Page 12 of Trust Me (Rivers Edge #1)

Avery

Maddox and Brooklyn are playing in the living room while I get the table set for the pizza.

Saturday nights are usually our night to order in.

On the rare occasion I want to deal with taking a toddler out, we’ll go out for dinner at a local restaurant.

Originally, Holly was going to join us this evening for dinner but was asked on a date.

She was vague on the phone about who she was going out with, so I can’t wait to interrogate her a little more tomorrow morning.

The doorbell rings but before I can grab my purse and head toward the front door, Maddox is standing there, pizza in hand, and handing the delivery guy some cash. “You didn’t have to do that. We invited you for dinner,” I say as he shuts and relocks the front door.

“You may have invited me, but there is no way in hell you are buying my pizza. I’m an old-fashioned guy. It ain’t happening, sweetheart,” he answers with another of those award-winning, panty-dropping grins. My lady parts tingle from his term of endearment .

He grabs my daughter on his way into the kitchen, and we all start to settle in for pizza.

I cut Brooklyn’s slice up into bite-sized pieces, while Maddox throws a slice of cheese and sausage on my plate and gets two for himself.

I fill up Brooklyn’s cup with apple juice and grab two beers before sitting down for dinner.

Brooklyn has already smeared pizza sauce all over her face and is trying to feed Maddox some of her pizza.

He’s a good sport about it, even takes a piece straight from her messy hand and eats it like he’s never had anything better.

Brooklyn laughs, which makes us both laugh too.

He looks adorable with pizza sauce smeared over his bottom lip. It makes me want to lick it off.

After the entire pizza is devoured, mostly by the man sitting across from me, I start to steer Brooklyn toward the bathroom for her evening bath.

Maddox is in my kitchen cleaning up our dinner remnants.

I’m not used to having someone in my kitchen helping me out with the cleaning.

Every time my brothers are here, they have no problem leaving the mess in the kitchen and taking over the television in the living room.

I try to tell him to leave it and I will do it later, but he’s not having it.

“No way. You go give Bean a bath, and I’ll wash up these dishes. ”

I mumble a quiet thanks and head toward the bathroom.

I turn on the water to begin filling the tub and start to strip down my messy three-year-old.

Brooklyn is chucking a handful of bath toys into the tub while I take a few moments to try to catch my breath.

Once I get her naked and inside the tub, she’s content with talking and playing like always.

I grab a washcloth and start to lather her up.

I love the smell of her baby shampoo, and I can’t help but give her head a little sniff as I rinse it clean of all the suds.

Once the water is all soapy and her hands are starting to get wrinkly, I release the drain and help her out.

I wrap her Disney Princesses bath towel around her wet little body and carry her into her bedroom.

There, she picks out her favorite kitty cat pajamas and sits down while I brush her hair.

“Mommy, I wike Maddox. Can he stay and pway with me more?” she asks as I pick up her wet towel and throw it into the hamper.

“Well, we’ll just have to see, sweetie.” This isn’t exactly a conversation I can have with my three-year-old. While I’d love for Maddox to stay for as long as I can keep him here, I’m sure he has plans. Maybe even a date.

Brooklyn heads back out to the living room and jumps on the couch with him.

She’s sitting on his lap, happily watching Sports Center with him.

My daughter. Watching Sports Center . Go figure.

I guess I should be more surprised but honestly, I’ve always wondered if she likes watching sports.

Every time she comes home from hanging out with Jake or Nate, she ends up yelling at the TV and saying someone is blind as a bat to miss that call.

I’m pretty sure she even used the phrase “what a shitty call” at a high school baseball game over the summer.

As the evening rolls on and night falls, my little princess starts to doze off on Maddox’s lap. I realize it’s a little past her bedtime and start to reach for her. He focuses those chocolate-brown eyes on me and says, “I’ve got her.”

We walk together back toward her bedroom, Maddox gently laying her down in bed. She barely opens her eyes as I cover up her sleepy little body with the worn princess blanket. As I lean down to give her a kiss on her forehead, she whispers, “I wove you, Mommy.”

“I love you too, sweetie.”

Just as I turn to head out, I hear, “I wove you, Maddox.” Maddox walks around me, making eye contact with those delicious chocolate eyes, and over to Brooklyn. My breath catches in my throat as he leans down to gently kiss her on the cheek. “I love you too, Bean,” he replies .

We walk together out of her bedroom and return to the living room.

It’s quiet in the small confines of my tiny living room.

