“And you have a house deposit fund to replenish,” I added, trying to lighten the mood.
She smiled almost gratefully. “Exactly. So,” she said in an unsubtle attempt to change the subject. “This is what you normally do when you come home? Open a bottle of wine and order in?”
I thought about it. It was unusual for me to spend an evening like this. “Sometimes. I’d be working if you weren’t here.”
“What do you do for fun?” she asked.
Why did images of naked Madison laid out before me like a feast flash in front of my eyes? I tried to push them to the back of my mind. Thinking about her like that was the last thing I should be doing, especially while she was technically interviewing me. I might want to hold her gaze a little too long, watch as she wet her lips with her tongue, wonder how long it would take to strip her naked and have her kneel before me and swallow my cock, but I needed to cool the fuck down. I shrugged as if I didn’t long to have her slip her thighs around my hips. “Relax. Hang out with my brothers. Go to the gym. Visit my parents. The usual things.”
“Pick up women,” she said, supplementing my list.
I widened my eyes. “I’m a single guy and I like to have fun. It doesn’t impact my work.” That probably sounded defensive but she’d managed to push a rather sensitive button.
“So you keep saying. You ever been in love?”
What had that got to do with anything? “I love my job,” I replied.
She laughed and rolled her eyes. “I’ll take that as a no.”
“There’s no big tragedy in my past that’s going to make your article juicy. I wasn’t abandoned as a child. I wasn’t bullied in school. I work hard and I’m good at what I do. And I’ve had a bit of luck along the way. I’m not sure there’s much else to say about me.”
Madison took a sip of her wine, set it on the counter. “I’m not sure that’s true.”
“Come to Norfolk,” I said. “See for yourself.” I had nothing to hide—at least nothing she’d find out about in Norfolk. And anyway, she might enjoy the trip. I’d seen hints this evening of the immense pressure she felt; maybe a little time away would help ease her worries.
“Really?” she asked.
“I’m an open book.”
“I would really like that.” She glanced at her watch. “I should go.”
“It’s not ten thirty yet,” I said.
She slipped off her stool. “You might wake up after five hours sleep looking like you stepped onto a Gucci photo shoot, but I do not.”
Sleep or no, she should leave because I wanted her to stay.
When I stood, we were inches apart. “I think Gucci would have been lucky to have you last Sunday morning from what I remember.”
A shy smile curled the corners of her mouth. “How would you know? I didn’t see you last Sunday morning.” She glanced at her feet. “Not in daylight anyway.”
“I saw you,” I said. “At breakfast.” I’d watched as she’d gone from one end of the buffet table to the other and back again before starting from the beginning and picking out fruit, yogurt, and toast. She’d either been lost in her own world or completely focused on the food. I couldn’t decide. “You sat at the table by the window.”
She frowned and looked up at me as if she wanted to ask me something but knew she shouldn’t.
“You left before I could say hi. But you looked very pretty.” Without thinking, I took a strand of her hair and tucked it around her ear.
“I really should go,” she said, without making any attempt to move.
“Yes, that’s probably best,” I replied, sweeping my thumb across her cheekbone. Was she thinking about last Saturday night? Had she been able to read my mind in the office today as I mentally peeled her shirt from her body?
“We’re . . . I mean, it’s not . . .” Her tongue darted out to wet her lips. I slipped my hand behind her neck, where the heat of her skin molded my fingers to her shape.
“You could stay,” I said, my breathing shallow, my heartbeat thudding in my veins.
Her lips parted. “I want . . .”
Just a second before I dipped to kiss her, she pulled away with a snap. “I have to go,” she said, looking toward the kitchen counter. “I had my bag somewhere.”
I pushed my hands into my pockets and watched as she scurried over to collect her bag. “I have to go,” she mumbled again. She shot me a quick glance and I nodded.
Sleeping with her again was probably a bad idea. There was too much to lose. Too much at stake.
But I was beginning to think it would be worth it.