by Maggie Gates
She shrugged and pulled them on. The denim covered the blue lace panties I got for her, but not by much. Her perfectly round ass cheeks still peeked out the frayed bottom and I resisted the urge to pinch her for being so hot and cold. Maddie hopped up and grabbed her sandals, sliding them back on. “I’ve been busy. You know that.”
“Just busy or busy avoiding me?”
“Just busy,” she said as she walked down the hall into her little kitchen. I followed her and leaned against the counter as she talked. “I told you—I want to keep things separate.” She motioned between us, “Whatever this is needs to stay out of the restaurant and since I basically live there, it means you’re gonna have to take what you can get.”
“Let’s talk about the restaurant,” I began.
“It’s my day off. How about not.”
“Fine. I’ll see you in my office first thing tomorrow morning.”
Maddie rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Just make it quick. Your work talk is cutting into my drinking time.”
“You’re overworked and overqualified,” I said, ripping the proverbial Band-Aid off. “You need to hire more staff for your team and fucking delegate. There’s no reason for you to be carrying the whole pastry program on your shoulders when it’s more than in the budget to expand. You’re doing tasks that interns could be doing.”
Maddie frowned and slammed the fridge door. Bottles of beer clinked against each other as she huffed, “So?”
“So, you look like a racoon with those bags under your eyes because you barely sleep. You work all fuckin’ day and then you go blow off steam. You need some balance.”
“Work hard, play hard,” she countered.
I pushed away from the counter and caught her around her waist before she could storm away. Her muscles were tense, and her gray eyes were drilling a hole into the floor. “Maddie, the hardest part about being in charge is trusting your employees to do the jobs you hired them to do.”
She relaxed in my arms and looked up at me. “I’d rather just do everything myself.”
I knew she was only half kidding. If she could get caffeine in an IV drip and drag it around with her everywhere, the woman would never sleep. “Hire a full timer and a part timer and schedule yourself to have one more day off a week. And no more closing down the kitchen. If you’re working dinner service, you’re out as soon as the dining room closes.”
“Or what?” She smirked.
Her long white-blonde hair was hanging down in those long mermaid waves I loved so much. I grabbed a fistful and tugged her head back to expose her neck. I leaned down and kissed under her jaw where her rapid pulse thrummed. “Or else.”
Maddie melted against me, her delicate eyelids fluttering closed as I kissed my way down her neck. “I did miss you,” she admitted. “A lot.”
“Give me four nights a week.”
“Two.”
“Two nights and a whole day whenever you have a day off.”
Maddie shook her head. “I can’t do that.”
“Why not?” I frowned.
“Because I have shit to do on my day off!”
“Like what? What did you have to do today that precludes you from seeing me?”
Maddie’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. “You know, this pushiness is really unattractive, DeRossi,” she finally spat out.
“Mad,” I groaned in frustration. “Talk to me.”
“I see my mom on Mondays, okay?” She clipped. “And sometimes I’m just not in the mood to talk to anyone afterwards.” Maddie’s eyes welled up with tears as her neighbor, Steve, walked in. She blinked her eyes to hold back her emotions and muttered, “Be right back,” before power walking to the bathroom and slamming the door.
Steve’s eyes narrowed in on me. He was a big guy, but we were about the same height. Sizing him up, I guessed I had more muscle on me. He glanced at the bathroom door and then back at me. “Did you make her fucking cry?” He growled.
“What? No, I—”
Another man walked in and I vaguely remembered Maddie calling him Chase. He and I stood eye to eye, but the dude was built. If things went south there was no way in hell I could take them both. And they thought I upset Maddie. Chase looked at Steve and then at me. He crossed his arms and stood shoulder to shoulder with Steve. “What’s going on?”
“Fucker made Maddie cry.”
Chase’s face turned lethal. His fists clenched and his nostrils flared with anger. “Three seconds to explain yourself.”
“Look, it’s not—”
“Three.”
“Seriously, I didn’t—”
“Two.”
I held my palms out to show I wasn’t a threat. “Man, I would never—”
“Back off, Chase,” Maddie snapped as she breezed through the houseboat. “He didn’t make me cry.”
