Latte Darling: Book Two of The Darling Series
Latte Darling: Chapter 7

I lower my body into the driver’s seat and think – not for the first time – that I might be getting too old for these low cars. Then I look over and see Maddie looking sexy as fuck in my passenger seat. Her black tresses blending in with the black interior, highlighting the beauty of her flawless pale skin.

She grabs the seat belt, twisting towards me as she reaches to buckle it in and her low-cut shirt dips even lower.

Look away, asshole.

Clearing my throat, I buckle my own seat belt, then start the engine.

I reach for the shifter, pause, and pull my phone out of my pocket. “Baby Doll, type your address in my GPS. Yeah?”

“Hmm?” She glances down to the phone in my hand, “Oh, okay.”

I could have her tell me directions, but if she falls asleep on the way, I’ll have no idea what to do with her.

Liar, my brain whispers.

But kidnapping an unsuspecting woman is not on my to-do list.

Maddie takes the phone from me, already open to the correct app, and stares at it for a couple seconds before she starts to tap the address into the search bar.

I hear her mumble something about glasses, but she hands me the phone back. “Here you go.”

Our fingers brush as I take the phone from her, and I feel like I’m back in high school. Except when I was in school there’s no way I’d have gotten a girl as hot as Maddie in my car. But here I am, giving the pretty girl a ride home, trying not to embarrass myself by popping a boner just from some cleavage.

I shift and reverse out of the parking spot, “What sort of music do you like?”

Maddie shrugs her shoulders in my periphery, “All sorts really. I feel like every genre has a time and place.”

“Huh.”

Her soft snicker fills the car as I shove the shifter into drive.

“You don’t think so?” she asks me.

“I’ve never really thought of it like that, but it makes sense.”

Stopping at the exit of the parking lot, I look over and replace Maddie watching me. Her head is leaned back against the head rest, rolled to face me, with a big smile on her face.

“What?”

Her smile grows, “You sounded so grumpy when you said that. It was cute.”

I narrow my eyes. “First, I’m too nice and now I’m cute?”

She nods.

“Time for me to set you straight, Baby Girl.”

Even in the darkness, I can see her green eyes sparkle as she blinks at me, “And just how are you gonna do that?”

“Like this.”

Keeping my foot on the brake, I close the space between us and seal my lips to hers.

And she moans.

The little sex pot fucking moans.

Our lips part at the same time, and I delve my tongue into her mouth. Finally getting a taste of her sweetness.

Her back arches, and I groan, straining to press our chests together. But it just won’t work. Not here. Not like this. And when her hands grip at my shirt, I almost wish I drove that big piece of shit van. I bet there’d be enough space in there to drag Maddie onto my lap.

My arm that’s closest to her has nowhere to go – my elbow already jammed into the center console – so I reach across with my other arm and finally, fucking finally, shove my fingers into her glorious hair.

“Axel,” she pulls away just enough to pant my name.

My hand cups the back of her head – my palm dwarfing the size of her – as her own fingers claw at the material covering my chest, and I pull her mouth back to mine.

She meets me just as fiercely. Her tiny sounds of pleasure ricocheting around in my head.

I swipe my tongue into her mouth, and her lips close around it. Sucking.

My body freezes and the blood in my veins turns molten.

Jezzzzus.

Then her teeth scrape over my bottom lip, and I feel the jolt all the way down to my dick.

“Fuck!” I bark, pulling away.

Adjusting myself with one hand, I use the other to jam a button on the dash, filling the car with loud heavy metal music.

A quick check tells me the streets are empty, so I move my foot from the brake to the gas and slam the pedal to the floor.

My Charger rockets out of the lot, causing Maddie to let out a small squeak.

I see her shift in her seat and bite back another groan.

I know I’m being an asshole by cutting off the kiss like that, but I was about a second from throwing the car in park and fucking her on the hood.

Which would be wrong.

Before I connected the GPS I glanced at the map, so I know the general area that we’re going to. It’s the opposite way from where I live but maybe only 20 minutes total from my house. And thankfully there’s a long straight stretch of empty road between here and Darling Lake. Because I need to blow off some of the steam that Maddie’s been boiling inside of me.

