CHAPTER 23 #2
“But yeah, Maple, my girl, spent three years in Peru, studying them and their habitat.” I shake my head. “A habitat they’re slowly losing. Flamingos are actually getting close to becoming threatened.”
“No,” one of them says, looking downright ready to cry.
“Yeah, that’s why we’re here, to bring more awareness to them and highlight such a beautiful animal that I think sometimes gets overlooked.”
“Well, not by us,” one of them says as she pulls out a checkbook. I grab a glass of water from a server walking by, smirk over the rim, and then take a sip of the cool liquid.
“Big Hermy,” I answer for Maple. “She loves him. And how could she not? The dude is the proudest flamingo in the flamboyance.” I say this with confidence to a really nice gay couple who are easily the best dressed in the room.
Jacob is a huge Foghorns fan, while his husband, Tony, is a fan of Flock and Tackle, so the moment they spotted us, they beelined to our table.
“Flamboyance?” Tony asks.
I nod. “Yeah, that’s what a flock of flamingos is formally known as.”
“Ooh, I like that,” Tony says, giving his husband a little shimmy.
“Of course you would,” Jacob says with a playful shake of his head. “So would Big Hermy be your favorite as well?”
“Martha Stewart comes in a close second, but yeah, Big Hermy is the man. He actually only has one eye.”
“Really?” Tony asks, a frown pulling at his brow. “What happened?”
I slide my hand farther across Maple’s ribs, my fingers now touching her stomach, causing her to gasp as I lightly dig my fingertips into her soft-as-fuck skin.
And fuck, do I want to rip this goddamn dress off her so I can lick every inch of her.
“Jackal attack,” I say, shocked that I’ve been able to retain everything Maple has told me.
And from the way she keeps glancing up at me in surprise, she’s just as shocked as I am.
“Oh, that’s terrible,” Tony says, turning to Jacob. “We need to help them out.”
“I saw that coming,” Jacob says as he places a soft kiss on his husband’s lips and then pulls a checkbook out of his breast pocket.
I smile to myself as Maple leans in even closer.
I get in the car and shut the door, and Maple quickly turns toward me, her eyes wide, her smile brighter than I’ve ever seen it.
“Oh my God, Graydon, that was…that was insane.”
I pull out onto the road, trying to hold back the smile that wants to pull at my lips as well, because holy shit, that was insane.
I think I blacked out at one point, just on autopilot, talking about the flamingos, not letting Maple get one word in as I charmed the fuck out of nearly everyone in that room.
She ended up with six donations and some promises to invest in the zoo.
I’ve never done anything like it before. I know that if I were with anyone else, I probably wouldn’t have pushed as hard as I did, but it felt so…easy with Maple at my side.
It felt like I was meant to be talking up the goddamn flamingos.
And it came so naturally, which is slightly concerning because…do I actually care about the fucking pink dodo birds?
No, I wouldn’t go that far.
I do think I care about their zookeeper, though, and with every fact I dazzled the donors with, I felt her appreciation for me grow, which of course lent me the opportunity to pull her closer and closer.
And I never wanted to fucking let go. I wanted to stay there, my palm under her dress, pressed against the warm skin of her waistline.
I wanted to live there, but once she yawned, I knew it was time to give up the fantasy and take her home.
She pushes at my shoulder. “Are you really going to act like that was nothing? Graydon, you knew all the things about flamingos.”
“Yeah, because you jabber on about them enough,” I tease.
She chuckles. “Well, my jabbering paid off. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many donations in such a short amount of time. It was amazing.” She rests her hand on my arm. “Thank you.”
“No thanks needed,” I say as I maneuver through the traffic.
“Can’t you just say, ‘You’re welcome’?” She sighs.
“Nah, this is better.”
She shakes her head, then turns to face straight, but I don’t let her put distance between us as I slide my hand onto her thigh again. I have an addiction, and it’s unlikely it will ever be satiated.
Thankfully, to my surprise, she slides her hand on top of mine, where her thumb strokes my knuckles. The soft swipe sends chills up my arm, bringing awareness to how long it’s been since I’ve been…touched.
My mom always offered me snuggles, hugs, and kisses—she doled out her love with physical touch—and when I lost her, that touch that I loved as a young boy just disappeared. I had craved it.
And as time went on, I became more jaded, hardened, and closed off, not letting a woman get remotely close to me, even when it came to something as simple as holding hands.
