Page 121 of Just for the Cameras
“Ooh, I like that,” Tony says, giving his husband a little shimmy.
“Of course you would,” Jacob says with a playful shake of his head. “So would Big Hermy be your favorite as well?”
“Martha Stewart comes in a close second, but yeah, Big Hermy is the man. He actually only has one eye.”
“Really?” Tony asks, a frown pulling at his brow. “What happened?”
I slide my hand farther across Maple’s ribs, my fingers now touching her stomach, causing her to gasp as I lightly dig my fingertips into her soft-as-fuck skin.And fuck, do I want to rip this goddamn dress off her so I can lick every inch of her.“Jackal attack,” I say, shocked that I’ve been able to retaineverything Maple has told me. And from the way she keeps glancing up at me in surprise, she’s just as shocked as I am.
“Oh, that’s terrible,” Tony says, turning to Jacob. “We need to help them out.”
“I saw that coming,” Jacob says as he places a soft kiss on his husband’s lips and then pulls a checkbook out of his breast pocket.
I smile to myself as Maple leans in even closer.
I get in the car and shut the door, and Maple quickly turns toward me, her eyes wide, her smile brighter than I’ve ever seen it.
“Oh my God, Graydon, that was…that was insane.”
I pull out onto the road, trying to hold back the smile that wants to pull at my lips as well, because holy shit, that was insane.
I think I blacked out at one point, just on autopilot, talking about the flamingos, not letting Maple get one word in as I charmed the fuck out of nearly everyone in that room.
She ended up with six donations and some promises to invest in the zoo.
I’ve never done anything like it before. I know that if I were with anyone else, I probably wouldn’t have pushed as hard as I did, but it felt so…easy with Maple at my side.
It felt like I was meant to be talking up the goddamn flamingos.
And it came so naturally, which is slightly concerning because…do I actually care about the fucking pink dodo birds?
No, I wouldn’t go that far.
I do think I care about their zookeeper, though, and with every fact I dazzled the donors with, I felt her appreciation for me grow, which of course lent me the opportunity to pull her closer and closer. And I never wanted to fucking let go. I wanted to stay there, my palm under her dress, pressed against the warm skin of her waistline. I wanted to live there, butonce she yawned, I knew it was time to give up the fantasy and take her home.
She pushes at my shoulder. “Are you really going to act like that was nothing? Graydon, you knew all the things about flamingos.”
“Yeah, because you jabber on about them enough,” I tease.
She chuckles. “Well, my jabbering paid off. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many donations in such a short amount of time. It was amazing.” She rests her hand on my arm. “Thank you.”
“No thanks needed,” I say as I maneuver through the traffic.
“Can’t you just say, ‘You’re welcome’?” She sighs.
“Nah, this is better.”
She shakes her head, then turns to face straight, but I don’t let her put distance between us as I slide my hand onto her thigh again. I have an addiction, and it’s unlikely it will ever be satiated.
Thankfully, to my surprise, she slides her hand on top of mine, where her thumb strokes my knuckles. The soft swipe sends chills upmy arm, bringing awareness to how long it’s been since I’ve been…touched.
My mom always offered me snuggles, hugs, and kisses—she doled out her love with physical touch—and when I lost her, that touch that I loved as a young boy just disappeared.I had craved it.
And as time went on, I became more jaded, hardened, and closed off, not letting a woman get remotely close to me, even when it came to something as simple as holding hands.
That is, until Maple came along.
She’s different.
