Southern Seduction ; Pleasure in His Arms

by Carolyn Hector

  Maggie pulled her hand away and made a fist before covering it with her other. “We don’t have to go to such extremes. I’m sure I have something in my jewelry box at home. Speaking of which, I need to get there.”

  “Everything you need is here in Savannah.” Caden puffed out his chest. “Including me.”

  “I love how confident you are, Caden, really I do.” The strands hanging from Maggie’s messy red bun began to swirl as the car headed down the street. Caden put the top back up for her sake. “Thanks. But as I was saying, I came down here yesterday with the intention to head back to Southwood today.”

  “Okay?”

  “I need to go back home.”

  “There are stores here.”

  Beneath the fabric of her white dress her chest rose and fell. “Why would I buy more clothes when I have some in my apartment?”

  As Caden drove down Habersham Street, his fists clenched the steering wheel with the revelation of Maggie’s reality. Since when did she, a fashionista, give up a chance to go shopping? She was broke. How had he missed this? A year ago she’d partied like a rock star, shopped straight off the runway at Fashion Week and sprinted off from continent to continent. Now he realized why she’d disappeared from social media and took a job working behind the counter at a cupcake shop.

  “Your father lost all his money,” Caden suddenly said. “Didn’t he?”

  “What does he have to do with anything?” Maggie’s eyes turned green and she scrutinized him with a snarl of her red-painted lips. “Are you questioning my finances?”

  “Well...”

  “Caden Archibald, just because I don’t feel the need to buy a new wardrobe for every day of the week doesn’t mean I can’t afford my own clothes. I have nice things that I earned hanging up in my closet as we speak.”

  Caden held his hands in the universal signal for time-out, then regained the wheel. “I was just saying...”

  “You were saying my family is broke.” Anger rose in her voice. Her cheeks reddened to a shade he hadn’t seen before.

  It wouldn’t be the first time he’d seen a family like hers struggle. The Archibalds had lived through tumultuous times back in the day. It was one of the reasons the family house had so many bedrooms. At one point during the Depression, they’d added on more rooms to accommodate family in need. And that was why his mother fought so hard to keep the pageant going—so that everyone had a job if needed.

  Maggie rarely used her cell phone for anything, not even for selfies. Hell, her home phone was a landline with a tape-recording answering machine, which he now realized might not be due to retro decorating. The vlogs entered Caden’s mind. Maggie did a lot of budget-friendly videos.

  “There’s nothing to be ashamed of, Maggie,” Caden offered quietly. “So what if your family’s fallen on hard times? It is the summer. From my understanding, pecan season is really in the fall.”

  An overexaggerated sigh filled the space between them. “Pull the car over, Caden. I want to get out.”

  Tourist buses whizzed by. The rows of lights ahead were green, and there were no empty parking spots or pullover lanes in sight. Besides, he wasn’t ready to let her go, especially with the panic in her voice. Caden shook his head. “Well, that’s not going to happen. I can’t let you out, and I can’t let you go back to Southwood without me.”

  “Don’t be so dramatic,” scolded Maggie. “You just said a minute ago we’ve gotten everything done in one day that might take everyone the next few weeks to accomplish. I have work to do.”

  “We haven’t secured the music,” Caden reminded her. “And you have that list.” He pointed to the papers in her lap. “Bringing in other contestants to make this an all-day event is a great idea. No one else will think of it, and I know Aunt Em is going to love it.”

  Maggie bent her head and brought her fingers to pinch the bridge of her nose. “No one said we had to get everything on the list of wishes, Caden. I have work to do at The Cupcakery, and I have to get my Jeep in the shop. The check-engine light came on a while ago. I’d planned to take it in to the shop before driving it down to the wedding, but then you and your big partnership happened.”

  If memory served him correctly, the old vehicle was not fit for travel. She planned on making the long drive to New Orleans? And if it was true that the family had fallen on hard times, he guessed Maggie was faced with the difficult choice of getting her Jeep fixed or taking whatever funds she had left to get her to the wedding. Working meant survival for her. The Maggie he knew before never had to work. Caden vowed silently that once he became president, he would just contract Maggie for all her services. Clearly she had some good ideas and would be a valuable asset.

