Take a Chance on Me(23)

He scrubbed a hand over his jaw, studying her with a pensive look. Probably wondering what he could get away with. “I have some conditions.”

“You’re not in a place to negotiate,” she said, her tone taking on a slightly haughty edge that held no real ice.

“Neither are you, Princess,” he said, his voice laced with the first traces of genuine amusement.

The tension, coiled tight between them since Gracie had left, loosened, lightening both the air and their mood.

A hint of a smile teased her lips. “I have something you want.” As soon as the words were out, she caught the underlying implication. Cheeks heating, she pressed her lips together, refusing to snatch them back.

He laughed. The sinful, decadent sound had goose bumps breaking out along her skin. “And I’ve got something you need.”

Out of her depth with the game she was playing, she said lightly, “I guess we’re at each other’s mercy.”

“I guess so.” His attention once again drifted to her mouth. “What do you want to do first?”

The triumphant gleam in his golden gaze made nerves dance in her belly. What was she getting into? Something dangerous. Something exciting. Something that had been missing for a long time: mischief. He reminded her of the wild, reckless girl she use to be, and it was addictive.

He watched her expectantly, and she realized he was waiting for her to speak.

“I called my girlfriends,” she said mildly, watching his reaction closely. “I’ll owe you for long distance.”

His expression flickered, then shuttered closed. “Long distance is included in my package. What did they say?”

She shrugged one shoulder. “They offered to wire me money.”

“And?” The word held no inflection.

“I said no.”

His shoulders dropped a fraction of an inch. “Why?”

She bit the inside of her cheek, thinking carefully about her response and then opting for honesty. “I don’t want anyone to know where I am. And I’m tired of taking the easy way out.”


“Good.” That one single word was filled with a thousand currents of electricity. “What’s next?”

Her path finally becoming clear, she straightened. “You can start by taking me to my car.”





“Here’s another one!”

Mitch shook his head, grinning like a fool as Maddie held up another quarter from between the seats of her little red Honda.

Someone would think she’d found buried treasure with every discovery of spare change. He took the coin and dropped it into the plastic bag she’d brought along. So far, she’d unearthed a couple of dollars, some spare change, her favorite lip gloss, and a stainless-steel travel coffee mug as she rifled through the automobile with impressive thoroughness.

With her ass swaying high in the air, she climbed onto the driver’s seat and dove down to scour under the passenger’s side with a flashlight. He groaned as she wiggled, her heart-shaped rear taunting him. He’d been hard more in the past fifteen hours than he’d been in the past month, and she was driving him crazy.

With her innocence, those hints of sass, her flaming hair, and her flashing eyes, she was irresistible. The longer he stood in the parking lot of Tommy’s closed garage with the hot midmorning sun beating on his back and watched her contort her tiny body into all sorts of interesting positions, the more he wanted her. He had to force himself to not grab her, strip her naked, and have his way with her.

The thing that really killed him was that he could. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t touched her. Some things a man just knew. Attraction burned a hot, almost a palpable thing between them.

Time was limited, but still, he ignored temptation.

He wiped a bead of sweat from his temple, wondering if the change in his previous MO where women were concerned should worry him.

One smooth leg flexed as she stretched another inch and whooped excitedly. “I found a sawbuck!”

Fuck it. How much damage could a couple of days cause?

She whipped around, sending her ponytail flying as she waved the ten-dollar bill. Cheeks flushed with the thrill of discovery, eyes gleaming like sparkling emeralds, she giggled. “My dad used to call it that.”

One brow rising, he stared at the bill. A trickle of unease dimmed some of his enjoyment over watching her squirm. He mentally tallied her available funds before breathing a sigh of relief. Still not enough for even the cheapest, seediest hotel.

He peered in the car. It looked as though a tornado had blown through it. How much more money could she find? She’d already combed through the backseat, so he should be safe.

He had no idea why her staying under his roof had become vitally important, but it had. He wasn’t going to think about how much she made him sweat. He’d just enjoy how she made him laugh and how his pulse kicked up when he looked at her, and remember what it felt like to be alive instead of numb.

He plucked the bill from her fingers and dropped it into the bag. “Oh, what did your dad say looking at this mess of a car?”

Her expression clouded over with the suddenness of a summer storm. She blinked, hands clasping in her lap. “Nothing. He died.”

Ah, f*ck. He took a step closer and kneeled down. He brushed a finger over her cheek. “I’m sorry, Maddie.”