There Will Be Blood (not mine)

12. Master and Commander

JUSTIN POV

I closed the door of my penthouse after returning from delivering Maddie's orange roses to her dorm. It was still really early in the morning so I knew she would get them in a couple of hours.

I basically just sat back in the chair in my office, gloating.

I was winning this war and it was actually kind of pathetic from her point of view. I was playing her like my baby grand piano and there was nothing she could do about it. I pulled out all the stops, sparing no expense to show Maddie that I wasn't such a dick.

I actually called Maddie, with Bridget at my side but she wasn't helping so I got rid of her. After Maddie rushed me off of the phone the first time, I was relentless. She would fall and fall hard because I wasn't giving up on her. When she finally picked up that night, I was more determined than ever to romance the hell out of her because I wasn't loosing this.

I did a great deal of research that night as to what I should do to show her that I was serious about this. I found a site that was all about roses and their different colored meanings. That was a surprising discovery that I couldn't pass up. I ordered two dozen yellow ones for Maddie and took them over to her dorm myself. I paid the night person there to find out what room she was in and he took them up because he wouldn't let me go by myself.

I thought that I had conquered her with the simple gesture but I should have known better. Most women would have already jumped my dick but she made up some excuse about having a test the next day. She sounded like she was telling the truth so I gave her a reprieve but that meant that I had to work even harder the next day. I didn't call her but just sent yellow roses again the next morning.

They all came with a sly note of something I had thought up but that wasn't the point. I wanted her to see that I was trying. Even though I knew it was all a rouse, Maddie seemed to soak up my romantic signs and I knew I was getting closer to cracking her.

She finally called me back and accepted my invitation to dinner that night and the real planning began. I decided that I had to do something that would knock her socks off. I wasn't going to be compared to some college kid who didn't know what he was doing so I created a date that I knew she would never forget.

I decided to take her on my boat that I hadn't been on in years. I hired a full outfit of staff to serve us and then just had to wait for Maddie to fall into my web.

Throughout the whole date, something in me changed.

She was fighting me, that was obvious but my end goal changed as we ate dinner on that boat. It wasn't about trying to get her into bed because that seemed too trashy. Maddie wasn't like that. Don't get me wrong, fucking her was still in my head but I didn't want her to assume that I was just there to touch her body.

It felt like Maddie was better than that and I should be treating her with more respect.

That was when I knew I was in trouble. I had never had this feeling towards a woman in my entire life so these were uncharted waters for me but I played it all off well. I realized that I was actually talking to Maddie, not putting up a mask and it felt good to let my guard down somewhat.

I realized in the back of my mind that I liked Maddie. I really liked her and not in a sexual way. She was a woman who could hold her own against me and threw back conversation like it was programmed in our blood. We were talking like we were old college buddies.

I decided to just let the cards fall where they may as I drove Maddie back to her dorm.

I would let her make the moves sexually and wouldn't push her like I had originally wanted. To me, this was still a game and I planned on winning but would it really be bad to spend some extra time with her? No it wouldn't so I should enjoy my time with Maddie while I could. I figured that after we fucked, the appeal would dissipate so I wasn't in any hurry to get rid of her.