Page 7 of Love Me Now: Baltimore & Madelyn

“Uh…uhm.”

While she stumbled over her words, I wet my mouth with a gulp of beer.

“Cooley?”

“Yes, Maddie.”

“I just buried Duval.”

“Right,” I replied.

“Isn’t it, I mean shouldn’t it… Ishouldn’tbe feeling this tug from another man. Right? Especially not so soon.Especiallynot a man ten years my junior.Shit! Especiallynot with the shit Adir dropped on me this morning.” Exasperated, she shook her head.

Finally, I thought with a satisfied smile. Baby girl was sleep deprived, though. The proof laid in her rambling. Talking about anything that had to do with us wasn’t the move right now.

“I think you should get some sleep,” I said.

“I can’t sleep,” she reiterated. Her big brown eyes remained trained on me.

Shifting to relieve some of the pressure behind the fly of my jeans, I replied, “I’ll be here when you’re ready to receive what I gotta say.” My response disappointed her. She glanced away. “You’re not ready for that yet, Maddie,” I offered to ease her mind.

She had a little attitude as she stood to leave. “Forget I even said anything.”s

While watching the shift of her retreating hips, I chuckled. “I won’t. I’ve been waiting for the chance to tell you a thing or two. Be glad I’m giving you time to prepare ya’self.”

Briskly turning on her heels, she padded back my way, then stood in front of me with her hand propped on her hip. I dragged my eyes from her sock clad feet all the way up to her curious eyes. Leaning forward, I rested my elbows on my knees, bringing me eye level with her midsection. To my surprise, she didn’t step back to give herself some space. It would’ve taken nothing for me to reach my hand out, cup her ass, and bring her close enough to bite into her supple flesh. I peered up at her and waited for her to get the nerve to say whatever was on her beautiful mind.

“Yes?” I questioned when too much time passed. Her scent was all over me.

“Uhm…” As if remembering she stood so close to me, her eyes rapidly blinked and focused on me. “You do realize I’m turning forty-eight this year.”

Smirking, I replied, “I’m well aware.”

“And you’re barely forty.”

“And?”

“And… I’m older than you.”

“Really?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Are you making fun of me?”

“I’m not,” I assured her.

“Oh. Well, good night.” She pivoted on her feet and padded inside the house.

Chuckling, I leaned back on the couch, downed the rest of my drink, and prayed over my soon-to-be family like I always did.

CHAPTER 3

MADDIE

Softly,IhummedasI rocked the chubby little boy. Big hazel eyes peered up at me, trustingly so. His eyes mirrored his mother’s, and his features mirrored that of every Bell man I knew. He smiled and cooed, drawing a smile from my lips.

“This is the beginning for us,” I said to him. “I’m learning to love myself all over again. I’m taking on new life in you. I’ll treat your life as precious as I would if the circumstances of you being here were different.” Giggling, I added, “Genesis sounds like a nice name, huh? It means the beginning. So, yeah. Genesis it is.”

When I retreated to bed last night, I just knew that my dreams would be filled with images of myself wrapped up in Cooley. After sitting with him on the patio last night, I was tortured with the way he looked, smelled, and talked. Although deep, his voice was so gentle and soothing as if he could talk me through any and everything.