  “Since you’re being a champ about partnering up with me for the pageant, how about I take you to the wedding? My treat.”

  “I can’t let you do that.” Maggie’s cheeks reddened. He wanted nothing more than to pull the car over and hold her. “I have money saved.”

  “And as your fiancé, fake or not, I can’t let you go back there alone.”

  “Well, it looks like you’re coming to Southwood.” Maggie slumped back into her seat.

  Chapter 9

  After a partial week at The Cupcakery to help out with the baking for the summer camps in Southwood and the nearby Samaritan, Black Wolf Creek and Peachville neighborhoods, Maggie hated to admit she was glad for a little break from work.

  She used the time, with Vonna’s blessing, at the bakery writing out letters of invitation and requests for appearances at the pageant. She helped out at the register when not focusing on the big event, an arrangement Vonna approved, even though Maggie sometimes felt she was giving her mentor short shrift. But Vonna cheered on her campaign to win the leadership position, while assuring her that her Cupcakery job would still be there for her if things didn’t work out. Maggie would make sure they’d work out.

  Yesterday, Caden’s aunt Em had approved Maggie’s idea for the GRITS for STEM girls, the group she mentored, to have a stint on stage. Aunt Em liked all of Maggie’s ideas, including the nontraditional ones.

  This meant Maggie and Caden needed to plan a few road trips to find more pageants, even a couple at assisted-living facilities, that they could fold into the big fiftieth anniversary one. But before they headed off to those and other venues they were exploring, they needed to attend Auntie Bren’s wedding. Caden insisted, since they were partnering up, on at least escorting Maggie to New Orleans.

  With every green highway sign leading to the Crescent City, guilt tugged at Maggie’s heart strings. Since being kicked out of the nest, Maggie had saved her money for this trip, to pay for her car repairs and gas. Caden wouldn’t hear of it and insisted on driving.

  Oscar Blakemore had reserved the Melrose Mansion for the whole family for the week leading up to the wedding. Despite Maggie not being there all that time, she still had a room. Correction, she thought with a gulp looking over at Caden behind the wheel. They had a room. Her heart lurched against her chest.

  “Are you ready for this?”

  Hell, no, Maggie thought inwardly. “The question is, are you?” Over her oversize black sunglasses, Maggie lifted her brows and wiggled them in Caden’s direction. “I haven’t spoken to my parents since the announcement, and now you’re about to face them.”

  “Yes, but it’s your aunt’s rehearsal dinner tonight. No one will want to commit a murder and ruin the wedding.” Confident as always, Caden maneuvered his Aston Martin into the property’s parking lot reserved for the wedding party.

  “I heard the message they left on your hunk-of-junk answering machine.” Caden paused in anticipation of Maggie’s playful swat on his biceps. “Sorry, vintage answering machine. They just said you needed to talk to them.”

  “It was the way they said it,” said Maggie. “Like I’m a kid about to get into trouble.”

  “How
much trouble could you be in? I’m a pretty good catch,” taunted Caden with a wiggle of his brows back at her. In jest, he propped his right hand on his chin and square jaw and posed.

  He’d get no argument from her. Caden made the long drive sexy. His jeans hugged his thick thighs, and a striped red-and-white shirt stretched across his broad chest. Aviator glasses covered his face, yet he still looked tasty. Maggie’s lady parts quivered. Maggie lifted the scarf off her face and smoothed the wisps of hair at the nape of her neck. With her permission, Caden had let the top down once they hit the bridges.

