“You thought he was responsible for the fire?” It wasn’t a question. Josie put two and two together, only she didn’t have to sit in a jail cell for a year and obsess over it.
“He knew I was close to getting evidence. One of his friends had pictures of her with him from a party. I paid for them. A shit ton. I was about to expose him for what he was, and I think he set fire to your shop to frame me. He couldn’t risk his reputation.”
“And the money was the only way you could protect Chelsea. You needed to take the jobs.”
“I never, ever wanted to hurt you,” I said. “I wanted to keep you away from the chief and Nolan and that part of my life.”
Her grip tightened on the blanket. I hated that the rain blew sideways, misting over her. We both ignored the cold. “You should have told me. I would have understood. I could have helped.”
“No one would believe me without proof. The chief is respected and important and my sister and I…” Weren’t. “We’re not even a family. I’m a wallet to her, a last resort before she whores herself out to someone less reputable than John Craig. I couldn’t let that happen. Our childhood was robbed. No reason her adult life should be miserable too.”
Josie pulled me inside, tugging the wet coat off my body. I dripped onto her floors and shivered from the rain, but anywhere she touched me was as comforting as a damn mug of hot cocoa—her gourmet recipe, the one that was more melted chocolate bar than milk.
She cast the blanket over my shoulders, and she sat me on the couch.
Comforted.
Loved.
Nothing I deserved. Not now.
“I will never keep any secret from you again,” I promised. “Never.”
“Shh.” Josie placed a delicate finger over my lips. I kissed it, instinctually, just a way to show deference to the woman who controlled more of my life than my pride, the law, or any of my bad decisions. “I’m sorry I ever doubted you.”
“I gave you reason to doubt.”
“Not a good one. I knew better. I told everyone else to look harder, to see the man you really were.”
She leaned close, gently shifting over my lap to straddle my legs. Her arms wove behind my neck, and I stared at her beautiful cinnamon lips.
Christ, what did I have to do to get this woman to drop the apologies and just kiss me?
“I doubted you at the first sign of trouble,” she said. “I let myself…think horrible things.”
“It’s my fault, Sweets. I’m not the man you should have fallen in love with.”
“There’s no one else for me.” Her lips pressed mine, gentle and soft. “No one else excites me as much as you. No one that challenges me as much. No one understands me as much as you do.”
“Believe me, Sweets. I haven’t figured you out yet.”
“I think you have. Long ago. When you saw me all innocent and naïve and sheltered.”
“Don’t kid yourself. I wanted to exploit that.”
Her eyebrow rose. “You didn’t.”
“Wow. You’re still naïve.”
“Is that a problem?”
I rested my hands on her hips, grasping her curves just to tease my restraint. “I like that you’re innocent. I need that, or I’d never believe this world wasn’t the first step to hell. You see things differently than me. You’ve had good things happen to you.”
“You’ve been the best.”
“That’s a lie, but it sounds sweet coming from you.”
“It’s no lie. I needed to know the world had that edge.” She brushed my cheek. “You taught me to be cautious. To recognize when men like Nolan wanted something more from me than I was willing to give. We balance each other, Maddox.”
“You balance me. I corrupt you.”
Josie leaned close, her kiss encouraging me to do more than just corrupt her. “Maybe I like it.”
“You’re the type of girl a guy like me preys on.”
“Maybe I like that too.” Josie smiled, timid and playful. “Or maybe I’m the one stalking you?”
Her hands moved low, unbuttoning my jeans and wiggling the zipper down. Her eyes flashed with mischief. A quick shimmy of her hips, and her pajama bottoms kicked away. Her smooth hips, just plump enough for a squeeze in my palm, settled over my lap.
Nothing got me harder than this woman. And no woman was harder to refuse than the one offering her body, her innocence, her life to me.
“You promised me everything before,” Josie whispered. “Love. Happiness.”
I strained to touch that heat between her legs. She did it for me, rubbing her slickness against my cock. She groaned as she lowered her body over mine and accepted me inside her trembling slit.
Bare. The only way I wanted to feel her.