Thank fuck. I splayed my palm across Maddie’s stomach, stopping her in her tracks, and lowered my lips to her ear as I murmured, “Stai bene, Tesoro?” Her eyes flicked to meet mine and I saw the slight red rims that she had tried to hide under a little makeup. “Are you okay?” I repeated in a tone that was just barely audible. She gave me a little nod and I dropped my hand from her body as she passed me by.
“Hey, party people,” a breezy blonde shouted as she boarded the houseboat.
Maddie cleared her throat as three more girls crowded into the kitchen. “Luca, you remember everyone, right?”
She went down the line, reminding me of who was who and introducing me.
Bridget, the breezy blonde bartender from Jokers, I remembered. She was the one who pickpocketed Maddie’s keys to make sure I got her home safe.
Melissa was next. She barely reached my hip—probably under five feet tall if I had to guess. What she lacked in height, she made up for in muscle and a laugh like a firecracker. Her chocolate skin made her bright smile shine like a diamond.
I’d met Hannah Jane a few times. She tucked her short, brown hair behind her ear and gave me a polite hello. Usually when I saw her, she was in her professional attire—pencil skirts and blouses that said she was all business. Seeing her in shorts and flip flops, I realized that the photo on Maddie’s phone that I had seen at the gym in L.A. was of the two of them on the beach.
Kristin was last. I couldn’t remember meeting her before, so I made sure to shake her hand and offer a friendly smile. She was younger than the rest of Maddie’s crew—maybe not even old enough to drink the beer that was in her hand. I wondered how she fit in with the rest of them.
“Nice to meet you, Kristin,” I said, a red-carpet grin.
Kristin squealed and fanned herself. “Oh my God!” She said in a stage-whisper.
Maddie rolled her eyes, “Please, he’s not that great.”
“I beg to differ,” I chuckled. “I’m a fucking blast.”
The girls giggled and I reveled in the praise. Maddie, Chase, and Steve looked like they wanted to barbecue me.
“Kris has your ab photo as the background on her phone,” Hannah spilled.
“Do not!” Kristin gasped.
Something that looked a lot like jealousy flashed in Maddie’s eyes and I decided that I really needed to see that look again. Kristin had to be more than a decade younger than me, so she looked more like a younger sister. Crossing the room, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, nearly engulfing her. I tugged my phone out of my pocket and snapped a selfie with her. Lowering my phone, I let her watch as I made the photo my background.
“There. Now we’re even,” I winked.
“You’re like… the hottest person I’ve ever seen,” Kristin swooned and then immediately cupped her hands over her mouth. Her face turned beet red at the confession.
I looked up to find murder in Maddie’s eyes. It only stoked the mischief in mine. If she wanted to play hard to get then I was gonna do everything in my power to annoy her into being with me.
“Take him upstairs,” Maddie hissed.
Chase and Steve moved toward me on her command. I
rooted my feet to the floor and raised my eyebrows. “Wait—what?”
“Don’t fight it, bro,” Chase said, grinning. He grabbed my bicep and Steve grabbed the other, dragging me toward a metal spiral staircase.
Steve was less cordial. “You’re getting off easy,” He complained. “If it was up to me, you’d be in a body bag.”
I believed him.
They marched me up the staircase to what I could only assume was going to be a human sacrifice. Ha! Joke’s on them—I was as far from a virgin as a man could get. Chase slid what looked like an attic door back and sunlight poured in.
“Up you go, pretty boy,” Steve clipped.
I climbed out onto the roof, followed by Steve and Chase. One by one, the girls came up behind us.
Maddie pulled up the rear. She stood in front of me and held out her hand, “Empty your pockets.”
“So, you are gonna kill me,” I smirked. “You know, I never expected that the plot twist would be that you were the serial killer.”
Chase took a step toward me and I decided it was in my best interest to heed her instructions. I pulled my keys, phone, and wallet out of the pocket of my gym shorts and dropped them into his hands.
Maddie’s looked down to my sneakers. “Shoes off.”
