She was done putting out for jerks though. God made it clear that sex was only for marriage. Maddie had no desire to be hitched to anyone, let alone a guy who obviously didn’t have a problem locking lips with another woman.
He hadn’t insinuated he wanted more. But all men did. It was a fact of life.
Sitting down at her desk, she clicked on her computer and started in on the mounds of paperwork in front of her. It didn’t seem like Reuben had done a thing since she’d left the previous day, except for adding things to do onto her stack with sticky notes covered in scribbles attached. The guy was administratively clueless. And this job was turning out impossible to do on a part-time basis.
An hour later, she stood up and walked to the cabinet to file some paid invoices when the office door opened. Reuben stepped inside, a hand behind his back, and smiled at her.
Maddie frowned. Something wasn’t right. She turned back to her filing, hoping he’d just leave well enough alone.
“Did you have a good morning at the Cut ’N’ Style?”
No such luck. “I did. I, uh, was just getting ready to use the ladies’ room, if you’ll excuse me.” She didn’t really need to go, but maybe she’d just wash her hands again or something. Anything to avoid conversation.
To her horror, Reuben walked straight to her and put his free hand on her shoulder. Surely he wouldn’t try to kiss her here, with Livy right outside. “Reuben—”
“We need to talk.”
Weren’t women the ones who wanted to talk and guys the ones who tried to avoid it? Reuben was as masculine as they came. Someone needed to remind him of the stereotype. “About what?” Please, God, I really don’t want to talk about the kiss. Or my past. Or Livy. Or marriage. I really, really don’t. Please make him just shut up or go away.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done what I did.”
That put things mildly. “Apology accepted. Can I go now?”
“So you’re okay with everything?”
She clenched her fist. The man just couldn’t leave well enough alone.“No, I’m not okay with it, Reuben. But can we please just forget about it?”
“I’m not sure what else I can say to make this right.”
Angry heat pricked at her skin. “You can’t, okay? The last time a guy kissed me he ended it with a slap in my face and a fist in my belly, so I guess I should be thankful you weren’t quite so rough, but I’m not giddy about talking about the experience.”
She turned back to her filing, but her blood was bubbling and she was on a roll. Her voice grew louder as she went, shoving papers into random files with the force of an F-5 tornado. “I thought you were different, a decent guy who cared about women instead of all the other lowlife men I’ve known who only care about one thing. But no, you went in for the kill anyway. Bravo, Reuben, you proved my theory about men is right on.”
She gave the file drawer a shove, slamming it closed, then grabbed her purse. “I’m leaving early.”
Reuben took a step toward her. “Maddie, I’m sorry.” He shoved a box into her hands. “I brought you chocolate.”
Looking at him, her emotions warred inside her. Could a man be that stupid? Really? “You think chocolate makes it better?”
He flushed. “No, I—”
She shook her head. “I can’t deal with this today. I just need to go home.”
“You’ll be back tomorrow though?”
Against her better judgment. “In the morning. Judy asked me to come in the afternoon instead.”
“That’ll be fine. We can finish talking then.”
Dread plopped a seat in the middle of her belly. “Great.”
“You do know I’d never hurt you, right?”
She wiped her eye to prevent a tear from falling. “I thought I did, but—”
He took two giant steps toward her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her into a hug. “Maddie, I promise, I’ll never hurt you. I may act on impulse and do stupid things, but you never need to be afraid of me.”
Needing to put distance between her and this man who repulsed her and drew her like a magnetic force field at the same time, Maddie pushed out of his arms, grabbed her purse and the chocolate, and walked out the door.
23
Independence Day was officially one of Maddie’s favorite holidays.
Food, fireworks, and a day to celebrate being independent from people who tried to control your life … and country.
Yet why was it that on the day she celebrated independence, she felt even more dependent than ever?
She was headed to the Lake Holiday Independence Day Fest.
With the Callahan family.
Joy, oh Joy.
