Page 57 of The Encounter
“I can’t wait,” she whispered.
18
The press remained outside Jace’s building for the duration of the day and the following day before they slowly began trickling away. They were more persistent now than they had been in the past, but he refrained from looking up the articles about the happenings on Friday night since Maddie was still at his place.
Haley had been a lifesaver in the events following. She managed the club on Saturday so Jace could stay home with Maddie. And he was thankful he did.
Keeping her safe and in his arms was the only thing he wanted to do, and he thought she might feel the same way. He dreaded the moment when it came time to bring her home on Sunday night, and it came far too soon.
They pulled up outside of her place, and she stared out the window before turning to look back at Jace.
He took her hand as she moved to get out of the car. “Wait.”
She sat back and turned toward him.
“I have something for you.” He reached into the center console of his car and pulled out a square box. “I want you to have this.”
She gave him a questioning look before taking the box from him and pulling off the lid. A smile immediately brightened her face. “Is this—?”
He nodded. “It’s a garage door opener to my building and a key card to the elevator for my place. I want you to come and go as you please and not worry about me having to buzz you up.”
She slipped both items into her purse before leaning forward and kissing him. “Thank you. That’s very sweet of you.”
“You’re welcome.” He tilted his head toward her house. “I’ll walk you up.”
She smiled. He took her duffel and held her hand as they walked up the steps to her front door. She unlocked it and they both stepped inside.
Kayla’s scream pierced the air, and before Jace could react, Maddie tore up the stairs. Jace followed quick on her heels, wanting to drag her back out of the house until he could assess the threat, but Maddie was quick.
She got to Kayla’s door and flung it open. Jace stopped short behind her as Robert’s bare ass was exposed before them, with Kayla naked and tied to the bed.
Maddie squeaked and yanked the door shut just as Kayla cackled out a laugh. Jace stood mortified, seeing much more of his employee’s body and his girlfriend’s best friend than he cared to see.
“That’s what you get for not knocking!” Kayla yelled before bursting into another fit of giggles.
“We thought you were hurt!” Maddie shouted through the door. “We came home to you screaming!”
“Girl, if you haven’t screamed like that during sex, you haven’t LIVED!”
Jace put a palm to his face and covered his mouth to avoid bursting out laughing.
“Oh my God. I’m going back to Jace’s place. Carry on!”
“Jace, make her scream like Robert makes me!” Kayla yelled.
“Okay, we’re leaving. Bye!” Maddie grabbed Jace’s hand and pulled him to her bedroom, where she dumped out the dirty clothes from the bag and quickly refilled it with clean clothes for work. Before they even descended the stairs, the sound of the headboard banging against the wall filled the house.
Maddie groaned, and all but dragged Jace down the stairs. When they were safely back in his car, Maddie shook her head.
“I realized I never asked you if I could stay the night again,” she said, turning to him. “But you know what you’d be subjecting me to if you turn me away.”
He laughed. “No. I’m sorry. You can’t. You must go back inside and endure that for the rest of the evening.”
She smirked. “Good idea. Maybe I can go see how Robert is making her scream like that.”
Jace clutched his chest and started his car. “Wow. You wound me. I guess I’m going to have to show you myself.”
“Guess so.”
