Stripped

by Abby Niles

  That was not what happened.

  He ate at the finest restaurants, drank the most expensive wines, hung out with celebrities, and yet eating that twenty-four-dollar pizza around a kitchen table in a miniscule apartment then watching a kid’s PIXAR movie on an uncomfortable hand-me-down couch with Madison and her two kids had been the best time he’d had in a long fucking time.

  It was simple. Relaxed. No airs. No pressure to impress. It was an amazing feeling.

  What had also been amazing was watching Madison and her children interact, especially during the movie. Noah had this infectious cackle that always caused his mother and sister to laugh. Watching the three of them laugh together had caused his chest to tighten more than once last night. He’d expected to feel like an outsider. But he hadn’t. Instead, he’d been included in their conversation…in their fun.

  After the movie, Madison tucked the kids into bed. He should’ve left then, but he couldn’t make himself get up and go. When she’d returned to the living room, she seemed vaguely surprised that he wasn’t leaving, but she didn’t feign tired or anything. They ended up back at the kitchen table, playing Rummy and talking bullshit until one in the morning. He finally forced himself to leave when she was yawning every two minutes.

  Forced himself to leave.

  She walked him to the door, and as they said their goodnights, he’d wanted to kiss her. It’d been a clawing need. Something he hadn’t felt in…maybe never. He didn’t though. He settled for a smile, thanked her for a great night, and left.

  Then went home and took a cold fucking shower.

  Now it was mid-day, he’d been up for hours and he’d not heard a goddamn peep from across the hall and it was frustrating the ever-loving piss out of him.

  The sudden ringing and vibrating of his phone in the back pocket of his khaki shorts caused him to jump.

  After he dug it out, he brought it to his ear without looking at the caller id first.

  “Hello?” he answered.

  “Jaxon, darling,” Victoria all but purred. “Bradley was seriously put-out that you were a no-show to his birthday party last night. He spared no expense too, surprising everyone with a special performance from a very popular pop star. I’m not going to tell you who, because you should’ve been there.” The pout was clear in her voice.

  Jaxon rolled his eyes.

  “Where were you?” she continued. “We talked about it at Mica’s gala. You said you were coming.”

  His gaze flew to the door. Were those voices? He edged closer to the door. No. False alarm. He thrust his fingers through his hair and blew out a breath.

  “Something came up.”

  Honestly, he’d forgotten all about the party. Funny, because Victoria was right. He’d had every intention of going. Rumors had been circulating about Bradley Vancouver’s birthday bash for months, and anyone who was anybody was going to be there. Not once yesterday had he thought about it though.

  “I’ve been invited to an exclusive wine tasting in Napa Valley. I can bring a guest. Daddy can have the jet ready within the hour. You game?”

  A knock sounded on the door. He rushed to it. “Uh, no. Sorry. I can’t.”

  He yanked it open to find Madison, Noah and Faith standing there. A smile immediately stretched his lips as his chest tightened. He lowered the phone from his lips to his chin. “Hey. What’s going on?”

  “The kids and I are going to feed the ducks,” Madison said. “They wanted to see if you’d like to go.”

  “That sounds like fun. I’d love to.”

  “Ducks? Who the hell are you talking to, Jaxon?”

  Fuck. He lifted the phone back up to his mouth. “Yeah, I got to go. I’ll talk to you later.” As he lowered the cell again, he said, “What park are we going to?”

  “Eastover. I hope we didn’t interrupt anything?” She nodded toward his hand.

  He glanced down, noted the phone was still on, pressed end call and said, “No. Not at all.”

  Jaxon stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind him. Madison had her hair down again. Unlike yesterday, she had the strands pushed back from her face by a pair of simple black plastic sunglasses. Today she wore a hot pink spaghetti strap tank top that really made her tan pop and another pair of faded jean shorts.

  There wasn’t one item on that woman’s body that was name-brand, and it didn’t matter a damn bit. She was still hot as fuck. Madison wore sexy in every curve of her body no matter what she had on.

