Page 98 of Turn Me On

I could fucking kiss her. “Favor. I need to go. Can you—”

“Absolutely. I’ll handle everything and say goodbye to the guys.” Her eyes twinkle as she waves me off, practically shooing me out of the restaurant.

Zane’s holding the door, and we leave together.

29

LATE NIGHT TEXTS

Zane

I hate surprises. But I think I’ll like this one. Once we reach the side street behind the restaurant, Maddox clicks open the doors to his Audi. The second they slam shut, I turn to him.

“Talk,” I demand, so damn eager to hear everything.

Without hesitation, he begins. “I wish I’d talked to you in person. I wish I’d stopped telling myself I’d made a mistake. I wish I’d spent those two nights with you. I wish I’d spent more,” he says, strong, certain, laying bare his regrets. “And I hope you’ll spend the night with me.”

Does he think I’m that easy? That he can just tell me he wants me and I’ll come running?

But my heart is already sprinting in his direction as I drink in the look in his eyes—utter vulnerability.

I have things to say though. I am not a pushover. “I came here to see you too, Maddox.”

“Yeah?” His voice pitches up.

“I had something to say to you,” I continue, trying to stick to my plan.

“Tell me. Anything,” he says, so open, so ready to hear me.

My simple speech repeats in my head—I was hurt in New York because I was falling in love with you. I wanted to share my heart with you. Find a way with you. And you have to know I was never going to go clubbing with Gunnar. I haven’t even thought about anyone else since we met. I can’t stop thinking about you, but I know I can’t have you, so I’m vowing to let this go and—

Fuck that. I’m not letting this man who misses me get away.

I change tactics immediately. “I came here to say…it hurt me so much to lose you in New York,” I begin, then I let loose a smile so big it makes my whole body sing. “But I’m so fucking happy to be with you right now.”

Holy shit.

That’s so much better than the first speech. I feel…electric. Like I just hit a home run. Maddox looks like he can’t believe his luck. He reaches his hand across the console, grasping mine. The second our fingers touch, tingles shoot down my spine.

Well, guess I am that easy.

Almost. “I do want to spend the night with you. But I want to spend tomorrow night with you too. I don’t want another one-night stand,” I say, holding back the rest of my confession—I want every night with you.

“Yes. I want that too,” he says, breathless as he leans closer to me, his free hand playing with the buttons on my shirt, making me shiver. “Tonight, tomorrow, as long as you’re here. And then after that too. Next week. Next month. I want whatever you’ll give. I don’t know exactly how to make this work. I have some ideas. Been working through some plans. I want to share them with you, but I can’t really think straight right now because I’m so fucking crazy for you, and I just want to touch you again.”

I went into the restaurant tonight seeking closure. Instead, I found an opening to my future.

Our future.

Joy and desire fill me up, a glass overflowing. That’s what this man does to me—he stirs up brand-new emotions I never want to let go of. I don’t want to let go of him.

“Maddox,” I say in a dirty rumble.

“Zane,” he says, trembling with desire too.

With my free hand, I reach for his gorgeous face, cup his jaw. “I didn’t ever plan to go clubbing in New York.”

With a soft smile, he says, “I know.”