Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection (55 page)

“Well, if you were friends first, and you could talk then…” Mick trailed off with a shrug. “I mean, that friendship is still there, beneath the other stuff. Maybe you should try getting back to more familiar ground, talking to her the way you did before things got complicated.”

Jamison chewed on the idea for a moment. “That could work.”

Mick took another swig of beer. “Or you could skip talking and go right for the grand, romantic gesture. That ought to let you know whether she’s into you pretty quick.”

“Force her hand, you mean.”

“Totally,” Mick said, obviously warming to the idea. “Get it all out into the open at once. Like a shot. Then you’ll know where you stand.”

Like a shot. It wasn’t a bad idea. Especially if it involved shots…

He and Maddie hadn’t had any trouble getting along when there was whiskey involved. Maybe a little return to their roots—a few shots and a steamy, semi-public encounter—was exactly what the relationship doctor ordered.

CHAPTER NINE

HE WAS LATE. Maddie had already changed into a floor-length sleeveless black peasant dress, freshened her makeup, and paced the length of her apartment at least twenty times, growing progressively angsty the longer she was forced to put off the impending Serious Discussion.

Jamison had always been early before, but now it was nearly five-thirty and Maddie had yet to get the text saying he was out back.

She had decided to take his tardiness as a sign that tonight wasn’t the night for their talk, call him to make sure he was okay before she canceled, and put the stress-inducing encounter off for another day or two, when her phone vibrated in her hand, making her jump and let out a startled bleat.

She glanced at the screen, expecting an apology for being late, but Jamison’s message simply read—

Look outside your door
.

Maddie frowned, glancing uncertainly at the apartment’s front door. Had Lucy left the bakery’s back door unlocked, and Jamison let himself in? But if so, why wouldn’t he just knock? Why the weird message?

“Jamison?” Maddie called, but there was no answer and no sound from beyond the door. “Jamison?”

Still nothing, not even the creak of a floorboard. Finally, Maddie’s curiosity got the better of her and she tiptoed across the apartment. She opened the door and peeked out, but there was no one there.

She was getting ready to reply to the text—and ask Jamison where the heck he was and what she was supposed to see outside her door—when something on the ground caught her eye.

There, beside the doorstop sat a folded piece of white paper with her name on it and a shot glass full of amber liquid.

Maddie knelt down, claiming both glass and note before standing up to scan the stairs. Still no sign of Jamison. She flipped the note open to read—

Roses are red, violets are blue, I always have fun when I drink whiskey with you. (Enjoy your shot and look for another surprise at the bottom of the stairs.) -J

Any other night, Maddie would have taken the shot and enjoyed the fun surprise, but tonight wasn’t a night for fun surprises, and it certainly wasn’t a night for whiskey. Maddie set the shot back on the ground untouched and started down the stairs.

At the bottom, there was still no sign of Jamison, only another note resting atop a puddle of black fabric on a table for two in the corner.

Roses are red, this blindfold is black, cover those pretty eyes before you meet me out back.

Maddie ran her fingers over the silky fabric, momentarily tempted. She had no doubt that whatever Jamison was up to would lead to them both having an amazing time—they’d proven that Jamison + Maddie + whiskey = mind-blowing sex, and she could imagine the blindfold would only sweeten the equation—but in the end she left the blindfold and the note on the table before making her way through the kitchen to the back door.

Sure, it would be easier to get swept up in whatever sexy adventure Jamison had planned, but tonight she needed to talk more than she needed to get naked and sweaty.

Roses are red, Maddie is vexing,
her mental voice piped up.
Why waste time talking when you could be sexing?

“Oh shut up,” Maddie mumbled as she pushed through the door to see Jamison’s red Mustang idling in the delivery van’s usual spot near the dumpster.

Maddie’s eyes found Jamison sitting in the driver’s seat and watched his smile fade as he realized she wasn’t playing along. A moment later, he shut off the car and swung out the driver’s side.

In a white dress shirt that emphasized his bronze skin, dark wash jeans and a fresh shave, he looked good enough to eat and smelled even better. Even over the faintly sour trash smell drifting from the dumpster, Maddie could still catch his Jamison smell and it made her ache all over, her traitorous body refusing to acknowledge that her heart was in the midst of major qualms.

