All he did was laugh. Laugh! "Maddie, you fool. I called you a nerd all those years ago because it was the only thing I could think of."
"Huh?"
He leaned in and touched the back of his hand to her cheek. "You were so smart. You still are. Jeez, I couldn't remember those damned chemical symbols with or without your song. I had to say something. I couldn't let a little fifteen year old get the better of me." He shrugged. "It was my come-back line because you made me feel like an idiot."
"Oh." She looked up into his eyes and melted under their hot intensity. He wanted her. He wasn't even bothering to hide it. "But I'm still that same girl I was then," she said weakly. She needed to stay focused, keep on track, before she gave herself to this man totally and risked getting her heart crushed by someone who wasn't right for her. "I'm still a nerd."
He touched his lips to hers then withdrew too quickly. "Fine," he murmured, "be a nerd. I don't care."
She closed her eyes and breathed him in. So delicious. "Then why did you say..." so masculine "...women like me and guys like you..." so Sam "...shouldn't be together?"
He moved in closer and licked a trail from her ear to her throat, nudging her pajamas aside to nibble her shoulder. Tingles zapped up her spine and she felt like she'd been slam dunked.
Oh God, everything was slipping beneath her, around her. Inside her.
He stopped kissing her and flattened his palm against her stomach, under her pajama top. "I said it because you're too intelligent for me." His hand moved higher and cupped her breast. "Too organized." He thrummed her nipple with his thumb. "Too good."
"Oh." Who said that?
"Guys like me," he muttered as his hand moved south, down her pajama shorts, "drifters, don't deserve sensible girls."
"I'm sensible?" If she was sensible she wouldn't let him do this to her, wouldn't allow him to rip the rug from under her feet.
But if his fingers kept doing that then who cared? She could live without rugs.
"Yeah." He knelt in front of her and slowly drew her shorts down her legs. They puddled at her feet and she felt his hot breath on her thigh. He licked. "Sensible." Lick. "Mature." Lick. "Organized." Lick. "And so goddamn sexy I can't get enough of you." Suck.
Ah!
"Maddie, baby."
"Mmmm?" She tried to concentrate but it was like swimming through mud so she stopped trying and just let go and wallowed.
"Promise me you won't change," he murmured against her.
"Whatever you want." Oh yes, there. "Just don't," aaah, "stop."
She felt his grin. "I like you the way you are. With one exception."
"If you tell me will you stop talking?"
He grabbed her rear and pulled her into him and Maddie had to grip the back of the couch to stop herself floating away. Now, oh please, now. A ripple of heat started between her thighs and spread across her skin, laying every nerve ending exposed in its wake. It was too much, too intense and she was going to die if that heat didn't explode and consume her.
"Let yourself go for me."
Somebody howled. Maddie didn't care if it was her.
EPILOGUE
Much, much later, Maddie curled into Sam. Her heart was full and her body loose. She felt content, happy. Like she was exactly where she should be.
"Thank you," Sam murmured against her hair.
She frowned. "What for?"
"For forgiving me for calling you a nerd."
"Like you said, it was a long time ago. I was probably being silly for worrying about it."
"Yeah, but it did worry you, and that worried me." He propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at her. His hair was a little mussed, his eyes smoky, his cheeks flushed. He was totally hot. "Maddie, I want you to know that I think you're perfect the way you are. Don't change a thing."
"Not even the tendency to over-plan everything?"
"Especially that. I need that in my life. Speaking of which." He caressed his hand down her thigh, sending little tingles spiraling through her. "I'm sure you have a plan for what you're going to do next."
She glanced down at his groin. "I certainly do."
He laughed. "I like that plan, but I was referring to your life outside the bedroom. Are you going to look for another job?"
"Actually, I've been doing something a little different these last few days. I was thinking of getting into decorating. Turns out I've got a knack for it. Who'd have guessed?"
"Me." He kissed her nose, her chin, her ear. "I saw you had good taste as soon as I walked into this place. So how about we team up?"