“Honey, trust me, those scraps of material weren’t hiding much of you anyway.”
“It was the biggest swimsuit I could find,” she grumbled. “I think your wife’s anorexic.”
“Ex-wife. And no, she’s not.” He smoothed her hair from her face, then kissed her temple. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about.” Drawing her arm from her chest, he lightly stroked her breasts. “You’re perfect.”
She wasn’t, but he made her feel like she was. She resisted the urge to cover herself by pressing her hands between her legs and taking in the scenery. A gust of wind blew two bluebirds from their perch in the evergreen beside the deck. “This is incredible. You have an amazing view.”
“Yeah, I do.” There was something in his voice that made her glance back. His eyes were on her, a tantalizing promise in his heated gaze.
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
“How long have you lived here?”
“Eight years. We broke ground the day we found out we were expecting Lily.”
She tipped her head back. “You built this place yourself?”
“I contracted out some of it. But yeah, for the most part, I did.”
“Guess your dad wasn’t kidding when he said you’re good with your hands. You’re not just a pretty face, are you?”
“Why don’t I show you just how good I am?” He kissed the sensitive place below her ear as his calloused hands worked their way through every knot in her shoulders, then moved up her neck to do the same. Slowly the tension left her body, and his fingers gentled. Instead of kneading and massaging, they now stroked and caressed.
“You’re not going to sleep on me, are you?”
“Maybe.” Drowsily, she lifted her arms, looping them behind his neck.
He groaned.
Her eyes blinked open, and she glanced down. Her breasts were lifted above the water, the cool air tightening her nipples. She went to lower her arms.
“Oh, no, you don’t.” His strong fingers wrapped around both her wrists, holding her in place. “Stay just like that, honey.”
“You need to kiss me.” She tilted her head to give him better access.
“Yeah, I do.” He lowered his mouth to hers, his hands moving over her body in slow, mind-numbing strokes.
She needed to feel closer to him and lowered her arms. Resting a hand on his thigh, she repositioned herself on his lap. “Better,” she murmured, linking her fingers behind his neck.
“Much.” He put his arm around her waist, tipping her backward with the force of his insistent, hungry kiss, a wild clash of tongues and teeth as they devoured each other in a passionate frenzy. Their hands searching and touching as the desire they’d kept bottled up inside exploded.
“Now,” Gage rasped, “we do it your way.” He lifted her easily, rising from the water. She gasped as the cold air nipped her naked body—her completely naked body.
Eyes wide, she looked up at him. “I’m naked.”
He grinned, a flash of white teeth. “No one can see you.”
“What about Rick Dane?” she asked with a panicked gesture at the wide-open vista. “He could be out there with a telescopic lens.”
“He wouldn’t do that.” But she noticed he scanned the tree line before opening the French doors that led into a masculine-looking room with a massive sleigh bed on dark wood floors, a big-screen TV suspended above a fieldstone fireplace on the opposite wall.
He pulled back the brown-suede duvet, tossing her into the middle of the cool cotton sheets. Following her down, he rested a hand on her hip as he reached across her to open the drawer of the bedside table. She snuggled against him, trying to absorb his warmth. “Maybe you could light the fire,” she suggested hopefully.
Ripping open the condom wrapper with his teeth, he grinned. “Honey, the only fire you’re going to need is the one I light in you.”
He was right.
* * *
Madison shoved her hair from her sweat-dampened face. “Oh, God, that was… great.” It was better than great; it was incredible, amazing, earth-shattering. But she was afraid to wax poetic in case it only seemed that way because of her lack of experience.
He raised himself on an elbow. “That’s all you got? I was thinking more on the lines of fan-freaking-tastic, incredible, earth-moving.”
“Oh, good, I thought it was just me. I don’t have a lot of experience so I wasn’t sure you’d felt the same.”
“What you do mean by not a lot?”
She probably shouldn’t have blurted that out. Her cheeks warmed. “Um, eight times.”
