Page 76 of Tempting the Player
Maddie blinked slowly, and then her eyes were aglow with happiness. “Yeah—yes, I can.”
He started past her, but she called out his name, stopping him. “What are you going to do?”
Chad wasn’t 100 percent sure, but he only knew one thing. “I’m going to go make new memories.”
…
It was damn near eight o’clock in the evening before Bridget decided she needed to shower and brush her teeth, but the marathon of The Walking Dead had kept her glued to the screen for most of the day.
And nothing, not even hygiene, was more important than the cray cray of a zombie infestation.
Seemed funny to be finally taking off her jammies to shower and put fresh pajamas back on, but that’s what she was doing.
Tying the sash on her robe loosely around her waist, she patted out most of the water in her hair with her towel as she crossed her living room and peered out on the streets down below. There was last-minute traffic congesting the streets, but in about an hour, there’d be nothing, and tomorrow, there’d only be a few cars carrying people to see their families.
Bridget had decided to go to the movies tomorrow and eat as much popcorn as she could stomach.
Moving away from the window, she dropped the towel on the back of the recliner and glanced at the coffee table. Her cell phone had been so silent that Pepsi had curled up around it.
She briefly toyed with the idea of texting Chad a Merry Christmas message as she planned on doing, but after the complete hideous bitch she’d been to him yesterday, she doubted he’d be happy to hear from her.
Chad had actually tried to be considerate and sweet with the food thing, and she had…well, she just had a really bad day.
Bridget sincerely hoped he was having a good time and tried not to think past the New Year, but it was inevitable. How many dates did they have left in them? Three. Maybe four, and then nothing.
And considering how she sounded yesterday, Chad probably thought she didn’t even care.
Sitting down on the couch, she picked up the remote and searched for something on the TV to distract her. When that failed, she tried searching out a favorite book of hers from the case.
A sudden, unexpected knock on the door caused her to drop the book. Pepsi popped up from the coffee table, kicking her cell phone onto the floor as he darted into the bedroom.
Bridget sighed.
Having no idea who could be here other than a neighbor, she peered through the little peephole in her door.
Air punched out of her lungs, and her heart skipped a beat.
She’d recognized that back of a head anywhere.
Chapter Nineteen
Opening the door, she stared, dumbfounded and confused. What was he doing here? She couldn’t even fathom.
Chad turned around, holding a box in his arms. His eyes deepened to a midnight blue the moment they met hers. Without saying a word, he eased past her. She shut the door and turned around, leaning against the door.
It took her a couple of moments to remember how to speak. “What are you doing here?”
Chad glanced around her tiny apartment with interest. “It’s Christmas Eve.”
“Yeah, I know that.” God, she would’ve straightened up a little if she had known he was going to swing by. “Shouldn’t you be with your brothers and Madison’s family?”
He shrugged as he placed a box on the coffee table. Something festive-sounding jingled inside. Sitting down on her couch like he’d done it a million times before, he grinned up at her as he patted the cushion next to him. He grinned. “I like the paint by the way. Miss Gore said it looked like Sesame Street in here, but I don’t think so.”
Oh, Lord help her, she hated that woman. Her gaze bounced from the blue to the red walls. Okay. It kind of did remind her of Sesame Street. “You don’t?”
“Nope. I like it. It fits you.”
Her little heart got all a-fluttery at the sound of that, which was bad and so needed to stop. “What are you doing here, Chad?”