The plan was to meet at Reuben’s after church, then head over to the beach together.
Pulling into his driveway beside Allie’s minivan, Maddie questioned her sanity. She’d barely said a word to her boss the whole week, yet now she was willingly going to his house to go to a party with him, his family, and his soon-to-be fiancée.
At least she assumed they were still getting engaged. It hadn’t been announced, but neither had an official breakup either.
Time would tell.
She took her time walking up the sidewalk. The house wasn’t grand, but it had character. You couldn’t see the entrance from the road because the sidewalk lined the garage and took a turn to get to steps that led to the front door. The dark wood vertical siding added warmth with a tinge of mystery.
It matched its owner perfectly, except it probably didn’t brood when it was mad.
Maddie knocked, and a second later, Allie opened the door looking all motherish with her khaki Bermuda shorts and blue t-shirt sporting a shiny, sequined flag covering the front. A headband with wired red, white, and blue streamers going in all directions and blue socks with white stars completed the look.
Maddie swallowed the giggle that threatened to burst. “Nice outfit.”
Allie smiled. “Wait ’til you see the back.” She spun around, then looked over her shoulder. “Cool, huh?”
Not quite the word Maddie would use. A large firework burst had been made out of sequins to cover almost the whole back, and written in the bottom with sparkly red fabric glue was, “I’m a firecracker!”
Said firecracker turned back around, all grins. “I made it myself. Cole said he planned to tell everyone he’s adopted if I wear it to the picnic. I told him I have his bare baby-butt pictures I can show everyone to prove otherwise, not to mention some fabulous birthing footage on DVD.”
That was one movie she’d skip out on too. “Nice ammunition.”
“I thought so.”
This occasion was the one time she thought God was okay with a little fib. “Well, I don’t care what he says, I think it’s fantastic. You’re certainly creative.”
Her friend grinned from one ear to the other. “I’m so glad you think so.” She handed Maddie a gift bag. “Because I made you one too.”
Maddie swallowed her protest to spare her friend’s feelings and peeked in the bag. “Wow. You really shouldn’t have gone to all the trouble.”
Allie pulled her into the room. “Hurry and go change. The bathroom’s down the hall on the left. Livy will be here any minute, then we’ll get going.”
Never mind. The Fourth was no longer her favorite holiday. She should have realized Livy would be coming too. Duh. “Great.”
Since no valid, courteous excuse to turn around and run away came to mind, she lifted the gift bag, smiled, and turned to go clown-up.
She was going to look ridiculous at her first public function. Just peachy.
Reuben’s house wasn’t exactly familiar, as she’d only been there the one time, and then, it was dark. She walked through the living room with its tall, pointed wood ceilings and down the hallway.
Only one picture graced the hall, and it was a Christmas shot of Allie’s kids.
Now which door was the bathroom? On the left, but there were three doors, all closed.
Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo.
She opted for the third one and knocked on the door. When no answer came, she reached for the knob, but the door opened before she could turn it, sending her sprawling into the room and into a bare-chested man.
Large arms caught her and set her upright. “Fall much?”
She pushed away and kept her eyes trained on his face, even though her peripheral vision told her that he wore green swim trunks and a pair of flip-flops. “Reuben. I was, uh, looking for the bathroom.”
“Wrong door.”
Looking past him, she saw that now. An iron queen-sized bed stood in the middle of the room with a solid blue comforter. Clothes were tossed over the footboard and a few more lay scattered on the floor.
“Sorry. Allie said left, but not which one. I chose door number three.”
“I believe door number two’s what you’re looking for.”
Maddie put a hand against the doorjamb to steady herself. “Right. Thanks.”
Reuben crossed his arms across his broad chest and cocked a half smile. “You need anything else?”
Blinking, she realized she’d been staring at him. “No, sorry, I’m going now. Thanks for the, uh, directions.”
Inside the bathroom, she pounded her head on the porcelain sink. What in the world was wrong with her? She turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on her face.