I shrugged and toed off one shoe and then the other and then stuffed my socks inside. Maddie grabbed me by my shirt and marched me to the edge of the roof.
Kristin, Melissa, Bridget, and Hannah Jane started chanting, “Take it off! Take it off! Take it off! Take it off!”
I looked back at her crowd of her friends and made a show of stripping my shirt off like I was in Magic Mike. They let out a deafening cheer and I thrust my pelvis and rolled my hips like a high dollar stripper. I tossed my shirt over to Bridget and gave Maddie a big flex as I clapped my hands and bounced on my toes in anticipation of the jump.
Maddie had a wild gleam in her eye that was partially feral and wholly intoxicating. She pointed to the water that was a good fifteen feet below us. “Any last words, DeRossi?” She yelled over the girls’ chanting.
“No words,” I grinned as I grabbed the back of her neck and yanked her in. Her friends went ballistic as I planted a hard kiss on her mouth on the edge of the rooftop. I dipped her backward and dug my fingers into the back of her thigh as I held on.
Without warning, hands came out of nowhere and shoved the two of us off the roof. Maddie flailed and shrieked, and I roared as we began to fall, somehow keeping hold of her hand as we crashed into the water. The saltwater stung as I opened my eyes under the surface and swam to her. We both broke through the surface and took a big gulp of fresh air. I grabbed Maddie by the waist and pulled her against my body. She wrapped her legs around my waist, and I used one arm to hold her against me and the other to wipe damp strands of hair out of her face. Cradling her cheek, I slid my fingers behind her neck—gently this time—and kissed her long and deep. She tasted salty like the sea and I was drunk on her. Those dimpled cheeks that made me weak were in full display and the wide smile on her face told me that my antics had been forgiven.
“Initiation?” I asked.
Maddie nodded, “Welcome to the club.”
26
———
MADELINE
We instantly regretted giving Luca a seat at poker night. Not because I didn’t want him around or because my friends didn’t like him. They did—well, except Steve. But truth be told, Steve didn’t like anybody these days. I barely made the cut. No—we regretted it because the man had an unbeatable poker face. Hand after hand, he raked in the winnings.
We never played for much. Whoever won was supposed to use the money to buy drinks and dinner for the next poker night. It kept things fun and nobody ever lost too much. Looks like Luca would be here next week to bring the pizza and beer.
“So... he’s kind of great,” Bridget said as she helped me stuff the empty pizza boxes into the trashcan and collect the empty beer bottles. “Tell me he’s amazing in bed. He just looks like he’d be amazing in bed. He’s got that big dick energy.”
I laughed and snapped a pizza box in half, “I don’t kiss and tell.”
“Bullshit!”
“Okay, okay—we’ve only hooked up twice and it’s been—” I sighed wistfully. “It’s been great. Like, best sex of my life.”
Bridget wiggled her shoulders in some kind of dorky celebratory dance. “Good for you, babe!”
I smiled sheepishly and tied the trash bag off. “I’ve kind of been avoiding him.”
“And why would you do a dumbass thing like that? He’s crazy about you.”
“Because I don’t know… It’s been a long time since I’ve felt like this about someone, and it scares me how much the universe seems to be throwing us together. I mean, first we met at a random gym on the other side of the country, then he just happened to be a judge for a competition I was in, and then he bought the restaurant I worked at.”
Bridget paused, “Do you think he’s like a stalker or something?”
I shook my head, “No. I talked to Rob Mullon. The restaurant buyout was in the works way before Luca and I met in L.A.—Rob just kept it quiet. He didn’t want the staff thinking they’d lose their jobs and everybody leaving when it changed hands.”
Bridget tied up another trash bag, “Well, it sounds like maybe you’re supposed to be together. Did you ever think about that? Don’t look the gift horse in the mouth—especially when the gift horse gave you that beautiful specimen.”
“What about you? You and Kyle Kingsley?”
She had a dreamy little smile on her lips, “It's good. He’s great. I mean, he takes me out all the time and comes by the bar to see me when I’m at work. He wanted to go out tonight, but I told him that poker night with you guys was sacred and I’d already missed one night because he took me to New Bern.”
