by Sonya Weiss
She examined her thumb. “I think I’ll live.”
And as long as she didn’t return her thumb to her mouth, he would, too. He glanced at the bar. “I’ll pour some wine.” He pulled a bottle of the finest that he had, hoping that the thrill his taste buds would experience would overshadow the thrill his body wasn’t going to get.
He poured their glasses, then sat on one of the stools beside her. It could have been water he was eating for all he noticed. Nothing was sinking into his senses but Maddie. Her soft laugh as she shared an anecdote about her nephew. The way her lips curved. The way her T-shirt pulled across her breasts as she leaned forward. He was being tormented to death.
So close to what he shouldn’t want. The sooner he was away from her, the better. He’d go to his study, get some work done, and regroup tomorrow to start finding out what Maddie knew. He glanced at her. She pursed her lips as she blew gently on the soup, then lifted the spoon slowly…slowly…as her lips parted to take it in.
Cole shoved back the stool and rose. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Her eyes widened, and she slowly lowered the spoon. “Eating?”
“No, you’re not. First you were sucking your thumb and now you’re going for the spoon.”
She dropped it beside her bowl with a clatter. “I’m not doing anything but enjoying my food.” She narrowed her eyes, but there was a look in them he’d swear wasn’t totally innocent. “What’s your problem? Oh, I see. Well, it’s not my fault you’ve had a long dry spell.”
“I have not had a long dry spell.”
“Uh huh.” She gave him a dubious look. “That’s why you have that I-wanna-do-Maddie look in your eyes.” She arched her back as she stretched. The action pushed her firm breasts farther out.
“See? That’s what I’m talking about. You’re moving in ways that are deliberately sexy to try and drive me crazy.”
She frowned and rose from the stool. “Why would I need to do that?”
“Because you want to make me want you.”
The little witch laughed. Not a sweet gentle one, either, but a deep laugh, like he’d said the most hilarious thing on the planet.
“Cole, honey.” The Texas twang became more pronounced. “You don’t need me to do a damn thing to make you want me. That’s all on you. But if you want to go ahead and seal the deal to get back in the saddle after your dry spell, then let’s go.”
“Back in the—” He took a breath and silently counted to three. He did want to seal the deal. He wanted to throw her over his shoulder and run up the stairs to the bedroom like a caveman coming back from a hunt. He wanted to take her clothes off and taste every inch of her body then do it again for good measure before he sank into her body.
“I don’t want to seal the deal,” he said, amazed that he could sound so honest when he was lying his ass off. “I want to talk.”
She bit her lip. “I’m willing to try, but dirty talk really isn’t my thing. If that’s what turns you on, I’m game to try, though.”
Cole took another deep breath. “Why don’t we take our wine into the living room and talk about things that aren’t related to sex?”
“Sure.” She picked up her glass and walked ahead of him into the other room, her jeans hugging every curve of her firm backside. He looked up at the ceiling to rein in his thoughts and nearly walked into the doorframe. Catching himself at the last minute, he veered to the left and headed straight for the sofa as far away from Maddie as he could get.
She got up from the chair she’d chosen and moved to the other end of the sofa. “I can hear you better here.” She smiled like an angel, and it was all Cole could do not to snort in disbelief. She took a sip of the wine and looked at him over the rim, questioning him with her eyes.
“Tell me about your life after high school,” he said quietly, hoping that going backward would lead him to a clue. The sooner he brought Samuel Russell to his knees, the sooner Maddie would be out of his life and the temptation would go with her.
“By the time I graduated, Grandpa was here in Chicago. I moved the day after graduation to attend college and worked with him at the hotel.”
“It must have been hard on your sister for you to be more than a thousand miles away.”
Maddie swirled her glass. “She and I are close, so it was a struggle. We talked almost every night, though.”
“Why didn’t you stay in Texas and work for your father?” He didn’t miss the instant darkening of her expression or the way the light dimmed in her eyes.
“It didn’t work out.” She looked at him for a long moment. “When we went to the Chinese Lantern event, you asked me about having a favorite family vacation spot where we would all go.”
Cole nodded and leaned slightly forward, hoping she was about to give him some information he could use.
“I was telling the truth when I said I didn’t know. I was never allowed to go on vacation with the family. My father is not my biological father.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “The only place I ever really wanted to see when I was a kid was one of the fairy tale tourist destinations called Princess Island.”
“The one off the coast of North Carolina?”
Maddie nodded. “I was really into the whole princess thing, and there was supposedly a castle there that made magic happen.”
He’d heard of the place. It was reserved exclusively for millionaires. “And you knew that you were supposed to marry a handsome prince and live happily ever after,” he said.
She looked at him. “Of course. I was six and Dani was four the year my father took her and my mother to that island.”
Her words made Cole reel. “Your father left you behind?”
“I didn’t matter to him. He didn’t want me around at all after he found out that my mother had an affair and I was the result.” She shrugged. “My real father is some guy she had a one-night stand with who was never interested in having kids. So I had two dads, and neither of them wanted me. But I know that’s their loss.”
