Page 65 of Back To Our Beginning

“What? Stop laughing! You are totally ruining the mood, you jerk.” Then I heard the buzzer.

Beau dropped his head, snuggling his cheek against my neck, still laughing. Finally, he said, “We beat the clock.”

Chapter Seventeen

Maddie looked beautiful sitting at the table. She was flushed and smiling. I was still feeling pretty happy with myself that I’d surprised her with the whole counter idea, but the kitchen timer had been a happy accident. It worked so well that I was thinking that maybe I should set my phone alarm in the bedroom sometime.

It was definitely something to think about.

She took one bite of the ziti and moaned.

“Shit, Maddie, don’t do that. You’ll get me all worked up again.”

She swallowed her bite, took a sip of water, and winked. “That’s a pretty impressive recovery time for a man over thirty. I’m thinking I lucked out.”

I did my best not to smirk.

“I take it you like the ziti.”

“Let’s just say that if you ever want to get me into bed again, just start with this.” She picked up a piece of cheesy garlic bread, bit into it and started chewing. This time, she didn’t moan, she hummed.

“Seriously, Maddie, you need to cut it out.”

“It’s the cheese and carbs. But if you really want to see me get worked up, let me ogle you with your shirt off while I’m eating chunky monkey ice cream. You might end up dead from overuse.”

I shut up and started eating my food, trying to keep myself under control. It was tough. After hearing her say she loved me, I wanted nothing more than to take her into the bedroom and hold her and make love to her for the rest of the night. All of her moaning, humming and groaning was not helping.

“Would you have your shirt off, too?” I asked.

Her eyes twinkled. “If that’s what you wanted. I might even drip some ice cream on my breasts and you’d be forced to lick it off me.”

“Stop already!” I kept my seat.

Barely.

“You started it,” she teased.

“Bullshit. Now be quiet and eat.”

She giggled, then proceeded to eat a few bites in silence.

“Tell me how your day was,” I said when my dick wasn’t as hard as a post.

Maddie picked up her napkin and wiped nothing off her mouth, then sighed. “Less than stellar.”

I frowned. “Why, honey?”

“Oh, there was the normal crap, don’t get me wrong. Two more cases landed on my desk, which means I’m now seven over caseload cap.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m supposed to have only twenty cases, and our office is usually pretty good at allotting only that many, but during the summer months, with all the tourism in Pigeon Forge, we have more transient workers. The amount of child neglect reports increase some, so we have to go out on more calls.”

“So, working so late isn’t normal? It’s just during the tourist season?”

She nodded.

“I’ve got to say, that makes me feel better.”