Chapter 12

ROCCO

I walk into the restaurant and I see Joanne working diligently at her desk as I pass by her office.

“Good morning, Rocco” she calls out.

“Morning,” I reply as I step back to poke my head in the doorway.

“You’re here early.”

“Thought I would get a jump on the inventory.” It’s a lie. My main hope is that I run into Maddie, even though I know it is her day off. “Want some coffee?” She doesn’t answer, which tells me she is already absorbed back into her work. I smile and continue down the hallway.

A few hours later as I am counting inventory in the stockroom, I am engrossed with thoughts of Maddie; the way she kissed me, her perfect silhouette as she peeled her top off her body for me, her eyes as she craved for me to touch her. I was stupid to turn her away, but I didn’t want it to be like every other encounter. Maddie is special. She needs to be loved, made love to and admired. I am not sure if I can give that to her but I sure want to try.

“Rocco?” A demure voice floats through the air and I turn to see her standing there.

I step down from the ladder and walk to the doorway she stands in without saying another word. I don’t pretend to know why she is here on her day off, but I secretly hope it is for me.

“Good morning. I was just thinking about you.” I take the sight of her in, concentrating on the subtle movements her body makes.

“Can I talk to you, Rocco?”

“Of course.” I set my paperwork down on the closest box in the stockroom and I give her my full attention.

“Privately?”

I study her face and nod, leading her through the kitchen and into my office, closing the door behind her. “What is it?” I ask, leaning against my desk in front of her.

“I wanted to apologize for running off on you. I didn’t mean to.”

“Why did you? I thought we were getting along so well.”

“I felt… rejected, I guess.” She looks down at the ring on her middle finger she continuously rotates.

“I didn’t tell you to leave. I like having you close to me, Maddie.” The hint of a smile on her lips is refreshing. “In fact, if you are okay with it, I’d like to see you again.”

“You would?” she asks, broadening that beautiful smile. She looks up at me and the sparkle returns.

“I would.” I take her hands in mine and I pull her closer. “I don’t want you to feel rejected. It was never my intention to cause such a feeling.”

“To say that I really like you doesn’t seem to satisfy how I feel about you. There is a connection between us and I don’t know what to do with it. I’ve never felt it before, and,” she licks her lips before taking a deep breath. This is a struggle for her to admit. “Well, I know that you have, I mean, you know your way around,” she closes her eyes and struggles some more.

“Maddie, I know what you are trying to say. I have had my share of lovers, yes. But nothing like this. You are different. I was okay with not getting serious about anyone. I was just fine casually dating and not worrying about how I acted or what they thought or what my next move was going to be. When I met you, all that changed. I want so much more now.”

“I just wasn’t sure if I measured up against the other women…”

“Don’t,” I interrupt. “Don’t compare yourself to my past, please. It is I who should worry about measuring up. Before I met you, relationships didn’t mean anything to me. I’m not even sure if I know how to be in one. But I would love to try.”

I pull her closer to me and surround her neck with my hands as I kiss her lips. The tingling sensation returns and I deepen my kiss. An arousal begins deep in my groin as I inhale deeply, her familiar scent intoxicating me once again.

She pulls away from me and turns away, covering her mouth with the back of her hand.

“I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Talk to me, Maddie.” I close the gap between us, my hands on her arms and my face in her hair. “Don’t turn me away.”

“I want to be with you. I just, I love my job, and you and Joanne have been so good to me. I don’t want to jeopardize what I have been given for what I want.”

“I can talk to her. My sister is a stubborn woman, yes, but not unreasonable.”

“She was very adamant on what she wanted and she is not the kind of person to back down. She put these rules in place for this very reason. You aren’t going to convince her.”

I turn her to me and kiss her again. I need to convince Maddie first. I’ll worry about Joanne later.

Maddie doesn’t pull away. I let her into my senses as my tongue pushes into her mouth and twirls around her tongue. My arousal enflames with greed and I move my hands down her body pulling her into me. The small gasps she lets out pierces me and I want more. I feel her hands on my back pulling me tighter to her and I move my hand to her breast, rubbing her, encircling her and feeling her nipple tighten beneath my palm. Her breathing gets quicker, harder and restless. The side of my desk pushes against me as she presses her body into my growing cock.

