I shuffle closer, until my knees are bumping into his.
“Taste this,” he lifts the mug.
“Wh-why?” I ask, slowly pulling my hands out of my pockets.
Before I touch the mug, he turns it, so I’ll be pressing my lips against the same spot where his had been. “Because this is maybe the best drink I’ve ever had, and I need you to feel as proud of it, as I feel proud of you.”
Oh.
Oh, my damn heart.
Warmth swells inside my ribcage and my face can’t decide if it wants to smile or cry at his kindness.
Before he can say anything else, I take the cup out of his hands and set it back on the table. Then, with a quick glance around to make sure the other customers are occupied, I press my body between Axel’s spread knees, put my hands on his bristly cheeks to hold him still, and press a kiss to his forehead.
I’m not sure this is something that women do to men. But the ones he’s given me have made me feel so incredibly special. And I want to return the favor.
Of course the second I finish I start to feel foolish.
I start to pull away, but one of Axel’s large palms catches the back of my neck, holding me close.
“What’s that for?” his whispered breath feathers against my neck.
“It’s for you,” I sigh. “You’re too sweet to me.”
Axel makes a grumbling sound of disagreement, so I press my lips back against his warm skin.
“I’m serious,” I tell him. “I don’t know what it is about you, Axel Davis, but you always know the exact right thing to say at the exact right time.”
He shifts in his seat, and I draw back, my eyes automatically going to his lap. And the bulge that wasn’t there a moment ago.
Axel lets me go, using his hand to adjust himself. “Your pretty words shouldn’t work me up so much.”
A grin pulls across my lips. “But they do.”
“Yeah, they fucking do.” He shifts again. “Get back to work, Maddie Baby. I have a latte to drink.”
Chapter36
Axel
That last hourof Maddie’s shift nearly fucking killed me. Seeing her trot around, nearly drowned by my hoodie, without getting to touch her… it was sweet agony.
But the rest of the night, getting to sit in her shop, her space, it felt like home. But maybe that’s just her, because everything she touches feels like comfort to me.
I don’t know what the coffee shop was like before she took over, but Maddie has turned BeanBag into an extension of herself. And it didn’t escape my notice that every person who came in, left smiling. For someone who seems shy, and hates any sort of confrontation, she’s fantastic at her job. And I wasn’t lying when I told her I was proud of her. I was. I am. And maybe that’s weird, but it’s true.
Then when she kissed me after making me that latte… Hell, I was done. I’d been reading a book on my phone, but after that I couldn’t concentrate on a single sentence.
Now, with her chattering away beside me, as we drive back to her place, I can’t keep my mind on anything other than what she’s hiding under that dress.
And not those damn never-ending shorts. Those have to go.
“What are you thinking about?” Maddie’s voice breaks into my thoughts. “Axel?”
I tighten my grip on the steering wheel. “I’m trying to decide if I want you in only the dress. Or only the sweatshirt.”
There’s a beat of silence before Maddie replies with a breathy, “Oh.”