by Rita Herron
His tanned knuckle bulged as he patted her hand. "They'll survive."
"I just hope Jeff's parents do. His mother's probably removing my name from every social list in Savannah as we speak."
"She is into all that stuff, isn't she?"
Maddie swallowed a sip of beer. "She lives for all those society functions."
Chase nodded, not quite meeting her eyes. Suspicions inched into Maddie's conscious. He'd said the boys had gone looking for her, but the show had aired at three, and she'd been gone for hours. Her heart fluttered at the disastrous possibility flitting through her head. "Chase, the boys didn't go to Jeff's, did they?"
The corner of his mouth twisted slightly. "Earlier."
Maddie dropped her face into her hands and groaned. "You went with them?"
He nodded again.
She peeked between her fingers. "Please tell me they didn't hurt him."
His feet pushed the glider with a little more force. "Scared him shitless, but Oglethorpe'll survive."
Maddie dropped her hands completely and chuckled. T. C. suddenly raised his head, stared at her, then leaped down and scampered behind the bushes.
"What are you going to do now?" he asked softly.
Maddie shrugged. "Focus on my career. Forget men."
"Ahh, Maddie." His hand brushed hers slightly, a tiny spark of static electricity jolting through her. Maddie frowned, momentarily stunned. As if he'd felt it, too, Chase pulled his hand away and stared at her bare feet, then his boots. A silence fell between them that seemed both comfortable and awkward at the same time.
The creaking sound of the swing lulled her as she studied the outline of his chiseled face. Dark stubble grazed Chase's square jaw, his nose was crooked where it had been broken at least twice in high school, and several stray locks of his too-long black hair tumbled down over his heavy bedroom eyes. A tiny jagged scar splintered his bronze complexion, roving from the edge of his hairline to within an inch of his left eye. She remembered the day he'd gotten the injury, wondered how many more scars he'd added over the years. Each one would tell a story...
What was wrong with her? She'd never wondered about Chase Holloway's scars before. Must be the aftermath of breaking up with one man. You suddenly noticed all the others.
As if he sensed her watching him, Chase raised his head and met her gaze. His jaw tightened, the fine lines at the corner of his mouth crinkling into that killer smile. But his charcoal-black eyes turned a smoky hue that Maddie didn't recognize. She swallowed, astounded by the intensity of emotion hidden in their depths.
Emotions like pain and hunger and need.
Emotions she'd never seen before because she hadn't been looking. Because he was her brothers' buddy. Off-limits to her. Unavailable. Just as she had been to him.
But no more.
She was a free woman. A fully grown free woman. And Chase was a free man. The sexiest free man she'd ever known. Good grief, what was happening to her?
She was supposed to be forgetting men.
And Chase Holloway was no man to tangle with. Talk about notches on a bedpost, he probably had to replace his bedposts every six months. No, Chase was too much like a brother to her for a relationship. But he had given her some pretty good pointers about boys when she'd been twelve.
"You know, Maddie, you don't have to forget men completely, I'm sure there's a nice guy out there who wants to settle down."
Gracious, he was just as barbaric in his old Southern values as her brothers.
"You know, you're right, Chase. Forgetting men was a little extremist. Maybe I'll just forget marriage."
His dark eyes widened.
"I can play the field, date lots of guys."
"I didn't mean—"
"After all, I want to get my business off the ground before I even consider another serious relationship."
"But—"
"I need to try a lot of men so I'll know when I've found the perfect one."
"I don't know—"
"Sure, it's the same as shopping; I try on several different styles of shoes before I buy a pair."
"Shoes?"
"And it took me at least a dozen different fittings to find a bra that suits me." She could have sworn his dark cheeks flushed before his gaze fell to her breasts. "I may not be model beauty, but I'm not bad either. At least I've developed a few curves."
"Uh, I can't argue with you there."
Maddie yanked her skirt up to mid-thigh. "And I do have nice legs, at least several men have told me that."
"What men?" The glider squeaked as he shifted and tugged at his collar.
"Lots of men, you know guys at school, nightclubs, construction workers."
