“A hot piece of ass, that’s who.”
Excuse me… what did they just say?
I stop in my tracks, barely two steps inside the door, because I’m all sorts of flustered. This is not how I expected my grand entrance to be. I try to scramble to figure out what to say, or how to react, to the two older women who are clearly staring at my dick right now, when one word snaps me out of my stupor.
“Maddox?”
My name is barely a whisper on Gabi’s lips. Lips I want to kiss. Lips I still remember tasting like champagne andperfection. But they’re loud enough to bring me back to the present, and really take a look at my girl.
My friend. Shit, yes, my friend.
“Hi, Gabrielle.”
Neither of us move as we take each other in. I needed those few minutes outside to prepare myself, but I still wasn’t ready to see her. Her hair is pulled up in a crazy type of pony tail. She has on barely any makeup and is wearing an adorable blue and white apron that matches the sign out front. Her smile is small but beautiful, and I hope a little bit it’s because she’s happy to see me.
Just friends. You’re going to be friends. So don’t stare at her chest in the v-neck T-shirt.
“Oh I know what’s going on here,” one of the older women says. “They’ve banged.”
Like glass shattering, those two words snap me out of my daze. “Um… we… ”
“Oh they for sure have,” the other woman says, standing up and walking next to me. “You’re a cute little young thing aren’t you? Good job Gabi. I like ’em younger too.”
What the hell is happening?
“Phyllis, please,” Gabi says, snapping into action and coming to pull me away from the woman apparently named Phyllis. “This is Maddox. He’s my friend.”
“Naked friend,” the other says, outstretching her hand. “I’m Kitty. Nice to meet you Maddox.”
I return the gesture as I try to get my wits back, because these two are throwing me for a loop. “Nice to meet you Kitty. And yes, I’m a friend of Gabi’s.”
“Sure you are,” she says, adding in a wink for good measure. “If you’re her friend, then why have we never seen you here before?”
“We’re here every day,” Phyllis says as she sits back down. “And yet, this is your first time here?”
When I decided to come in to surprise Gabi, I ran through a few different scenarios of how this was going to go. None of them were me facing off against a blue-hair interrogation. But I’m Maddox Gallagher. I go up against some of the best athletes in the world. I can handle these two.
Maybe. Probably. Except Phyllis keeps winking at me and I’m pretty sure Kitty’s hand is on my arm.
“It is,” I say, doing my best to turn on the charm. “Gabi and I recently met. But I’ve heard her baking is top notch.”
“It is,” Phyllis says.
“Well then I need some recommendations. What’s good?”
“She’s a fan of the cinnamon rolls,” Kitty says. “As for me? I’m partial to the bear claws.”
“A woman after my own heart,” I say, adding in my own wink. If they’re going to flirt with me, then I’m going to flirt and charm them right back. Especially because I have a feeling that if I can win them over, that’s only going to help my cause. “They’re my favorite. You didn’t eat them all, did you?”
“Oh I couldn’t if I tried,” she says. “Wait! You say you two just met?”
I look up to Gabi and her suddenly very red cheeks and unblinking eyes.
“We did. About two weeks ago now?”
“Well isn’t that funny,” Kitty says. “That’s about the time she put bear claws on the menu…”
I look to my “friend,” whose eyes are about to pop out of her head. As for me? I’m smiling ear to ear. “Is that so, Gabrielle?”