Now what? Am I supposed to invite him to stay longer?

Ask him to leave? I don’t want him to leave, but I know his Saturday night plans were not hanging out with me and my toddler.

As if sensing my discomfort, he asks, “So what do you normally do after she goes to bed?”

I smile a little. “Well, this is my only time to clean up from our busy day. You’d be amazed how much damage a three-year-old can do to a small house.

After I clean up, sometimes I actually get to read a little bit or watch some TV before bed.

” And there it is. Now, I’m thinking about bed. Preferably with Maddox.

His chocolate eyes seem to turn even darker. It’s as if he knows exactly what I’m thinking about because he’s thinking the exact same thing.

He breaks the spell by suggesting we sit on the couch and watch a movie. A movie with Maddox? Uh, okay! Sign me up! I grab two more beers from the fridge as he sets out to find something on television. I come back into the living room, and he has settled on Shooter.

“It was either this or Mystic Pizza . I’m not an eighties chick flick kinda guy, so you’re stuck with Shooter .”

“Oh, there is no ‘getting stuck’ with Mark Wahlberg. I could watch him all day long,” I say with a sly grin.

“Really?” he replies dryly. I hand him a beer and settle in on the opposite end of the couch with my legs tucked comfortably underneath me.

Maddox stretches out with his legs up on top of my coffee table.

He looks so natural and comfortable in my space.

It’s scary and so exciting all at the same time.

About an hour into the movie, I can’t help but to ask the question I’ve been wondering since the moment he told my daughter he would stay for pizza. “No big plans tonight?”

He looks over at me, his eyes burning straight into my soul and replies, “Nope. I had nothing to do.”

I still find that hard to believe. I know he goes out with Jake almost every weekend they don’t work, and even some they do work. They head to the Pub and leave with someone of the opposite sex.

“Well, I appreciate you hanging out with me and Brooklyn tonight. I’d probably already be heading to bed by now.”

And there it is again. Bed. I see it in the way his eyes darken at the thought.

I have to mentally remind myself to breathe at this point.

We stare at each other for a few more moments and that’s when I feel his big, warm hand over the top of mine.

He locks his fingers in mine and gives me a gentle tug toward him.

His other hand snakes around my side, burning my flesh straight through my shirt.

I crawl over to him, kneeling next to him on the couch, and let my free hand roam up to his hair.

I’ve been dreaming about this hair, about running my hands through it since last Saturday night.

He leans in a little toward me, waiting for me to throw the red flag and tell him to stop.

There’s no way I’m throwing any flag to stop this.

I want this. I need it more than I need air.

He leans the rest of the way in and closes his eyes.

His kiss is tender, just barely touching my lips.

We stay like that for what feels like forever but, in reality, is probably only a few seconds.

Then he kisses me a little deeper, urging me with his tongue to open up my mouth for him.

His kiss is wicked and makes me go weak in the knees.

I can’t imagine anyone ever denying him anything after a kiss like this.

He continues to explore my mouth with his tongue.

He tastes like pizza and beer and, well, Maddox.

My hands roam from his hair to his strong shoulders, and then journey down his sides.

I feel his hands touch the bare flesh of my lower back, and I moan.

How long has it been since someone touched me like this? Ever?

Maddox dips down to kiss my jaw, my neck, and it’s the most delicious kiss I’ve ever experienced. He pulls back a bit, both of us breathing a little heavy, and looks deeply at me with those sinful brown eyes.

“I should go,” he says as he kisses the corner of my mouth.

I slowly pull away from his embrace and shiver, immediately feeling the loss of his body heat.

He stands up and helps me to my feet, which I’m thankful for since my whole body feels heavy, my legs shaky.

Once we get to the front door, he pulls me back against him for one last lingering kiss.

As I lean into him, I feel his strong, hard body from head to toe and something else very hard against my lower stomach.

My whole body shivers from the contact and the desire.

“Have dinner with me next Friday night,” he says after he gives me one last kiss on the lips.

“Okay,” I reply without giving it any thought. I look up at him and am rewarded with one of his best smiles. He slowly pulls away and walks out the front door. I stand here on my front porch watching him walk in the direction of his house.

As he approaches the edge of my property, he turns and says, “Sweet dreams, Avery.” He follows that up with the slight curve upward of the corner of his mouth and a wink.

I can’t help but smile back down at him before he turns and strolls away. Oh, yes, my dreams will be very sweet tonight.