  “You can ride with us,” she offered. “It’s down the road a few miles.” She held up a bag. “We have the bread.”

  Jaxon accepted the offer, but inwardly cringed at riding in that car. The thing had to be two decades old and made a constant rattling noise he’d noticed yesterday. While he understood a new car or even a newer used car wasn’t in her budget, that POS she was driving right now was on its last leg and was bound to break down any time now. What if it happened when she had the kids? Or at night when she was by herself? Who would she call for help?

  Maybe by the end of this week, she would consider him someone she could lean on at times like that.

  Ten minutes later, they were making their way across a grassy area to the pond. The park was on the larger side and had a little bit for everyone. There was a large wooden playground with swings and a fort for the younger kids to play on. Lots of grass for adults and teens to play Frisbee, cornhole or toss a ball around. Plenty of shelters and picnic tables were scattered throughout for cookouts. People were fishing, others were walking in the trails, and others were playing a game of volleyball. It was actually a nice family-friendly park.

  It was also a place he’d never been to before today.

  When they reached the water’s edge, Madison untied the knot in the bread bag then handed each kid a piece. Noah immediately threw the entire thing in the water.

  Madison hung her head. “Noah. We’ve been over this. Little pieces.”

  Jaxon chuckled. “Here, you take the girl. And I’ll take the boy.”

  Her gaze jumped up to meet his and there was such emotion on her face, a combination of deep gratitude and surprise, that it felt like a hand had reached right into his chest and stolen the air from his lungs. He’d never experienced anything like it.

  “Thank you,” she mouthed as she handed him a few pieces of bread.

  Swallowing, he nodded and glanced away, unnerved by the moment.

  A tug on his shirt had him glancing down. “Yes?”

  Noah held out a hand.

  Chuckling again, Jaxon started to hand him another piece of bread. Just as the boy was about to close his hand on his, Jaxon snatched it back. Noah’s eyes rounded.

  “What are you supposed to do?”

  The child smiled. “Tear it into small pieces.”

  “That’s correct.” He gave him the bread. Noah walked to the edge of the water and tossed small pieces in. A huge family of ducks swam over. Childish giggles came from both children as the ducks attacked the water with their beaks.

  As Madison came to stand beside him, her shoulder brushed the side of his bicep. It was the barest of touches. Accidental at best, but he felt it all the way to his fucking groin. Jesus. His attraction to her was insane.

  “You’re good with him,” she said softly. “I appreciate everything you’ve done the last couple of days, Jaxon.” She looked up at him and smiled. “It’s been a great weekend. You’ve had a lot to do with that.”

  He glanced down at her. There were so many things he could say. The weekend had been amazing. Eye-opening. Humbling. He didn’t even know where to begin. Or even if he should. Too many thoughts, new feelings, were wrapped up in the last couple of days. He didn’t want to say too much, but feared saying too little.

  Thankfully he was saved by movement in his peripheral. He snapped his head in the direction of the pond. The family of ducks had crested the bank, waddled past the kids and had picked up speed straight for him and Madison, quacking with an unsettling intensi
ty.

  “What the—”

  He stumbled backwards, then turned, bumping straight into Madison. His momentum forward sent them both to the ground, with him landing on top of her. An oomph sounded, but seconds later, beaks were poking at him. He covered her body with his to shield her as much as he could. “Shit! Shit! Shit!”

  The assault was over as soon as it began.

  He lifted his head to see the family waddling back to the pond.

  “They took the damn bread,” he muttered mostly to himself. What was with the crazy shit that kept happening when he was with this family? First a wailing kid, now he’d been attacked by ducks.

  A noise sounded below him. Worried he’d hurt her, he jerked his head back toward her. “I’m so—”

  He snapped his mouth closed. Oh, she wasn’t hurt. Madison had both hands clasped tight over her mouth. Eyes bright with laughter.

  “You think this is funny?” he asked in a deadly serious tone.

  She nodded then lowered her hands. “You should have seen your face,” she said in a voice much deeper than usual because she was holding back laughter. “You were so scared.”

