Valentine's Day

Chapter 10

Maddie yawned as the clock inched closer to 2am.  If she hadn't been pretending to be Brian's date, she probably would have made her way home hours ago. But she wanted to hold up her end of the bargain especially since she'd seemed to make Brian upset with her erectile dysfunction crack. He'd kept his end of the bargain by paying her tab and staying close enough to be considered a date but all the humor was gone from his smile. So much so that she was surprised more than anyone when he offered to give her a ride home.

"You don't have to do that," she said not excited to be alone in the car with him.

He shrugged "It's not a big deal."

She looked at Liza whose eyes had widened at the situation. "Are you sure? I mean Jason and I could..."

"Really...it's cool with me...I mean unless you'd rather ride with your friend," he almost challenged.

"It fine, I'm sure Brian can get me there in one piece.How bad can it be?" she asked her friend with a playful grin.

Liza didn't look so sure even though Maddie smiled to try to set her at ease. 

Turned out to be worse than Maddie expected. Brian's Mercedes was large enough but his presence, the heat of his body, the smell of his cologne and the urge to reach over and touch his tattoos, was overwhelming and seemed to take up quite a bit of space. It made her feel claustrophobic.

"You can take the I-5  if you want to get there faster," Maddie offered as he turned down Westminster Street.

"I was headed that way," Brian looked over quickly at her and she thought she saw a smirk. "I know how to get around LA."

"I didn't mean that you didn't," Maddie replied "I just thought...I mean..I was just trying to be helpful. I'd hate for you to get lost."

"I appreciate that," he said drily "But I've been around awhile. I always know how to find my way home."

"That doesn't help me, especially if its my home you're trying to find," she offered with a hint of sarcasm.

"True," he chuckled warmly and she felt tingles at the sound. 

"Thanks for the ride," she continued. "I mean you didn't have to do it."

"Guess I figured I owed you one for being a dutiful impromptu date," he said keeping his eyes focused on the road.

"Well I got unlimited drinks and your promise to forget...well you know," she said looking down at her hand nervously not wanting to upset him. "Although I really would have rather you forgot about Vegas."

"No such luck, I'm afraid," he said tightening his grip on the steering wheel and then sighing. "There is actually something I've been meaning to ask you about that."

"What is that?" she asked cautiously

"Do you really have a tattoo somewhere you couldn't show me in public?"   

"Oh my God...you just have to forget that night ever happened," she said exasperated.

His hoarse chuckle filled the space between them. "Right." 

"I know you probably won't believe this, and it's a waste of breath, but that was  the one and only time I've ever done something like that. I always wanted to pick up a boy toy in a bar, but I've always been too shy to do it. I guess compared to you, I'm sexually repressed." 

He ignored the shot she took at him. "You weren't inhibited or repressed that night." 

"I was drunk." 

He made a choking sound that made Maddie want to hit him. "You weren't that drunk. You had a nice buzz going, but you knew exactly what you were doing."