My Favorite Souvenir(26)

Maddie sipped her hard seltzer and surprised me with a question. “If I wasn’t there, would you have given Carolyn her fortieth-birthday wish?”

I laughed. “No. No interest in Carolyn, or anyone else there, for that matter.” I took a sip of my drink. “You?”

She shook her head. “No. Troy wasn’t my type.”

My brow lifted. “Anyone else there your type?”

She hesitated. “Nope.”

I decided to admit what I was feeling. Pretty sure she’d noticed my dick was hard in the elevator anyway, so maybe it was better to be honest. “There was no one there who interested me, but somehow collectively, the idea of everyone so turned on—it got me worked up, I guess.”

Maddie looked flushed. Her voice was low when she said, “I thought I was the only one.”

Even though I’d suspected she was turned on up in the penthouse suite, hearing her admit it only made the situation in my pants worse.

I needed to change the subject. Stat.

“Any idea what you want to do tomorrow besides shop?”

She shrugged. “Just see some of the sights. Walk around, maybe check out the Santa Fe Plaza.”

“That sounds good.”

When she yawned, I took that as my cue and opportunity to escape this tense conversation. I needed a release.

I stood up. “Well, I’ll let you get some shut eye.”

As I moved toward the door, she suddenly got up off the bed. “Wait.”

My heart started to beat faster. “What’s up?”

She looked like she wasn’t sure what she’d planned to say. Until she muttered, “Can you unzip me?”

Fuck. What is she doing?

A man can only take so much.

“Sure.” I walked back over to her.

She turned around so her back was to me.

I slowly lowered the zipper on her dress, swallowing hard as I gazed at the soft skin of her gorgeous back. She hadn’t worn a bra. Her tits were so perky, apparently she didn’t need one.

Unexpectedly, her dress fell to the floor, showcasing nothing but a red lace thong over her flawless ass. I felt my pants tightening by the second. This wasn’t good. She kept her back to me, lingering there, seemingly wanting me to suffer. And then it dawned on me what she was doing. She was giving me that fucking show she’d promised me. My reward for performing in Steamboat.

The devil inside of me silently begged her to turn around, to show me everything, to take her thong off, lie back on the bed, and spread her legs wide so I could see her glistening pussy. The devil wanted her to beg me to fuck her.

Instead, she covered her breasts as she turned around and blushed. Then, she escaped into the bathroom.

I was wrong. The devil wasn’t inside me. She was behind that bathroom door.

And my gut told me she wasn’t intending for me to follow. She’d already made her intentions clear. This was simply a cock tease of epic proportions.

Don’t get me wrong. It was a cock tease I’d gladly accept.

I heard the water in the bathroom.

With my raging hard on, I headed for the door and retreated to my room alone.

? ? ?

The following day, we did not speak of her little peep show or the sex party we’d inadvertently attended. The vibe was back to platonic as we shopped for her boots. Thank fuck.

She didn’t need to know I’d spent the better part of an hour after I returned to my room last night whacking off to thoughts of her body, which morphed into fantasies of fucking her on those air mattresses in the penthouse suite. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d jerked off so much.

I’d slept with a few women since Zoe, but all of those experiences had been gratuitous and forced. I hadn’t been genuinely turned on in ages. Too bad it happened with a woman who was more interested in fucking with me than fucking me. Maybe I should’ve been thankful that Maddie and I had already set boundaries between us, because things would have gotten complicated real fast without them.

But if things were clear, why was I still overthinking everything when I was supposed to be helping her look for ugly cowboy boots?

Maddie lifted her foot. “What do you think?”

We’d been in the boot shop for the better part of an hour. Every pair she selected featured a mish-mash of bright colors.

“Those are pretty hideous.”

“This is what I’m going for, though. Bright and colorful.”

“You mean tacky?”

“You’re no fun, Hooker.” She winked.

I got the sudden urge to smack her ass.

Good job putting last night out of your mind, Matteo. Milo. Whatever the fuck your name is.

Several minutes later, when she came back from the register, she carried two large boxes.

Standing up from the bench where I’d been ruminating, I said, “Couldn’t decide, eh? You opted for two obnoxious pairs?”

She grinned. “Sure did! But not both for me. One pair for me, one pair for you.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What did you do?”

“Put on your new boots, brother.” Maddie opened the box, showcasing men’s boots that were completely covered in American-flag print.

I shook my head and chuckled. “I guess we have our souvenirs from Santa Fe.”

? ? ?

“Do you have a lot of friends?”