Chapter 9 #2
Maddox: I'll make hot chocolate, and we can talk about your crazy plan.
I huffed out a laugh. This was nuts. But I was feeling lonely.
Eve: Okay.
It felt like anything was possible, and for once, I was doing something that felt good. I wasn't fulfilling an obligation or a deadline. I was helping out a single dad and his daughter. It had nothing to do with the fact that I was attracted to him.
Maddox: See you soon.
He couldn't leave because his daughter was asleep in the house. It made more sense for me to go there.
I turned off the fireplace. Then I pulled on a sweater, leggings, and boots before grabbing my warmest coat, hat, and gloves.
The whole drive over, I felt a little reckless.
I'd never done anything like this before.
I worked and went home at the end of the night to work some more.
Occasionally, I'd meet someone for a drink, and it wouldn't pan out.
I didn't have time to date, and no one had gotten me interested enough to even consider it.
But this thing with Maddox was different.
I was supposed to be working with him, but I liked him. I wanted to get to know him better. And when he kissed my cheek, it sent tingles through my body. Was it just physical chemistry, or was it something more?
I should have stayed away. I shouldn't have given into the temptation of his invitation. But I was already pulling into his driveway.
I hadn't come over for dinner. Sofia was asleep. The party was over. There wasn't a buffer tonight.
Before I could knock on the door, it swung open, and he pulled me inside. He wore a soft-looking T-shirt with black sweats and bare feet. There was something about seeing him like this, comfortable and in his element, that had my heart tripping over itself.
He grinned at me with a mischievous look in his eyes. "We have to be quiet. Sofia's asleep."
I grinned back. "I figured."
We stood in the doorway together for a few seconds, and I felt like a giddy teenager sneaking over to see her boyfriend with his parents asleep in their room.
He threw a thumb over his shoulder. "We can sit in the sunroom."
He grabbed mugs from the kitchen, and I opened the slider to the room he indicated, the one where Sofia's art was displayed. The roof was vaulted, giving it a roomy feel, and there was a fire crackling in the stone fireplace. "This is really nice."
He handed me the mug before sitting next to me. "I had this added on so that we'd have another room to relax in."
"I imagine you have a good view during the day."
"We're surrounded by trees."
I sipped the hot chocolate.
He'd swirled whipped cream over the top, and it was decadent.
"I can't believe you're here."
"My cottage was quiet and empty, and I'm usually amped up after hosting a party." The kiss on my cheek had my mind reeling. Even if it was for show, it felt real.
"You live in town?"
I assumed he meant Telluride, not Christmas Town. "My cottage is located on our property. Natasha took the innkeeper's suite in the hotel, so I got the owner's cottage. It's small but perfect for me."
"You said it was empty."
"After being at a party all night, the silence was deafening." I wasn't going to tell him that I longed for more than the single life. I hadn't even come to terms with that myself, much less was I ready to share it with someone else.
"Your ears are still ringing?" Maddox asked, his tone amused.
"Pretty much." They weren't, but I wasn't going to tell him the truth. That when he asked me to come over, my heart leaped at the chance to see him, not to discuss our situation.
He set his mug aside. "We should talk about our new arrangement."
I raised a brow, my nerves kicking up. Would he suspect that I was attracted to him? "Me pretending to be your girlfriend?"
"You and Frank want me to be Santa."
I hadn't realized Frank mentioned it to him too. "You should just give in then."
"I can't fight you, can I? I'm never going to win," he said wryly.
"I do tend to get what I want." And right now, I wanted him, which was against all reason.
He shook his head. "I never stood a chance."
We were discussing two different things. I couldn't resist him, and he was talking about giving into my requests. I didn't feel great about the miscommunication, but I wasn't going to admit to wanting him.
With Sofia asleep, it felt like we were alone in his house, and it was quiet. The wind gusted outside, and the occasional flake struck the window.
"Pretending to be your girlfriend is a big ask."
His lips twitched. "You didn't seem to think so a few hours ago."
"I've had a chance to think about it, and if I'm going to add another thing to my to-do list, then you should cross one thing off."
He raised a brow. "And I can do that by playing Santa?"
"Someone has to do it, and you said yourself that Frank wants you to." I sipped the hot chocolate, then licked my lips.
Maddox leaned back on the cushions, letting his knees fall wide. "He has it in his head that I'm the face of the fire department."
I swallowed hard at the picture he made of masculine confidence. "As fire chief, you will be."
He straightened, his elbows resting on his knees. "You go on three dates with me around town. We hold hands, kiss, and pretend we like each other."
I winced internally at that part of the plan. It wouldn't be hard for me to act like I liked him. It was the truth. "And—"
"And I'll play Santa in the parade."
I grinned, excited to see him in a Santa suit. "The kids are going to love it, and you have to throw those mini candy canes."
He nodded. "We have buckets of those this time of year."