Men were in her past, not her future. Except for Kyle, of course. But she’d teach him to be a good guy, not a jerk like the rest of them.
Her glance met the gift bag decorated with tiny flags.
It didn’t really matter anyway, because after she showed up in that number, guys would hardly be flocking around her.
A quick shirt change, and she resembled something off a scrapbook page.
She didn’t even look in the mirror on her way out. It would just be too awful.
Allie clapped her hands when she emerged into the living room. “You look fantastic!”
Livy had arrived, and now stood in a pair of shorts that were lucky to come an inch below her tush and a bikini top. Dump a bucket of water over her and she’d be ready for the cover of the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated.
Reuben, a black tank top now in place, emerged from the kitchen and jerked to a stop, almost dropping the Coke can in his hand. “Uh, wow. You and Allie … match.”
Maddie forced a smile, thankful for her one-piece swimsuit underneath that she’d given in and purchased yesterday. The moment Allie wasn’t looking, this shirt was coming off.
They all made their way out to Allie’s van, which barely fit them all. The three kids took the very back, and Reuben and Livy sat in the middle seat.
Maddie turned to Allie. “How about I just drive separately?”
She shook her head and opened the passenger side door. “Don’t worry, there’s room, It’s an eight-passenger van. Besides, you need a pass to get in. Oh, I’ll be right back, I forgot my purse.” She turned and scurried back up the walk.
Maddie swiveled to where Reuben sat on the seat, Livy on the other side of him. Both of them looked about ready to bust up laughing.
She glared at them and lowered her voice. “Shut up and scoot over.”
A hush filled the van on the drive to the beach on Lake Holiday. Allie attempted to get everyone to join into a riveting rendition of “God Bless America,” but she had no takers.
At the beach, Cole took off with friends, Allie took Bethany and Sara to the bathroom, Stew left to help oversee the sack races. And Livy hung on Reuben’s arm and smiled. “You look so festive today, Maddie.”
“Yeah, well, it’s for the country, what can I say.” She eyed the direction Allie went and saw her crazy friend disappear into the lodge. Operation ditch-the-shirt commenced. She pulled it over her head and folded it up and set it with the pile of towels and other things they’d deposited on the ground. If someone stole it … well, that’d just be too bad.
She glanced at Reuben and Livy, who stood there watching her. “Now, I’m going down to the water. See ya later.”
She had a tattoo.
His feisty, sassy assistant had a tattoo on the small of her back the size of his fist. He watched her slim figure walk down toward the beach, her hips swaying slightly but not exaggerated like Livy’s usually were.
A pull on his arm brought him back to earth. “Reuben, I’m hungry.”
He shifted his focus and gulped. His eyes needed to behave. Even though he and Livy were tenuous at best and hadn’t officially called the engagement back on or completely off, he still didn’t need to be ogling another woman at the beach.
Especially when that woman was Maddie.
“All right, what do you want?”
“The barbeque sounds good.”
He smiled and wrapped an arm around her. “Fantastic.”
On their way over to the food, Livy leaned her head on his shoulder. “At least now we have confirmation.”
He glanced down at her. “Of what?”
“Your assistant. I mean, really? A tattoo? A little one on your ankle, maybe, but not that monstrosity. The woman’s just trashy, Reuben.”
“Maddie isn’t trash. She’s had a hard life.”
She flipped her blonde curls to the other side. “Whatever. I don’t want to talk about her anyway. Guess what I picked up yesterday?”
Not the ring. Please not the ring. He’d actually forgotten about the over-sized, over-priced diamond they’d picked out weeks ago that was being resized. “Livy, we haven’t had a chance to talk since—”
She cut him off by pulling him to the side and around to face her. “I was wrong that day. I overreacted. Can you forgive me?”
