AllFreeNovel
Share Us
This has to be Maddox and his correct number.
As I stare at the screen, I realize I must have transposed two of the digits when I texted him last week, but now nerves flutter across my skin knowing he’s initiating our contact this time.
That kiss today meant something. I don’t want it to, but it did. And now this conversation tonight is going to propel us down a path we can’t return from.
So now here’s the question: Do I sit here and talk to him all night and let my feelings break free already? Or do I initiate what I think we both want out of this arrangement?
I think I know what would make me feel more comfortable—and it’s not baring my soul to this man on the phone just yet. But on the other hand, I want to hear what he has to say.
“Hello?” I answer on a shaky breath.
“Hey, Pen.”
“Maddox.” I bite my lip to keep from smiling, feeling like a giddy teenager from just the sound of his voice. Clearing my throat, I rein it in.
“I hope it’s not too early for you. I debated calling sooner, but I wasn’t sure how long you might have needed to settle in.” He blows out a breath.
“You sound nervous,” I tease him.
“Would you think of me differently if I said I am?”
I settle into the cushion some more, pulling my knees to my chest. “No, because I am, too.”
“I’ve been waiting to talk to you since the second I left the hospital, Pen. You have no idea how happy I am that you’re finally giving this a shot.”
“Well, I answered your call, so I think that proves I’m willing to see where this goes.”
He chuckles. “So what are you up to?”
“I ordered some sushi earlier and was just about to start a movie when you called.”
“Oh, yeah?” I can hear the smile in his voice. “What movie?”
“U.S. Marshalls. Have you ever heard of it?”
He’s silent for a moment. “You were watching that because Robert Downey, Jr. is in it, weren’t you?”
I can’t help but laugh. “Naturally.”
“I don’t know what I’m going to have to do to get you to see that RDJ isn’t the guy for you.”
“Oh, yeah? And I take it you are?”
“Obviously. And nothing against that movie, but everyone knows the best movies were from the eighties.”
“The eighties?”
“Best decade of all time, babe.”
“Would this explain your musical choices from earlier today?” I reach for my glass of water on the coffee table and take a sip.
“Absolutely. And I guess I’d better admit it now—that was my workout playlist we were dancing to.”
I nearly spit water out across the couch. “You work out to Whitney Houston?”
Maddox laughs. “Oh, yeah. Ask Hayden. He’s heard my playlist.”
“Yet another surprise about you that I find absolutely charming.”