“Trouble tying the blindfold?” Jamison stopped in front of her, an uncertain note in his voice.

“No.” Maddie took a breath, eyes dropping to the pavement, knowing she wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to lean into his arms if she kept looking into his eyes. “I think we should talk.”

Jamison ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

“Sorry,” Maddie said, trying to remember how she’d planned to start this conversation and coming up empty. Now that Jamison was standing in front of her, it was hard to concentrate on anything but how much she wanted to be closer to him, to lay her cheek on his chest and inhale his addictive scent, to feel his hands moving over her skin, banishing her ability to think about anything but how amazing he made her feel.

“Don’t be sorry,” Jamison said. “If you want to talk, let’s talk.” He shifted from one foot to the other and back again. “Do you want to go inside? Maybe get some coffee? Or maybe let me throw back that whiskey shot I’m guessing you didn’t drink. If you’re going to end it, I might need a shot of whiskey.”

Maddie’s eyes flew to meet his. “I’m not going to end it,” she said. “I’m just…confused.”

“Confused about what?”

“About where this is going, about what I want,” Maddie said, fingers twining anxiously together. “About what I feel and what…you feel.”

Jamison nodded, but his expression remained guarded. “I’m guessing this has something to do with what I said on the roof.”

Maddie nodded.

“So, what? It was too soon for you?” Jamison asked, his gaze shifting uncomfortably to the wall behind Maddie. “I mean, if so, that’s fine because I—”

He broke off with a shake of his head. “No, you know what? It’s not fine. You’ve always called me on my bullshit, and now I’m calling you on yours.” He frowned down at her. “I thought everything was good—better than good. I thought we were having fun.”

“We were having fun,” Maddie said. “We
are
, I just—”

“And not just in bed,” he said, brows drawing together. “I look forward to spending time with you, no matter what we do. Even that time we played Scrabble was fun and I hate board games. Like, really hate them.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, continuing in a softer voice, “And until this morning, we seemed to be on the same page. So you’ll have to forgive me for being surprised that me falling in love with you is suddenly freaking you out.”

Maddie’s jaw dropped and a wave of emotion swept over her, a wave so big and sudden and fierce it was hard to tell exactly what she was feeling, only that she was feeling so much of it the backs of her eyes began to sting.

“That’s right, I said the ‘L’ word,” Jamison pushed on with a hard swallow. “And I meant it, and I don’t regret saying it because I thought…”

“You thought what?” Maddie asked, forcing the words out past the tightness gripping her throat.

Jamison shrugged. “I thought you were feeling it, too.”

“I am feeling it, too,” Maddie said in a rush, the words releasing the hard knot that had been forming in the center of her chest.

Suddenly, Maddie realized she hadn’t been afraid of Jamison falling in love with her as much as she’d been afraid of how hard and fast
she
was falling for
him
. He meant so much to her already. The moments she shared with Jamison had quickly become her favorite moments of the day. The thought of letting him go in two or three weeks, or even two or three months, was unthinkable. In only a week, she felt more addicted to the way Jamison made her feel—in bed and out of it—than she had felt after years with Serge.

It was a sobering—and completely terrifying—realization, one that left her feeling tied up in knots.

“But I’m scared,” she confessed, tears rising in her eyes when Jamison reached out to cup her cheek in his hand.

“Why?” he asked with a pained expression, as if the sight of her upset was enough to make him hurt, too.

“Because I know you so well in some ways, but in others I don’t know you at all.” She pulled in a deep breath, blinking hard enough to send a tear rushing down her cheek. “And I want to trust that you’re falling for me and everything is as great as it seems to be, but the last time I did that the man I loved lied and deceived me for years and then left me for someone else.”

“That was his mistake, Maddie,” Jamison said, tenderly rubbing the tear into her skin. “He was obviously a very confused man, but that had nothing to do with you.”

“I’m not so sure.” Maddie shrugged, shame and embarrassment making her drop her eyes to Jamison’s chest. “Maybe he picked me on purpose, because he could tell I was too stupid to know what real love felt like. Or real passion, anyway.”

