Stirring Up Trouble

by Andrea Laurence

  “It also allowed me to sleep for the first time in a long time. I’m glad we stopped fighting.”

  “You know, I haven’t been woken up by the bar in a while, either. Did you change something?”

  “I toned back a little on the music volume, but the main difference is that I hired André Jones, the security guard at the high school, as a bouncer on the weekends. The guy is about six foot five and the size of a mountain. He sits outside and keeps people quiet. No one wants to mess with Dré. It’s made a pretty big difference, I think, and paying him was cheaper than paying all those fines.”

  “Sorry about that,” Maddie said with a sheepish grin.

  “I think we were both adding fuel to the fire. Getting arrested made all the difference. Surprise, surprise, we actually like to spend time together. Who would’ve thunk it?”

  “I know. You might not believe this, but I’m actually starting to miss you when you’re not around.”

  Emmett laughed, a low throaty sound that made her nerves hum. She loved his laugh, just as she enjoyed the carefree smile that made a home on his face.

  “You just saw me an hour ago,” he noted. “We stuffed a scarecrow with hay if you don’t recall.”

  “I know,” she said. “But that’s different. We’re working and we have to be together. When I got home I decided that I only had a little time before I went to bed and I wanted to spend it with you.”

  Emmett’s eyes twinkled mischievously as he listened to her talk. “I hate to break it to you,” he said as he reached across the table and took her hand, “but it sounds like you might just be falling for me.”

  With a sigh, Maddie rested her chin in the palm of her other hand. “I know,” she said in an exasperated tone, even as the gentle brush of his fingers against her own sent a thrill through her body. It had been a few days since they’d made love, but she couldn’t wait to do it again. Her thoughts were constantly straying back to how he’d touched her. She never expected it, but she was falling for him. Hard. “Can you imagine?”

  He shook his head in dismay. “You want to know something even worse? I think I might be falling for you, too. What are we going to do?”

  He said the words with a playful tone, but Maddie couldn’t help the lightness in her chest. Was he really falling for her? Crabby, stuck-up Madelyn? Fancy Pants? Part of her couldn’t believe it. She just smiled and squeezed his hand before pulling away. “For now, I think we eat our dinner and keep it to ourselves. We need to see if this infatuation can outlast our community service.”

  “You’re right. You might turn out to have an obnoxious family or something. That could ruin it for me.”

  Maddie laughed and stabbed some pasta salad with her fork. “I think I am my obnoxious family.”

  “Speaking of family, your brother came by the bar earlier.”

  “Which one?”

  “Grant. He said that he and Pepper had finally finished the renovations and they were moving back into the house on Daisy Drive this weekend. They’re planning on having a housewarming party in a few weeks and he said they’d love for us to come.”

  Maddie hesitated as she started to take a bite. She didn’t know why, but it seemed to strike her wrong. The lightness in her chest evaporated and was replaced with an unwelcome sinking feeling. “What did you tell him?”

  “I told him it sounded fun. It might be worth closing the bar for a few hours or maybe see if Joy can cover for me so we could go.”

  We? Maddie was attracted to Emmett, and she was having fun with their flirtation, but when had they turned into a “we?” She didn’t recall getting to the point in the relationship where they were doing couple’s activities, never mind committing to activities with her family without discussing it with her. He knew Grant and Pepper from the bar, but they wouldn’t be the only ones there. Would her parents come to see the house? They would probably make an appearance, even if it was just a short one.

  The thought of introducing Emmett to her parents made her stomach start to ache. That was the root of the worry. She wasn’t ready for Emmett to get involved with her family. She liked the way things were. Having him interact with her family opened up the doors for so many potential issues. What if her father disapproved of Emmett? Or what if he didn’t? This would put Emmett one step closer to making those family contacts Lydia warned her about.

  Maddie watched as Emmett continued to eat without concern. It wasn’t a big deal for him, so maybe it shouldn’t be for her. If he was hot to meet her family, he would’ve pushed harder. Of course, he already had some contact with her grandmother. That might be all he needed.

  She shoved a potato chip into her mouth and forced herself to chew it. They continued to eat in silence for a few minutes, Maddie near squirming with discomfort about the situation, but feeling too foolish to tell him how uncomfortable it made her. It was just a party, no big thing. She needed to treat it that way.

  “Oh, hey,” he said after a bit, swallowing a sip of tea. “I have something for you.”

  Maddie perked up in her seat, her dark thoughts being pushed aside. “A present?” No matter how cool a woman tried to act, there was no dismissing the surge of excitement and curiosity when a man told her he had something for her.

  Emmett got up from his chair. “Yeah, I made it for you, actually. I’ll be right back.” She watched him disappear through the doorway to his apartment and return a moment later. He had something hidden behind his back, but she couldn’t see much of anything from a distance. “Close your eyes and hold out your hand,” he directed.

  Maddie complied, curious as to what it could be. He said he’d made her something. She’d never had a man make her something before, but most of the men she’d dated only knew how to make money.

  Emmett placed the object in her hand. It was cool and smooth against her skin, but heavy.

  Maddie opened her eyes and found a wooden carving in her hand. It was a figure of a swan carved out of a solid piece of smooth, dark brown wood. “It’s beautiful,” she said, running her finger along the swan’s back.

  “I don’t know if you know or care much for swans, but whenever I see one, I’m reminded of you. Swans are so graceful and elegant. That’s how I see you. Watching you move around that bakery is like a ballet. Even your food is like some refined piece of art. Swans are also beautiful of course, even though they start out quite different-looking. They change as they get older, and I’ve seen that in you as well.”