"Maddie, you need to watch out—"
Maddie cut him off with a hiss. "I realize you're more experienced than me, Chase, but I'm not a kid anymore."
He raised a brow, his patronizing expression irritating her even more.
Maddie pursed her lips. "As a matter of fact, I'm a pretty good kisser if I do say so myself. Maybe I'm a little rusty from only kissing Jeff though." She angled her head sideways to study him. When he simply stared at her in disbelief, she snatched the edge of his shirt. "All right, see for yourself. If my kissing isn't up to par, maybe you can give me some pointers."
Then she jerked his mouth to hers and kissed him like the earth was about to come to an end.
Chapter 3
Chase's hands moved automatically to hover at Maddie's waist as she plunged her tongue into his mouth. Reminding himself that this was Maddie kissing him, he tried to set her away from him, but she seemed intent on driving him wild with her innocent seduction. Or test.
Whatever it was, his body was on fire. About to spontaneously burst into flames from the heat building in his loins. She traced a fingernail down the side of his face and scraped his beard stubble. The simple erotic sound made his body harden. Finally, she broke for air, sipped at his upper lip for a delicious moment, then pulled back and gazed at him. The heady scent of her exotic perfume suffused him, muddling his brain even further.
"Well?"
Well, hell. He narrowed his eyes, faintly aware his pulse had kicked in overtime, and his breathing sounded rough in the stillness of the night, almost as loud as the purring sound close by. The cat? No, a car motor.
A car motor!
"Well, Chase, what do you think?"
He glanced over the giant azaleas and saw Reid and Lance stalking up the sidewalk. Double hell. How could he possibly explain why he'd been kissing Maddie? And try as he might to deny it, he had kissed her back. Excuses tumbled through his head—listen, guys, your baby sister here wanted some pointers.
Yeah, they'd love that.
"Chase, do you have some suggestions on how I could improve my kissing technique?"
Improve? "Uh, no. I... your... B-brothers."
He stood, knowing if Lance and Reid had seen him, he was a dead man.
* * *
Maddie spotted her brothers, instantly sizing up their moods—their downcast heads, the frowns, the camaraderie of male hormones dominating her porch—not a good sign. To top it off, Chase had had to be so damn patronizing. The boys' gazes swung to her new car, and she sighed.
Not only did she have to deal with her meddling, macho, overprotective brothers and convince them that she had survived the breakup, but she'd also have to convince them a convertible was safe enough for a single female to drive alone at night in the city, and if they'd seen her kissing Chase... Boy, she had her work cut out.
Reid and Lance practically tripped over themselves trying to hug her.
"Hey, sis, you okay?" Lance asked in a gruff voice.
"Where the hell have you been?" Reid jammed his hands on his hips and glared at her. "The show was over hours ago. We've been out of our minds with worry."
"Where did you get that car? Is it a loaner?" Lance asked.
"Whoa, slow down." Obviously, they hadn't seen the kiss. Thank goodness. Maddie pointed to the sho
pping bags. "I stopped by the mall and the bakery. Then the car dealership." When they started to protest, she held up a warning hand. "The VW is mine, guys. I bought it on the way home."
Lance's shaggy eyebrow shot up. "You bought it?"
"You can't be serious," Reid said. "What if you have a wreck—"
Maddie rolled her eyes in disbelief. "This from the guys who drove motorcycles with bumper stickers that read bad-ass boys drive bad-ass toys."
"But that's different, sis, you're a girl," Lance bellowed.
"Newsflash, boys—this isn't the dark ages anymore. Women can actually vote, we've even flown in outer space."
Reid harrumphed. "Don't start with all that feminist stuff."
"You should be happy I didn't get the Miata, that was my first choice."
Reid patted her shoulder. "Okay, sis, calm down, we'll talk about the car later—"
"No, we won't. The convertible is mine," Maddie stated firmly. "I'm keeping it, end of discussion." Reminding herself that her brothers, in their infinitely old-fashioned Southern-bred mentality, meant well, and that they would never accept the fact that she was a grown woman perfectly capable of taking care of herself, she lowered her voice.