  “The hell I was.”

  “Yes. You. Were.” Then she rolled onto her side and the laughs that poured out of her were straight from the belly. Her entire body shook for the force of her amusement. When she glanced at him, tears even rimmed her eyes.

  While normally someone getting such jollies from him making a complete ass of himself would piss him off, with Madison he found himself fighting a smile of his own. She was so beautiful in laughter. In this moment, unlike any moment he’d seen her in, she was completely free and just experiencing.

  She rolled onto her back and laid her arm across her stomach. “Oh my God. I wish I had a video camera. That was the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time.” She wiped the corner of one eye with the tip of her finger, still giving a chuckle here and there.

  “I’d never been attacked by a flock of ducks before, thank you very much.”

  “They took the damn bread,” she whispered and laughed again.

  As their gazes met, he became aware of their position. He was stretched out beside her with one arm still reached across the other side of her body. His face was only inches above hers. The air seemed to thicken between them. She felt it too. The amusement drained from her face and her throat worked on a swallow. His eyes dipped to her plump lips. And damned if her tongue didn’t peek out to moisten them.

  “Momma, you okay?” Noah asked, popping his face two inches from theirs.

  Madison jerked and Jaxon quickly shoved back so she could sit up.

  “Yeah, baby, I’m fine.” She pointed at him. “Did you see Jaxon freak out over the ducks?”

  “Yeah. It was funny. Sissy laughed too.”

  Jaxon glanced over to the little girl. She was squatting at the edge of the pond trying to lure a duck with a leaf. They weren’t falling for it. With all the bread gone, feeding time was over.

  “How about we go to the playground for a little bit then head back home?” Madison asked.

  They let the kids play for about an hour then they started making their way back to the car.

  Jaxon felt Noah slip his tiny hand into his. A small smile came to his mouth. In two days he had come to enjoy taking this little boy’s hand. He enjoyed this entire family.

  “Fancy meeting you here, Jaxon.” The familiar breathless tone caused him to freeze for a second before his gaze shot up. Victoria stood a few feet away, dressed in work out attire, her long red hair falling around her shoulders.

  “What are you doing here?”

  The meaning behind his question was clear. This was not a park their circle frequented. Ever. There was no reason for her to be down here other than the fact she overheard where he was going to be.

  She tugged off her diamond-encrusted sunglasses and glanced around with her perfectly made-up eyes. “It’s such a nice day and I was in the neighborhood. A walk around the pond sounded like a nice idea.” She batted her false eyelashes at him. “Who are your friends?”

  Noah walked right up to her and held out his hand. “I’m Noah.”

  Victoria pressed her hand to her chest and gave a breathless laugh. “Aren’t you the cutest little man ever!” She took his hand and shook it. “It is a privilege to meet you, Noah. I’m Jaxon’s friend, Victoria.”

  The fact that she didn’t make any claims on him allowed him to relax a little, but not completely. Victoria would’ve never dirtied her running shoes on lower-middle class soil if she didn’t have an agenda. Out of all the women he’d dated, Victoria had been the clingiest. They’d only gone out a few times. And he’d seen women in between their dates. He made it a point not to see one woman too many times in a row. Victoria, however, never seemed to get the clue that he wasn’t going to be tied down—at least not by her.

  She turned to Faith. “Aren’t you a beauty?” Then she turned her hawk-eyes on Madison, and he could see the viper behind the fake niceties. “I see you take after your mother.”

  As Faith ducked her head, Madison stepped in front of her daughter, tension radiating in her shoulders as she thrust her hand forward. “I’m Madison, and you are?”

  There was a forcefulness to Madison’s voice that conveyed she wasn’t buying Victoria’s act.

  Victoria’s smile took on a frosty edge. “Victoria. Jaxon’s…friend.”

  Though she had just said those exact words to Noah, directed at Madison they had a completely different meaning. One Madison immediately understood if the way both her brows went up were any indication. Then a very naughty, vixen-like smile turned up her lips.

