Chapter 17
WYATT
Thump. Thump. Thump. The sound of my front door being pounded filters through the house as I step out of the shower. My hair drips as I grab a towel, dragging it over my head before wrapping it around my hips and heading for the front door.
The incessant pounding only intensifies as I amble down the stairs, the air-conditioned air making goosebumps break out on my exposed flesh. This had better be good.
“Wyatt.” Between each thud, she shouts my name with annoyance. I recognize that voice, and I’m half tempted to leave her standing outside in the late afternoon heat. No doubt Jim has called her and told her about my offer, and instead of being gracious, she’s decided to storm over here.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The door shudders in the frame from the force.
“I know you’re in there,” she barks.
I pull the door open with a scowl already in place. My eyes land on the tall brunette with fire burning in her eyes. Maddie’s fist is raised to knock on the door that’s no longer there, and as my gaze travels from her raised hand to her face, her eyes narrow.
Fisting the top of my towel with one hand as I grip the door with the other, I grit out, “What are you doing here, Hart?”
Her focus shifts to my bare, water-droplet-covered chest, and her eyes widen a fraction, just enough to tell me she’s surprised at what she sees.
Maybe even a little turned on if the slight hitch in her breath is anything to go by.
It throws me back to the night in The Wildflower, then the morning of the pitch, and just like that I feel myself harden.
Maddie catches herself, and a storm of emotion swirls in her dark brown depths as she brings her attention back to my face.
“You’re an asshat,” she spits, stepping forward to jab me in the chest with a finger.
The corner of my mouth lifts as I look down at where she’s just poked me before looking at her from under my lashes.
“You’ve already told me that.” I pause, an idea forming that I give little thought to before continuing, “You know, if you’d wanted to get me naked, you didn’t have to turn up here unannounced and call me names. All you had to do was ask, darlin’.”
Clearly frustrated with my teasing, Maddie stomps her foot and growls at me like a cornered wolf. “Can you take anything seriously? On top of being an asshat, you’re infuriating,” she bites out. “You must have known I’d come, or did you honestly think that what you did was honorable?”
Right now, she looks a little wild. Like the horses that run free out in the mountains and across the plains. Almost unpredictable. Like she’d fight me every step of the way and I’d love it. Hell, if I don’t hate that as much as I should.
Fuck.
The thought catches me off guard. Fucking Maddie is never going to happen, even if the way she looks right now—with a pinkish hue in her cheeks and her anger flowing in her veins—is near impossible to resist.
Something inside of me is yearning to push her a little more and then have her show me how much she hates me as she moans my name. My body reacts before I can stop it, and I shift on my feet, hoping she doesn’t drop her attention to below my waistline.
Wetting my lips and pushing down on the top of my towel in warning to my cock, I reply, “As much as I love seeing you like this, I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about,” I lie.
Her nostrils flare. She steps forward into my house, forcing me to move back or risk colliding with her, which, with my cock standing at half-mast, isn’t such a good idea. God, I need to get a grip.
Oblivious to my body’s reaction to her, Maddie seethes, “Don’t play dumb, Wilde. You went behind my back instead of winning the lease fair and square. That’s not how decent”—she sneers the word, her top lip curling as though she knows there’s nothing decent about me—“folk conduct business.”
The door clicks shut behind her, but Maddie doesn’t seem to notice, too intent on her warpath.
Something a little wild and ever so slightly dangerous pulsates beneath my skin, pushing me to do something I shouldn’t. It’s telling me that this is inevitable. That all this push and pull between us all these years was just leading up to this moment.
Claim her, Wyatt.
I brush it off. There’s no way I’m entertaining that thought, no matter how much my body might want me to.
“Woah.” I hold my hands up as Maddie continues to advance on me.
My towel slips. I grab the material before it can expose my hardening cock and cross a line I’m sure neither of us is willing to cross.
Unaware, Maddie continues moving toward me and forcing me to walk back, deeper into the house. Her brown eyes are nearly black with her temper.
“With every interaction anyone in my family has had with you, you come riding in on your high horse, but you’re nothing but a selfish, inconsiderate jerk with no morals.”