"Listen guys, I know you saw the show, but I'm glad I broke it off with Jeff. Now let's have cake and coffee. I'm dying for some chocolate."
Reid's eyes filled with sympathy. "Uh-oh, she's resorted to chocolate."
"I love chocolate all the time," Maddie said emphatically.
"Look, Maddie, you don't have to pretend with us," Lance murmured. "We know you had to save face on camera, but you're talking to your big brothers now—"
Maddie silenced him with a quick shush. "Read my lips, brother dear. I'm glad my relationship with Jeff is over. I'm ready to move on. Now come on, I'm craving sugar." She forced a smile to placate them, but she knew her efforts were futile. They were certain she was devastated. They expected tears and drama.
She refused to give them either.
Reid pulled her into a bear hug. "We'll kill him for you," he whispered in a dark tone.
Lance widened his stance, his fighting face in place. "Just give us the word, sis, we'll go back and finish the job. He won't even know what hit him."
"What do you mean, you'll go back and finish the job?" Maddie folded her arms across her chest. "I thought you said they didn't hurt him, Chase."
Chase shrugged. "He was fine when I left."
So her brothers had gone back to see Jeff. "Tell me what happened, guys."
"Nothing really," Reid said, resorting to that stammering little-boy act she knew all too well.
"We simply had a little talk," Lance said. "Man to man."
Chase chuckled. "You mean man to wuss."
Maddie groaned. "You did hurt him."
"He'll heal," Reid said with a toothy grin.
"Besides," Lance added, "he can afford a plastic surgeon if the bone doesn't grow back straight."
A mosquito buzzed near Maddie's ear. She swatted at it, wishing she could swat her brothers away. "Please tell me you didn't break his nose. His mother will die—"
"We didn't break his nose," Lance said.
Reid wiggled his fingers. "But he jammed his little pinkie when he hit the pavement."
"Oh, my God, you're bullies!"
"We didn't touch him." Lance tried to look offended but failed miserably. "He was running so damn hard he tripped over his own feet."
The men broke into laughter and once again Maddie hissed. Except for the wuss comment, Chase remained suspiciously silent, a situation that struck her as odd and one she'd deal with sometime later. When she finished killing her brothers.
She squared her shoulders and walked toward them with her most menacing look. "I don't need your help or interference—"
Lance tweaked a strand of her hair in the same tender way he'd done when she was five. "Ahh, Maddie, come on, we're just trying to take care of you."
"Yeah, we promised Mama," Reid added in a rough whisper.
Did they have to go and mention her mother? Moisture immediately welled in Maddie's eyes as she contemplated how her mom would have reacted to today's events. Would she be disappointed in Maddie?
They both instantly noticed the tears and misunderstood the reason. Lance drew her into a hug again. "Shh, now, everything's going to be all right, sweetheart."
Maddie briefly allowed him to console her, but finally drew away, swiping at her eyes. "Reid, why don't you fix me some hot tea. I could use a cup. Would you mind?"
His rugged jaw relaxed slightly. "Sure. I'll be right back."
He hurried into her apartment, looking relieved to be assigned a task he could actually handle. She turned to Lance. He was the oldest of the three, the calmest, the wisest, the one who'd taken care of her and Reid when her parents had died. The one she worried about. The one she knew would be crushed if he learned about the argument her parents had had the night before they'd died.
Concern showed in the set of his jaw. "And you—maybe you could cut us all a slice of cake and make some coffee." She gestured toward the box on the table. "It's chocolate éclair."
He brushed his hand along her chin in that protective I'll-always-take-care-of-you way he had. "Whatever you want, Mad. You know I'm here for you."
Maddie nodded, blinking at the unwanted sting of tears that moistened her eyes. She didn't know whether to hit them both or hug them.
She should have killed them both and put them out of her misery, Maddie thought an hour later. Murder would have been easier than enduring their hovering. The boys polished off the éclair cake, gave her a pep talk that she did not need, and over a pot of coffee hinted that Jeff might change his mind and warm to the idea of marriage.
