His body relaxed.
But, right before he rolled off of me, I said, “I don’t think you can technically fuck someone into silence. As you know, I’m quite vocal when we—”
Maddox pushed into me with one smooth move.
“Holy shit.”
“You’re right. You scream way too much when I’m inside you. But I’m going to fuck you anyway.”
I tiptoed out of my bedroom, so I wouldn’t wake Maddox. It was true; I liked the morning sex, but he really was grumpy, so I thought I should let him sleep.
First thing on my agenda was to make coffee. As I filled up the tank and put in the scoops, I realized that I had no idea if Maddox drank coffee or not. He hadn’t back in high school, but a lot could happen in twelve years. I decided it would be better to make extra and throw it away than to not make enough.
As the coffee was brewing, I planned to start up my laptop and do some land research, but my little desk was empty. I had left my computer downstairs.
No biggie. I could just run down and get it. But, as I looked around for my purse where I kept my keys to unlock the office, I remembered that I had thrown it on my desk where it still sat.
Shit.
I went back to the kitchen and opened my horrible mess of a junk drawer. After much rummaging, I found my spare office keys. “Yes.”
I ran down, picked up my stuff, relocked the office, and came back upstairs. It was perfect timing because my coffeemaker beeped just as I opened the door.
I poured myself a cup and sat down at my desk.
After my computer started, I pulled up a map of our town. If I looked at it like a square, on one side would be the new golf course, and on another side was the only motel and the county line, so expanding that way wasn’t a good idea. So, that left the north side of town and the east.
Ideally, the east side would be best because it would put downtown, the grocery store, and the two restaurants in about the same amount of distance.
An hour or so later, I was feeling excited because I had an idea. I was so engrossed in my research; I didn’t notice Maddox was awake until he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. He pushed my hair off my shoulder and kissed my neck.
“What are you doing?”
“Trying to find a way to save the mobile home park. I think I have a plan.”
When Maddox didn’t say anything, I looked over at him.
He was grinning.
“What?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Nothing, babe.” He nodded to my coffee cup. “You have any of that for me?”
“In the kitchen.”
He kissed my neck again and went into the kitchen. He returned a minute later. He was only wearing his jeans, and I got lost in his bare torso.
How could I have so much sex with a man and still be mesmerized by his nakedness?
He might have said something, but I didn’t really hear him because the blood had left my head and traveled south.
“Hey, Addy?”
“Huh?” I looked up to his face.
He smirked. “Baby, what did you find out?”
“About what?”
He laughed and shook his head. He walked over to me and crouched down. “You know I feel the same way about you, right?”
“Huh?”
He ran his finger over the spot where he’d bitten me when we had sex in the auto garage. At the time, I’d been too overcome with ecstasy to notice he broke the skin. Later, it had hurt, but I kind of liked that he’d marked me. Today, it was nearly healed, and I barely felt it anymore.
“Last night, while you were taking your little nap, I decided to stop fighting this. The past is in the past. Forgive and forget, you know.”
“Huh?” I had no idea what he was getting at.
He dropped his head and shook it. When he looked up at me again, his eyes were sparkling with laughter. “Is that all you can say? Huh?”
“No.”
“Good, because we have some talking to do. But, first, tell me what you think we can do to save my mother’s home.”
Thirty
Maddox
I watched Addison as she hung up the phone with Brandon and threw it on the couch.
She looked at me and smiled. “He said that he’s meeting with the architect this morning, but then he’s free this afternoon. He also said he needs to talk to his boss just to make sure he knows how much money he can offer.” She rubbed her hands together. “I have a good feeling about this.”
Even though I didn’t want her meeting with her ex-boyfriend and hanging out with him, I had a good feeling, too.
I pulled her into my arms and cupped the back of her neck. I then proceeded to kiss the hell out of her. When I separated our lips, I said, “Keep me updated. I gotta go get ready for work.” Setting her on her feet, I let her go. “I’ll talk to you later.” With a slap on her ass, I was out of there.
I went to my apartment, threw on work clothes, grabbed my keys, and took off for the garage.
When I walked into the back, my brother came out of the office and scowled at me. “A word, please?”
I followed him back into the office. “What’s up?”
“Where have you been?”
I didn’t really see how that was any of Foster’s business. I crossed my arms over my chest. “Around.”
“You were with Addison, weren’t you? You were supposed to go and talk to her. Our mom is going to lose her home because of that bitch, and you’re busy fucking her.”
I wrapped my hand around my brother’s throat and slammed him against the wall. “You don’t ever talk about her like that again.”
Foster shook me off. “You need to get your head on straight. Look what happened to you the last time you got involved with her.”
“First of all, if you hadn’t dressed up as me and broken the fucking law, she wouldn’t have had to be my alibi in the first place.”
My brother flinched, and I watched guilt cloud his face.
“Second, that bitch, as you called her, has been working her ass off the last twenty-four hours to fix this mess. She didn’t ask for this, and she didn’t want it.”
Foster sneered. “You’re fucking pussy-whipped.”
I clenched my fists and released them. “So help me, God. Foster, I am trying not to punch the shit out of you right now.” I sighed. “This was her father’s doing. This was not her decision, and it’s not something she wants.”
“It’s still her fault. Serena told me all about how it was her idea that brought this whole golf course shit to our doorsteps.”
“You’re an unforgiving bastard, you know that? You would think that, as someone who fucked up and made mistakes, you’d have a little more understanding.”
I could tell he wasn’t going to let this go, but his voice did soften as he said, “I just don’t want to see you get hurt again.”
“Are you planning on robbing any more gas stations?”
“Fuck you,” Foster said and stomped out of the office.
“Yeah, fuck you, too, asshole,” I yelled after him.
After our fight, I started working on an old Chevy, hoping it would take my mind off things. At lunchtime, my sister stopped in on her break from her job as a bank teller. She brought us both sandwiches, but Foster made an excuse not to eat with us.