Midnight, Huh?
Maddox
I knew exactly what I was thinking.
I was so fucked.
Normally, I wasn't one to procrastinate.
If someone needed firing, I fired them. If a deal needed killing, I killed it. If bad news required delivering, I delivered it.
No fuss, no muss, no putting it off while it festered.
But not today.
Or yesterday either.
Already, I'd let dozens of chances pass without telling Delaney who I was and why I was here.
And now, I couldn't stop watching as she lined up board games like evidence in a murder trial.
I was digging myself into one hell of a hole.
But at the mischief in her eyes, I still wanted to smile.
Who'd have thought that a girl I'd only met yesterday would turn my penthouse into something dangerously close to a home?
Except it wasn't my penthouse.
Or my home.
And this wasn't my only problem.
What would Delaney say when I told her the truth?
Not just about the place. About all of it.
Fuck.
The messed up thing was, now that I'd gotten to know her, I had a strong suspicion that I could've been straight with her from the start, and she would've rolled with it just fine.
But I hadn't. And fixing it now wouldn't be half as easy.
I'd seen this dynamic at the poker tables, where the trouble wasn't the first bad bet. It was how easy it became to justify the next one. By the time a guy realized he was screwed, he was already in too deep to back out cleanly.
Until now, I could never relate.
"So?" Delaney said. "Am I right? About poker, I mean?"
She was, actually. I dragged my attention back to the games. "Maybe, except poker's not on the table."
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. You don't need a box of anything to play poker. You just need cards and quarters, right?"
Quarters? In my whole life, I'd never seen a pot with stakes so low. "You play for coins?"
"Or poker chips. I mean…if you don't want to lose actual money."
"Who says you'd lose?"
She laughed. "Against you, I definitely would."
She was right. All modesty aside, I was one hell of a poker player. Delaney wouldn't stand a chance. She was an open book, ripe for the reading.
I liked it.
I liked her.
And right now, she looked truly relaxed for the first time since I'd met her. It was nice. And the thought of ruining it by telling her the truth filled me with an obscene amount of dread.
When I made no reply, she asked, "So you admit it?"
In that moment, I wanted to admit everything. Why I was here. What I was doing. Who I was. And anything else she deserved to know.
Yeah, right.
And then what?
Watch her close up shop and leave upset?
She had no money. Or working credit card. Hell, even her car was inaccessible. If she bolted now, what would happen?
Where would she go?
What would she do?
All my life, I'd had a real knack for thinking five steps ahead. Now, no matter how I sliced it, this wouldn't end well – not if I just laid everything out there with zero warning.
From her spot near the coffee table, Delaney started laughing.
I asked, "What's so funny?"
"You," she said. "Are you seriously afraid to admit it?"
It took me a moment to recall what she'd last said. "That I'd cream you in poker?" I laughed in spite of myself. "Oh, I'd definitely cream you."
"Yeah, well…" Her gaze drifted to the coffee table. "I'd cream you in Scrabble."
I was intrigued. "You sure about that?"
She hesitated. "Pretty sure."
"Because you're a writer?"
"No, because I've played it like a million times."
I flicked my chin toward the game in question. "So you wanna play it again?"
"This isn't about me," she said. "I'm still trying to guess your favorite."
"Maybe my favorite is your favorite."
"But that's no kind of answer. And besides, I never said Scrabble was my favorite."
"So, what is?"
"Maybe I don't have a favorite." She paused, as if thinking. "I guess it depends on my mood."
"So, what are you in the mood for now?" I gestured toward the games. "If you had to play one, which one would you pick?"
Looking a little sheepish, she said, "Probably Monopoly."
The answer surprised me. "Yeah?"
"But we can't, because it takes forever." She glanced down at the unopened box. "I'd probably still be here at midnight."
Midnight, huh? I smiled. "You say that like it's a problem."
"Well, wouldn't it be?" Her voice grew quiet. "I'm sure you didn't expect coffee to last the whole day."
I leaned forward. "So what you're saying is…you're afraid you'll lose."
"What?" Her lips twitched. "No." She gave a playful jerk of her chin. "I would totally cream you."
I grinned. "You sure about that?"
This made her laugh. "No. But I wouldn't mind trying."