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“What?” I laugh. “You play football on live television in front of millions of people, but meeting Steve Harvey would make you pass out?”
He shrugs. “What can I say? I idolize the guy. He has so much wisdom, shoots straight from the hip, practices what he preaches, and he’s hilarious. Plus, he pulls off a bald head and mustache with so much confidence, any man should look up to him for that alone.”
“And you decided all of this after watching Family Feud videos and clips of him on his talk show?”
“Hell, yeah. I was entranced. Suddenly hours had passed as I watched hundreds of clips and just listened to everything the man had to say. Some stuff gave me fucking goosebumps. What’s not to love?”
“So are you saying that when you grow up, you want to be like Steve Harvey?”
“Fuck, yeah! Where do I sign up?”
Laughter escapes from my lips. “You do realize you’re the number two quarterback in the NFL, right? Most men would make something like that their aspiration in life.”
His smirk is instant. “So youhavebeen keeping tabs on me. I knew it, Penelope. I could see that hint of stalker in your eyes.” His playful demeanor is in the same league as my own, and I can’t say that I hate it.
Instead, I roll my eyes. “Don’t flatter yourself. I was raised to watch and know the game. I know many stats about many players, not just you.”
“Let me guess, you were ‘just a small-town girl, living in a lonely world...’”
A snort leaves my lips. “Quoting Journey now?” I shake my head. “You are quite the enigma, Maddox.”
“How so?”
“First, the dirty jokes, which was unique, I must say. Next, an infatuation with Steve Harvey. And now, you’re using carefully placed lines of popular eighties ballads in conversation?” I lean back and glare at him. “Whoareyou, Maddox Taylor?”
“I’m just a regular guy, Penelope. What you see is what you get. The last thing I want is for you to think I’m sitting here because I’m not genuinely interested in you or I’m trying to be someone that I’m not.”
“Interested?”
He leans forward again, leaving only a few inches of space between us. “Very interested,” he rasps, and the gravel in his voice has goosebumps breaking out over my arms.
We sit there in a stare-off as I feel my pulse pick up speed. But in the next breath, my mind is reminding me that I’m teetering on the edge of dangerous territory.
I feel like I’m not in control of what’s happening here, which is definitely not what I’m used to.
I’musually the one that makesmyinterest known. It’s how I know I’m safe, that feelings won’t be involved, that a man knows exactly what an interaction between us will be with no misconceptions: a transaction.
But there are just too many flags here that are telling me Maddox Taylor is a man that could pull me back to a place that I mentally keep buried in the past.
The physical similarities, the personality, the profession—it all has me fighting a trip down memory lane.
But then again, I’ve become an expert on separating feelings and sex, so I should be able to do that with him, right? I mean, it has been awhile for me, which is definitely out of the ordinary. He’s obviously shown his interest, and the man has an ass that won’t quit. I’d be stupid not to take him out for a test drive if that’s what he’s offering.
Any other time, you wouldn’t think twice about taking a man up on his offer, especially the blatant one he’s putting out on the table. Hell, half the time,you’rethe one putting the offer down.
So what if he’s a football player? It’s not like he lives here. It’s not like you’ll ever see him again. This isn’t about fairytales, rings, and babies. This is about lust and orgasms, and hopefully multiple ones.
Before I can make my decision officially in my head, Maddox speaks and breaks our stare-off. “Who’s the most popular guy at the nudist colony?”
Choking back laughter, I bite. “I don’t know, Maddox. Who?”
“The guy who can carry two cups of coffee and a dozen donuts.”
It takes me a minute, but once the punchline hits, I cackle out loud. “Oh my God!”
Laughing, he leans back in the booth again. “I told ya. Dirty jokes break the tension every time.”
Sitting up taller on my side of the booth, my decision made about seeing where the night takes us, I decide to give him a little taste of his own medicine. “What do a penis and a Rubik’s Cube have in common?”
