“All that and glows in the dark too?” He dropped his hand to the bed.
“You’re better than Carlos.” She moved to kneel behind him and slid her hands down his chest. “I’d much rather spend time with you.”
He looked up into her face. “I don’t glow in the dark.”
“No, but your eyes get all sexy, and I love the way you kiss and touch my body.” She pressed her breasts into his warm back. “You make me vibrate and you make me hot.”
He turned and pushed her down on the bed. “You make me feel like the last time I was in this room. Like I can’t get enough. Like I’m fifteen and can go at it all night.”
A lock of dark hair fell over his forehead and she reached up and smoothed it back. “Is this room a lot different from the last time you were here with…what was her name?”
“Brandy Green.” He glanced about the bedroom. At the mahogany dressers and bedside ta bles and lamps. “To tell you the truth, I don’t remember what it looked like.”
“Too long ago?”
He returned his gaze to her. “Too busy to notice.” Laugh lines creased the corners of his eyes. “Brandy was a senior and I was a sophomore and I was just trying to impress the hell out of her.”
“Did you?”
“Impress her?” He thought a moment, then shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“Well, you’ve impressed me.”
“I know.” He moved over the top of her onto his back, then pulled her across his chest.
“How do you know?”
“You’re a moaner.”
She pushed her hair over her shoulder. “I am?”
“Yeah. I like it.” He brushed his hand up and down her arm. “It lets me know you’re into what I’m doing to you.”
She shrugged. “I like sex. I’ve liked sex since my first time when I was a sophomore at UCLA and lost my virginity to my first boyfriend, Frankie Peterson.”
His hand stilled. “You waited until you were, what…twenty?”
“Well, I was Cincinnati Maddie, remember? But once I moved out of my aunt’s house and went away to college, I dropped sixty pounds by virtue of being so poor I didn’t have money to spend on food. In those days, I used to work out a lot too. So much so that I burned myself out, and now I refuse to work up a sweat on anything that is painful and boring.” She ran her fingers up the thin line of hair on his belly.
“You don’t need to work out.” He slid his hand down her back to her behind. “You’re perfect.”
“I’m too soft.”
“You’re a woman. You’re supposed to be soft.”
“But I’m—”
He rolled her onto her back and looked down at her. “I look at you and there isn’t anything I can tell myself that makes me not want to be with you.” His gaze moved over her face. “I’ve tried to stay away. Tried to keep my hands off you. I can’t.” He looked into her eyes. “Maybe after tonight I can.”
Maddie’s breath got caught in her chest. She didn’t want one night. She wanted several nights, but he was Mick Hennessy and she was Maddie Jones. She would have to tell him. Soon.
“We better make it good, then.” She slid her hand to the back of his head and ran her fingers through his short hair. “And tomorrow you can go back to being mad at me, and I’ll go back to be ing celibate. Everything will go back the way it was before tonight.”
One corner of his mouth lifted. “You think?”
She nodded. “Neither of us is looking for love, nor even a commitment beyond this room. We both want the same thing, Mick.” She brought his mouth down to hers and whispered against his lips, “No strings. Just a one-night stand.” Since it was the last time she figured she’d have sex before she jumped back on the wagon, she made sure it was memorable.
She left him long enough to turn on the jetted tub and pour mango-scented bubble bath into the water. Then she took him by the hand and led him into the bathroom. They played within the foamy bubbles, and when it was time, she rode him like a seahorse. This time when she hit her peak, she made sure she called out his name.
Once it was over and Mick flushed the last condom, she fell asleep with her back pressed against his chest and his hand on her breast. He’d been talking to her about something, and she’d nestled her bottom against his groin and passed right out. She’d meant to put on a robe and walk him to the door, but it had been a long time since she’d let herself feel safe and secure and protected. It was an illusion, of course. It had always been an illusion.
No one except Maddie could keep her safe and secure and protected, but it had felt so good.
When she woke in the morning, she was alone. Just as she wanted. No strings. No commitment. No demands. He hadn’t even said good-bye.
She rolled onto her side and looked at the morning shadows playing across her wall. She placed her hand in the indent on the pillow next to hers and curled her fingers into a fist. It was better this way.
Even if she never told him who she was, if she just left town and never set eyes on him again, he’d find out eventually. He’d find out when the book hit the stores.
Yes, it was better that he’d left without a good-bye. One night was bad enough; anything more would be impossible.
Chapter 12
The voice of Trina Olsen-Hays filled Maddie’s office as she scribbled notes on index cards in an attempt to try and make some sort of order out of the taped conversation. Once she finished transcribing the pertinent information, she would shuffle and mix them with other cards she’d made in order to make a timeline she would then pin across her office wall. She’d learned after her first book that it was easier to move things around if they were written on cards as opposed to a straight line.
After an hour of writing notes, she turned off the tape and leaned back in her chair. She yawned and knitted her fingers together on the top of her head. It was Sunday and she figured the citizens of Truly were just getting out of church. Maddie hadn’t been raised in any one religion. As with most everything else while she was growing up, when Maddie had attended church, it had been totally arbitrary and dependent on her aunt’s fickle whims or one of her “programs.” If Great-Aunt Martha saw a
If Maddie had to choose a religion, she’d probably choose Catholicism. For no other reason than the stained glass, rosary beads and Vatican City. Maddie had visited Vatican City several years ago, and it was definitely awe-inspiring. Even to a heathen like herself. But if she was Catholic, she’d have to go to church and confess the many sins she’d committed upon the body of Mick Hennessy. If she understood confession, she should feel repentant, but she didn’t. She might get away with lying to a priest, but God would not be fooled.
Maddie stood and moved into the living room. She’d had a great time with Mick last night. They’d had sex. Good sex, and now it was over. She knew she should feel bad that she hadn’t told him her mother was Alice Jones, but she didn’t. Okay, maybe a little, but probably not as bad as she should feel. She might feel worse if she had any sort of relationship with Mick, but she didn’t. Not even a friendship, and if she felt