Jamison brought his other hand to her face, urging her chin up until she lifted her eyes to his. “You are not stupid, and you’re the most passionate woman I’ve ever met. You are smart and sweet and beautiful and funny, Mad, and I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be than with you.”

Maddie swallowed, fear and hope coursing through her veins, making her feel as hopped up as she did after a triple espresso. “I want to believe you.”

“Then believe me, Maddie,” he said. “I’ve loved you since I was a little kid. Sure, it was a different kind of love then, but I think a part of me always knew you were special.”

“Is that why you put a slug down my dress instead of Naomi’s when you played Evil Lord Underpants?” Maddie asked, her sniff becoming a laugh when Jamison blushed.

“I can’t believe you remember that.”

“I can’t believe you’re blushing,” she said, chuckling. “Or that you used to run around with tighty whities on your head.”

“Okay,” he said, rolling his eyes.

Maddie giggled. “And now you’re blushing harder. Your cheeks are bright red.”

“I’m sorry about the slug,” Jamison said, holding up his hands at his sides. “Guess that’s the only way I knew how to express my affection.”

Maddie lifted a wry brow. “My mom always did say that the boys who pull your pigtails are the ones who have the biggest crushes.”

“Sounds pretty dead-on.” Jamison’s hands drifted to her shoulders, skimming down her arms until her hands were engulfed in his much larger ones. “So can we start this day over? Go back to having fun again?”

Maddie shook her head. “I don’t want to start this day over. I’m glad we talked.”

“Me too,” Jamison said, squeezing her hands lightly.

“So let’s start from right here,” she said. “We’ll keep being honest with each other, and I’ll do my best to stop being scared. I don’t want to ruin this.”

“You’re not going to ruin it,” Jamison said. “I won’t let you. I’ll keep hanging out, leaving whiskey shots on your landing until you come around.”

Maddie grinned. “I can think of something I like better than whiskey shots.” She stepped closer to him and lifted her chin, bringing her lips within inches of Jamison’s, pulling the intoxicating scent of him deep into her lungs, finally daring to hope it was a smell it was okay to get attached to.

“Like what?” Jamison asked, his lips hovering above hers, close enough that she could feel his warm breath on her skin.

“Like you and me in my bed.” Maddie pushed on tiptoe to press her lips to his, only to have Jamison pull just out of reach.

“I like that better than whiskey shots, too.” A smile curved his lips. “But just because we want a bed instead of whiskey doesn’t mean we have to skip the second part of my surprise.”

Maddie’s eyes widened as she realized what he meant. “The blindfold?”

“The blindfold,” Jamison confirmed, lids dropping to half-mast in a look so sexy it made Maddie shiver. “I had some plans for you and that blindfold.”

“Oh, yeah?” Maddie’s tongue slipped out to dampen her lips as Jamison’s arm snaked around her waist, pulling her closer, making her breath rush out when she felt him growing harder against her hip. “What kind of plans?”

“The kind of plans that involve a remote piece of property my aunt owns outside of town,” he said, palms smoothing down to cup her bottom. “And a tent, and a sleeping bag, and a few toys I packed that we didn’t have along on our last camping trip.”

At the word “toys” Maddie’s eyes grew even wider. She and Jamison had been uninhibited in bed together, but so far they’d kept things fairly vanilla—which had been fine with Maddie.

As a chef, she knew sometimes you didn’t need a bunch of fancy sauces or syrups or sugary icing. Sometimes, a real quality dessert was best standing on its own. She believed in keeping pound cake plain, her cheesecake un-topped, and her flourless chocolate cake free of fudge or exotic balsamic drizzles.

Until this point in her life, however, she’d never really considered whether she felt the same way about her sex…

“You up for a little adventure?” Jamison asked.

Maddie pressed her lips together, trying to discern whether the racing of her heart was a sign of dread or excitement. “I don’t know,” she finally said. “I mean, I know I was teasing you about blindfolds and bondage at the beach, but I’ve never really… This would be the first time I’ve done anything even a little kinky.”