My Favorite Souvenir(20)

Maddie slipped off her glove, then reached over and gave one of my gloves a tug. Once our hands were free, she laced her fingers with mine and squeezed. “I think we were supposed to meet, Milo Hooker. Life brought us together for a reason.” She rested her head against my shoulder and let out a big sigh. “We’re here to help each other find our new paths.”

I nodded. “I think you might be right, sis. I think you really might be right.”

? ? ?

After we finished riding, we found a little hotel off of Main Street in downtown Steamboat Springs to stay for the night. Again, we got adjacent rooms.

“I’m starving,” Maddie said as we stood in front of our respective doors and swiped the keys to unlock them. “When we drove through town, I saw a cute place where I’d like to eat.”

“Oh sure. What place?”

She smiled. “It’s a surprise.”

I smiled back. “Okay. How long do you need to get ready?”

“Forty minutes?”

“Sounds good. Knock on my door when you’re done.”

I took a shower and got dressed, then kicked my feet up on the bed to rest my eyes for a few minutes. A knock at the door woke me sometime after.

I opened the door, still in a sleepy fog, and found Maddie all dressed up in a slinky silver slip dress with spaghetti straps. Her red hair was blown out into soft waves, and she had on more makeup than I’d ever seen her wear. I had to blink a few times to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

“Wow. You look great. I guess I need to change.”

She took a step back and looked herself up and down. “Is this too much for downtown? I brought so many nice clothes. I’m not sure where I planned on going all dressed up since I came by myself, but I figured, why not use them? Though look at the back of this. Is it too much? Obviously I need to grab my coat before we go outside.”

She turned and showed me the low-cut back of her dress, which showcased creamy white skin and dipped to just above her ass. I salivated at the sight of the silky material hugging her perfectly round cheeks.

I cleared my throat. “Ummm… It’s definitely not your typical snow gear, but damn, you look sexy as hell. I don’t think we should tell people we’re brother and sister tonight, because they might think it’s fucked up when I drool looking at you.”

She blushed. “You’re sweet. But should I change?”

“Absolutely fucking not.” I nodded toward my room. “But come inside so I can at least put a collared shirt on.”

It had seemed like a perfectly innocent request when I made it, but the moment the door clanked closed behind her, that all changed. Maybe it was her being inside a room that was pretty much all bed, coupled with the way she looked in that dress, but suddenly I really wanted to see her gorgeous red hair fanned out all over my pillow.

Needing a distraction from that thought, I went to my suitcase and dug around while Maddie took a seat on the edge of the bed. She crossed one leg over the other, and I lost my battle with staring.

Damn, she has great legs, too.

And I hadn’t even noticed her sexy-as-fuck shoes. They were sparkly, with a thin strap that wrapped around her ankle and a tall, skinny heel. Never had I been so thankful for the stupendous job Colorado did clearing the walkways in these touristy areas before. Those things were a hell of a lot better than snow boots; that was for damn sure.

I’d been wearing a pair of black pants and a thermal, but I pulled off the thermal to change into a nice, gray dress shirt. As I pulled down the hem of the T-shirt I’d put on underneath, I caught Maddie checking me out again.

The feeling’s mutual, Mads. Totally mutual.

Out on the street, I offered her my arm. “I don’t want you to hit a patch of ice in those shoes.”

“Oh. Thank you.” She gripped my bicep, and together we strolled two blocks. I had no idea where we were going, but Maddie seemed to. Following her adventurous lead, I didn’t ask.

She stopped in front of a local bar. “This is it.”

The place had been around for years and was kind of a shithole. I was surprised she didn’t want to go somewhere fancier with the way she was dressed.

“I think they only have a bar menu, burgers and stuff. There’s a steak house on the next block, if you want something nicer.”

She smiled. “Nope. What I want is right here. You got to pick the last two adventures. Tonight it’s mine.”

I chuckled. “Whatever you say.”

Inside, a waitress told us to sit anywhere we wanted, so we grabbed a booth. I looked around. It had probably been eight years since I’d been here, but the place hadn’t changed a bit. It was dark, with wood-paneled walls and a concrete floor. Music played overhead from what sounded like a pretty decent sound system for such a crappy bar, and there was a small stage in one corner where two guys were working to set up equipment.

“Did you want to come listen to music or something? I can’t imagine you picked this place for the food.”

“I did come for the music.”

I nodded. That made a little more sense. Though I hadn’t noticed a sign in the window about a band. “Who’s playing tonight?”

Maddie smiled. “You. It’s karaoke night. The sign outside said it starts in ten minutes.”

I hated to be a buzz kill when Maddie had been so up for anything whenever I directed our adventures, but there was no way I was singing.