Read Online Maddie and Wyn by Cameron Dane - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Cameron Dane
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when it matters.” Dinner forgotten, she rushed to get away.
“I fucked up big time.” Wyn’s words stopped Maddie dead in her tracks, one step outside the kitchen. “I’m sorry about what happened that night. Truly I am.”
Maddie’s chest squeezed unbearably, with what exactly this time she didn’t know. She closed her eyes, as if doing so would block out the pain. “That’s the first time you’ve said that to me.” Her back to him, her throat was so dry and tight it barely produced sound. “I always thought your apology would make me feel better, but I still hurt. Maybe more than it should to you, but it’s real for me.”
A chair scraped across the tile floor. “Maddie—”
“Good night.” With that Maddie ran up the stairs to her room, too raw to deal with Wyn tonight. By morning she would have her guard back up. She had to. She wouldn’t be able to live with him and keep her distance, especially if he was issuing real apologies. She would not crack and let him into her heart again. She couldn’t.
Chapter 3
The next afternoon, after having checked the various traps and baits he’d set throughout Maddie’s house—to which he’d found nothing to indicate an intruder—Wyn loped down the front steps, swung toward the rundown garden, and did a second evidence search within the wrought iron fences.
Maddie wasn’t home, but Wyn had worked an early shift today, which allowed him to return to the house earlier than usual. It wasn’t quite five o’clock, so he didn’t think Maddie was avoiding him—yet. He’d have to wait another hour to see if she’d come home on time, and if she did, if she would look him in the eye.
As if the exchange last night in the kitchen hadn’t put Maddie on edge enough, this morning they’d crossed paths in the hallway, which would likely happen a lot since they would share a single bathroom on the second level. Wyn had not been able to hide an erection from her. He’d ached physically for her, and she’d witnessed it. While neither one of them had acknowledged the display of his attraction, Maddie hadn’t said a single word, no longer even giving him her terse hellos or goodbyes anymore.
This might be a lot harder to manage than I imagined it would be. With that thought, Wyn winced and groaned. He was a thirty year old man, and could no longer control when he got hard and when he didn’t. It didn’t matter that Maddie was rightfully angry and antagonistic. Not where I expected to be with her at this time of my life.
A half dozen years ago, Wyn had been mired in grief, still dealing with the loss of his mother more than a year after her death, the only parent he’d acknowledged or respected for over half of his life. He’d never thought his growing friendship with Maddie back then would have become one of the best times in his life, a beacon while suffering through the worst…
* * * *
…Having dragged himself to his door to let Maddie in after her incessant banging outside his small cottage, Wyn trudged back to the couch and dumped himself across its length, the way he’d done every night after work for nearly a week.
Before his head could hit the armrest, Maddie grabbed his hand and forced him to sit up. “Come on.” With her hip jutted and her sunglasses pushed into her wavy tresses like a headband, she tugged at his dead weight. “Get off the couch and go get dressed. I don’t care that you told me you don’t want to do anything. We’re going out.”
Digging in—they’d had this conversation on the phone last night after all—Wyn scowled at the chipper woman. “We closed the deal on the sale of my mother’s house. It’s gone forever. It’s a big deal.” Morbidly, Wyn had driven past his childhood home countless times since he and Ethan had accepted an offer for the place. This was the house where his and Ethan’s father had left them, the place where Jayne Ashworth had spent the bulk of her two bouts with cancer, the structure
“I fucked up big time.” Wyn’s words stopped Maddie dead in her tracks, one step outside the kitchen. “I’m sorry about what happened that night. Truly I am.”
Maddie’s chest squeezed unbearably, with what exactly this time she didn’t know. She closed her eyes, as if doing so would block out the pain. “That’s the first time you’ve said that to me.” Her back to him, her throat was so dry and tight it barely produced sound. “I always thought your apology would make me feel better, but I still hurt. Maybe more than it should to you, but it’s real for me.”
A chair scraped across the tile floor. “Maddie—”
“Good night.” With that Maddie ran up the stairs to her room, too raw to deal with Wyn tonight. By morning she would have her guard back up. She had to. She wouldn’t be able to live with him and keep her distance, especially if he was issuing real apologies. She would not crack and let him into her heart again. She couldn’t.
Chapter 3
The next afternoon, after having checked the various traps and baits he’d set throughout Maddie’s house—to which he’d found nothing to indicate an intruder—Wyn loped down the front steps, swung toward the rundown garden, and did a second evidence search within the wrought iron fences.
Maddie wasn’t home, but Wyn had worked an early shift today, which allowed him to return to the house earlier than usual. It wasn’t quite five o’clock, so he didn’t think Maddie was avoiding him—yet. He’d have to wait another hour to see if she’d come home on time, and if she did, if she would look him in the eye.
As if the exchange last night in the kitchen hadn’t put Maddie on edge enough, this morning they’d crossed paths in the hallway, which would likely happen a lot since they would share a single bathroom on the second level. Wyn had not been able to hide an erection from her. He’d ached physically for her, and she’d witnessed it. While neither one of them had acknowledged the display of his attraction, Maddie hadn’t said a single word, no longer even giving him her terse hellos or goodbyes anymore.
This might be a lot harder to manage than I imagined it would be. With that thought, Wyn winced and groaned. He was a thirty year old man, and could no longer control when he got hard and when he didn’t. It didn’t matter that Maddie was rightfully angry and antagonistic. Not where I expected to be with her at this time of my life.
A half dozen years ago, Wyn had been mired in grief, still dealing with the loss of his mother more than a year after her death, the only parent he’d acknowledged or respected for over half of his life. He’d never thought his growing friendship with Maddie back then would have become one of the best times in his life, a beacon while suffering through the worst…
* * * *
…Having dragged himself to his door to let Maddie in after her incessant banging outside his small cottage, Wyn trudged back to the couch and dumped himself across its length, the way he’d done every night after work for nearly a week.
Before his head could hit the armrest, Maddie grabbed his hand and forced him to sit up. “Come on.” With her hip jutted and her sunglasses pushed into her wavy tresses like a headband, she tugged at his dead weight. “Get off the couch and go get dressed. I don’t care that you told me you don’t want to do anything. We’re going out.”
Digging in—they’d had this conversation on the phone last night after all—Wyn scowled at the chipper woman. “We closed the deal on the sale of my mother’s house. It’s gone forever. It’s a big deal.” Morbidly, Wyn had driven past his childhood home countless times since he and Ethan had accepted an offer for the place. This was the house where his and Ethan’s father had left them, the place where Jayne Ashworth had spent the bulk of her two bouts with cancer, the structure
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