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Before he knew what he was doing, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back a few steps. “Okay,” he growled, “I’m ready to argue now.”

“What?” She glanced up in surprise. “I’m talking, Matt. I…”

“I don’t care. I want to argue now. You promised to argue with me.”

Her eyes widened and he thought he saw a slight flash of panic in her irises. Good. That was better than the ridiculously sweet expression she had given the wine guy.

“But…you said later.” she reminded him.

“Now is later. Quite a bit later.”

“Um…”

“Excuse me, can I help in any way?” Barry asked, confused.

“Nope,” Matt replied harshly. “The lady here has a promise to keep.”

Maddie sighed heavily and rolled her eyes before giving her friend an encouraging smile. “Sorry, Barry. I’ll be right back.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Matt said dryly.

“What?” Maddie looked at him skeptically.

“Nothing. Let’s go inside.”

And because he didn’t want her to change her mind, he kept his hand tightly around her elbow.

She looked up at him, snorting. “Matt, can you please not hold me like I’m your favorite stick?” she said dryly as they crossed the patio into the living room. “I’m not going to run away from you! I said we can talk about it again and I keep my promises.”

He released her abruptly. “Good. That’s good,” he said, thinking he probably shouldn’t say anything else about promises. “Why exactly was that idiot constantly touching your face with his hands?”

Wide-eyed, she turned to him, stunned. She was now standing with her back to the banister, the same one that had been repaired several times after he and his sisters had ridden down the stairs on a mattress as teenagers and collided with it.

They had moved a lot, but this was his home.

It turned out Maddie fit in here oddly well.

He hadn’t paid attention to it earlier, because he’d been so irritated that she’d been silent with his mother.

“Matt? What idiot did what to my face?”

Oh God, he was getting distracted. “ Barry ,” he pulled himself together. “He constantly had his hands on you.”

She gave him a wry look. “Constantly? Twice. It happened two times. Besides, he wiped an eyelash off my cheek, that’s all.”

Oh, please, that was never all for a guy when faced with a woman like Maddie. He knew it better than anyone! “I know Nell set you up with him, Maddie!”

She raised an eyebrow. “And?”

He opened his mouth to say, And that’s not right!

She would probably force him to elaborate, though, and he didn’t know if he would be able to.

Maddie sighed as he continued silently staring at her.

“Matt, did I do something wrong?” she asked, uncertain, picking at her thumbnail. “For the last few hours, I actually felt like…you weren’t angry with me. But now you look like I just said Leon Alvarez is a better person than you.”

He snorted. “In Leon’s dreams. I wanted to talk.”

“I know.” She nodded patiently. “So talk. I’m not going to run away. Honestly.”

“Good.” He nodded, took a deep breath, and opened his mouth…but he no longer knew what it was he wanted to talk about. What their argument was about. What exactly his plan was.

Instead, he stood there and stared at her, catching her expectant look. Not knowing if he wanted to end something or start over, if words could even do justice to how he felt.

Was Maddie aware of how damn beautiful she was?

The thing was, he needed her in his life like he needed hockey. No matter what. He would take what she gave him. And yes, he should be scared, but instead, he suddenly felt relieved: He finally knew what he wanted. Something and everything.

Right then and there, he forgot why exactly he’d been angry with her. His hands took on a life of their own. One hand slid to her neck, the other to her waist, and then he bent down and kissed her. Long, gentle, and deep.

Her skin was soft under his touch, just like her lips under his. She tasted of red wine and Maddie. And his heart ached because she returned the kiss. His heart ached because it wasn’t enough. It ached because it was too much. More than he was actually willing to give, to risk.

Was it possible to long for something even as you were doing it? Possible to miss her touch and her kiss, even though her hands were still on his stomach and her lips were opening beneath his?

His chest was tight and heavy, filled with desire and regret at the same time, with joy and fear.

He was hot and cold. He wanted more but was afraid of getting nothing .

Maddie dug her fingers into his shirt as he ran his fingers through her hair, pulling her up onto her toes, and pressing her against him…

Was it a beginning or an end?

He had always found it difficult to tell the two apart. They were so similar, so sweet and bitter at the same time.

Maybe he should just never stop kissing her, drag this moment into eternity until it was thin and brittle, until he could finally see through it…no, finally see clearly…

“Matty, where are you?”

He winced and abruptly released Maddie. She sank back onto the balls of her feet and stumbled backward a step. Her breathing was ragged, her eyes widening as she brought her fingers to her lips. He saw her pulse pounding in her neck. She swallowed several times.

“Matty?” Sandra Payne’s voice echoed through the house again. “We want to dance, come on out!”

He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. He couldn’t think clearly. The last thing he needed right now was his nosy mother. This was important . More important than anything else.

“Give me half an hour, Mom,” he shouted back, and then added with a groan, “I have to use the bathroom.”

“Fine, I know bowels don’t wait!” she replied cheerfully. “But hurry up, and use the toilet brush.”

He narrowed his eyes. Wow. Being home was so sexy.

“Let’s go upstairs,” he muttered with a sigh, reaching for Maddie’s hand to pull her toward the stairs. “I…I can’t argue like this.”

“You… That was arguing?” she asked, perplexed, but wrapped her fingers around his. “Because, man, it turns out I’ve always misunderstood the concept of arguing.”

The corners of his mouth rose. “See, it’s not that bad, is it?”

She snorted and chuckled slightly, but seemed confused. Uncertain. And he hated that he was the reason. “Matt, I don’t quite understand.”

“Upstairs. Wait a minute,” he replied quietly, hearing someone fiddling around in the kitchen. He didn’t want to be interrupted. He pulled her up the stairs, breathing deeply, his heart pounding in his chest. He knew they should talk first. But he wasn’t done kissing. Touching. Tasting. Feeling.

“Matt,” Maddie whispered, pulling her hand away from him when they reached the landing in front of the door to her bedroom. “From now on, you can’t kiss me every time you’re jealous of a guy who wipes eyelashes off my cheeks. Just because you have a Neanderthal heart, that’s not okay.”

Shit. He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and middle finger. So, talking first.