  “Yeah. Jaxon has a lot of friends,” she said.

  The slack-jawed expression that instantly came across the other woman’s face caused a laugh to stutter out of his mouth that he quickly covered with a cough when Victoria sent him an outraged glare. With a dramatic huff, she whirled around and stormed off.

  Madison sent him a look. “I’m going to assume that’s who you were on the phone with earlier.”

  “How’d you guess?” he asked sarcastically.

  She laughed. “Whew, boy, was she a little put out that you chose feeding ducks over going out with her. Little word of advice, make sure you hang up the phone next time.”

  A sheepish smile came to his mouth. “What can I say, I was excited you guys invited me out. I was distracted.”

  She nudged his shoulder with hers as she walked passed. “I’m glad you picked us.”

  He was too. Because the last thirty-six hours had been the most fun he’d had in a long time and he’d spent less than thirty dollars.

  ***

  Madison withdrew the casserole from the oven. Jaxon was playing Candyland with the kids on the floor. A part of her was thankful that things would go back to some sort of normalcy tomorrow. Though Jaxon would still be living across the hall for the next few days, tomorrow he would resume the role of her boss.

  She needed that reminder, because she could get lost in this fantasy of Jaxon, her neighbor.

  The encounter with Victoria had come at a much-needed moment. This afternoon had been amazing. Jaxon had been a guy. Not her boss. Not a billionaire. A regular, everyday guy. No tension. No airs. Just laughter and fun—and maybe a little bit of heat.

  Jaxon had been a surprising seamless addition to her family and had easily slipped into the male role. It seemed so damn unfair. Why couldn’t he be a regular guy?

  Why did he have to be Jaxon Sutherland—the billionaire?

  He might be a chameleon and fit into her world, but she would never fit into his. So if she was reading his signals correctly, and he was feeling this mutual attraction, it would never go anywhere outside the bedroom. How could it?

  She’d seen the type of women he held company with.

  They were refined, well-educated, knew about fashion.

  Madison knew about G-strings, fishnets and six-inch heels. She didn’t know which fork to eat
with first, what was considered polite conversation, or anything else about the well-to-do.

  And she didn’t know how she felt about being the booty call. As much as a good tumble in the bed sounded like a great idea, Jaxon was dangerous. She’d seen too much. Seen him with her kids. She didn’t think she could keep it simply about sex with him.

  She shook herself.

  Why was she even thinking about this? Yes, it seemed like there was an attraction, but he hadn’t made a move any more than she had. He was probably thinking some of the same things she was. Once this week was over and his bank account was unfrozen, he’d be back to living it up like the confirmed bachelor he was.

  And she needed to take time for herself.

  If nothing else came out of this weekend, she’d learned that. She needed to date more. Have some fun. She wasn’t sure how she’d manage it, but she could figure something out. Even if it was once a month or so.

  She didn’t need a man in her life. She was doing fine without one, but she wouldn’t lie, the last couple of days had been nice. Having the extra hands. Having someone to talk to after the kids had been put down. Someone to laugh with. Like Adam had said, to share a life with.

  She watched Jaxon laugh with her son.

  Someone for her son to look up to.

  Damn it. She had to stop. She forced her attention to getting plates out of the cabinets and doling out chicken casserole and green beans. After she set the kitchen table, she called everyone to come eat.

  Suddenly, Madison was very self-conscious. This was nothing like the expensive meals that man was used to. The entire casserole cost her less than six bucks to make. She didn’t even use the name-brand canned soups. She used the store brands.

  As Jaxon took a huge bite, she picked at the breading and pieces of chicken. She glanced at him from under her lashes, watching him chew.

  “This is really good,” he said, then put another forkful in his mouth. “What’s in it?”

  There was no way in hell she was going to tell him that it was a couple cans of broth and cream of chicken and mushroom soup, some leftover baked chicken and breading. Not happening. The fact that she was embarrassed bothered her even more. She never felt ashamed of being budget conscious. Never.