  Maggie lifted her sunglasses to the top of her head and let down her hair from the tight bun she wore and turned to face him. Her heart lurched in her chest at the sight of Caden’s dimples. Earlier, she’d assured Caden that she didn’t mind driving with the top down. She’d enjoyed the breeze, and each time Caden glanced over at her, she couldn’t help but feel like she was reliving a movie scene. Which one, she didn’t know. Being with Caden made her feel more glamorous than ever. And this was even after being a personal guest at Fashion Week in Paris, New York and Milan. Now the heat returned her thoughts to tonight. She and Caden were going to spend the night in the same room in order to make room for the twenty other family members staying at the mansion. Technically, since he left her before the morning years ago, this would be their first night together in the same room. One bed.

  They’d spent every night under the same roof since Savannah. Instead of staying in his suite at the Brutti Hotel, Caden had spent his time at Maggie’s apartment. The place hadn’t seemed cramped until she realized she needed to share it. Knowing Caden slept less than twenty feet away from her on the couch had been sexually frustrating, due to the temptation he posed and the future she imagined. Since she planned on relieving him of his pageant duties once she was named director, an awkward breakup was the last thing she wanted.

  They were becoming fast friends, though, cooking together each night. She let him guest on her vlog for at least three days. Caden offered tips for her viewers on how to work out without having to spend a fortune on a trainer. The best part of the video was filming Caden shirtless while he demonstrated different types of push-ups. When they weren’t working together, Caden headed to Erin’s and met and worked out with his clients. Erin gushed about Caden’s ability to map out viable careers for her patients after their sports lives ended. And then, of course, a day could not go by without her cousin mentioning how the entire staff was smitten with the sports agent.

  “Stop fretting,” he ordered gently as he raised the car top. “You look beautiful.”

  Maggie still ran her fingers through her hair. “Thanks. But you don’t know my mother. She’s going to fuss about driving with the top down. She hates me riding around in that Jeep.”

  “Maggie, before we—”

  Whatever he was going to say had to wait. Bailey, Kenzie and Richard were headed toward the car, along with a young man wearing a gold vest and black pants—the valet, Maggie thought.

  “Hold that thought,” Maggie said with an apologetic smile.

  “You guys made it,” exclaimed Bailey, taking Maggie by the hand.

  Richard walked over to Caden and shook his hand. “Welcome to the Hairston chaos.”

  “Hey, I’m glad to be here,” Caden said sincerely. “I’ve been warning Maggie about the chaos she’s going to endure next week at my friend’s wedding.”

  Finishing up her hug with her sister, Maggie shook her head. “Uh, we still have not agreed to that.”

  “You’re forcing him to come to Auntie Bren’s wedding,” said Kenzie, swatting Maggie on the arm. “The least you can do is keep him company at his function.”

  “And here I thought you were on my side,” Maggie laughed. “Where are the adults?”

  The rehearsal dinner wasn’t for a few more hours, but she expected to see her parents or aunts and uncles around here.

  Kenzie shook her head from side to side. “They went to Bourbon Street last night. They won’t be up for hours.”

  Maggie wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh or snarl at the idea of her parents taking hurricane shots in the Quarter. “I must be in another world.”

  “What you must be,” said Bailey excitedly, “is ready to change. Want to see y’all’s room?” Colorful beads in rays of red, gold and green jingled around her neck. Maggie didn’t want to think about how she’d earned those.

  “Sure,” she answered her niece with a wide smile. The eighteen-year-old led them through the back entrance of the mansion.

  Dark wood greeted their footsteps along with the refreshing cool air. The walls were stark white and bare but hardly worth noticing due to the beautiful arched cathedral window adorned with black decorations. A valet met them on the second floor to lead them to their suite, where floor-length drapes billowed from the open French doors to the balcony. A king-size bed stood in the center of the room. The small couch in the corner was too small for Caden’s frame. Even if he offered to sleep there, she couldn’t allow it. They were adults. This was going to be okay. The rehearsal dinner was in a few hours, giving Maggie and Caden time to rest and change.

  The only ones who knew about Maggie’s trust deal were her close family. She could tell by the way they lingered that they wanted to get info on how Caden’s proposal fit in to everything. Kenzie and Bailey hinted a few times about the sudden proposal. Knowing they couldn’t get into the details with Caden in the room, they inquired about the pageant and then left to let them get ready for dinner.

