MadHatter3000: Not as good as your tongue would.
BookNerd: You’re killing me. LOL Tell me what you want me to do, sweetheart.
The term of endearment ought to feel too intimate, strange, yet somehow, it didn’t. It made him feel familiar and relaxed her shaky nerves. It meant for all intents and purposes, he really did understand where her head was right then. The need for this vied with the part of her that was flat out scared to death. He had patience, and she appreciated that. More than she could tell him.
MadHatter3000: Get naked with me.
As she waited, thoughts of him filled her head. Standing before her, pulling off his clothing. She scrolled up the page, looking at his picture again, soaking in the sight of him. He had a fantastic body. Were his thighs as muscular as the rest of him? She bet he had a firm, round ass. Which did nothing but fill her head with visions of him looming over her, that hard body pressing her into the mattress.
The fingers of her left hand found her breast, stroking and circling the distended nipple as she let herself get lost in the fantasy. Her legs locked around his lean hips, his cock pumping into her. God, she missed that, the feel of a man’s body against her and inside her, in a way that was natural, an extension of an intimate relationship, instead of constantly connected to a terrifying moment….
When she was sure she was leaving a wet spot on her couch, or that she’d start without him, her laptop pinged with an incoming message. She refocused on the screen.
BookNerd: Done. Your turn, baby. Take those panties off.
A hot little shiver fluttered through her. That meant he was naked, sitting at his computer waiting for her.
She set her laptop aside and slid her panties to the floor. Fully naked now and trembling in earnest, with need and nerves, she resumed her seat.
MadHatter3000: Done. Are you still hard?
BookNerd. Are you getting any warmer?
MadHatter3000: No fair answering a question with a question. ;) Actually, I’ve been wet and throbbing since you asked me to take my clothes off.
BookNerd: Ahh, so you ARE aroused by this.
MadHatter3000: I’ve been staring at your picture, stroking my nipples. I feel very sexy sitting here, talking to you. You make me feel comfortable.
BookNerd: I’m honored. And yes. To answer your question, I’m hard enough to hammer nails. The thought of you naked over there does the same thing to me. Tell me what you want, baby.
Maddie sighed. Another question that was all too easy to answer.
MadHatter3000: In a perfect world? You’d be here, and your tongue would be buried inside me. Now? I want you to make me cum. Make me see stars, Dave.
Make me forget….
Chapter Five
Maddie stared at the contents of the small box in front of her. The bookshop was quiet, only the sound of the rain and the traffic out on the street cutting the silence. She’d been sorting through a box of used books when the package arrived via a small, Priority Mail Flat Rate box. The note on top wasn’t signed, but she didn’t need to ask to know who it was from. Dave had sent her a gift.
A week and a half had passed since she’d received her first message from him. They’d chatted every night since, and every night, he left her breathless, more sated than she’d been in a long time, and usually falling to sleep with a grin as wide as Montana. She had to admit she liked him. He was sexy, in a subtle, take-charge kind of way. They didn’t talk much about jobs or life beyond “how was your day?” Which was okay with her. She had no desire to get to know him beyond what they had. This was exactly what she needed—a hot, uncomplicated fling that would propel her into moving on with her life. To forget Grayson Lockwood and her assault in college.
The auction was in three days. The thought of meeting him in person had her tied in knots, but Hannah was right. She couldn’t stay single and celibate forever. The thought of finally having sex again filled her with equal parts desire and dread. Oh, the need was there. The thought of his cock sliding inside of her made her clit throb. She was dying to see him up close and personal, to get her hands all over him. If he was as good in person as he was online, she wouldn’t be able to walk the next day.
The thought of sex, though, had memories rising over her. Along with them came the anxiety. The last time she’d tried to have sex with a man—the healthy, natural kind—the touch of his hand as it slid beneath her top had sent her right back to that night in college. It was a step she wanted to take. She needed to leave the past where it belonged, once and for all, but whether or not she’d able to go through with it was another matter. Could she truly trust that she was safe now and have a hot little fling with Dave, like the ones she’d had back in college, before her assault had filled her with fear? She wouldn’t know until the moment arrived.
One thing she did know: she didn’t want a relationship. She needed to take things one step at a time, and that was one she wasn’t ready for. This morning’s gift, however, had complicated written all over it. That he was sending her gifts told her in no uncertain terms he wanted more than sex. The thought had her stomach caught somewhere between giddy butterflies and terrified tangles.
The bell on the door to the shop dinged, announcing an incoming customer, and Maddie set the box aside and lifted her gaze. Hannah strode through, a bright smile lighting up her face and Cade in tow, with baby Emily tucked in one beefy arm. The sight of the baby had her mood immediately lifting. It had been a whole two weeks since Maddie had seen her.
Disregarding this morning’s surprise for the moment, she squealed, clapped her hands in glee and all but skipped around the counter.
“Ohhh, you brought the baby.” She bypassed Hannah and headed straight for Cade and the cuteness lounging on his shoulder.
Hannah laughed softly as she whizzed past. “I asked Cade to bring her down. I knew you’d love to see her.”
Hannah was right. Emily was three months old and sweet and perfect, and Maddie adored her. She, Hannah, and Christina got together at least once a month, often once a week for lunch or a movie and wine night, but there never seemed enough time to visit with the baby.
Maddie winked at Cade as she plucked the adorable little bundle out of his arms. “Thanks for bringing my baby to see me, hot stuff.”
“Hot Stuff” was a playful nickname she’d given him when he and Hannah were dating. It was exactly what he was—tall, broad-shouldered gorgeousness. Hannah called him GQ. A rich, corporate lawyer, the man was what Hannah had always jokingly called “a fellow geek.” The two of them were peas in a pod, both into books and research, but Cade didn’t look the part. He had the looks of a cover model.
As she clutched the baby to her chest, Cade let out a quiet laugh. “My pleasure entirely, Miss O’Riley. You know, you should think of getting one of your own, though.”
Cade winked at her, and Maddie couldn’t resist a grin. Teasing him came too easily, but the impossibility of his suggestion swirled around her and clutched at her chest.
“Oh, no. I’m not ready for one of my own yet.” Maddie set the baby into the crook of her left arm and gazed down at her. “You do make such pretty babies, though, Cade.”
Emily had a full head of thick, dark hair like her father, and big wide eyes, and she smelled heavenly, like baby powder and sweetness. She wasn’t fussy, either, but content to let people pass her around—so long as she had a shoulder to lounge on. Every time Maddie saw her, her heart gave that impossible little twinge. Okay, so she’d admit it. She wanted this. The whole fairytale, what these two had found. What Christina and Sebastian had found. A man who’d love her in spite of all her weird little quirks, and she wanted a yard full of pretty, red-haired babies to go with him.