Page 32 of Back To Our Beginning

“I liked helping you.”

“To your detriment.”

Maddie’s bottom lip stuck out in a pout. She had such kissable lips. I was so hungry for her, but I had to get past all the hurdles we had before I could get to that point. And hell, even if I got through all the hurdles, would she ever un-friend-zone me?

She let out a frustrated sigh. “Jesus, Beau. Do you think I don’t know how to take care of myself?”

“I think you work so damn hard taking care of everyone else that you forget to watch your own back.”

Her breath hitched, but she covered it fast.

“Go home,” I said, softer now. “Eat. Sleep. Let your brother make you laugh because he’s an idiot. But don’t think for a second that I’m done, because I’m not.”

“You’re impossible.”

“No, I’m determined.”

I grinned. I’d forgotten my ace in the hole. I turned and raced to my truck. Even as I ran, a voice in my head wondered if I should let go.

I ignored it.

Yeah. Like I was ever going to give up. That wasn’t what a Marine Raider did.

I grabbed the tin and turned back around. I saw Maddie still standing where I’d left her, watching me. I looked her dead in the eye and stalked her way. She started backing up toward her Jeep. Yep, she was catching on. There was no way this was over.

When we both reached her Jeep, she looked up at me, her chin jutting out.

“What now, Beaumont?” she asked belligerently.

I thrust out the big tin of Leon’s candy.

She eyed it with suspicion, then looked back up at me.

“It’s not going to bite.”

“Yeah, but you might,” she muttered.

“At least you’ve got that right.” I grinned. “Here, take it.”

Her eyes flicked back to the tin, then back to me, her expression guarded.

I rolled my eyes. “Come on Maddie, it’s not a bomb. It’s just candy.”

She bit her lip.

“You remember, honey, it’s the good stuff.”

She took it reluctantly, turning it over in her hands. When she saw the weight of it written on the cover, her eyes narrowed. “Five pounds. Are you trying to bribe me with chocolate, sugar, and, hopefully caramel?”

“Would I do that?”

She caressed the tin like a lover and I felt my body heat up. “I’m just reminding you of the one time in your life that you actually liked me,” I said desperately.

Her lips twitched as she looked up at me. “One time, huh?”

I took a step closer so we were toe to toe. “Maybe two times.”

She swallowed and licked her bottom lip again. Fuck, she was killing me. She looked down at the tin that she had continued to caress. I could tell she wanted to open it. I remembered how she had dived in and glutted on the pralines back in high school. She’d only saved one for me.