“You’re distracting me,” she said.
“How is it my fault?” I challenged.
“You sit there, looking at me, and looking all... you.”
She stared at me like I was supposed to understand what she meant. I didn’t, but she was adorable, all flustered.
“Here, I’ll show you how to get it just right.”
She impaled another marshmallow on the skewer and I gripped her hand, guiding the marshmallow over the fire.
“Keep turning it so the flames don’t burn one spot constantly.”
“Okay.” She sounded breathless. I trailed my fingers over her bare forearm and felt her shudder against me.
“I love your skin, Maddie.”
“Landon... is this okay?” she asked, moving her hands the way I’d explained. “Am I doing it right?”
A vision popped into my head: Maddie spread-eagled on a bed, touching herself at my command, following my instructions to a T, those gorgeous eyes looking straight at me when she’d double-check if she was doing it just the way I wanted.
“Yeah. You’re doing it just right. We need the right heat point.”
“Are we still talking about marshmallows?”
I grinned. “I am. You weren’t?”
She became even more flustered.
“Whatever you were imagining, it’s nothing compared to how good I’ll make tonight for you. That’s a promise, Maddie.” Her cheeks were tinted red as I moved the skewer out of the fire. The marshmallow was roasted to perfection.
“We should get going if we want to see those fireworks,” I said as she blew cold air over the marshmallow.
“Let’s do that. But we have to stop by my house first. I want to change.”
“As you wish, Ms. Jennings.”
Chapter Fourteen
Maddie
I couldn’t believe Landon was in my living room. Through the cracked door of my bedroom, I could hear him moving around, pacing. My heart rate picked up every time I thought he was coming closer. I’d wanted to change because I’d gotten all sweaty from being near the fire. I inspected my dress in the floor-length mirror. Was this enough? Was it too much? It reached down to my knees, hugged my waist nicely, and ended in a heart-shaped trim over my chest, showing a smidge of cleavage. Spaghetti straps ran over my shoulders. I couldn’t believe I was fretting so much over an outfit. Having Landon in my living room was messing with my mind.
Rubbing my hands, I tried maneuvering my zipper again. When I’d tried to zip it earlier, it got stuck in the middle of my back.
“Come on,” I urged, pulling and pushing, and pulling some more. It didn’t budge. I debated just walking out like this, but one glance at my back in the mirror confirmed my suspicion that I couldn’t pull off edgy. I’d just look... unzipped.
I tried unlocking the zipper some more, crying out in frustration. A knock at my partially open door made me jump.
“Everything okay, Maddie?”
“Zipper’s stuck,” I muttered through gritted teeth, red in the face from the effort. “I give up. Can you help?”
I sucked in a breath when he stepped inside. His presence seemed to fill the entire room. I immediately became conscious of the small space, the simple white furniture. I imagined he was used to luxury.
“If you can’t zip it up, try in the other direction so I can at least change.”
Landon stepped behind me. I was still in front of the mirror, so I could see his expression of intense concentration as he worked my zipper. It looked hot as all get-out. Everything about him was just so masculine—the set of his jaw, the angle of his cheekbones. Inwardly, I was clenching and contracting every muscle, feeling every cell light up as his fingers moved on my spine, then touched the back of my neck, as he pulled at the fabric. Then they brushed down my spine again.