He looked like the number surprised him, which didn’t surprise her. But he quickly smoothed the expression from his face and smiled. “You don’t have to be embarrassed. You’re almost thirty, I expected you to have been with a few men.”
With an affronted huff, she said, “Times, Gage.”
He rubbed his jaw. “Okay, let me get this straight. Are you saying you’ve only had sex eight times?” At the incredulous look in his eyes, she suddenly felt ridiculously naive and exposed.
“Yes. And you know what,” she sat up, wrapping the sheet around her, “I don’t think this is an appropriate conversation for us to be having. I’m going to take a shower.”
She shimmied toward the end of the bed. Gage took hold of the sheet and reeled her back in. She scowled at him. “Come on, don’t be mad. You can’t tell me you’ve only had sex eight times and not expect me to be a little surprised.”
“Surprised, maybe, but not shocked. You make me feel like a—”
“I’m sorry.” He stroked her cheek. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you. But it’s obviously an issue with you, honey. I just thought it’d help if we talked about it.”
“While we’re on the subject, why don’t we analyze your sex life too. How many women have you slept with, Mr. Sexpert?”
The corner of his mouth twitched. “Not as many as you seem to think, but it’s nice to know I get expert ranking in your books.”
“Since I’ve only been with one man, I don’t… Why are you looking at me like that? I told you I only had sex…” She made an annoyed sound at the back of her throat. “You thought I slept once with eight different men, didn’t you?” He rubbed his hand over his mouth. “Don’t bother trying to hide it. I know you’re laughing at me.”
“I’m not laughing at you, honest. You’re just so damn adorable when you get mad. You make me smile.”
Slightly mollified, she said. “Okay. And for the record, I have very good reasons for being somewhat inexperienced. One of which is I don’t do the ‘friends with benefits’ thing. In my opinion, women are hardwired differently than men, and we attach emotions to sex.” She thought of some of the women she worked with at Hartwell. “Well, most women anyway. I met Michael when I was twenty-five. We dated for three months before we… you know.”
His brow raised. “Three months?”
“Yes, it takes three months for a person to drop their masks and reveal their true selves. I don’t have sex unless I feel the man is someone I want a long-term relationship with. So you can understand why, given my criteria, I haven’t had a lot of experience, sexually speaking.”
He rubbed his hand over his mouth again. “That’s a real interesting theory you’ve got there, honey, but we haven’t known each other for three months.”
Dammit. When would she learn to keep her mouth shut? “I made an exception in your case,” she said primly, then added, “I’m going to have my shower now.”
This time, he didn’t try to hide his smile. “Oh, no, you don’t.” He rolled her into his arms, bringing them nose-to-nose. “This is getting real interesting now. Let me guess, you can’t resist a guy with a big gun.” She narrowed her eyes at him, and he struggled to keep a straight face. “No? Okay, let me see—”
I fell in love with you, you big jerk. She interrupted him. “I forgot my rabbit at home and—”
“You’re so full of it,” he laughed
. “Admit it. It was love at first sight.”
“Yeah, that’s it exactly,” she tried for a light and teasing tone. She didn’t want him to know there was an element of truth there. “And you’re easy on the eyes, Sheriff.”
“So are you.” He smiled, holding her hair back to nuzzle her neck.
She shivered. “You can do that again.”
“I will, but while you were talking to Joe, I was thinking about something and wanted to run it by you.”
She angled her head. “Okay, shoot.”
He hesitated, looking a bit unsure of himself, which surprised her. Gage McBride was one of the most confident, self-assured men she’d ever met.
“I’ve made it pretty clear how I feel about doing the long-distance thing, so I was thinking now that you’re no longer with Hartwell, you might consider relocating.”
“Ah, where?” A hint of the south crept in her voice as the nerves in her stomach did a dance.
