I laugh under my breath. “Listen, this is sweet but?—”
“But nothing,” he says. “Call them friend dates. Call them hangouts. Make up a word, for all I care. What I want you to do is write down nine things you want to do from now until the end of the year. I’ll add on any ideas I have. And this is going to be our Best Friend Activities Book.”
I look down at the notebook then back up to Maddox. God, this man… his smile is big and there’s a twinkle in his eyes.I know I questioned whether or not I could be friends with a man who I’ve one: slept with; two: who has feelings for me; and three: smells really good which doesn’t help the fact that I’m apparently now a horny woman. But the genuine smile he’s giving me right now… I don’t know how I can say no.
“Nine things?” I ask.
“Yup. Because eight isn’t enough, and ten is too many.”
As if on cue, my phone alarm goes off, alerting me that the cookies are done.
“Oh! Let me get them!” Maddox says, jumping up with all the energy of a golden retriever.
“Don’t forget the oven mitts!” I call out.
He comes to a screeching stop, grabbing the mitts that I leave next to the oven, as he opens it and pulls out two trays of oversized chocolate chip cookies.
“Holy shit! I did it!” he exclaims. “I mean, you helped. But I made cookies!”
I laugh as I watch his excitement, before looking down again at his notebook.
I need to say no. Tell him thanks, and that his heart is in the right place, but that this is a little much.
Except I know damn well I’m not going to.
CHAPTER 13
MADDOX
“Phyllis! Kitty! Two of my favorite girls. How are we doing on this beautiful March day, besides looking as gorgeous as ever?”
My words make the two older women blush, but Gabi rolls her eyes as she takes their plates away. I’ll admit, that first day these two had me off my game. But since then? I’ve been able to charm them a little more each time.
And I’m ready each time Phyllis pinches my ass. She’s got strong fingers.
“How's our favorite hotty doing today?” Phyllis asks, patting the seat next to her for me to sit down. “We haven't seen you in a while.”
“I know, and I'm sorry,” I say. It’s been over a week since I’ve been here, which was the same day as my baking lesson. I feel guilty as hell about that. “I’m trying to negotiate a new contract so I can buy you two all the baked goods you could ever want. Those kinds of talks take time.”
“Oh you,” Kitty says, giving my arm a slap. “Nonetheless, it’s good to see you.”
“Good to see you, too.”
The last week has been an odd chaos of random things that have kept me busier than I’d like to be in the offseason. There were a good amount of contract negotiation meetings, but my agent and the team lawyers are finalizing my new four-year deal as we speak. I’m not the highest paid safety in the league, but if I keep going the way I have been my first four years, come time for the next contract, I could be.
On top of that, every single offseason commitment I had seemed to be scheduled over the past week. A few days with my charity; meetings with some of the companies that I have endorsements with; shooting a commercial for one of those. Sure, all of those are good for my bank account, but they’re bad when it comes to seeing the one person I want to see every day.
Actually, maybe it’s good that I’ve been away. Not because I don’t like spending time with her, but because I like spending time with her too much. And the more time I spend with her, the more I want to kiss her.
And I can’t do that. That’s not what friends do.
So, yeah, maybe time away was for the best.
Oh, who am I kidding? I’m a smiling fool right now as I watch her come out of the kitchen, carrying a tray of brownies. Her apron is tied around her waist, there’s floury patches scattered randomly on her body, and the shirt she’s wearing isn’t supposed to be sexy, but it’s giving a peek at her cleavage, and I swear I might cry they look so good.
“Jaw up, Maddox,” Kitty says with a slap on my leg. “They’re just boobs.”
Damn. This is what I’m reduced to. Staring at her tits like I’m a horny teenager. Also, are they bigger?