“Of course, but it’s not that simple.” This isn’t where he wanted to have this conversation. Mostly because he still wasn’t sure what he was going to say. He needed to tell her about the kiss. And after he did, he doubted there was going to be a lot left to talk about anyway. “Let’s just enjoy today, and we can talk about it tomorrow, okay?”
She lifted to her tippy-toes and pecked him on the cheek. “I agree. Today will be our fun special day.”
Hmm. That went better than he’d expected. No tears or stomping feet or demands to talk now. But the day was still early.
They met up with Allie and the kids who were already in the BBQ line and inhaled some of the most delicious food on the earth. The group met up with Stew at the beach to begin their traditional sand castle build.
Maddie stood beside Stew, a piece of paper in her hand. “I think we can do it.”
Stew put a hand to his chin. “It’s risky. Totally could bomb.”
She patted him on the back. “I have faith in you, Stew.” Reuben plucked the piece of paper out of her hand and turned it over to see the proposed design, then shook his head. “Not going to work. No way.”
Maddie snatched it back. “You’re just chicken. No guts, no glory.”
“No, I’m realistic. You can’t make a Statue of Liberty out of sand.”
She hitched a thumb behind her. “That guy over there is making the White House, so we have to step it up a notch.”
The woman was going to make Stew crash and burn. And Stew was famous for his sand castles. “Maybe if you just did a picture of it … lying down or something.”
“Nope, we’re doing this baby upright and four feet tall.”
“Four … what? You’ve got to be kidding me. That’s insane.”
Stew nudged Maddie with his elbow. “Maybe Reuben’s right.”
She gave Reuben a look that would burn sand. “You just go over and do something you’re good at … maybe the Angelina Jolie lip contest or something. Leave the building to the professionals, okay?”
The group snickered and Reuben rubbed his lips. “I don’t have Angelina lips, and I’m not putting on lipstick to prove it, thank you. Livy and I will go check out the Anything that Floats contenders. We’ll be back to watch you eat your words.”
He tugged Livy along
with him as they headed to where groups were preparing contraptions for the water. He’d made one a few years ago. It came in last place, so he had stuck to helping Stew with the sand castle.
It looked like his assistant was helping him with that task too.
Two hours later, after unsuccessfully trying to convince Livy to participate in anything remotely fun, they returned see the castle judging.
And there, close to five feet off the ground, stood a stunning replica of the famous Lady of Liberty.
Beside her stood a beaming Maddie and a puffed up Stew, along with Allie and the kids, getting their picture taken by onlookers.
Livy whistled. “Well, I guess she did it, huh.”
If it had been a previous year, and anyone else, he’d have had envy spilling out his ears. But he didn’t begrudge Maddie even an ounce of her victory. “Yeah, I guess so.”
Maddie started toward them, and Reuben cleared his throat to prepare for the crow he’d be eating any second. “Whadya think, boss man?”
“What can I say, you proved me wrong.”
Livy patted his shoulder. “Hey, I think Elvis is going to take the stage soon. I think it’s about time for …” she winked at him, “you know—”
He tore his eyes off the sand marvel to Livy, who wasn’t making a lick of sense. “Time for what?”
She pulled his arm toward the stage and laughed. “Oh, stop it, you know what.”
“Livy, I am not getting on stage with Elvis.”
She hopped onto the stage and grabbed the microphone. “Attention everyone!”
A sickening pit festered in Reuben’s stomach. What was she doing?
“Reuben, come up here. It’s time for our announcement.” She waved him up.
Hands pushed him from behind, and he had no choice but to comply or look like an idiot. The only announcement he could think of was not one he intended to make today. They hadn’t talked about it specifically, but surely she didn’t think—
“You all know that Reuben and I have dated for a while, and well, Reuben’s asked me to marry him, and I’ve accepted!”
24
Maddie covered her mouth to keep it from dropping in shock. While she had wondered what exactly the status of her boss’s relationship was, she’d decided it wasn’t any of her business.
Sandwich, With a Side of Romance Page 15