Broken Boy

Chapter 20

I don't see Maddy today.

Ellis has her busy with preparations for the medical expo in a few days, and I can't hold off anymore appointments with excuses. It's fun to irritate the hell out of Holden, the way his placid demeanor turns into a calm lake bombarded by cannonballs, but even I'm not stupid. A dick sometimes yes, but not an idiot.

The woman next to me in bed sighs, her waves of auburn hair loose from the bun she walked in here with. Her tresses cover her full breasts as she props herself up on her elbow. She runs a red-tipped fingernail along my pecs, only the whir of the ceiling fan and her soft exhale invade my ears. The woman abandons her perusal of my chest and rests her chin on me instead.

Even though her honeyed-brown eyes are on me, I stare at the ceiling, the blades of the fan blurring. This is usually how an afternoon with Mrs. Penderghast ends, or Gloria as she often reminds me to call her now. I may have tamed the beast. By no means is she shy in the bedroom, demanding what she wants, taking control, but we have boundaries now—like playing nice.

I don't look at Gloria. That's one of her qualities that I appreciate, she doesn't feel the need to talk, to fill the silence. Hell, I've been with enough women in my past that feel the need to know what I'm thinking after sex. For once, Hollywood got it right. Nothing. I don't think about anything, just enjoy the bliss before the high wears off.

Today is different.

I think about Maddy. I want it to be her in bed next to me, the heat of her body warming my side. The memory of her lips on my skin. That's how it's been the past few clients, Maddy's sea green eyes invading my thoughts, the memory of her curves folded into my arms. And it only makes me want her more. I want it to be my name on her lips, not some client in my appointment book. I want it to be her coming apart beneath my body, not some woman the Club has introduced me to. Just Maddy.

The thought of her soft flesh beneath me, my weight covering her, gets a rise out of me.

Gloria clears her throat. "As much as I'm flattered, I have a lunch meeting I can't be late for."

I pull my gaze from the fan to the tented bed sheet. Damn. I have to get Maddy out of my head—but a small part of me, one that sits at the back of my mind, a selfish piece of me, doesn't want to. He likes her there.

"Who's Maddy?" Gloria asks.

My eyes dart to her and my body stiffens. She watches me as if she's just asked what kind of toppings I like on my pizza. No devious curl of her lips or knowing grin, but she may as well have asked what are my deepest, darkest secrets.

"You don't have to stroke my ego, A.J. I'm a strong woman. You don't survive three divorces and come out on top to get bent out of shape over a man calling you another woman's name during casual sex."

"Just a client." I shrug. If that's true then why is my pounding heart trying to crack a hole through my chest?

Gloria raises an eyebrow. "No, she's not."