Chapter 44
Denise sat at her desk drumming her fingers on her desktop. She would almost swear the hands of the wall clock had slowed in the past half hour as they ticked off the minutes until noon, when she’d meet her dad.
She pushed away from her desk and swiveled her chair to face the window. She should have gone to his house first thing this morning instead of waiting for the meeting. Why did she always play along with his games?
Maybe that element of surprise, along with having definitive proof that Darby had made up the blackmail story would give her the advantage she needed to convince him to move forward with the Middle Waters deal.
She needed that deal!
How else could she go back to face Maddox?
Making those plans for the new park, strategizing ways to help the community—that had been how Denise had shown Maddox how much she cared. How would Maddox be able to trust her if she couldn’t even make it happen?
Fi had encouraged her to keep pursuing things with Maddox even if the deal didn’t work out, but something inside Denise recoiled at the thought. It would amount to going to Maddox empty-handed, with nothing to offer…but herself.
A sudden rap on her office door startled her. She glanced at the clock. Still not time yet.
“Come in,” she called.
The door opened and Jeremy poked his head in and grinned. “Hey there. You busy?”
Denise returned the smile. It was soothing to see a friendly face at the moment. “Not until noon. Have a seat.”
When she gestured to a chair, he stepped inside. “No thanks. I can’t stay. I’m only here to deliver a visitor.”
He waved to the doorway with a game show host flourish and Maddox stepped over the threshold, their face crinkled in an adorably shy grin.
Denise’s heart sped up and she jumped to her feet. “Maddox!”
They took a tentative step inside; eyes fixed on hers.
For a second, she could only stand there and drink them in, savoring the sight of their warm searching eyes and crooked smile.
“Well! I’ll leave y’all to it,” Jeremy declared in a chipper voice.
Maddox finally broke eye contact to face Jeremy. They shook his hand. “Thanks again.”
“Of course!” He winked at them both before exiting and closing the door behind him with an emphatic thud.
Denise barely had a moment to process the fact that she was now alone with Maddox before they rushed closer to face her from the other side of her desk.
Their smile faded into a pleading expression.
“Denise, I didn’t send a blackmail letter to your cousin.
I swear, I didn’t even tell anyone about us! I—”
“No, it’s okay. I know that,” Denise interrupted gently. “I never thought that for even a second.”
Some of the tension from Maddox’s face eased. “You didn’t?”
“Absolutely not,” Denise assured them. “But how did you find out? The story was so ridiculous and hurtful, I didn’t want you to hear about it.”
“Darby paid me a visit. She told me about her made-up blackmail scheme and then offered me the money for real to get lost.” Maddox’s brows furrowed. “Obviously, I didn’t do that either.”
“Oh my god. I’m so sorry.” Denise rubbed her forehead.
She could only imagine what kind of meanness Darby must have spewed when she confronted Maddox.
In some ways, Denise couldn’t believe Maddox was standing here after what her family was putting them through, first with Darby’s lies and then the deal…
“Maddox, I have proof now that Darby was spying on me and that she made up the blackmail story, and I will tell my dad about it when I talk to him in a few minutes. But I need to be completely truthful with you.”
She squeezed her eyes shut for a second and sucked in a deep breath.
She’d been dreading this. Maddox would find out eventually, but Denise hadn’t expected to have to face them directly to say it.
Still, they deserved to hear it from her.
“I don’t know that it will make any difference to him.
He may decide to cancel the Middle Waters offer anyway.
I will do my very best to convince him not to, but I may not be able to. And I’m sorry.”
To her chagrin, her voice had broken at the end as tears rushed to her eyes, threatening to spill over.
No! She wouldn’t stand here and weep like a victim.
Maddox was the one being ran through the ringer because of Denise.
She swallowed hard and steadied herself.
“I’m so sorry for letting you down, Maddox. ”
She looked away from Maddox’s face and sank into her desk chair. There. At least she had leveled with them. How they handled the fact that she’d failed them was up to them.
“Denise, look at me.” She did immediately, if only because the gentleness in Maddox’s tone astonished her. Weren’t they angry?
Maddox walked around her desk before kneeling on the carpet in front of her chair. Denise drew in a shaky breath at their sudden closeness. She could feel the heat emanating from their body in a way she’d been longing for since the morning before without even realizing it.
Her skin tingled as they took her hand in their steadier one and held her gaze. “You didn’t let me down. I care about the deal in the sense that I want good things for my coworkers and the community, but that’s not why I’m here right now.”
They squeezed her hand, and inched even closer until their warmth and familiar woodsy scent enveloped her. “I’m actually here because of what I want…for me.”
“And what is that?” she whispered, unable to look away from the intense expression in their eyes.
“You, Denise.”
She nearly melted into her chair at the simple words and the way Maddox’s voice caressed her name.
“I want you. I don’t want this to be some fling or a few moments to cherish until they’re just memories.
I want us to be together. I want a chance to prove that you’re safe to be your truest, most vulnerable self with me, because I believe I can trust you to be that for me. ”
Denise could only stare at them for a moment.
The openness they were showing completely floored her.
They were so brave. But not only that, they were trusting too.
Maddox was putting their heart on the line because they trusted her.
Just as she was. Without any deals or benefits or advantages. Just her.
A sob tickled her throat as she reached out to cup their cheek with her free hand.
Maddox’s eyes fell closed in obvious bliss, and they nuzzled her palm with their face. When their eyes opened again to meet hers, Denise felt they were looking directly into her heart. She was open and exposed to their searching, but it wasn’t scary. It was exhilarating and joyful and right.
“Maddox,” she said softly. “I want that too. You. Us. All of it.”
That broad grin Denise was growing to love lit up Maddox’s face like a sunrise. Then they leaned forward and captured her lips in a long, deep kiss.
Denise’s eyes closed as she kissed them back. She could feel the happiness and acceptance radiating from Maddox’s body, echoing the awe and delight in her own.
Her arms slid around their back and she pulled them closer.
Her breasts pressed against their chest, and Maddox released a tiny groan that vibrated against Denise’s lips and sent a shock of need to her core.
She gasped once before returning right to their lips and gliding her hands up their back so she could thread her fingers in their hair.
Maddox’s own hands wandered from her waist and up her sides to her breasts.
They squeezed once, and Denise pulled away panting.
“We need to stop,” she warned them.
Maddox was breathless and bleary-eyed as they stared at her, but after a second, a roguish grin settled on their lips. “Oh, I see how it is. It’s fine to do it in my workplace but not yours.”
Denise barked out a laugh and buried herself into their embrace.
“As I recall,” she murmured, pressing her lips to the hot skin on their neck, “that was your idea.”
“Mmm,” Maddox agreed, tightening their arms around her waist. “But you seemed fully onboard with it.”
She laughed again, reveling in the light, airy feeling in her chest. “I absolutely was.”
After a few more minutes of simply holding each other, Denise reluctantly pulled back. “Would everything be okay with your gran if you stayed away for the night?”
Maddox’s expression softened as they nodded. “Bobbette’s mom is working the overnight shift. I always feel better when she’s there.”
Denise smiled. “Then stay with me tonight? I’d love to show you my place and talk some more and just…be together.”
“I’d love that too,” Maddox answered with another kiss.