“Come cheer me on?” Sam asked, leaning on the table.

Now Micah was certain. Sam was totally looking. Who wouldn’t sneak a peek? Maddie’s breasts were excellent—firm, round, perky—and if Sam was sneaking peeks tonight, God knows what he’d try to do to them tomorrow. Micah couldn’t stand the thought. As soon as he could get a damn minute alone with her he’d tell her not to go. Though now she’d likely follow to the pool tables to be the douchebag’s personal cheerleader.

But she surprised him. “I’ll cheer you from here.”

Micah didn’t bother to hide his satisfaction.

After a moment of shuffling and gathering beer bottles, most of the table had dispersed to watch the game.

Maddie flashed a mischievous grin. “We’re alone.”

Hmm. He liked the tone of this conversation. Too bad they weren’t really alone. He was very aware of the waitress eyeing him and the couple in the booth behind him and the woman at the bar. “Mostly.”

“Mostly enough.” She took a deep breath—was she nervous?—and slid herself around to the farthest part of the booth. “I’m glad. I need to give you something.”

“You do?”

She nodded. “Come closer.”

Micah moved closer to her, his curiosity piqued as Maddie took a long swig finishing off her Corona. Then she put a cloth napkin on her lap and dug in her pocket for her ChapStick. He watched entranced as she applied it leisurely to her full, pink lips, just as he had seen her do so many times on set. Thank God for the dry weather.

When she’d finished with her lips, she began to rub the ChapStick liberally over her left hand. Her eyes drifted to a hoodie draped on the back of the booth behind them. She pulled it into his lap.

He raised an eyebrow. What the hell was she doing?

He was answered by the approach of her hand underneath the table and the hoodie where his cock throbbed painfully in his jeans. His jaw dropped as she undid his zipper and freed his aching member, her eyes never leaving his. Well, this wasn’t characteristic of the Maddie he thought he’d begun to figure out. What a nice surprise.

Maddie circled his penis with her lubricated hand, eliciting a gasp. A nice surprise indeed.

He shot a glance around the bar, hoping no one was paying attention to them. But then her thumb grazed the top of his crown and his eyes raced back to her. Who fucking cared if they were noticed? It was worth the risk of being caught.

In fact, that was half the excitement.

“So, Micah, I’ve been meaning to ask you—why so many women in your life?”

Micah blinked several times before answering, not sure he could converse with her hand on his dick. With effort, he managed, “I have a very strict no-strings rule. Relationships in Hollywood are near impossible.”

“That’s pessimistic.” Slowly, Maddie began to move her hand up his shaft from the root to head of his member, driving a shiver down his spine. “There are plenty of actors who have girlfriends in Hollywood.”

Micah put his palms down on the table and stilled himself. “Hardly any of those work out. And the no-girlfriend thing has kept me focused. It’s gotten me to the top.”

She met his stare full on, a glint in her eyes. Her hand slid back down to base camp. Ho. Ly. Fuck.

“Maybe you got to the top because you’re talented.” Again, Maddie moved her hand up his shaft, dragging her thumb along the thick vein on the underside of his cock.

He suppressed a groan. “Talent means nothing in Hollywood.” Was he even making sense? It was so hard to concentrate on…uh…words.

“And lucky.” She paused then moved her hand over his head in lazy circles before sliding it back down the other side of his shaft.

He gritted his teeth. “I am very lucky.”

“And incredibly hot.” She pumped quickly once before returning to her unhurried drag up his member. Micah almost blew his load right then.

He sucked in a haggard breath, amazed that her words could have an additional effect on him. “You think I’m hot?”

“I think you aren’t bad on the eyes.” She repeated the pattern, circling his head, then moving her hand down the other side.

“No, you said hot.” She pumped twice this time, then followed with a slow tug up. “Incredibly…hot.” This was incredibly hot. So…incredibly…hot… Sure, he’d had handjobs in public before, but usually in darkened, private corners, not at a table with coworkers nearby. Certainly not from reserved serious types such as Maddie. It was totally thrillingly unexpected.

“And what do you do if you fall in love?” Three quick pumps. His cock felt like steel, he’d never been so hard.

“That would be tricky. To fall in love.” He could only produce short sentences. “When you only spend. One night with someone.” Though, if you asked him right then, he’d likely say he loved this woman. He definitely loved what she did to him, what she was doing to him.

Her eyes clouded, but her hand didn’t stop moving, continuing her rhythmic pattern. Her voice was quieter when she continued. “You’ve never considered breaking your rule?”

He’d done more than consider it. He’d broken it hardcore. And that fiasco did nothing but enforce his no-love stance.

But his answer to Maddie was much simpler, though it came out strained. “No. I don’t. That rule got me here. I love it here.” He was close. So close. A few more strokes and he would be done for.

Her eyes darkened. Was that hurt? Disappointment? He couldn’t tell and he was too consumed with what she was doing to him to fully register meaning in her expression.

She leaned over giving him a perfect view of her round breasts and pumped four times fast. It was her final harsh whisper that threw him over the edge. “You would have gotten here anyway.”

Micah brought his hand to his mouth to stifle his moan as he exploded into her hand. Even as he came, he wanted more, knew that this would not be nearly enough. Maddie Bauers was completely and utterly under his skin.

Micah closed his eyes as Maddie caught the hot fluid with the cloth napkin from her lap. She cleaned him up, wiped off her hand, balled the napkin and threw it onto the table. She’d never done anything like that—ever—and she was unexpectedly roused.

But she was also resolved. She’d needed to give this to Micah, to even the score and put a cap on their night from the past. Their most recent conversation confirmed again that messing around with Micah would lead to nothing but heartache. He was in love with his career. Why she even bothered to argue it with him, she didn’t know. “You would have gotten where you are in Hollywood too. Don’t kid yourself that a woman would have held you back.”

Micah paused to calm his breathing as he tucked himself back into his pants. “I don't believe that.”

“What about Lulu?” She was taking a stab in the dark, but she’d heard Fudge and Micah talking about the woman in the car ride from the airport. It was evident Micah had feelings for the woman, whoever she was.

“Lulu?” Micah laughed, tossing the hoodie on the back of the booth. “Lulu has never held me back. She’s a major factor in my decision to not date, but it’s not for the reasons you’d think.” He paused. “Lulu’s my mother.”

“Oh.” She blushed. “Whoops. I thought I’d stumbled on a woman you were seeing on a regular basis.”

“Good guess. I do see her on a regular basis, after all. But she’s honestly the only woman I can say that about.”

She sat back, attempting to put everything in perspective. He was a player. A self-declared gigolo. At least he didn’t deny it.

And she couldn’t deny that she was mildly interested. More than mildly. More like wildly.

But she knew herself. She was too into him already. It wouldn’t take much to make her fall for him. As Bree had said, he would make her cry.

She sighed then leveled an even stare at him. “I can’t date you, Micah.”