by MG Braden
“Sorry, no can do. I just gave you the last two. Those are our biggest seller. I’m almost ready, just let me go to the back and tell Marcy I’m leaving.”
While he watched her go, he decided that coming home to Maple Meadows might not be as boring as he had originally thought. Then his cell phone rang; he answered. “Oh, crap. I’ll be right there.” He didn’t even think. He ran out the door.
***
Sitting at home, pushing her cold dinner around her plate, Madison thought about this afternoon at the store.
“Okay, Cam, I’m ready to go.” She’d looked around and saw only customers. “Cam?” Maybe he had gone to the men’s room. She had waited a while longer before deciding he must have left. Nice. Well, that goes to show you that even nice guys can be jerks. Or maybe all men are jerks.
That had been around one o’clock, and she still hadn’t heard from him. After that, she had picked Kayla up from preschool, dropped her off at Jake’s, and come home herself.
Valentine’s Day had always been a hard day for her, but after her breakup with her long-time boyfriend, it had become worse. They had broken up on Valentine’s Day. She tried to convince herself it was just a commercial holiday and that it didn’t mean anything to relationships. But it still sucked.
Giving up on her dinner, she decided to see what was on TV. She was flipping the channels when the doorbell rang. She opened it to see Cam holding a guitar and a huge bouquet of flowers.
He handed her the flowers, picked up the guitar and started strumming. “I’m sorry, so sorry....”
Madison rolled her eyes. “You can stop singing. I’m not interested. Oh, here take your flowers too.” She shoved the flowers back at him and tried to close the door.
He put up his hand. “Dad’s business had a fire. I had to leave. I’m sorry. I didn’t have time to wait around to tell you.”
She sighed and swung the door open. “I guess now I have to say I’m sorry. But have you ever heard of a telephone? That was hours ago.”
“It’s okay. We saved most of building. The fire was mainly contained to one room, although there is smoke damage throughout the factory. I had to deal with the fire department, insurance, and who knows what else is left to do—I finally just left. I thought coming here would be better than phoning.”
She reached for the flowers. “I’ll take these back. Thanks.” She turned and walked into the house leaving the door open for him to come in. She might as well show him a bit of feisty. She didn't want him to think she was too forgiving, even if it was for a good reason.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Madison.”
She backed away from where she was arranging the flowers in a vase to find him standing closely behind her. She moved to face him. God, he’s gorgeous. She had trouble breathing. “So, the fire is out?”
“I think there’s still some burning.” He was looking at her intently, and she wasn’t sure if they were talking about the fire at his dad’s anymore.
“That’s not good.” Yes. Definitely having trouble breathing. He had inched even closer to her.
“It’s good. Some fires are very good.” As his head lowered to hers, she tilted hers up slightly and met his kiss head on. She felt his arms go around her, and then his hands were on her butt, urging her closer to him. Her hands went up into the thick of his hair to pull his mouth even harder to hers.
I think I’m going to die. Kissing Cam is way better than dreaming about kissing Cam. They kissed passionately for a few minutes before she decided she needed to gain a modicum of control.
She slid around him, grabbed a bottle of wine and two glasses. “Do you want to go sit in the living room? Have some wine?” Before he could reply, she practically leapt in to the other room and sat on the couch. She needed to get some air and to think rationally. It really wasn’t like her to let things get out of control. Control was her middle name.
Cam followed, grabbing his guitar from where he had leaned it against the wall, and sat down beside her. “I brought this 'cause you said you’d like to hear me play sometime. I thought I could do a private gig.”
Was he talking? She wasn’t sure she heard anything after he sat down next to her. The smell of his cologne. The memory of his arms around her, the feel of his chest against hers. And those lips… Oh, those lips rock. With unsteady hands, she poured the red wine into the glasses and picked hers up.
“Private gig? Sounds naughty.” She took a fairly large, and definitely unladylike, sip of her wine.
“Play your cards right...” He wiggled his eyebrows at her, looking a bit lecherous.
“Well, it’s almost my bedtime so you’d better deal, cowboy?” Holy crap, where am I coming up with this stuff? It’s been a long time, and he’s hot. Who cares, girl? Go for it.
He laughed. “You sure grew up, Madison Hughes.”
Then he started to strum the guitar and sing.
She sat back and listened as he sang a variety of songs. His deep, melodic voice lulled her. She watched his fingers on the guitar and wondered how they would feel in her hair, on her skin. The groan actually escaped her lips before she could hold it back this time.
He stopped playing. “Don’t like that song?”
She just shook her head. She was slightly light-headed and she realized she’d probably had a few too many glasses of wine. Throwing caution to the wind, she leaned over and kissed him. She had known this man for a long time, yet not really known him. It was time to change that. As he put his guitar down and pulled her closer, she glanced at the clock. Ten o’clock. Past her bedtime. Tonight she didn’t care if she slept at all. Happy Valentine’s Day to me.
***
“Hey, babe.” Cam called in through the doorway.
“Back here.” Madison was in her room, changing after work. She was going to help Cam go through some of his promotional ideas. He’d been home for a couple of weeks and they’d spent a lot of time together. She had even bought some marketing items for Cupcake Castle through his company. He had admitted to her that he was starting to like the work and was finding there were ways to be creative with it. It wasn’t quite how he felt when he sang, but soon he was going to start a regular weekend gig at one of the local pubs. He had decided to stick around for a while. She had been thrilled to hear that.
She had just pulled her top on when he came in the room.
“Mmm. Maybe we should stay in.” He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a long, slow kiss.
She pushed against his chest. “Come on. I’m starving, and we have to go over these ideas so you can present them tomorrow. It could be a really big account.”
“I know, you’re right.” He tugged on her hand, leading her into the living room. “First, I want you to hear a song I’ve been practicing for the gig this weekend. I picked it for you.”
She sat down and waited for him to get set up. Listening to him sing brought her thrills every time. She liked to think that every song he sang was for her, but this was the first time he had said so.
Wow. She listened more intently, “...love you, like nobody’s loved you...”
For most of her life she had hated love songs. Now, for the very first time, she thought she might be starring in one of her own.
“...win your trust making memories of us.” He finished playing. “Well?”
She shifted over to where he was sitting, removed the guitar and straddled his lap. “You were right. We should stay in.” She lowered her head, gently bit his lower lip, and then kissed him. “Let’s start making those memories.”
Love songs rock.
###
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Table of Contents
Love Songs
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