against me. “Will you stay?” I feel vulnerable even asking, and I hate the hint of begging in my voice.
Madison lifts up, looking at me. “For how long? Round two or ‘till morning?”
I chuckle. “Maybe forever?” The words are light, but fuck if I don’t mean them.
“Scott . . .” Madison’s eyes flash fire as her eyebrows pinch together a bit. “Don’t say things you don’t mean.”
She doesn’t believe me. Of course, she doesn’t. Hell, I don’t believe me even if it is what I want in this moment. And that’s scary as fuck. I don’t do shit like this, only casual things that serve me for work, for reputation, for some strategic reason. Madison doesn’t give a fuck about my work or any of that. She just likes me for some odd reason, and somehow, that feels like the biggest risk of all. But I don’t know if she’s the one gambling on me . . . or if I’m gambling on her. Maybe both?
“Just stay . . . and we’ll see what happens.” I press a kiss to her collarbone to sweeten the deal, and a smile curls the corner of her mouth.
Madison swings a leg over my hips and straddles me, her pussy pressing against my rapidly recovering cock. “Deal.”
Chapter 14
Madison
Daily Horoscope, October 6th
Libra – Exposing your hidden treasure means risking it to a thief. Hiding it forever means no one enjoys the bounty, not even you.
I read Tiff’s texted version of my daily horoscope, along with her encouragement to Share that hidden treasure, bitch, and getcha some! I laugh out loud. That girl cracks me up every time. So I text her back a GIF of an opening treasure chest with a pirate proclaiming he’s going to ‘take my booty’. I barely have time to hit Send before Scott opens the door to my car and climbs in.
“Thanks for letting me pick you up.”
Scott chuckles, looking over from the passenger seat of my car and carefully adjusting his feet. Unfortunately, the lever to move the seat isn’t working, so it’s stuck at Tiff size, and Tiffany is about six inches shorter than Scott. “Well, you said I’d end up with dog hair on me and that it’d be hard on my car. Besides, it lets me get chauffeured around by a hot chick instead of the old-timer who sometimes drives me around.”
His humor makes me laugh, and I feel a little relieved. I was surprised at first when he said he was willing to take a day off in the middle of the week to go with me to Aunt May’s shelter, but it’s the best option, considering my schedule. And yeah, the irony that my shitty bartending job, not his high-powered corporate job, is dictating our dates is not lost on me.
“So, here we are,” I say as I pull up in front. “What do you think?”
“Looks . . . industrial,” Scott says, opening his door. “I’m guessing the dogs don’t get bottled water?”
It takes a double-take for me to get that he’s joking, and I chuckle. “Okay, quickly before we go in. Try not to raise your voice or make any sudden movements. Some of the animals here come from abusive homes, and it could undo a lot of work we’ve done to rehabilitate them.”
“Gotcha. Be extra-nice to the pups.”
I nod, grinning. “Good. Also, you’re going to have to get your hands dirty. Anyone who’s afraid to get a little dirt under their fingernails or some dog poop on their shoe won’t make it here. Think you can handle that?”
Scott laughs. “Pretty sure I’m washable, and new experiences, remember? Anything else?”
I love that when we’d agreed to ‘new experiences’ together, it wasn’t one-sided where he’s whisking me away like some fairy tale, even though I know he’d truly like to. He’s making an effort to try my favorite things too, even if they’re low-brow and simple. He even watched Friends with Tiff and me a couple of nights ago through FaceTime because he was still at work. He’d genuinely laughed at the show and claimed he was going to have to watch from Season One to catch up. I’d just been delighted at his laugh. The way it rumbled made my belly flip-flop in the best way. When he’d had to get back to work, I was this close to surprising him for a repeat of our first date. Maybe help him take the edge off with a desktop fucking, but he was working