“I love that Southern drawl of yours, but you don’t have to be nervous. I was just going to make you an offer. No pressure.” He brought his hands to her shoulders, kneading the muscles that were beginning to tighten up again. “I don’t have many contacts in New York, but I do in Denver. So do my Dad and Ethan. I’m sure between the three of us, we can come up with a list of people and make some calls for you. That is if you’re interested. I know how you feel—”
She placed a finger on his lips. “Thank you. I appreciate the offer, but—”
He exhaled deeply. “It’s okay. I know you love New York and aren’t too crazy about hanging out in small towns. I just thought…” He shrugged.
“I might not be crazy about small towns, but I’ve discovered a few things in Christmas that I really, really like.” She smiled up at him. “And about all that’s keeping me in New York are my friends. But Skye’s hardly there anymore, and Vivi, I don’t know, she might be up for a change.”
“So you’re seriously giving it some thought?” He looked stunned. She didn’t know if that was a good sign or a bad sign.
Here it goes, she thought, taking a leap of faith. “I seriously am. Joe’s putting in a word for me with one of our competitors. Ben, at Triwest, is an old friend of his and has shown some interest in me in the past. His headquarters are in Denver.” She talked slowly, enunciating the words carefully in an effort to keep her drawl at bay. It didn’t work.
Gage grinned. “You’re really nervous about this, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. Tense, too. Maybe you could work on that for me.” She smiled, but it was a little forced because she felt kind of sick to her stomach.
“Don’t be scared. If things don’t work out with Triwest, and we have to do the long-distance thing, we will. But it’s tough, if not almost impossible, to make it work. And I want to give us a shot, a real shot.” He leaned over and kissed her, swallowing her “Me too.”
“Now, why don’t I take care of that tension for you?”
Blissfully tension-free after Gage fulfilled his promise a couple times over, Madison curled into him. If this was how good taking a leap of faith felt, she should’ve done it a long time ago. But then again, she’d never been in love with a man worth taking the risk for.
Chapter Twenty-one
Knock off the attitude, Annie,” Gage said, as he pulled the Suburban into his aunt’s driveway. And attitude was all he’d been getting from his oldest for the last few days. Ever since she’d caught him kissing Madison in the kitchen.
With Nell in the hospital and his dad back at work, Madison had been looking after Annie and Lily for him. Gage hadn’t realized until then how much he’d missed having a woman in his life—especially a woman who made him laugh, who was great with his girls even though Annie was being a pain in the ass. And that was one of the reasons he’d taken the day off: he wanted Annie to get used to seeing him with Madison.
“We’re going to have a great time,” he said firmly. As he unbuckled his seat belt, he caught Annie’s eye roll in the rearview mirror.
Gage shifted in his seat. “Madison’s looking forward to picking out a Christmas tree. She’s never had one before.” And that conversation just about broke his heart. They’d been talking about the holidays while doing the dishes last night and, with some effort on his part, he got her to open up. “You don’t want to spoil her fun, do you?”
When Annie wasn’t acting like a grizzly with her paw caught in a trap, she was a sweet and caring kid. He saw a hint of that in her eyes just before she shrugged and notched her chin at the lime-green pickup parked in the driveway beside him. “Why can’t Ted and Fred take her?”
Because Gage wanted to.
Before he thought of a way to say that to Annie without getting her back up, Lily piped in, “Daddy, how come Maddie never had a Christmas tree?”
He went with the easy answer. “Some people don’t celebrate Christmas, sweetpea.”
“Lucky them,” Annie muttered.
Gage didn’t see it that way, not when he thought of Madison as a little girl, a little girl who’d once loved Christmas even though her dad never let her celebrate. And when her mother died on Christmas Eve, so did Madison’s love for the holiday. Her time here seemed to have changed that. She’d become as much a champion of Christmas as his aunt, both the holiday and the town.
In the backseat, his daughters engaged in a heated exchange over the merits of celebrating Christmas.
“You’re being a sh—” Lily cast him a sidelong glance “—poopyhead. You better be careful or Santa won’t bring you any presents.”
“There isn’t—” Annie caught Gage’s don’t-even-think-about-it look “—such a word as poopyhead.” He smiled. She smirked and added, “It’s shithead.”
