddie promised she’d definitely be ordering from them again.

“You know, for someone who claims she’s not all that social, you seem to make friends everywhere we go,” he commented.

All she did was shrug as they continued their stroll. His one hand was filled with bags of different foods that they’d picked up throughout the morning, and he realized that none of them went together. They weren’t the makings for one meal; they were bits and pieces of many.

“You want to know something else I learned about you today?” he asked as he casually nudged her shoulder.

She looked up at him and grinned. “Lay it on me.”

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