Yeah, with a little more of your intimidation tactics, Maddie thought sourly. She didn't want warm, she wanted hot. Someone hot for her and hot over the idea of loving her for the rest of his life. Someone who wouldn't ask her to trade her independence for his own goals. Someone who'd like it when she took control, even in bed.
"Breaking up with Jeff is the best thing I've ever done. Now my life can be my own show; I'll star in it and I won't have Jeff telling me what to do." Maddie lay down her fork, determined to put a positive spin on the humiliating day. "I'm going to date around, explore the single life in Savannah. Maybe I'll get some friends together and we'll make a single women's pact like you guys made that dumb bachelor pact when you were twelve."
"That pact was a good thing," Lance said.
"Yeah, I like my life." Reid mumbled. "I don't have to worry about putting the toilet seat down, have the remote to myself, and a different woman every night."
Maddie laughed. "I'm going to call Sophie and see if she wants to go to Barebones tonight, and there's that drag bar where the Lady Chablis performs, I can't wait to see—"
"You are not going to Barebones," Lance said in a no-nonsense tone.
"Or to see the Lady Chablis," Reid said curtly.
Maddie bristled in spite of the fact that she'd intentionally named the most outrageous bars she could think of to taunt her brothers. "Why not? I'm of legal age, and almost everyone in Savannah has seen—"
"You're a woman, and you're not going," Lance said as if that explained everything.
Reid stood, wincing when his head hit the bottom of a hanging fern pot. "Women like you are meant for places like the Tea House. In a bar, you're prime targets for... for—"
"Sexist bachelors like yourselves?" Maddie asked sweetly.
Chase halted the movement of the swing, threw his head back and laughed, cutting off Lance's reply. "Guys, I think Maddie's pulling your leg here."
Maddie shot him a wicked look. "Who says? I missed out on a lot of things dawdling around with Jeff. I'm going to have some fun now."
Lance and Reid groaned. Chase's dark eyes turned blacker than the night. "Then call one of us, and we'll take you, shortstop."
Maddie pointed her fork at them. "Right. Every guy in the place wou
ld be all over me, asking me to dance with the three of you hovering around like mother hens."
"We are not mother hens," Reid mumbled. "We're just more experienced."
"And you don't need guys all over you," Lance growled.
"Oh, pull... eeease," Maddie moaned. "The only difference between men and women is that you have a—"
"Don't say it, Mad," Lance warned.
"A Y chromosome." Maddie smiled smugly. "Now, let's change the subject."
Lance and Reid quickly shouted, "Here-here."
Chase didn't voice an opinion. In fact, he remained suspiciously silent again, merely giving Maddie another one of those dark, unreadable looks that made her wonder if her black thong underwear was visible beneath the sheer white dress. She crossed her legs and watched Chase's eyes momentarily rivet to her calf where the slitted skirt parted, then fall back to his scuffed-up boots. So, he didn't think she was twelve anymore.
Pleased with herself, Maddie flicked a strand of hair over her shoulder, aware the bare back of the dress caught Chase's attention as she leaned forward.
Pretending she didn't notice his disapproving look, she continued, "So, how's the new development going?"
Her brothers instantly straightened, both talking at once to fill her in on the houses they'd contracted for restoration and their plans for Skidaway Island.
"Man oh man, the island venture is a great opportunity," Reid said. "Two hundred houses, golf course community, a swimming pool and tennis courts; if things go like we've planned, our company will take off."
"We're going to be included in the Tour of Homes Savannah's hosting for the Reinhardt Foundation," Lance added.
Reid grinned. "With Chase coming on board to design some of the custom projects, The Terrible Three can't possibly fail."
"Think we should advertise that nickname on our business cards?" Lance joked.
Maddie rocked back in the porch swing, a plan taking shape in her mind. "Hey, you guys are going to let me decorate the model homes for the tour, aren't you? "
Lance and Reid both hesitated, reaching for more coffee at the same time. Lance poured his first, dousing it with sugar. "I don't know, sis. You have a habit of jumping from one thing to another."