Page 17 of Madame

Neither of us says anything for a while. With my face against his chest, my mind is racing.

Am I the rebound for this other woman?

Was it really just a job to her?

Did she give him something I can’t?

“Do you want to come up?” he asks again.

I want to—I really do. But my mind is a mess, and I don’t want to have sex when I’m so in my head.

Pulling away, I gaze up at him with an apologetic expression. “Mind if I don’t? I’m just ready to go home.”

With a half smirk, he nods. Then he kisses my forehead again as he mumbles, “Of course, baby. Text me when you get home.”

Pressing up on my tiptoes, I lean in and give him a kiss. His hand wraps around the back of my neck as he deepens the kiss, massaging his tongue against mine. My body starts to warm from the kiss, so I pull away before it gets too tempting to stay.

“Night, Clay,” I murmur, walking toward my car.

“Night, Jade.”

When I reach my Jeep, I stop and turn back toward him. He’s watching me.

“For what it’s worth,” I say, “I’m glad it didn’t work out. I like you better with me.”

When I smile, he smiles.

“Me too,” he replies.

After climbing in my Jeep, the entire drive home is spent thinking about how it took him a second too long to say that.

But maybe that’s in my head.

* * *

I’m curled up on my bed with an episode ofThe Bake Offplaying in the background while I scroll through various websites on my phone. There’s a knock on my door, and I look up to find my dad slowly peeking in.

“Hey, Cupcake,” he says softly.

“Hey, Daddy.”

“How was the movie?”

I shrug. “It was good.”

“You went with Nettie?” he asks, referring to my best friend. My eyes cast down to my phone as my mouth twists into a knot at the corner of my lips.

It’s bad enough that I’m twenty-three and still living at home, but it’s even worse that I have to lie about who I’m spending my nights with.

“Yep,” I mumble without looking at him.

“Hmm,” he replies with a nod. “Well, good night, Cupcake. Love you.”

“Love you,” I call back.

As he shuts the door, I stare blankly at where he just stood, lost in my thoughts.

How did it get like this?