by Sable Hunter
As she walked, she wiped the corners of her eyes. Maddie didn’t want anyone seeing her cry. When she looked up, the sight that met her eyes made her gasp. There was a huge bouquet of beautiful dark red roses sitting on the counter. “Wow, someone’s in for a thrill.” She smiled, going up to inhale their fragrance. “Did you page the lucky woman?”
Elaine propped her elbow on the desk and wagged her finger. “Yes, we did, pretty lady. The flowers are for you.”
Chapter Six
Madeline stared agog at the three dozen long stem roses. “For me?” She shook her head. “Are you sure?”
“This is your name on the card.” Tilly handed it to her.
“Maybe they’re for a guest and they just put my name on the front because it’s being sent to a room or something.” She fumbled with the envelope.
“Read the card.” Elaine pressed.
Maddie was afraid to, but she pulled it out and squeezed her eyes shut, held it up and looked.
Dear Maddie,
Thank you for last night. These roses reminded me of your beautiful lips.
Love, West
“HOL-LEE-Sh…” Tilly breathed.
Madeline read the card again. She smiled. Weston had sent her flowers!
“Give me that.” Morgana snatched it out of her hand. “Ha! Did you send these to yourself?”
“No, I didn’t.” She protested. “West sent them to me.” Maddie grabbed the card back. Her sister would not take this joy from her, she wouldn’t let her. Weston was a kind man who understood her predicament. He was probably trying to pay her back for the Elissa tickets. Either way, Maddie was grateful. They couldn’t have arrived at a better moment.
“Likely story.” Morgana sneered. Her mother and Hugh Beaumont observed from a distance, then strolled outside. It didn’t matter. She picked up her beautiful flowers and placed them on the desk in her office.
In a few minutes, Tilly came in, a worried look on her face. “Hey, boss, what’s that creepy old guy doing here? He’s walking around outside with a metal detector.”
“I don’t know.” She didn’t want to think about her problems, she just wanted to look at her roses. “Maybe he’s hunting loose change.”
“Maddie, it’s more than that, isn’t it?” Tilly pressed, worried.
“Yea.” She nodded, laying her head on her desk. “I’m sorry, but yes, it is.” Maddie explained to her friend. “They’re trying to force me to sell. Plus, I have to do the safety upgrades required by law. Both of those things together have me all worked up. Weston brought the proposal for the upgrades last night.”
“I can see your business meeting was fruitful.” Tilly teased, touching one of the velvety blooms.
“He’s a nice guy.” Maddie tried not to make a big deal out of it. Nothing would come of last night, other than a business relationship—hopefully—and an awkward attempt to get her sister off her back. “I just need to examine the estimate and see if I can rake up enough money to take care of it. I don’t think Morgana and Juliana will agree to fork over their half. If this is done, I’ll have to accomplish it on my own.”
“Bastards,” Tilly muttered. “Do you want me to go upstairs and get the plans so you can study them?”
“Yea, you might as well. I guess I need to know what I’m up against.” While she fretted, she walked to the window to see what her traitorous stepmother was doing outside with Hugh Beaumont. He was talking to another man and pointing down the beach. Juliana was lounging in the sunshine, sipping one of Maddie’s drinks, and Morgana was staring up into the air. What was she looking at?
She eased closer to the door. Several of her guests were all pointing to the sky. Elaine came running in from the outside. “Madeline, Madeline, you’ve got to see this!”
“What?” She couldn’t imagine what was going on.
“I was taking a picnic basket out to the couple from room twenty-six. They’re riding one of those tandem bicycles down to the pier.”
Elaine was so out of breath that Madeline patted her on the back. “Is there something wrong? Do I need to call for help?”
“No, no, you need to come see this.” She took Maddie’s arm and started pulling. “The plane, the plane…”
“You sound like that short little guy from Fantasy Island, Elaine.” Maddie laughed. But when they got outside, everyone was pointing and she looked up to see what they were gawking at.
Elaine crossed her arms and hugged herself. “Isn’t it grand? This is his second pass.”
