Love in Maine
Page 22
Maddie smiled. “Yes. It will.”
Both women looked up at the sound of two men arguing behind a partially closed door at the far end of the hall.
“I don’t care if she’s Hypatia of fucking Alexandria. I have been on a fucking submarine for months and just got orders to come here straight from the docks, and I need to be back in Boston tomorrow, and I’ll turn in my resignation if you don’t let me out of this goddamned office right now—”
“She is going to be the head of the accompanying research team, and Lodge demanded that you be here to meet her on her first day,” a more rational voice replied.
“Well, she sounds like a controlling pain in the ass and I’m—”
Maddie stood in the door, her arms folded across her chest.
Hank stared at her.
The Cypriot professor who had been showing her around smiled and patted Maddie on the shoulder. “Looks like you surprised him, yes?”
“Yes,” Maddie said, not taking her eyes off Hank.
The other man, one of Mr. Lodge’s top advisors on the project—and Maddie’s accomplice—came around from behind his desk and shook Maddie’s hand. “Nicely done.” Then he left the room and shut the door, leaving Hank and Maddie alone in the small, cluttered office.
Maddie felt her heart begin to hammer. First at the mere sight of him—Hank was tanned and still sort of throbbing and fuming from his loss of temper—then at the sizzling energy that crackled between them. She twisted her engagement ring with her thumb, a comforting habit she’d fallen into over the past few months.
“What are you doing here?” Hank finally asked.
“I’m the controlling bitch who’s heading up the other team. I thought we should meet.”
He walked slowly toward her, and Maddie felt like her heart was going to pound right out of her chest.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” He was close now, smiling and predatory.
Maddie shrugged. When she spoke, her voice was thin and sounded as desperate for him as she felt, as desperate as the need she saw in the clear green eyes staring back at her. “I figured I could tell you later.”
He reached out and pulled her into his arms.
Acknowledgments
The publisher wishes to thank General Hospital executive producer, Frank Valentini, and head writer, Ron Carlivati, for their extraordinary creativity, support, and efforts on behalf of this book.
About the Author
Connie Falconeri hails from Bensonhurst, in Brooklyn, NY, where she had a colorful youth. After taking many years off to find herself, she’s back and better than ever. This is her first novel.
Author photo credit: ©American Broadcasting Companies, Inc./Craig Sjodin
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 Hyperion and ABC
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information address Hyperion, 1500 Broadway, New York, New York 10036.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data for the original print edition has been applied for.
eBook Edition ISBN: 978-1-4013-0538-3
Cover design by Anet Khayat and Michael Bassett
Cover photo © GettyImages
First eBook Edition
Original trade paperback edition printed in the United States of America.
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