“You feel so good,” I mumble through pressed lips, my hunger for her growing rapidly.

In the back of my mind, I know this is where we were headed last night. I was able to diffuse it then, but now, is there a point of no return? I don’t want this to be like the others. I want to savor her, but she is pulling me in deeper and deeper. My hands work underneath her top, sliding along bare skin. I find the strap of her bra and immediately unclasp it. Another gasp escapes her, fueling me to push further. My desire to be inside her strengthens. I cup her breasts underneath her bra and her hardened nipples taunt me. I want to feel them against my tongue. My thoughts swirl around me and I pick her up and walk to the other side of the room to the couch.

Before reaching my destination, a knock on the door interrupts us, stopping me dead in my tracks. I let Maddie down and she scrambles to put herself back together. I quickly direct Maddie into my closet and quietly close the door before moving to my desk chair.

“Come in,” I say as I sit down.

Joanne opens the door and looks around. “Is everything okay?”

“Of course. Why do you ask?”

“Your door is closed, for one. Even when you were… entertaining… you hardly closed the door.”

“I had a personal phone call earlier.”

“Okay. Do you have the list of contractors for the remodel?”

“I do. I will email them over to you right now.”

“Thank you.” She looks around, not completely believing my phone call story. “I want to get them started early next week.”

“If you want, I can start making calls this morning.”

“That’s okay. I’ll take care of it.”

“Is there anything else?” I ask, waiting for her to leave.

“No. I have a meeting after lunch with some potential investors, so I’ll be busy for couple of hours, but we can go over everything tonight.”

“Investors? For the restaurant?”

“You didn’t think we could fund this remodel on our own, did you?”

“There are financing options. I thought you were looking into them?”

“It was a possible option, but when you have the right investor, why bother?”

“I wasn’t aware of this new development.”

“Nothing is set in stone yet. I’ll have more details tonight.”

I sit there, motionless, as she turns and leaves. After a few moments, I rush to the office door and look out, closing the door again and letting Maddie out of the closet.

“Sorry,” I say.

“This is what I’m talking about, Rocco. I don’t want to do this. Sneaking around is too dangerous.”

“It will all be worth it to be with you.” I cup her face and kiss her again, lingering on her lips and just enjoying the feeling. “Have dinner with me.”

“I don’t know. I think it’s too risky.”

“Private dinner, just the two of us. I know a great out-of-the-way place we can go.”

After a slight hesitation, she smiles and nods.

“Okay,” she says. “I have to go right now, but I’ll have dinner with you.” She warms me with her smile and after one more beautiful kiss, she sneaks out, leaving me with more moments to ponder over until I see her again.

It is just before the lunch hour, so I walk through the dining area to check on stocked items. Nancy smiles and waves.

“Good morning,” she says with a smile.

“You are chipper today.”

“I was able to spend some time with Maddie and I found out just how amazing she really is. I had her all wrong and I feel terrible for trying to get her into trouble. Anyway, we bonded and she is even helping me out with a small problem I have been having. I think we are going to be good friends.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“I even mentioned that I think you and her would be dynamite together,” she says.

“Did you?” I hold a chuckle back.

“I hope she at least gives you a chance.”

“You know the rules.”

“Sometimes rules are made to be broken. Besides, you’d be so much better for her than that other guy.”

“Other guy?” The thought feels like a punch in my stomach. “I wasn’t aware she was seeing anyone.”

“Well, I don’t know how serious they are, but I do know he is quite the dominating type. Are you interested in her? I can tell her if you want.”

“No, no that’s okay. I’d rather keep things professional.”

“Oh, okay. Sorry.” She starts to walk away with a bounce in her step, leaving me there questioning her intentions.

Just as Joanne appears from her office carrying a stack of clean tablecloths, Nancy stops and turns back to me.

“I almost forgot. Where is Maddie?” Nancy asks.

I get a feeling in my gut that this isn’t going to end well. “Today is her day off.”

“Oh. I hope everything is all right.”

“As far as I know, it is.”

“Well, when I saw her coming out of your office this morning, I assumed she was here. I’ll just call her later.” Nancy turns and walks into the kitchen, whistling a happy tune. I glance over and see the daggers Joanne is throwing at me with her eyes.