Cole swallowed. He’d assumed Maddie had been born with a silver spoon in her mouth, that her life had been one of ease as the spoiled heiress to the Russell empire. He could see the flash of hurt long buried behind her smile. Her attitude said it was no big deal, but he knew better. Not mattering, not being wanted was the same atmosphere he’d grown up in. He didn’t like the idea that he could have misjudged her. “You weren’t ever included when they’d travel?”
“No, I was left with the nanny each time.” She shrugged and stared down into her glass. “When Dani got older and realized what was going on, she refused to go with them, so we’d stay behind and do stuff together while everyone was gone. Mostly get into trouble.”
“Is Dani aware that you’re her half sister?”
Maddie nodded. “She is, but that’s not a term we use. We’re sisters, period. Anyway, my grandfather was gone from the estate a lot traveling for business, and he didn’t know how unkind my father was to me until I was a teenager. When he found out, he was furious, and threatened to cut my father out of the will unless he stopped his behavior.”
Cole’s gut tightened at the mention of her grandfather, but he didn’t say anything. Though the man was his nemesis, he was clearly a hero in Maddie’s mind.
“Your mom didn’t intervene?”
Maddie shook her head. “She was afraid to. Afraid he’d throw both of us out and get custody of Dani. Plus, she loved him.” She lapsed into silence.
“That’s not love. That’s living in fear.”
“It’s their circus, not mine,” Maddie said. “What happened to your mother? I never saw her around.”
“She left when I was six. Dropped me off at school one day and I didn’t see her again until last year when she stopped by the office.”
“She wants to be part of your life?”
“No. She wanted the same thing every woman wants. Part of my bank account.” He clenched his teeth until he brought his emotions under control at the mem
ory of his mother telling him that he owed her.
“I don’t want your bank account,” Maddie protested.
“Then you didn’t deposit that cashier’s check?”
“I did, but—never mind.” She gave him the kind of smile that had all sorts of hidden meanings. “I guess in your mind I am like every other woman you’ve known.”
There was something going on with Maddie that he couldn’t quite grasp. He stared at her as she looked at him. “Taking the money is pretty damning.”
She ran her hand rhythmically up and down the side of her jeans. “Not everything is as it appears,” she said. “If you give people the benefit of the doubt, they might surprise you.”
“Or screw you over worse.”
Maddie slumped her shoulders. “I’m going to bed. If you want to…”
“We had a busy day with the move. I’m sure you’re tired.” He was not going to watch her shapely ass as she walked away. He was not…oh, hell. He was going to be lucky if he walked away from this deal with his head still screwed on even half straight.
At the bottom of the stairs, she looked back at him. “If you’ve changed your mind about the deal and you don’t want me, all you have to do is say so and I’ll leave tomorrow morning.”
Cole opened his mouth to tell her that he didn’t want her, that all he wanted was information, but he thought about what she’d said. That she hadn’t mattered. Wasn’t wanted. He closed his mouth, unable to bring himself to utter the words.
Against his better judgment, he set his wineglass aside and went to her. Maybe on some level he’d known he wouldn’t be able to resist her and he’d spent all this time lying to himself. That if he didn’t touch her, it wouldn’t make him such a bastard for walking away in six weeks. But bastard he was. He was going to stick to their deal, and damn the consequences.
Chapter Eight
It was clear to Maddie as Cole approached her that he had an internal battle going on. He put his hands on her shoulders. “I thought this was going to be a cut and dried deal. I use you, you use me, we both win. Only now I know that you’ve been hurt, and I don’t want to add to that. I don’t want to use you, but I’m going to.”
The part of Maddie’s heart that she kept walled off wanted to reach for him like a flower seeking the sun’s warmth. But she knew what he wanted, and she couldn’t serve up her grandfather on Cole’s altar of revenge. “Don’t overthink this. We agreed that it’s just sex.”
“What’s it going to do to you emotionally once you and I become lovers and then I destroy your grandfather? When your family is left completely penniless? When the Russell name is dragged through the mud in the media like mine was?”
“I don’t believe you’ll follow through on your threats. I think you’ve been bitter for so long you’ve forgotten that underneath all that you’re a good person.” She lifted her hands and turned his face toward hers when he looked away. “That you have a heart with a giant capacity for giving and loving.”
“We did agree it’s just sex, and it’s better for you if you remember that.” He reached up and gently pulled her hands down. “I will follow through, and I will crush anything that stands in my way.”
Maddie freed her hands from his. “The fastest way to self-destruct is to harbor revenge.”
“The fastest way to wimphood is to let people walk all over you.”
“Forgiveness means freedom,” Maddie said quietly.
“Justice does,” he countered.
“Fine, but right now I want to see how good you are at breaking a sweat.”
“Maddie, I told you—”
“Relax. This isn’t about me getting you naked. The closet door is stuck, and I can’t get it open. I need to put my clothes away.” She started up the stairs and paused on the second story landing to read a text from her sister. Apparently their father had sequestered their grandfather at a villa in Costa Rica. Because of her grandfather’s dementia, her father was taking control of what remained of the family fortune. A fight was brewing between her father and his brothers over who would get dominion. Maddie rubbed her forehead. She wasn’t concerned about what was left of the family money. All she wanted was to make sure her grandfather was taken care of.