Making the turn onto the straight away, I open it up and we fly down the road.

My hand is resting in its usual spot on top of the shifter, an old habit from driving too many manuals, and I sense the movement a moment before I feel Maddie’s fingertips trace the pattern of the rose on the back of my hand.

Her skin feels like silk, and I want to flip my hand over to hold hers, but I also don’t want her to stop. The soft touch she’s giving me is working to both calm me down and rile me up.

After a few moments, her hand stills and she rests her palm on the back of my hand. Glancing over, I see her gaze fixed on the landscape speeding past the window.

Keeping an eye on the road, I keep sneaking glances at Maddie. The fingertips of her free hand drum along with the beat on the door handle. Tapping their way closer to the window control.

She tap tap taps gently on the button, before pressing it down, allowing the hot summer air to flow in through the now open window.

Her hair is instantly tossed around, like some sort of air nymph.

Fuck it.

Twisting my wrist, I let her hand slide off mine, dropping just an inch until she’s holding the shifter. Then I drape my hand over hers, mirroring the position they’d just been in. Only this time, I’m on top.

Her head rolls towards me, and a large smile spreads across her face.

The music is still blasting, and between that and the wind, we wouldn’t be able to hear each other talk. But that doesn’t matter, because she doesn’t try to speak. She just continues to smile as she sticks her other hand out the window. Letting the air stream between her spread fingers.

She’s such a mystery to me, this woman. Of course, we’ve only just met, but there’s so much hidden behind her smiling eyes. I need to know more. I want to understand her.

My foot presses down, increasing our speed.

I need to get her home, out of my car, and out of my life.

No way can I allow myself to get more entwined in the mystery surrounding this stunning woman. I have a business to run. A kid to set straight. And I don’t need the distraction of a sweet young thing like Maddie.

The minutes pass and after driving through one of the few stoplights in Darling Lake, I make the final turn, following the directions until I slow outside of a small row of townhomes.

I hadn’t really put any thought into what her home might look like, but this looks exactly right.

The streetlamp above us lets me count the four connected homes, with Maddie’s house number above the garage door on one of the center units.

A small driveway leads up to the single car garage, and before I can stop myself, I pull up the driveway.

Just tell her to get out.

Tell her goodnight, have a good life, and get then fuck out of here.

“Thank you for the ride,” Maddie’s hand slides out from under mine, and I watch as she clasps hers together on her lap.

She’s looking out the window again, lip caught between her teeth. Thinking.

You’re a fucking sap. She’s an adult. She can do this on her own.

I put the car in park and turn off the engine. “I’ll walk you up.”

Her eyes move to meet mine, “Okay.”

I berate myself the entire time it takes me to climb out of the car and around to Maddie’s side. Nothing good can come from this. More time with this sexy little creature isn’t going to make my life easier.

By the time I reach her, she’s already on her feet.

“Got everything?” I ask, peering into the car.

Maddie holds up her little bag, “Yep.”

My hand easily drifts to her back as we start up the short sidewalk to her front door.

Just to the door.

You’re only gonna walk her to the door.

Make sure she gets inside, then you’re out of here.

She sways a little, and when I move to steady her, she snakes her arm through mine, holding my arm against her side.

I don’t notice the softness of her breast pressing into my elbow. I don’t notice it at all.

Carefully, we move up the handful of stairs before we finally stop directly in front of her door.

“Oh crap, hang on,” Maddie grumbles, digging into her purse.

She leans her head on my shoulder, or just below it, since she doesn’t quite reach that high. I can hear her mumbling something about locks and codes and someone named Beckett.

My muscles tense.

“Who the fuck is Beckett?” The question bypasses my internal filter, snapping out into the night air.

“Hmm?” Maddie clearly doesn’t notice the jealousy in my tone. “He’s the one…” she trails off. “Ah-ha! Here it is.”

Her head raises as she holds up the key.

He’s the one? What the fuck does that mean?

“That’s great, Baby.” She starts to move so she can unlock the door, but I hold my arm down against hers before she can pull away, trapping her in place. “You were telling me who Beckett is?” I’m being an overbearing brute, but she doesn’t seem to notice.