Then my excitement waned. "What about Sofia? Do we tell her what's going on?"
"I'll say that we're friends. I don't think we have to explain it unless she asks more questions. By the time she realizes something might be going on, our arrangement will be over. We'll move on from each other. We'll say we weren't compatible."
"Believable." I drank more hot chocolate, hoping to soothe my dry throat.
He frowned at me. "Why is that believable?"
I flushed. "You know, because we're so different. I'm extroverted, and you're introverted. I love people. You want to avoid people."
He held up his hands as if to warn me off. "I get that."
I let out the breath I'd been holding. I wasn't sure if I was trying to convince him or me. "It makes sense that we'd butt heads."
He studied me. "That's an interesting way of putting it."
I looked away from him. Being in his space like this was intimate. "You know what I mean."
"What are our three dates?"
"You want me to organize things?" I asked lightly despite the tightness of my throat. For once, it would be nice if a man could plan something. Take one thing off my list.
"I'm thinking it could be holiday stuff."
"I'm working the parade." And I hadn't even thought about Thanksgiving. "Then there's the tree-lighting ceremony."
"What else do you have planned in the town for the holiday season? Surely, there's something we can do together so we'd be seen around town."
"You can be by my side at the tree-lighting ceremony. It's work but could be construed as a date. I'll be too busy at the parade to pay any attention to anyone else."
"We can do the usual, go to dinner, grab coffee."
"I'm thinking of creating a holiday light trail which will keep me busy. But I can always fit in a quick lunch or coffee." Dinner was probably a bad idea. And being alone with him in his house was even worse.
"Should we practice kissing before we have to do it in public?"
"Well, you did kiss me on my cheek earlier—" I said to quell the rising panic. He wanted to kiss me? I wasn't prepared for that tonight.
He grinned. "That was a brotherly kiss. No one would believe that we were hot for each other."
I hadn't considered that because it had felt hot to me. I didn't need romance or him taking off his clothes for me to be attracted to him. It only took a simple kiss on the cheek, and I was feeling too much for him. He obviously wasn't having the same problem.
If he could keep his feelings in check, then I could too.
I stood and moved toward him, standing between his spread legs. "What did you have in mind."
His hand went to the back of my legs, and he tugged me closer. Everything inside of me heated, and I was melting into his touch.
I was having a hard time discerning between what was real and pretend in this moment. I looked down at him, wondering if I should straddle his lap.
He pressed behind my knees, and my legs buckled. Then he guided one knee, then the other, over his spread thighs so that I was straddling him.
"This is a little more intense than I planned for our first time." His voice was low and gruff, and I was overcome with sensations: his hard thighs under mine and his hands resting loosely on my hips. I wanted to move closer, to feel whether he was hard for me.
My breath was coming in short pants, and I wasn't sure I was going to survive being this close to him.
He ran his hands up my back, pulling me closer.
I gave in, resting my hands on his shoulders. I settled more fully over him, biting my lip.
He raised a brow. "I'm going to kiss you."
I couldn't do anything but nod in agreement. I was warm all over, and my nerves were firing. I needed him to touch me.
My heart was pounding in my ears as he cupped my jaw and leaned in. When his lips touched mine, my eyes drifted shut. The press was gentle, his touch firm.
His lips moved over mine, coaxing me to open for him. This wasn't a chaste kiss. This was a seduction.
What was he playing at? He had to know that this was above and beyond what we'd have to do in public.
We should have been practicing the chaste church kiss the pastor made you do after you exchanged wedding vows. This was something else entirely. It felt like the blood in my veins was on fire, and if I didn't get closer to him, I'd explode.
Instinct kicked in, and I ground over his lap, feeling the length of him through his sweatpants, hard and hot.
His fingers tangled in my hair, and I almost convinced myself that this was real.
That it wasn't practice for our pretend relationship, but our first foray into our fling.
The hot fling with a single dad firefighter.
The one I'd been imagining since I walked into that firehouse, and he was all gruff and grumpy.
He tasted like chocolate and whipped cream. I couldn't resist the way he felt underneath me. He was hard everywhere.
I wanted to reach into his pants and pull him out, but it wasn't what we'd agreed on. It was one practice kiss, even if my body was on fire and I wanted more.
His hand held me to him, his tongue slipping into my mouth. This was more than I thought I could handle. I'd hoped to keep my distance from him. But this position made that impossible.
He gentled his kisses, eventually pulling back. "How was that?"
I felt lightheaded as I climbed off him. My legs were shaky. "That was fine."
His lips curved up. "Fine?"
I nodded like a bobblehead. "I probably won't sit on your lap in front of your daughter and half the town."
He chuckled. "No. That wouldn't be a good idea."
I licked my lower lip, his gaze snagging on the movement. I swear I could still taste him in my mouth and feel his hands in my hair. I wouldn't be able to survive three dates if they were anything like that kiss.