That is, until Maple came along.
She’s different.
She makes me feel safe.
Comforted.
Like I can almost—and I mean almost—be myself around her.
Time passes as we make our way back to our neighborhood, not saying anything, just enjoying the silence between us, something else I can appreciate about her. She doesn’t drown me with conversation anymore, and sitting in silence is just as comfortable as talking.
When I pull up to her apartment, I go to get out, but she stops me, keeping me in place.
“I can get out myself, and don’t argue with me,” she says, feigning a stern expression.
Letting her take the win on this, I settle in my seat as she turns toward me.
“Fine, but I don’t like it.”
She offers me a soft smile before growing serious. “Thank you, Graydon. Thank you for everything tonight. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate how you spoke about the flamingos, the zoo…me. Not sure you will ever know just how grateful I am.”
“No need to tell me; I can see it in your eyes.”
“Can you?”
I wet my lips. “I can.”
Her eyes fall to my mouth for a brief moment before they pick back up to meet my gaze. “Well, if you can see how grateful I am, then I should probably get going.”
I clear my throat, my skin breaking out in a wave of goose bumps as she leans in closer to me.
Her proximity always excites me, but tonight…
tonight has been different. Tonight I’ve been yearning, begging, pleading, needing her to be close, and now that we’re not in the public eye, and we’re just alone, me and her, I want her to want this.
To want to feel my touch.
To want to be near me.
Fuck, I just…I want her.
Leaning in more, she cups my cheek, and like every other time I’ve dropped her off at her apartment lately, she very lightly presses her lips to my jaw.
It’s almost unbearable after the night I’ve had with her.
A goddamn tease to what I actually want.
But instead of exiting right away, she stays close, her breath caressing my stubble. On a whisper, she says, “Thank you.”
A shiver runs down my spine from the hitch in her throat while her fingers slide off my cheek and down my chest.
I don’t want her to pull away. I don’t want her to leave this car.
I want…fuck, I want so much goddamn more, and that’s terrifying.
Because I don’t know if I’ve ever felt this desperate for another person before.
I wet my lips again, my gaze set on hers. She’s close, so fucking close, like she’s expecting something more. Expecting me to make a move.
And that’s dangerous, because desperation is crawling up my spine, pushing me to do more.
Ask for more.
When her eyes drop to my mouth, my stomach plummets in a fury of flutters.
She wants this too.
She has to.
So, before I can stop myself, I say, “If you’re really appreciative, Maple, then thank me properly.”
I hold my breath as the smallest of smirks tugs on the corner of her lips. Her hand slides up my jaw, where she cups my cheek and pauses. Her eyes search mine while the air stills, only to turn electric as she leans in the last few inches.
Her mouth is a whisper away.
So close I can practically taste her.
Please do it.
Kiss me.
And when I think she’s not going to finish what she started, her mouth presses against mine in the most delicious fucking kiss of my goddamn life.
And I fucking melt.
I melt right there, in the seat of this stupid rental car.
Jesus Christ.
Her lips are so soft.
She kisses me, barely applying any pressure. And just as I’m about to loop my hand behind her head, she pulls away, her scent lingering around me, making me feel dazed, like I was just thrown into a whirlwind of lust and I’m expected to land on my feet.
Fuck, I want her.
I’ve wanted her for a while now. From her empathetic heart to her joyous demeanor, to that goddamn smile, to those sultry eyes. She’s captivated me.
And after seeing so much of her gorgeous skin for the last few hours, after touching her softness, hearing her small gasps, I’m desperate for her.
Fucking desperate.
I want to take you in this car. Then take you again against your front door inside your apartment.
Then, once I’ve ripped this distracting dress off your body, fuck you so hard against every surface I can find that you’ll never be able to look at another man again.
My tongue wants to learn your taste and—
“Night, Graydon,” she says smoothly. What? She opens her car door, snags her clutch, and gives me one more smile before she shuts the door and works her way up the stairs to her apartment. My eyes are on her ass the entire fucking time.
I drag my hand over my mouth and let out a large sigh.
Christ, what the hell am I doing?
Pursuing her.
I think I’m fucking pursuing her, and that should terrify me, but right now, when I can still feel the imprint of her lips on mine, I know for a damn fact that I’m not terrified.
No, I’m fucking burning to take her off the market…to make her mine.