His mouth fell open.
“But you took care of that, didn’t you?” she said with an annoyed huff. “One question, Owen—why don’t you want me going out with Wyatt? And don’t give me that employee-fraternizing bullshit.”
Owen just gaped at her, unable to come up with a single argument in his defense. She was right, of course. He’d purposely ordered her to work late so she would miss her date with Wyatt. But he’d done it for her own good. Wyatt Killington was a sleazy player—Maddie deserved way better than that.
He opened his mouth to explain, but she didn’t give him the chance. Her cheeks were flushed with anger as she unleashed one of her infamous Maddie Wilson attacks.
“You know what? I don’t care what your reasons were,” she burst out, slamming the drawer so hard the metal cabinet rattled. “You had no right to purposely sabotage my date. That was a total asshole thing to do—and mean, damn it! It was mean and I don’t appreciate you interfering in my love life. It’s none of your damn business who I go out with, and if you pull a stunt like that again, I will quit. For good, this time, and trust me, Owen, without me, you’ll…”
He tuned her out. Maybe he was an asshole, but he was far too fascinated with her mouth to focus on the furious words coming out of it. Why hadn’t he ever noticed that her bottom lip was so much fuller than the top?
“I swear to God, Owen, if you do something like this again, I’ll—”
“Shut up,” he said hoarsely.
Her eyes widened. “Did you just tell me to shut up?”
“Yes,” he shot back. “I told you to shut up. Wanna know why?”
“No,” she yelled, taking a step to the side. “I don’t want to know why you would have the nerve to—”
He decided to answer anyway. “So I could do this.”
And then he kissed her.
Chapter Five
Holy sweet Mary and Moses. Owen nearly came in his pants from the feel of Maddie’s warm mouth against his. He felt like someone had shoved a hot poker down there. Heat sizzled in his groin, shooting out in all directions until his entire body was so hot he feared he might self-combust. Maddie gasped, whimpered. Maybe she was trying to tell him to stop, but when her lips parted he couldn’t help but slide his tongue through them.
The kiss was deep and passionate and at the same time hurried and clumsy. He felt like a bumbling teenager again as their noses bumped and his lips trembled against hers. The clumsiness didn’t take away from his current state of unbelievably turned on, though. Why the hell did it feel this good? This was Maddie’s mouth, Maddie’s lips…God, Maddie’s tongue swirling against his own.
Pulling back to catch her breath, Maddie searched his face, her brown eyes glazed with desire. “Why did you do that?” she whispered.
“Because…” He swallowed. “Because…fuck, I don’t know. Do you want to stop?”
“No.”
And then they were all over each other and Owen’s heart nearly beat itself right out of his chest. He ran his hands over every inch of her body, stroking her cheeks, her bare shoulders and arms, sliding underneath the hem of her dress to grip her firm thighs. He groaned at the feel of her smooth skin. Tugged on the material of her dress and brought it up her body, until finally he pulled it over her head and threw it aside. Left in nothing but skimpy green panties and an equally skimpy lace bra, Maddie stood there, cheeks flushed, lips swollen from their kisses. With another groan, he cupped her breasts through her bra and squeezed. He discovered that his hands were shaking like a leaf in the wind. Christ, her tits were so big, so firm. He couldn’t believe that he’d never done this before.
“Owen,” she pleaded, jutting out her breasts so that they filled his palms.
His head spun like a carousel as he fondled and explored, as he shoved the cups of the bra down to free her breasts. They popped out, her nipples the color of dark-red wine and hard to the touch. He was so focused on those mouthwatering buds, on rolling them between his fingers, that he barely noticed Maddie tugging on his clothing.
“Naked,” she choked out, shoving his hands away as she fumbled with the waistband of his jeans.
Her hands were shaking too, he realized, as he helped her get rid of his clothes. She tore his button-down shirt open and a few buttons snapped off and bounced on the floor. His boots disappeared, followed by his jeans, his boxers, the white undershirt he wore under his shirt.
“Oh God,” Maddie moaned as she stared at his naked body.