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“I get that. I really do. But half the people with publishing deals had a friend or a friend of a friend. It’s still old school like that.”
“You didn’t,” she murmurs. “You submitted your manuscript seventeen times before it was accepted. And then it became a bestseller.”
“I shouldn’t be surprised you know my story,” I say, my lips tugging at the corners into an almost smile.
It’s like my mouth wants to make the shape, but there’s still this darkness in me, this broiling pain, that stops me from fully committing to it.
And yet this is still progress, still so much more than I’ve ever felt before.
She smiles, fully and beautifully.
The waiter interrupts the conversation, bringing our drinks, and then tactfully steps away when I tell him we’re not ready to order our food yet.
I turn back to find my woman smiling at me.
“What?” I ask.
“I just like how kind you are to the serving staff. I think you can tell a lot about a person by how they treat waiters.”
I shrug. “I wasn’t always rich. And even if I was, everyone deserves respect. Even a grumpy asshole like me can admit that.”
We pause, both of us taking sips of our drinks, as our eyes meet across the table.
“I meant what I said,” she murmurs, stroking a hand through her hair. “I don’t want to be handed anything.”
“I’m telling you, Maddie, you are an exceptional writer. For somebody so young, you have an immense understanding of the human condition. You write with confidence, but not arrogance. You get inside your characters’ heads.”
“So you want me to use your name?” she asks softly. “Even when you had to do it the hard way?”
I sigh. “Publishing has changed. So many people are writing books these days. It seems like everyone is working on a manuscript. The only danger I can see with your plan is… I just can’t stand the idea of your work languishing unread. It deserves to be read.”
“How about this?”
She slides her finger around the edge of her glass, tilting her head at me.
I love when she looks at me like that, with so much hope and vivaciousness in her expression.
“We’ll try it my way first. And if everyone rejects me, if nobody will take me, you can plaster my name all over your social media for the whole world to see. But at least let me try.”
“Let you?” I laugh softly. “I’d never stand in your way. I’d never tell you that you have to do things how I want you to. Just because you are mine, it doesn’t mean I’m going to dictate to you, Maddie. I want us to grow together.”
Her whole face lights up, her cheeks beaming, her eyes sparkling. She looks like she’s about to burst into song, and I can’t help but feel an answering rumble inside of me.
“Okay. Deal.”
“Now.” I nod down to the menu. “Are we going to eat any time today? Don’t forget, we’ve got plans this evening.”
A nervous flicker flashes across her expression – as though she thinks her young body isn’t ready to take everything I have to give – and yet she can’t hide the way her eyes widen. She can’t hide the twitching of her lips like she’s ready to let out an orgiastic moan right here.
“Yes,” she murmurs softly. “Let’s eat.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Maddison
There’s something almost sexual about watching my man eat, how he cuts into his steak and then chews on it slowly, taking his time. It makes me think of the comment he made before we ordered, about how we had plans this evening.
I know exactly what those plans are going to entail.
He wants to take me, to tame me, to make me his with more than words. He wants to bend me over and bring that throbbing manhood to my sex, sliding inside of me, deeper and deeper, until I have no choice but to explode in a shivering mess against him.
And heck, I want it too.
My body screams for it, my nipples rub raw against my bra, tingling and tempting. My sex is a battlefield of shimmers, sensations dancing up and down my body, making my clit ache as my eyes slide over his arms.
He’s wearing a suit, the jacket snug, hugging onto his mammoth’s body and deluging my mind with how he’d look if he decided to tear out of the jacket, flexing his arms until the fabric ripped and he was left half-naked, his muscles heaving.
“Are you ogling me, Maddie?” he teases, with that alpha-wolf glint in his blue eyes. “Because I’m feeling pretty ogled right now.”
“Maybe.” I shoot him a look, an I’m-ready-for-anything look. Even if I think it might be a lie. “Is that a problem?”
He shakes his head. “It’s not even close to being a problem. Ogle me all damn day if you want. But only me.”