“Aw, come on, you two, give me a break.” He opened the glove compartment to dig out a couple of granola bars and tossed them each one. “No fighting. I won’t be long.”
Gage walked in to find Madison—wearing red flannel PJs with “Ho Ho Ho” imprinted on the butt—on her hands and knees in the living room. She was talking to Fred and Ted as she shuffled through reams of paper spread out on the floral-printed area rug.
The three of them looked up. “Oh, no.” Her gaze shot to the cuckoo clock on the wall. “I didn’t realize what time it was.” She gave him a flustered smile. “Don’t worry, it won’t take me but a minute to get ready.” Sitting back on her heels, she shoveled the papers in a folder. She came to her feet, handing off the file to Ted.
She walked to where Gage stood in the hall and stretched up on her toes. “Hi,” she said, then glanced over her shoulder at Fred and Ted. Instead of the kiss she’d been about to give him, she patted the black, down-filled vest he wore over his sweater.
“Hi, yourself.” He kissed her cheek, lingering as he savored the feel of her warm, soft skin.
Out of Fred and Ted’s line of sight, Gage traced a finger over the buttons of her PJs. “I like your nightie better,” he murmured.
“It was too cold to wear last night. But, if I had someone to keep me warm, I might be persuaded to wear it again,” she whispered.
“Not fair.”
Fred cleared his throat.
Gage took a step back, unable to keep the frustration from his voice. “ ’Morning, boys. What brings you around so early?”
Ted tapped his gnarled finger on the folder. “We’re helping Maddie prepare for her presentation on Monday. She gets a half an hour and so does Hartwell. Vote’s at noon.”
“Vote?” Gage frowned. “When was this decided?”
“Last night,” she said. “Ethan gave me the news when he drove Liz over to drop off the costumes.”
It would’ve been nice if Ethan had given Gage a heads-up, seeing as how he’d be the one dealing with the fallout. Gage didn’t know what was up with him, but his best friend seemed distracted lately.
“Good boy, that Ethan.”
“Yeah, good-looking, too, just like his mother.”
“Okay, you two, you’re not f
unny,” Gage said.
Madison fought back a smile.
“And you’re absolutely sure he approved this?” Gage asked her. “Because there was nothing in the paper this morning, and it has to be publicized at least seventy-two hours in advance of the vote for the results to be legal.” Maybe Ethan was looking for a way out after being put on the spot. Given Madison’s last appearance at the town hall, Gage hoped to hell that was the case.
“Gage is right. You got a copy of this morning’s paper, Maddie?” Fred asked.
“I’m sure Ethan said he’d call Rick and get the announcement in there.” She frowned. “Today’s edition is beside your chair, Fred. If the announcement isn’t in there, can you give Ethan a call while I get changed? See what’s going on?”
“Sure thing.”
Distracted by the “Ho Ho Ho” on her butt as she walked away, Gage didn’t bother reminding Madison he’d read the paper in its entirety, and the announcement wasn’t there. He went to follow her. “It’s cold out. I’ll help you find—”
“Gage, Fred and I’d like a word with you,” Ted called out.
“I’ll be with you in a minute.” After he had five alone with Madison.
In an overloud conversation, Fred and Ted started listing Ethan’s many accomplishments. “Yeah, yeah, you’ve made your point,” Gage muttered, glancing longingly after Madison before he headed for the living room. He took a seat on the couch. “What’s up?”
Fred sat back in his chair and gave Ted a go-ahead nod.
“We want to know what your intentions are toward Maddie.”
“You’re kidding.” Gage’s laughter faded as their serious expressions remained firmly in place. “You’re not kidding.” His voice cracked.
“Nope, we’re not. Maddie’s got no family to look out for her, so we are.”
Gage wondered what Madison would think of her self-appointed guardians. Touched, he supposed, and for that reason alone, he’d give them an answer. Only he had a hard time getting the words out. He’d always been a private person. More so after his life became fodder for the tabloids—the title song on Sheena’s second album had skyrocketed to the top of the country music charts at the same time as their marriage imploded.
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