Take a Chance on Me(86)

“It doesn’t have to be one. You don’t have to get all gooey. Start by not slamming the door in her face the next time she tries to talk. Or answer her next question like she’s not a telemarketer.”

He didn’t respond.

Maddie placed a palm over his thigh. “She talks about you all the time, you know.”

His muscles bunched. “You’re saying that so I’m nicer to her.”

She raised her head, and when he refused to look at her, she placed a finger on the side of his jaw and forced him to meet her eyes. “I know about Mr. Snugglebottoms.”

His eyes widened, and in the glow of the moon and lights lining the perimeter of the parking lot, he blushed.

It was so unexpected, so completely adorable, that Maddie rushed headlong into a realization that left her stunned.

She was in love with him.

It was no gentle breeze of understanding. No whisper in her heart. It was a freight train barreling toward her with unstoppable force. The knowledge was so scary, so overwhelming, that she had no idea what to do, so she leaned forward and kissed him.

The second their lips touched, it was an inferno threatening to consume them both. His fingers curled around her neck, his thumb tilting her chin to allow him better access. She clutched at his shirt as he devoured her mouth, taking control and threatening to drive her out of her mind with desire.

The temptation to slip under his spell was strong, but they had to stop talking with sex. As crazy as it sounded, the knowledge that she loved him gave her the strength to pull away.

She brushed a finger over his lips. “We need to face reality soon.”

“I know.” It was a harsh, ragged whisper.

“I haven’t forgiven myself for what I said to Sophie. You are so much more than that to me.”

He met her gaze and his expression was hard. “But you’re still leaving.”

She blew out a deep breath and said softly, “Every morning, I wake up and ask myself if today is the day. And every day, the answer is no.”

“I’m not sure how much longer that’s going to be enough.” He pulled away from the intimacy of their embrace and sat forward with his elbows on his knees, and clasped his hands in front of him. “I don’t want to live in limbo anymore, Maddie.”

“I know. What do you want me to do?”

He shook his head. “No. I’m not going to decide for you. I won’t.”

She bit the inside of her cheek. Old habits died hard. As much as she hated it, sometimes it was so much easier to let someone else make her decisions for her. “You were the last thing I expected to run into on that night. Even when I went home with you, I never thought it would turn this complicated. But I’m twenty-eight and I’ve never been on my own. Never had my own apartment. I’ve never lived my own life. Everything has been taken care of for me: my house, my job. Everything.”

A flash of emotion crossed over his face like a summer storm cloud, passing as quickly as it had come. “And what makes you think I’d stand in your way?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

His fingers gripped her jaw. “You’re more yourself with me than you’ve ever been with anyone.”

She blinked. He was right. It was why she loved him. But could she stand on her own? “Maybe.”


“Yes.” He released his hold, his hand falling back to rest on her thigh.

“I can’t keep drifting along.” The more she talked, the more she knew her words to be true. “I need a purpose beyond being someone else’s daughter, sister, or girlfriend.”

“I only want you to be Maddie.”

“That’s what I want too.”

“Then we have the same goal.”

Realizing she’d been diverted from the subject, she nudged him with an elbow. “Hey, how’d we start talking about me? We were supposed to be talking about you.”

“I’m a law—” He broke off suddenly, not finishing the sentence, his mouth etching back into that hard line.

“You’re a lawyer,” she finished for him. “That’s what you need to be doing, not running some bar you hate.”

“I can’t. Not anymore.” The words were flat and toneless.

She wasn’t going to be able to budge him on the subject, at least not yet. A plan percolated in her mind, but she wasn’t quite ready yet. She took a deep breath and broached his family situation instead. “How was the call with your dad?”

He shrugged. “Short. I told him I wasn’t going to let my mom pay. He blustered. I handed the phone to her. He didn’t call for me, he called for her.”

“What did your mom say?” she asked.

Mitch jumped off the picnic table and started to stalk back and forth across the grass. “It’s a stupid plan. He should know better.”

Maddie agreed. The chances were good it wouldn’t work. “Your mom thinks this is her chance to make things right for you.”

His long legs ate up the ground as he circled like a caged lion. “Bullshit. She wants to save him.”

“She wants to save you.”

He shook his head. “She’s always been a sucker for him. No matter what story she’s selling now.”

Maddie shrugged. “I can’t say I blame her.”