3. Maddox
3
MADDOX
Her pretty, glossy peach lips hang open as she reaches back to grip the table.
“How do you...” She shakes her head, brow furrowed. Those rich brown eyes of hers have a swirl of hazel around the pupil and my God, it’s so alluring. I want to see what makes them flare, or melt, or light up.
“Does it matter?” I lean in. “The point is, I know who you are, Jocelyn.”
She closes her eyes and her cute little nostrils flare as she breathes deep. She’s fighting to collect herself, and I like that she’s a little off-kilter.
A wicked lick of pleasure runs through me as my cock tightens. Watching Jocelyn move that lush body of hers to the beat of any song on my enormous TV always held me enthralled. But having the real deal in front of me?
It’s something else.
She’s something else.
I want to keep her off-kilter as much as possible.
I want to rattle her resolve and control.
I want to know everything about her.
“I know you and your little boyfriend?—”
Her eyes snap open. “He’s not my boyfriend anymore.”
“Oh? Who is?”
“No one,” she answers automatically before flinching and biting down on her lip. “We’re not here to talk about me.”
“Oh, I can talk about you all day. I watched your channel from the earliest days when you guys were just figuring it all out. You’re better off without that guy. He was so full of himself and you were the real draw of that dance channel. You were the reason I —and so many others— tuned in.”
“You… watched?”
I nod.
“Top tier subscriber. Danced along all through the pandemic as part of my stay-in-shape routine.”
I don’t tell her that seeing her smiling face every week turned into a highlight of some of my darkest days. Watching her dance, interact with the chat, and laugh over any missteps lifted my spirits during a time when I’d desperately needed her kind of sunshine. Her encouragement to just have fun with it became my mantra, her joie de vivre became a succor and a balm for me.
She looks at me with assessing eyes, and I’d give anything to know what’s going on in her head.
“So, what happened? You guys were finding some traction and had loads of subscribers. Then, one day, poof. Gone.” I spread my fingers and wave them in the air slowly while she watches me, frowning. “No more channel, no more Juicy T and— what was his name?”
Her eyes flash with irritation. “His name doesn’t matter. He doesn’t matter.”
I grin at her, which only causes her frown to deepen. She holds no warmth or affection for that guy and he’s no longer her boyfriend, but she’s wary of me.
That’s okay. I can work with that.
“People panicked, you know.” I tilt my head to one side, a smile tugging at my lips. “There were wild internet theories and web sleuths. And then not long later, your ex returns offering excuses and assuring everyone that you’re fine. You’ve just suffered a bout of creative differences and disagreed about the direction you wanted to take the channel in.”
Her jaw tightens, and through clenched teeth, she hisses, “Lies.”
“What’s the truth, then? I’d love to know.”
“I don’t owe you —or anyone else— anything.” She shakes her head like she’s clearing away bad memories. Then she waves her phone in my face. “I’m here to do one very specific job. Fix the mess you’re in.”
“Yeah?” I decide to drop the topic for now. Better not to push and prod, but to win her over instead. “Fine. Have it your way.”
That no-nonsense bun of hers makes my hands itch to unwind it, but I settle instead for twirling an escaped strand of her silky, dark hair with my finger. The tendril curls over the thin gold hoops of her helix piercing, obscuring them from view, so I tuck it behind her ear.
She tenses at my touch, but her head inclines ever so slightly in my direction. Inadvertent, but telling all the same. My lips quirk up as I lower my voice and speak softly in her ear.
“The thing is, Jocelyn, I don’t mind mess.”
Another caress and her sharp intake of breath could give way to a whimper. We’re close enough that I can smell the sweetness of her shampoo, and the lingering, intoxicating lavender scent of her body wash.
I’m not an idiot. I know interest when I see it, and Jocelyn may look prim and proper, but her eyes… God, her eyes are full of blatant curiosity and naked desire. I can’t help teasing her, not when the attraction pulling me toward her is elemental.
I’m fucking obsessed with her, and she’s been in front of me for all of ten minutes.
“Y-you don’t?”
Christ, I want to pull the pins out of that bun, watch her hair tumble free. I want to press my mouth to the curve of her throat, feel her pulse race against my lips as I lick my way up and down her every curve.
“Why would I, when they’re such great fun to make?” I turn my face a fraction of an inch, my mouth ghosting over the blush staining her cheek. “Would you like to get messy with me, Jocelyn?”
She scrambles away like she’s been shot, one hand grabbing at her sweater neckline and the other white-knuckling her phone so hard, I have to bite back a laugh.
“Okay, I see you.” She points at herself, then at me in that I’m watching you way. “I get it. You like the attention, the spotlight, the fame.”
I shrug and cross my arms, leaning back against the conference table and enjoying the way her chest rises and falls with shortened breath. “None of that hurts any, so I like it just fine. It suits me.”
Her mouth forms a thin, flat line and she sighs. “Spoken like every other attention-loving celebrity with a craving for the spotlight.”
I quirk a brow at her, not sure I quite like being lumped in with whoever these so-called celebrities are. “Not a celebrity, really. Just a hockey player.”
“Mm-hmm. Let me be clear. You and I? We will be making no messes.”
“We’ll see.”
She glowers at me. “We will, however, make content. You will do what I say when I say it, and you will do so while upholding the rules I set.”
“You’re in charge,” I agree, grinning at her.
There’s a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes as she unlocks her phone and extends it to me.
“I need your details so I can send over the schedule.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I dutifully type in all my information and save it under Mad Dancing King. Then I add a smoldering selfie and hand it back to her before heading for the door.
“Maddox?”
“Hmm?”
“You’re not going to give me any trouble, are you? This may be no big deal to you, but I need this job.”
There’s a weight to her words that hits me hard in the chest. Whatever happened to her before had hurt her, changed her. If there is some way I can help heal those hurts, I’ll do it. Because even though I don’t know nearly enough about her, I do know one thing.
I’m going to be the man that makes it all better for her.
I give her a small, reassuring smile.
“Believe it or not, sweet cheeks, I need you. More than you know.”