You don’t want to miss this one! He’ll do anything to protect her from danger…but it will cost her everything. ❤️  http://shayla.link/WASecrets

Matt eased into the cozy plaid recliner across from his footboard and nodded at the mattress. “Get in.”

Madison wanted to protest. Once she fell asleep, morning would come. They would be separated again, probably forever. While that seemingly suited him, her heart ached. She’d managed the last three years by fantasizing that, someday, she would be free so that she and Matt could rekindle what he’d cut short after that magical weekend. Instead, tonight had put a final period on their relationship. He wasn’t happy she’d come here, and he couldn’t wait to get rid of her. Because he was involved with someone? She hadn’t asked about his love life. She didn’t want to know. Was the that same reason he’d never asked why she’d married Todd?

In the end, she didn’t want to make Matt’s life difficult. She loved him too much to make more waves, so she slid between the covers, trying not to smell him on the sheets, and rolled away from his probing gaze.

He killed the overhead lights. The squeaking of the chair told her that he sat again. She peered across the room to find him typing something onto his phone.

“Is everything all right?”

“Yeah. I’m just telling the bosses that I need to borrow Nash for a few days. He just came off a gig, so they probably won’t mind, as long as he manages his paperwork and follow-ups.”

“What about you? Do you have an upcoming assignment?”

He shrugged. “I’m supposed to go out soon, but we’ll see what sticks.”

Madison wasn’t sure what he meant. Maybe it was better if she didn’t know. The thought of him in danger terrified her.

“Whatever happens…be safe. Please.” Then she rolled over, closed her eyes, tried furiously to blank her mind and sleep.

But Matt’s scent surrounded her—musky, woodsy, manly. For three years, she’d ached to share even a zip code with him. Now they were alone in the same room. All she could imagine was him losing his shirt while she threw back the covers to welcome him before they melted into the mattress together.

That wasn’t going to happen.

“Do you ever think of us?” he asked in the dark, shocking her.

His voice was so low she wondered if she’d imagined it.

If this was the last night they might ever be together, she should be honest. After all, she didn’t have any pride left to salvage. The Pershings and her never-ending pining for Matt had stripped her of that.

“All the time. Other than marrying Todd, you’re my biggest regret.” She huffed bitterly. “Not that it mattered. I know you didn’t really want me.”

“Oh, don’t kid yourself, honey. From the second I laid eyes on you, I wanted you more than my next breath.”

She frowned in the dark. “But you just disappeared. You ghosted me…”

“Because it wasn’t going to work.”

So he’d hurt her. She’d deserved it after all the rash decisions she’d made. And maybe he’d been right. They would never know. It was too late for them now; Madison was horribly aware of that.

She should close her eyes and leave Matt in peace. But after the harrowing twenty-fours she’d endured—not to mention the horrible years since she’d last seen him—she needed him so badly. He made her feel safe and sexy. He reassured her. He pleasured her like no man ever had. Would it be so terrible if she asked the person who held her heart to take her in his arms her one last time? She wouldn’t ask for promises or forevers. Just this moment.

The memory would have to last the rest of her life.

Slowly, she slipped from his bed. Instantly, his head zipped up from his phone. By the light of the device, she watched his eyes narrow when she stripped off his flannel and the air conditioning hardened her bare nipples. He didn’t speak, but the groan that slipped from his lips spoke volumes as she untied the pants. Slowly, she shoved them down, walking out of them and straight toward him—not wearing a stitch. As she stopped a mere foot from him and unwound her shoulder-length hair, she stared at him unapologetically. “Come to bed with me…”