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If this was the last night they might ever be together, she should be honest. After all, she didn’t have any pride left to salvage. The Pershings and her never-ending pining for Matt had stripped her of that.
“All the time. Other than marrying Todd, you’re my biggest regret.” She huffed bitterly. “Not that it matters. I know you didn’t really want me.”
“Oh, don’t kid yourself, honey. From the second I laid eyes on you, I wanted you more than my next breath.”
She frowned in the dark. “But you just disappeared. You ghosted me…”
“Because it wasn’t going to work.”
So he’d hurt her. She’d deserved it after all her rash decisions. And maybe he’d been right. They would never know. It was too late for them now; Madison was horribly aware of that.
She should close her eyes and leave Matt in peace. But after the harrowing twenty-four hours she’d endured—not to mention the horrible years since she’d last seen him—she needed him so badly. He made her feel safe and sexy. He reassured her. He’d pleasured her like no man ever had. Would it be so terrible if she asked the person who held her heart to take her in his arms one last time? She wouldn’t ask for promises or forevers. Just this moment.
The memory would have to last the rest of her life.
Slowly, she slipped from his bed. Instantly, his head zipped up from his phone. By the light of the device, she watched his eyes narrow when she stripped off his flannel and the air conditioning hardened her bare nipples. He didn’t speak, but the groan that slipped from his lips spoke volumes as she untied the shorts. Slowly, she shoved them down, walking out of them and straight toward him—not wearing a stitch. As she stopped a mere foot from him and unwound her shoulder-length hair, she stared at him unapologetically. “Come to bed with me.”
Other than setting his phone aside, he didn’t move. “Madison…”
“I’ve missed you.” If they only had tonight, she would shelve her dignity and beg him. It wouldn’t be the first time. “You don’t know how much. Please.”
“Goddamn it.”
He was going to reject her. She shouldn’t be shocked, but tears still stung her eyes as she bent and reached blindly for his clothes. “Never mind. I’m asking for too much. I’m sorry.”
Matt stood and grabbed her wrists. He stared his way down her body, almost too still, as if he exercised every shred of his self-control. The moment reminded her so much of their first kiss all those years ago…
CHAPTER THREE
June 6
Three years earlier
Matt sat at the back of the wedding reception, wondering how much longer before he could bail. He was happy for Trees and Laila. Their road to happily ever after had been fraught with danger, difficulty, and heartache. He’d never imagined that such a wisp of a female could demolish a six-foot-eight badass.
If he knew what the fuck to do with love if he ever fell in it, Matt might have enjoyed the sentimentality of the day and celebrated the bride and groom’s forever with more gusto. But this kind of shit wasn’t for him. His father had made damn sure of that.
Women are only good for one thing, son. Don’t ever let one sink her claws into you…
He never wanted to see desperate clawing, pitiful pleading, or tears of despair again. But since the apple never fell far from the tree, Matt figured he was better off not even trying the whole death-do-us-part thing. He’d only ruin some nice girl’s life.
But Miss Right-Now? That he’d been looking for since he’d rolled into this godforsaken town more than six months ago. He really needed to get laid.
Unfortunately, the only single woman who interested him—since Zy had taken Tessa off the market a few months back—was the gorgeous little brunette on the other side of the room, laughing and knocking back champagne with three other ladies who looked like her girl posse.
“Know them?” Nash, Trees’s younger brother and one of the groomsmen, leaned over to ask him, eyeing the same quartet.
“No. I would swear I ran into the brunette in blue at One-Mile’s wedding a few months back, but I didn’t get her name.”
In fact, she’d stopped to help him in the parking lot a handful of minutes before the ceremony, when he’d run out to Pierce’s Jeep to frantically search for Brea’s wedding ring. With all the pomp and his best man duties, Matt hadn’t found the opportunity to speak to her again. He’d certainly looked.
She hadn’t attended Zy and Tessa’s spring wedding, and when he’d asked One-Mile later who she was, he’d just shrugged and told him that Brea was the only brunette he cared about. So Matt was pumped to see the gorgeous girl here this afternoon. A glance up proved he’d caught her eye, too. He flashed her the dimples that usually got him laid. She smiled back.
“That looks promising.” Nash grinned.
It did. Hot damn. “I’m going to ask her to dance.”
“Do it. And while you’re at it, find out that saucy little redhead’s name, would you?”
