She leaned in.
Her lips grazed the fork, tongue sweeping the frosting. My entire spirit left my body to go pray. The no-sex contract burst into flames. She licked her lips again, enjoying torturing me.
“Good?” I managed, trying to sound like that mouth didn’t still affect me deep down to the bone.
“Meh. My red velvetboxcake is better.” She teased, licking her lips again.
“I know how you do. Adding in extra flavor, but this cake cost twenty-nine dollars and some sexual vulnerability.”
“You’re ridiculous. Taste it.” A smile played on her lips as her eyes drifted down to my mouth.
Man, I swear the airport thermostat whispered,You got this, bro, and shut itself off.
I pushed the cake aside.Shewas my cake.
Her breath tickled my lips. I leaned in close enough to taste the chocolate fantasy. My brain was already building the headlines:
“Judge Violates No-Sex Contract in Airport Café. Nation Shocked; Therapist Disappointed.”
But when Madison looked up, all lashes and danger, the logic I lived by flatlined.
“C’mere.” I brushed her cheek with my thumb, and she laughed. God, that laugh.
I kissed her. Slow, like the end of time might never arrive. Deep, like she’d starved me. Her hand slipped up to my chest, soft against steel. I gripped the back of her neck, and she tilted enough to press into me. “Happy birthday,chère.”
My mouth tasted her again, just to survive. She sighed against my lips. The air between us wasn’t big enough to hold everything that we meant to each other. “I love you, Wash.”
Pulling back, I watched her eyes flutter open. “I love everything about you, Madison Selene Babineaux.”
She was smiling at me when someone at the table closer to the bar laughed. Man? Woman? Indistinguishable. But the laughter made Madison’s shoulders jolt as she glanced around. That damn laugh sounded like two car horns got into a slap fight.
We busted up laughing. I said, “Somebody sounds like a car horn?”
“Yep.” Madison spoke through giggles, then she jumped to her feet.
“Maddy,bébé, where are you going?”
She snatched up her purse. “My car. We’ve gotta go!”
I stood, tossed cash onto the table, and chased after her. In seconds, I matched her sprint with my own leisurely jog. “Madison, I don’t know how bad the cake was. But we didn’t have to dine and dash.”
Madison groaned, rushing through the sliding door. Outside, she hurried over the path, tripping over a folded stroller on the ground as a man wrestled luggage from an SUV.
I yanked her closer to me. “Bébé, what is it?”
“My car. It’s … it’s not here.”
I shrugged. “The tow company can keep your Dawoochie. Consider it a mercy mission.”
“Washington!” she gasped. “Stop, I can’t afford that fee.”
“Okay, take the Bentley. The mechanic handed it over a long time ago.”
“Really? Why are you still riding the Range Rover?”
“Out of respect to your … hatred, I guess. The Rover was a lease, not a rental. Are you passing on your dream car?”
“Not my dream anymore. I’m humble. I want my Daewoochie! Ugh.” She tilted her head. “That sounded awkward.”