“Oh, right,” she laughs, rolling her eyes at herself. “He’s the one my best friend is marrying. He’s good with locks and stuff.” An alarming amount of relief expands in my chest. “Marrying,” she repeats the word, annunciating each syllable. “That doesn’t sound right.”

The way she scrunches her face is adorable. And I should tell her. Or say something. But I don’t.

Good god, it’s no fucking wonder I’ve been single for so long.

Maddie leans back into my side, having forgotten about the key in her hand and the task in front of us.

“Give it here,” I hold my open palm out in front of her, and like the good girl she is, she sets the key in my hand.

It takes some maneuvering, but I get the door unlocked and swing it open.

“Welcome to my home,” Maddie uses her free hand to gesture through the doorway.

This is where I tell her goodnight.

Maddie steps through the door.

And I follow.

A soft feminine scent envelops me. It’s faint, but it’s there, the soft tones of lotions and perfumes floating through the space, mixed with an undercurrent of freshly ground coffee. It’s comforting and warm and oddly reminds me of my childhood.

I take another inhale, letting the floral notes spark a memory in my brain, of walking into my neighbor’s house to play. My friend had a hot older sister that was always using that super girly body spray, filling their whole house.

It’s not the exact scent that reminds me of the past. It’s the aura of female that fills this place. There’s a comfort to it- the knowledge that Maddie lives here, showers and gets ready here, and that’s why it smells the way it does.

A light flips on, and my mind is brought back to the present.

Standing just inside the threshold of Maddie’s house, there’s a heavy metal door on my left, leading into the garage, and a few feet ahead there’s an open door on the right that looks like an office. Past that, there’s another couple doorways and then the hallway opens up into a larger space.

With a hand on the wall, Maddie bends to remove her shoes. She’s facing away from me and the devil on my shoulder is begging the taught denim over her ass to tear apart.

Since my eyes are locked on her form, I watch as she pulls off her second shoe and starts to tip as she straightens.

Closing the small distance between us, I grip her waist, steadying her.

Maddie lets out a small yelp before she realizes that I have her.

Her back to my front, we stay frozen for a heartbeat – then two – before she drops her face into her hands, shaking her head.

“I’m sorry.” Her words are muffled, but in the quiet of the house I can make them out. “I swear I’m not usually like this. It’s so embarrassing.”

I release my hold on Maddie and step around in front of her. “Don’t be embarrassed, Doll. You’re fucking perfect.”

Her fingers slowly part and she looks up at me.

She stares at me for a few moments. “Why are you so-”

“No.” I hold up a hand to stop her. “Don’t call me nice again.”

Maddie’s hands drop to her sides and her mouth moves, but she doesn’t say anything.

Then she shocks the shit out of me by stepping forward and wrapping her arms around me in a hug.

A fucking hug.

Every muscle in my body stills as she lays her cheek against my chest, her tiny hands pressed into my back – not quite reaching around me.

My arms are in the air, like she’s placing me under arrest instead of showing me affection.

I don’t… I don’t remember the last time someone hugged me.

Her fingertips press into the muscles along my spine and I break.

I drop my arms, encircling her small frame.

The second I pull her closer, she relaxes into me. As though this is normal, and not the most spectacular thing that I’ve experienced in years.

My lungs expand, fighting against the tightness in my throat, and I watch her head move with the rise of my chest. Looking down on the top of her head, I imagine this is the same view I’d have if she fell asleep sprawled across my chest.

I squeeze her tighter.

“Mmm,” her sound of satisfaction rolls from her body and into mine. “You’re a good hugger.”

A smile cracks across my face, “There’s another first. Next, you’ll tell me I’m pretty.”

Maddie snickers, then tips her head back to look up at me. The shake of her head is slow. “No. You’re too handsome to be pretty.”

My smile slips. What the hell am I supposed to say to that?

Her head tilts to the side, “You hungry?”

“Uh.” Did she just ask if I’m hungry? “What?”

She nods once, as if I answered her question instead of asking my own. “I’m gonna make a sandwich.”