At first, Maddie didn’t understand what she was seeing. And then the plane got closer. There was a long streamer flying from the plane’s tail. “What does it say?”
Laughing, Elaine hugged her. “Read it for yourself?”
“Oh, my God!” Maddie couldn’t believe her eyes. The red banner waving behind the plane read in big white letters: Madeline Cross, will you be my Valentine? Go to your phone. Love, Weston Rogers.
“Really, Maddie.” Morgana sneered. “This is taking your desperation a little too far.”
Maddie whirled, unreasonable happiness rising up to thrill her heart. “Eat your heart out, Morgana. I’ve got a real, honest to God boyfriend!”
* * *
Her heart was still singing when she ran back to her office. Tilly had brought the blueprints and the attached proposal, but Maddie was too excited to look at them. Instead, she stared at the phone with a pounding heart and bated breath. “Call, please call, please call,” she whispered. None of this made sense, but it was exciting. Weston’s unbidden attempts to cement their performance touched Madeline’s heart. He didn’t have to do this. She was so grateful, she almost cried.
Ring! Ring!
Maddie, weak with relief, sank down into the chair and snatched up the receiver. “Windswept, this is Madeline, may I help you?”
“Yes, you can help, Maddie-sweet. Did you get my Valentines?”
With a silent squeal, she spun her chair in a circle. His voice sent chills all over her body—from her nose to her toes. “I did. Thank you so much for the flowers. I think they are the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “You didn’t have to do that, but I’ll treasure them and Morgana was green—even if she wouldn’t admit it.”
“Beautiful flowers for a beautiful woman. And I didn’t do it for Morgana.”
Madeline blushed. “Well, thank you, it was a very sweet thought! And the airplane banner, I can’t believe you did that for me, thank you so much.”
Her heartfelt amazement warmed him. “You’re welcome. Last night took me by surprise. I enjoyed being with you. Would you have dinner with me tonight?”
His invitation caught her off guard. “Why?”
West chuckled. “Why do you think?”
“Oh…” He was still trying to help her with the Morgana problem. “You don’t have to do that, you know.”
“I want to.” West insisted. “Don’t you want to go out with me?”
Was she crazy? “Why, yes, of course, West. I’d love to go out with you.” Maddie pinched herself, just to make sure she was awake.
“Great, I’ll pick you up at seven. We’ll have dinner, then go back to my place for drinks on the sunroom overlooking the beach. How does that sound?”
“Heavenly. This will be a perfect Valentine’s Day.” She tried to sit still, but her whole body was quivering with excitement. “I’ll be ready and thank you for doing this for me.”
“My pleasure. Thank you for agreeing. I can’t wait.”
Once he hung up, Madeline hugged herself. She glanced at the clock. “I have eight hours to get ready. Is that enough time?”
Till stuck her head in the door. “Barely. Sorry, I was shamelessly eavesdropping. What will you wear?”
“Wear?” Madeline got a panicked look on her face. “I need to go shopping!”
“Yes, you do. But you also need to look at that proposal.” Tilly pointed to the papers on Maddie’s desk.
She huffe
d out a breath. “You’re right.”
For the next half hour, Madeline read and reread the estimates, laws, proposals, and costs. Finally, she laid her head on the desk and quietly beat it with her fist. “I’m going to lose it. There’s no way I can come up with this amount of money on my own.”
Tilly, who had been going back and forth to the desk to take care of guests, was now standing at her side. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, unfortunately. If Mother and Morgana would pay their part, I could swing half. But they’re not going to agree to it. I’m going to have to go to the bank and get a loan.” Madeline felt like she was about to cry. “If I don’t, I’m going to lose my home, Tilly!”
“Is West trying to gouge you?”
“No, he wouldn’t do that. He even included the costs of other building projects they’ve brought up to code. This is just a lot of work.”
Tilly hugged her. “Stop fretting. Today’s not the day to worry about it. It’s Valentine’s! Let’s tell Elaine to handle the desk and you and I hit the Strand and make you sexy. You can be like Scarlet O’Hara and worry about all of this mess tomorrow.”
