Page 33 of I’d Be Honored

Desperate for something, anything, to do with her hands, Hayley reached for the check.

Maddie’s palm came down on top of Hayley’s, pinning her to the table. “Nuh-uh, I asked you out, so drinks are on me.”

They held each other’s eyes in a silent stare-down before Hayley finally sighed and pulled away. “Fine, I’ll pick up the tab next—” She snapped her mouth shut, but the damage was already done. Maddie was beaming from ear to ear.

“Next time?” Maddie teased, winking as she handed her credit card over to the server. “I told you. I’m irresistible.”

The woman returned minutes later, and Hayley spotted the loopy handwriting scrawled at the top of the receipt. She couldn’t quite make it out, but she could tell that there was a name and phone number written in the blue ink, followed by a small smiley face.

It normally would have given her great satisfaction to know that she had been right. But instead of feeling smug, Hayley’s gut twisted. She forced a playful look toward Maddie that said, I told you so, wondering if she would take the waitress up on her offer. Would she go home tonight and text her? Meet up with her?

Maddie remained silent as she reached for the slip of paper and began to mentally calculate the tip.

Hayley thought of the messages she had seen light up Maddie’s phone on the park bench. She was obviously sexting that woman, and Hayley’s fists clenched as she thought about some random clout chaser taking advantage of Maddie’s eager, happy-go-lucky naivety. She was Madison Crane, after all, and one of the hottest names in Hollywood. She really should be more careful.

Hayley tried not to imagine what kinds of photos had been shared. She’d love nothing more than to delete that entire thread from Maddie’s phone. While she was at it, she wanted to shred that bar tab too, starting with the girly handwriting now taunting Hayley as Maddie carefully signed her name at the bottom.

She pasted a tight-lipped smile on her face as Maddie looked up.

“Ready to go?” Maddie asked.

Hayley glanced at the check. There were no scrawled numbers, no flirty quips left in response to the waitress. She turned to Maddie for an explanation, but Maddie only blinked and returned her gaze, patiently waiting for Hayley to lead the way out of the bar.

Hayley threaded her way to the exit, stopping only once they stepped out into the warm summer air. “Hey, you don’t have to leave because of me, you know. I can just catch a cab if you’d like to go back inside.” She hoped she sounded more convincing to Maddie than she did to herself.

“Why would I want to—oh.” Maddie stopped mid-sentence, glancing over her shoulder toward the window at the cute waitress on the other side.

She took a step closer to Hayley, her voice dropping to a low whisper. “Hayley. That is not who I was hoping to end my night with.”

Oh, no. No, no, no. Keep it. In. Your pants.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Hayley’s breath caught at the sudden closeness. “I just told you, Maddie—I don’t date.”

“You also said that this wasn’t a date,” Maddie replied. “So what exactly is the problem here?”

Hayley couldn’t seem to remember. What was the problem? Maddie knew Hayley didn’t want a relationship. She’d been clear about that. And they were both grown women.

“Gemma and Caitlin—the wedding,” Hayley murmured. “I don’t want to make things complicated.”

“Let’s keep it simple, then.” Maddie leaned in, her lips hovering just inches from Hayley’s ear. “Take me back to your place.”

“Are you absolutely sure?” Hayley needed Maddie to be the one to say it. If it was Maddie’s idea, and if she knew going into it that there would be no strings attached, surely Gemma wouldn’t still be upset with her, right?

“I’m sure,” Maddie purred, her breath tickling the side of Hayley’s neck. “Unless you want me to go back inside…”

A shiver slid down Hayley’s spine, pooling deep inside her. She stepped away with a sharp nod and straightened her back, raising one hand to hail a cab, her eyes never leaving Maddie’s face.

Five agonizing minutes later, they were in the elevator on their way up to Hayley’s apartment. They hadn’t said a single word to each other during the cab ride, yet a persistent heat prickled along Hayley’s skin.

In the silver reflection, she could see Maddie glancing sideways at her every few seconds. Hayley focused on her breathing. Her posture. She stared straight ahead as the doors slid open and she strode out, the click of Maddie’s heels following close behind.

As Hayley pulled her keys from her purse, she felt a brush of warmth across her neck as her hair was swept to the side. A pair of lips landed gently below her ear, and her eyes drifted shut, allowing herself to savor the softness of Maddie’s mouth against her skin.

Hayley pressed her tongue to the roof of her own mouth and opened her eyes, concentrating hard on fitting her key into the lock.

When they had finally pushed their way into her apartment, Hayley carefully stepped out of Maddie’s reach. She placed her purse on the entryway table and slowly spun around. Just as she hoped, Maddie was watching her.

“We play by my rules.” Hayley took a step closer to Maddie, her voice dropping to a dangerous quiet. “Is that going to be a problem for you?”