  Maggie lingered in the walk-in marble shower. A part of her wondered if Caden would make the move and join her, but he didn’t. So when she stepped out of the bathroom wearing her towel, she was a bit taken aback by Caden. He’d stripped down to a towel wrapped around his waist; he stood up from the edge of the bed and turned off the sports station on the television. The man was sculpted from granite. Broad shoulders with muscles rippling all over. Maggie tried to breathe. Just one night. She and Caden had refrained from enjoying each other as they worked together. So far, it had been a sweet torment for both of them. She wasn’t sure how long she could keep it up. Maggie just needed to get through one night and she could prove to him men and women could work together without being involved.

  “That is the best outfit I’ve seen on you,” Caden commented with a devilish grin.

  A droplet of water rolled down Maggie’s shoulder. Thick tension filled the space between them as Caden moved closer. He noticed the water drop and caught it with his thumb. Goose bumps perked up over her skin. The steam that followed her out of the shower slivered between them.

  Maggie gulped. “You were about to say something in the car earlier?”

  As if her question snapped him out of a trance, Caden nodded. “That’s right.”

  He stepped forward. Heat from his body practically boiled the moisture off her skin. Maggie took a step backward, and when she did, Caden lowered his lashes to stare at her lips. She inhaled deeply in anticipation of a kiss. Disappointedly it never came.

  “Before we run into everyone, you’re going to need a ring.” Caden reached into the breast pocket of his black tuxedo and extracted a square-cut solid diamond ring. His touch slipped down to the fingers of her left hand.

  “This is going overboard,” Maggie gasped and curled her fingers into her palm.

  Using his thumb, Caden gave her clenched fist a gentle pry. “This is commitment. This also might ease your father’s mind when he sees me again. I understand he isn’t pleased.”

  Probably not with Caden but more with Maggie, she thought. Her father most likely thought this was Maggie’s attempt to keep up with her former extravagant life. But the more she lived within her means, the more she felt confidence in herself. She liked earning her way. Maggie’s heart swelled with anxiety. “Don’t worry about him.”

  “Sure, you’re not the one who is going to have to
explain.”

  Maggie cocked a brow at him. “No one told you to tell the world we were engaged,” she reminded him. “That’s all on you.”

  “I’m telling you this gives us an advantage with my mother. She likes us both. She likes us together even more.”

  “What will she think when this fake engagement ends?” Maggie asked, chewing her bottom lip.

  “My mother will never guess this is a sham. She’ll figure I screwed up somehow. I do have a reputation.” Cade gave her wink. “Besides, my brothers believing I’m in love,” Caden said with a smile, “priceless.”

  Pretending to be in love. Maggie swallowed past the lump in her throat. That’s exactly what they were doing, and there was no reason why spending the night with Caden tonight should be difficult.

  “But you never returned your dad’s call.” Caden scratched the back of his head. “Richard gave me the quick details in the parking lot.”

  If only she could tell Caden the truth. That her father coldly took away her credit cards and lavish lifestyle simply because he didn’t like it. It was too humiliating. Shrugging, Maggie turned her bottom lip down. “I don’t see why I had to tell him anything.”

  This wasn’t a real engagement, just a means to an end...or a job...and a job her father insisted she get.

  “I thought you might want to say something to him ahead of time, oh, I don’t know, so he doesn’t kill me with one of the huntin’ rifles Richard told me about,” Caden joked.

  “He won’t kill you with it, maybe maim you,” Maggie assured him. “Like you said, too many witnesses.”

  “All right,” Caden sighed, “but I might use you as a shield if he comes after me.”

  Pushing him on the shoulder, Maggie laughed. “He might use his rifle on me.”

  “Well, then, I’ll protect you.” Caden reached for Maggie’s left hand. “Now let’s make this official.”

  “Official would be you getting down on one knee,” Maggie pointed out.