“You promised me a family.” Her words faded as she ground her hips, filling herself with all of me. “Is that…what you still want?”
My grip tightened on her, but I didn’t dare move her myself, didn’t slam her against me like every instinct in my body demanded of me.
“More than anything,” I said.
“Good.” She met my gaze. “Then this morning was the last time I take my pill.”
Holy Christ.
Josie shuddered, her words lost in the ripple of pleasure that tightened her core. She leaned over me, arms behind my neck, body pressed into mine. I was completely encased in sweet perfection.
I had this amazing woman for my own for years, and I never took her gently. Never felt how our bodies melded, how the heat passed between us, how consuming the innocent pressure of her lips against mine could be.
Gentle. Loving.
Mine.
I longed for her tender touch. When I met her, I was hardened, jaded, and cracked. She didn’t put me together, she made me new. Not a man fragile and fierce, but someone confident and protected from my own instincts.
Had I followed them, had I let myself wallow in blood, I’d have lost her long ago.
Never again.
This was my second chance. My last opportunity to save her, keep her, make her mine forever.
She bumped against me, chasing shivers only to create more. My fingers tightened against her hips as she rocked, and every gentle swell of her body onto mine wrapped me in pleasure.
“I need more of you…” I whispered.
“You have me.”
“I want to touch you…”
Her voice wavered. “You’re touching me.”
“Taste you…”
Her lips found mine, and her tongue swirled wicked delight. “Taste me.”
“Come in you…”
“Please.”
“Make a baby?”
Josie’s body tensed, and she buried her head in my shoulder, squeezing my muscles, holding me, forcing her hips down to take more and more of everything I could give.
“Maddox…” She came, beautifully, quaking in my arms as she took her pleasure and asked for mine as well.
I grunted, grasping her waist until the tingling erupted through me. I held her body, her back, pinning her against my chest as my hips instinctively bucked.
Once.
Twice.
Enough times to earn her squeal and ensure every jet of my pleasure completely coated her core.
She heaved frantic breaths against me, letting me hold her as the aftershocks of passion ripped through my body and pumped more into her. She dizzied me with tiny kisses, gentle promises against my shoulder, my neck, and finally my lips.
I stared at this beautiful woman, this amazing creature who pledged her life to me. I’d make sure she always knew how much I loved her. She’d never have cause to doubt me again.
“I swear, Sweets…” I brushed her cheek with my hand. “I’ll never keep another secret from you. You’ll know everything.”
Her gaze lowered. Quickly. Almost embarrassed.
“Just know that I love you, okay?” She whispered. “And everything I did or will do is because I love you.”
“Nothing you do will ever change how I feel, Josie.”
Her lip trembled. I kissed it away and let her rest against my chest, held in my arms and safe.
Why did it feel like she didn’t believe me?
Chapter Fifteen – Josie
Secrets.
Maddox had too many to count, and so many more I wished I hadn’t learned. His past. His family. How he earned money. What he did to survive after his parents were jailed and his foster family nearly beat him to death. He made a life from any scraps he could find, and when he returned home hardened by circumstance, the town turned on him.
Maddox had too many secrets.
I had just one.
And I’d lose everything if he learned the truth.
I nibbled on the end of my pen and counted the minutes until five o’clock. Office jobs bored me to death. I never used to stare at my phone when I worked at the candy shop. Sweet Nibbles took a big bite out of my spare time. We always had dough to knead, cakes to bake, candies to boil, and tables to wipe down. We stayed open until eight, but we left the doors unlocked until ten because I didn’t have the heart to deny anyone a cupcake after a bad day, date, or news.
Now?
Part-time work as an office gopher for the Saint Christie Reporter wore on me. Papers to file, emails to send, ads to invoice, and highlighters to doodle hearts in the corner of scrap paper. Too little hours for too little money, and I knew what would come of it.
At four thirty, my boss let me go for the day. Sean knew I had to get to Willowbend to see Granddad, but kicking off early meant he didn’t have to pay me for another half an hour. The newspaper strained enough from carrying me on the payroll for a year, even part-time.