* * *
“Do you really think it looks good?” Madeline turned in front of the mirror, first one way and then the other. The dress was simple, a short red sheathe with a sparkly shawl. Or at least it was simple till one saw the back, all bare except for a couple of thin jeweled straps crossing over. She and Tilly had made a day of it. Maddie was sporting a sexy new haircut, seductive red nails and she’d had spa treatments from one end to the other.
“I think it looks fabulous. Now all you need are some do-me heels and barely-there underwear that will be more fun for him to take off than it is for you to put on.”
Madeline shivered. That wasn’t the way the date would go, but it was nice to dream. “Is this happening?” She held Tilly by the arms and playfully shook her.
“Yes, Miss Maddie, it is. And you deserve it.”
“I think I’ll take this one.” She pirouetted in front of the mirror again. “Now, let’s hunt a thong!”
The girls had a blast examining what was available in intimate wear. “I don’t think you’ll be able to wear a bra. How about pasties?” Tilly held up a pair and waved them around.
“No, I don’t think so.” Maddie laughed. “I’m pretty small, I think I can use the shawl to cover me up if I get cold.”
“Or turned-on.” Tilly teased. She looked at her watch. “My goodness, look at the time. We need to get a move-on or Cinderella will be late for the ball.”
“Oh, that will never do. I don’t want to keep my Prince Charming waiting.” They took the packages and raced to Maddie’s car to head back to the Windswept. Once they were on the road and had settled down enough to think, curiosity got the best of Maddie. “Tilly, you wouldn’t know anything about another man showing up around dinner time last night, would you?”
Tilly cleared her throat and chewed her bottom lip. “Well, there was this guy I saw coming out of the break room behind the check-in counter about dawn. He looked quite satisfied and Elaine was smiling all morning.”
“Huh, how strange.”
Looking at Madeline, Tilly narrowed her eyes. “Why?”
“Fate is a funny thing, Tills.” She laughed, deciding there was no use hiding what happened from Tilly. They were friends and the truth would eventually come out anyway—especially if she was able to get the loan. “Yesterday, when my sister was pressuring me about selling Windswept, she just got on my last nerve. Her eternal song is how pathetic I am since I don’t have a man in my life. Something snapped.” She clutched the steering wheel. “Anyway, I hired an escort to throw Morgana off and make her think I had a boyfriend. I knew it wouldn’t keep them from badgering me about Windswept, but I was just so tired of her baiting and innuendoes.” She paused to make a turn. “I gave the escort a name to use, Weston Rogers.”
Tilly laughed. “Why?”
“Because when Morgana pushed me and I lied about having a boyfriend, I used West’s name. He had been on my mind because of our phone conversations and I just pulled it out of thin air.”
Shaking her head, Tilly grinned. “I’m getting the picture. The real Weston Rogers showed up and you thought it was the escort. Later, Elaine nabbed the real escort for herself.”
“What a tangled web we weave.” Madeline sighed. “Anytime I ever try to lie, I end up making a mess out of things.”
“I don’t know, Maddie,” Tilly answered thoughtfully. “This might have all worked out exactly like it was supposed to. I think Cupid had a hand in this. When the real Weston Rogers came to your door, what did you do?”
“Well, you had told me he was sending someone to drop off the drawings, I wasn’t expecting him to actually show.”
“Exactly, fate intervened. Now, answer my question.”
Maddie sighed and laughed a little. “I grabbed him and kissed him so hard he turned blue.” She blushed, remembering all the kisses she’d shared with West.
“And that’s why you got three dozen red roses.”
Well, not really, but she wasn’t going to argue about it. Once they’d returned to Windswept, Maddie didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Juliana met her at the door with Hugh in tow. “Where have you been?”
“Shopping, I have a date tonight.”
“Surely not with the instigator of that spectacle in the sky?”