“Sounds like you guys are getting serious,” I said.
She shrugged, “My lease is up in a couple months and he’s already talked about me moving in with him rather than renewing it for another year. I mean, it just makes sense.”
“Yeah, but doesn’t he live in Havelock?”
“I’ll still work at the bar. You’ll see me all the time.”
“Come posso aiutarla?” Luca said as he stuck his head into the kitchen. I knew he was showing off by speaking in Italian, but I kind of loved it. He took the trash bag out of my hand and gave me a peck on the cheek. “How can I help?”
I pointed to the trash bag in his hand, “You can take that over to Steve’s house. The dumpsters are around the back.”
“Sure thing, Tesoro.” He took the bag out of my hand and another one out of Bridget’s. “Let me get that for you, sweetheart.”
Bridget giggled and I just shook my head as Luca headed to Steve’s house. “Tesoro? What does that mean?”
I blushed and busied myself with wiping down the counters. “It means treasure, but it’s just the Italian version of calling someone darling.”
Bridget threw her head back and whirled around like a Disney princess. “Oh my God! Marry that man and have his babies. It’s the only reasonable course of action.”
I just laughed and shook my head. Chase walked in and looked at Bridget. “Me and Hannah are heading out. You want me to take you home, Bee?”
Bridget shook her head and looked at the time on her phone, “No, Kyle’s picking me up. He’ll be here in a minute.”
There was a flare of something that flashed across Chase’s face, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. It wasn’t jealousy. It wasn’t his usual lovesick puppy face. Chase nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’ll uh, I’ll see you around then.”
“See you, Chase,” she smiled.
I waved him off and caught a glimpse of headlights coming down the drive. “That’s probably him,” Bridget said. “Tell Luca he’s welcome at the bar anytime. I know it’s kind of a locals-only place, but I’ll still serve him.”
“Later, babe.” She gr
abbed her keys and hurried out to Kyle’s waiting car.
Kristin walked in with Luca behind her. He went to the sink to wash his hands while Kristin grabbed her keys off the counter. “I’m out. Gotta get home. Thanks for the break, Mad.”
“Oh, hold on a sec—” I said as I ripped open my fridge and pulled out a big bag from the restaurant. “Scott sent me home with a bunch of leftovers from the restaurant. I’m there all the time so it doesn’t really sound good, and I can’t eat all of this by myself. You wanna take it home?”
Kristin’s eyebrows raised, “Are—are you sure?”
“Yeah, of course. I mean, I eat there all the time. It gets old after a while.”
She took the bag and gave me a humble smile, “Thanks, Maddie.” Kristin gave Luca a nervous wave, “Nice to meet you.”
Luca gave her a kind smile, “You good to drive?”
“I’m good,” Kristin nodded. “See y’all.”
He came around and pressed his hands on the kitchen counter, caging me in his arms. It was my favorite place to be. “What was that about?” He asked as he lowered his forehead to mine.
“What was what about?”
“You weren’t at work today and I know damn well Scott didn’t have that many leftovers.”
I raised an eyebrow, “You gonna rat me out if I tell you?”
Luca smirked, “I’m your boss—Who would I rat you out to?”
“Kristin’s having a tough time right now and she’s stubborn and doesn’t like accepting help, much less a handout.”
“So you…”
“So, I ordered some takeout from the restaurant and had Scott put it in leftover containers so that Kris wouldn’t think it was charity.”
Luca leaned back and crossed his arms, “What’s going on with her? She works at the Taylor Creek Inn, right?”
I sighed and ran my hand back through my almost-dry hair. “Yeah, she’s one of the housekeepers. She was in her last year of college. Her parents got busted for selling drugs, so Kris moved back home and got a job here so she could get custody of her younger siblings. She went from being a college senior to a single parent of four kids overnight. Steve and Chase were the ones to make the arrest. They felt a little bit responsible for her getting screwed over because of her parents’ shitty life choices, so they started looking after her. Making sure she had what she needed. We started inviting her to poker night so that she could blow off a little steam and feel normal once in a while.”