Her words are meant to hurt, and while they don’t necessarily have the desired impact I’m sure she’s hoping for, they do flip a switch in me. I come to a stop in the middle of the living room, causing Maddie to plow into my chest.
I’ve had enough of this.
Double-rolling the towel so that I don’t risk any accidents, I grip her arms, holding her steady until she shakes me off.
“You should leave,” I grind out. “Before something happens that we’ll both regret.”
“You don’t intimidate me, Wilde. Far from it,” she declares, standing her ground and proving her point.
Even as I crowd her in, forcing her to move, she doesn’t back down, at least until her back hits the wall. Then I see a flicker of surprise in her gaze.
“You’ve lost your damn mind, Hart.” I suck in a breath, my bare chest expanding with the force. “Did you honestly think you could come into my house, disrespect me, and that I’d just stand here listening as you do it?” I ask, unable to hide the disbelief in my tone.
Maddie narrows her eyes, jutting her chin out as her chest heaves with each frustrated breath. There’s not an ounce of fear or hesitation in her features; she’s shut any hint of them down. “Yes. You all but stole that land out from under me, so it’s the least you can do.”
“And how exactly did you reach that conclusion? Because the last time I checked, you were one of three”—I hold up three fingers and pause, letting the number sink in—“people who could have won it. Business is business, Maddie.”
We’re so close that with every breath she takes, the cotton of her T-shirt rubs against my chest. Her lips are parted, begging to be tasted as she darts her tongue out to wet them. Heat pumps through my body, and I’m hyper-aware of just how naked and exposed I am.
Everything around us seems to still, like the feeling you get standing on the mountains in the early-morning hours. All I can hear is the sounds of our breathing mixing with the faint whir of the air-conditioning unit. It’s as if there’s only the two of us on the entire planet.
I don’t remember deciding to move. It just happens. One moment she’s glaring at me and the next, my mouth is on hers.
Our mouths collide; teeth scraping as we fight for control of a kiss I’m not sure either of us could ever win.
She channels the anger she came with into it, diving her fingers into my still-damp hair and pulling on the strands.
I hold on to her hips, my fingers flexing against the denim of her jeans as I try to ground myself in the moment.
Fuck, I’m drowning.
The whole world goes quiet. Silence surrounds us.
As if us coming together like this has brought the world to a standstill.
I’ve never experienced anything like it before.
The way her scent is filling my nostrils, it’s pulling me under until all I can focus on is her.
It’s addictive and far too dangerous to continue, and yet I don’t have the strength to put an end to it. I don’t want to put an end to it.
When she opens her mouth, mine follows suit. Our tongues tangle, and I get my first taste of her—blueberry jam, buttery pastry and coffee. Her regular order from Autumn’s place.
The reminder of Autumn brings me back to reality with a bump, and I break apart, moving away from Maddie to lean on the back of the couch as I try to catch my breath. This is wrong in so many ways. I should hate her for everything she’s done, not be harder than I’ve ever been in my life.
“That shouldn’t have happened,” I rasp, barely resisting the urge to touch my lips in an attempt to capture the ghost of hers.
To occupy my hands, I rest one on the top of my towel and I wring the back of my neck with the other.
Anything to keep from reaching for her and continuing what should never have started.
Maddie collapses against the wall, her nipples visible beneath her T-shirt as she swallows, staring at me wide-eyed. Her gaze drops to my towel and the erection I can’t hide. I watch, captivated, as she drags her teeth over her full bottom lip, like she’s as turned on as I am.
Fuck it.
She pushes away from the wall at the same time as I stand. There’s an urgency to our movements. We meet in the middle, no words spoken as I cup her face and lower my head, pulling her back into me.
This kiss is, like the first, messy, and our teeth knock together in our rush.
It’s desperate and wild. Exhilarating.
I bend, taking hold of Maddie’s thighs before lifting her into my arms. She wraps her legs around me like we’ve done this a million times before, and as we devour each other, I carry her through the house and up the stairs to my bedroom.