“Trouble?” Cole asked as he came up behind her.
“Not at all,” Maddie said as she tucked her phone out of sight. If she told Cole where her grandfather was, he’d go after him, and she couldn’t allow that. She walked into the bedroom, but Cole stopped in the doorway.
Maddie waved him forward. “I promise I’m not going to handcuff you to the bed.” She put her hands on her hips and grinned. “I don’t know which box my handcuffs are in.”
“There’s nothing wrong with the door, is there?”
She went around the bed and gave the closet door a hearty yank. “See?” She winced as soon as she lowered her arm. “I think I pulled my shoulder.”
Cole came around her to try the doorknob. He managed to yank it open after the second try, and when he did, a cascade of haphazardly stacked boxes tumbled forward from a shelf.
“Be careful!” Maddie rushed forward to help, and a box caught her forcefully in the center of the back, pushing her against Cole.
He tried to stop their forward plummet, but it was useless. She landed with her face pressed against his abdomen. His hands covered her ears as if he’d tried to protect her head. Maddie couldn’t help it. She started laughing.
Cole leaned up on his elbows. “You think nearly getting beat to death by boxes is funny?”
“No, I was thinking if my head slammed into your body a few inches lower, you’d be spending the night with a bag of frozen peas.” She scrambled off him but was still chuckling about the mishap as she rubbed her shoulder.
“Turn around. Let me see your shoulder.”
Maddie turned and sat cross-legged on the floor in front of Cole. He gently pressed his hands against her. She let her head fall forward and bit back a groan. “It’s been too long since I’ve had a massage.” His hands worked magic on her body, and her muscles relaxed. “Oh, that’s good. Right there. Mmm.”
“Maddie.” His hands stilled on her shoulders. Then he let go.
“My back feels like it’s going to bruise.” She went to the boxes. “What’s so heavy in these?”
He joined her and thrust his hands into his pockets. “Books for the mobile library in Cutler County.”
Maddie opened one of the boxes. Cutler County was one of the poorest in Butler Field and so rural that the population was less than five hundred people. Getting a consistent internet connection there was a gamble, and most residents couldn’t afford that luxury. She picked up a couple. “These are new books.”
Cole took one of them from her and ran his thumb across the title. “I thought this would help some of the kids until the area builds up a little.”
“That’s why you go back to Butler Field on your business trips, isn’t it? You’re trying to build up Cutler County?”
Maddie was amazed at the transformation in Cole as he began to speak. “The kids there…especially the teenagers, they don’t have much to do or to look forward to. A lot of them are like strays. They roam the streets with nothing to do and no one to care.”
“You lived out at the far end of Cutler County.”
He nodded and lowered the book back into the box. “Yes.”
“Mom mentioned a new school being built out that way, but no one knows who… You’re the one doing that?”
He nodded.
“And the grocery store…you’re moving jobs into that county.”
“I only helped with the financial backing. If the people have the means to provide for themselves, then maybe the kids will end up better off. It’s no guarantee but—”
Maddie couldn’t help herself. She flung her arms around him in a hug. “I knew I was right,” she whispered against the side of his neck. “You do have a good heart.” She stepped back.
“I’m not a hero.”
/> His voice was sharp, his emotional “keep out” firmly in place, but Maddie ignored it, wanting him to see what she did.
“Tell that to the people whose lives you change.”
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what? Think you’re a good person? Look at you like I want you? Because I do.” She ached with the need to be with him.
“Don’t read something in me that doesn’t exist. You’ll end up disappointed or with a broken heart.”
“I don’t think so. I know the score. Besides, you said it yourself. You don’t want to use me.” Maddie stepped closer.
“Exactly.”
“Which only goes to prove me right about your heart.” She brushed her lips against the side of his mouth. “I’m ready whenever you are. Kiss me. I want you to touch me, and I want to touch you. Everywhere.”
His eyes darkened before he pressed himself against her, walking her backward to the bed.
The mattress hit her in the back of her legs, and she let go, let herself fall. Cole put his knee on the mattress between her legs and balanced his weight on his arms. “I will take you, and it won’t mean anything to me. Do you understand that?”
“Same here,” she said. Wanting him to kiss her, Maddie focused her attention on his lips. She wanted to taste him, to feel him against her.
He lifted her up farther onto the mattress in one easy move as Maddie held onto his forearms. Then he lowered his body, settling between her legs, letting her feel the evidence of his desire.
Maddie loved the weight of him, and her head spun from the force of longing. She wanted him inside of her, wanted to see his eyes darken when the awareness sank in at the same moment that he did. His dark gaze swept over her face, paused briefly on her lips, then met her eyes. “Are you sure this is what you want? Because if we do this, there’s no going back.”
“Yes, I’m sure,” she groaned out, wondering what else she could do or say to prove that she had thought through the consequences. Contract or no contract, this was what she wanted, what she’d wanted since the first time she’d laid eyes on him.