Watching her mother, Maddie concluded she had all the appearance of someone who had a broomstick stuck up her butt. “Yes, his name is Weston Rogers, a local architect. The one who is preparing to help me get Windswept up to code.” Okay, she was being unrealistically optimistic, but she wasn’t going to just cave in and give up.
Hugh gave Juliana a look, then came to her rather quickly for a gentleman of his age, and took Madeline by the arm. Before she knew it, he was leading her from the lobby to the dining room. “Let’s speak frankly, shall we?”
Tilly tried to follow, but Juliana stopped her. “I’ll see you up in your room to help you get ready in a bit, Maddie,” she called.
“Okay, Tilly.” She nodded at her friend and employee, then turned to face Mr. Beaumont. “I really don’t have time to speak frankly or otherwise.”
“Make time.” He backed her up against the wall near the fireplace. They weren’t touching, but Maddie could feel his clammy breath on her face. “Your mother and sister can force this issue. They’re already drawing up the sale papers. It would behoove you if you cooperated. In fact, I can make it worth your while. If you’ll consent to sign the papers and evacuate the premises within thirty days, I’ll tell you the real reason I want this property.”
To Madeline’s dismay, he ran one cold, too-soft fingertip down her arm, causing her to flinch. “I won’t agree to any such thing.”
“Oh, I think I can convince you otherwise. I have discovered a secret, a big secret.” He smiled at her strangely. “Aren’t you the least bit curious?”
There was no use lying—she was. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Selling is not on the table for me.”
“Oh, I’d like to have you on the table, on your knees, tied to a St. Andrew’s cross, naked and awaiting my pleasure.”
Maddie nearly died. The old man was actually drooling and her skin was crawling. “Ewwww, no, absolutely not, never!” She pulled away from him and he just laughed.
“Think about it and think about my secret. I am attracted to you and I can make you richer than you’ve ever dreamed. You have an earthy submissive way about you, unlike that iceberg of a sister of yours.”
Madeline almost laughed. This was a fine kettle of fish. The only man ever to prefer her over her sister was an ancient pervert who was determined to get his hands on Windswept. Just her luck. “I’m sorry, I have to go.”
Before he could say another word, Maddie ran. By the time she reached the elevator, she was panting—and not in a good way. “I need a bath, a hot bath.” Shivering, she looked over her shoulder t
o make sure Beaumont hadn’t followed her. Neither Morgana nor her mother was in sight either, thank goodness. Her sister was scheduled to meet Sergio and there really was only enough time for her to get ready and meet West. Worrying over the hurricane safety upgrades, fighting her materialistic clan and avoiding the fossilized Christian Grey wannabe would have to wait till later.
The doors clattered open and she had to step aside as a young couple came out hand in hand. “How are you two feeling today?”
“We’re good, Miss Cross. How are you? We heard about your roses.”
“Good news travels fast.” She smiled and ducked inside. The way gossip moved at Windswept constantly amazed Maddie. Letting out a long breath, she leaned against the side of the elevator, myriad thoughts clamoring in her mind. What would the evening with Wes hold? And what was Hugh Beaumont’s big secret?
When the bell clanged to announce she’d reached her suite, Madeline pushed from the wall and stepped into her safe haven. Now all she had to do was transform herself from ordinary to extraordinary for her date with Weston. Was that possible? She giggled at her own dilemma. What she needed was a fairy godmother and a magic wand. Since those weren’t available, she guessed she’d just make do with Tilly and a curling wand.
Chapter Seven
Whistling, West headed to his car, carrying a big box of the best chocolates he could find. He also had a delicate silver necklace with a beautiful filigree heart to place around Madeline’s neck. “Man, I’ve got it bad.” The daydreams he’d had last night were hot enough to melt his shorts. He’d pleasured himself twice since leaving her bed earlier that morning—and all they’d done so far was kiss.
Well, tonight would be different. He smiled, remembering how sweet she’d been to hold and how responsive her little body had been in his arms. There was so much he wanted to know. So many questions he wanted to ask. Hell, he was a half hour early going to pick her up. That ought to tell how anxious he was to be with Madeline Cross again.