  Maddie couldn’t tear her gaze away from the carving. She’d been given some small tokens of affection in high school, but nothing like this. Nothing made by hand with such important meaning behind it.

  “You know, swans mate for life.” Maddie blurted out the words before fully realizing how they sounded. Her cheeks blushed as she looked up at him. A moment ago, she felt like things were moving too fast and here she was talking about lifetime commitment. “I . . . I m-mean, that’s the only thing I know about swans. I’d always heard that they mate for life.”

  “I think you’re right,” he said. “Male swans are smart. When you’ve got something perfect in your life, you don’t let it go.”

  Maddie looked up at him, noting that his words seemed to resonate in the intensity of his gaze. She swallowed hard as emotions welled up inside her. There was a warmth in her chest, an urge that wanted her to throw herself into his arms and have him hold her. She resisted it, recognizing those same urges from her relationship with Joel. She refused to paint it with the same brush, but she was hesitant to completely trust herself in a relationship. It was too early for that. “You really carved this yourself?” she asked, trying to distract herself.

  “Yeah. I’ve been working on a project and I had a really nice piece of wood left over. I thought it’d be perfect for this.”

  Maddie shifted her focus to the piece, turning it over in her hands. “I don’t know why I always
forget that you’re a carpenter, too.”

  “I haven’t had much time to dedicate to it lately. I did just take on a new job, my first in a while.”

  Maddie hated for her doubts to creep into this moment, but she had to ask. If he was working for her grandmother, would he admit to it? “What are you working on?”

  “A built-in bookcase for Connie Jackson.”

  Maddie breathed a sigh of relief and leaned across the table to kiss him. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “It’s late,” Emmett said as he glanced down at his watch. The evening had flown by with Maddie at the bar. Even when he had a good crowd of customers, he still had time to finish dinner and chat with her. He could tell she was running out of steam, though. She was getting that glassy look in her blue eyes that told him she was exhausted. “It’s almost eight, past your bedtime.”

  “I know,” Maddie said with a pout that told him she wasn’t ready to go yet.

  Maybe she didn’t really have to, he thought. “I have an idea.”

  Maddie perked up in her seat, curious. “What’s that?”

  “Why don’t you go upstairs to my apartment and get some sleep? I’ll be up to join you when I close at ten thirty. You can stay the night and go home in the morning when you’ve got to open up the bakery.”

  “I’ve got a better idea,” she countered. “How about I go home and you come over to my place when the bar closes? You’ve never been over to my house before. At least not past the front door.”

  “That works just as well,” he said. “Leave me a key?”

  “Yep.” Maddie reached into her purse and pulled out her spare key. It had a large glittery cupcake keychain hooked to it, so there was no doubt whose house it went to. “See you sometime after ten thirty?”

  Emmett snatched up the key and gave her a long good-bye kiss that promised more. “You bet.”

  He watched her slip out of the bar with her basket of dirty dishes. It was a good night in the end, but he’d gotten concerned during dinner. The conversation had been fine until he mentioned the party at Grant and Pepper’s. She just seemed to shut down. He hadn’t planned on giving her the swan tonight, but he needed something to break the tension. It’d worked. She relaxed and the rest of the evening was great, but he didn’t know what the problem was.

  He wondered if she was embarrassed of him. Her grandmother, at the least, knew they were dating, but probably not her parents. She may not have even mentioned it to most of her siblings. Was meeting the rest of her family a step too far for her? Was she just slumming with the bartender but didn’t want her high-and-mighty father to know about it?

  Emmett hoped that wasn’t true. He thought Maddie had really made a breakthrough on that front. She didn’t seem to be deliberately hiding their relationship from anyone, but was her daddy a different matter? He didn’t know for sure and he hadn’t wanted to push tonight. He’d certainly find out before they went to the housewarming, though. Emmett didn’t want his appearance and the subsequent drama to ruin Pepper and Grant’s party.

  He tried not to worry too much about it. Thankfully, the rest of the night went quickly. The last patron left at nine thirty, so Emmett was able to clean up and run his receipts early. At closing time, he was able to flip off the lights, lock the door, and jog across the street to Maddie’s house.

  When he locked the front door behind him, he realized he wasn’t quite sure where he was going. Maddie’s house was a large two-story home with a million small rooms, the way old houses used to be. Assuming her bedroom was upstairs, he started in that direction and found one of her little ballet flats on the bottom step. Halfway up, he found another. On the landing, he found the sweater she’d had on earlier.

  Maddie had left him a seductive little trail of bread crumbs. Her jeans were down the hallway to the right, so he followed the trail. Hanging on one of the doorknobs was a cream-colored satin bra.

  Bingo.

  Gripping the knob, Emmett opened the door. The queen-size bed was just to the right of the doorway, with a massive, white-washed, carved headboard and footboard. A tiny lamp was on beside the bed, illuminating the swan figurine on the table and the outline of Maddie in bed.

  He could see a peek of something that looked like she was wearing a lacy red nightie. Most of it was covered by the plush floral quilt spread across the bed. She might have planned a grand seduction tonight, but sleep had won the battle. Her pink lips were softly parted, her dark hair scattered across the lacy white pillowcase. He knew he was supposed to wake her up when he got there, but she looked so peaceful he didn’t have the heart to do it. Instead, he walked around to the other side of the bed and slipped out of his clothes. He left a condom on the nightstand, just in case.

  Emmett left his boxers on and crawled into the softest bed he’d ever slept in. It was like snuggling with a cloud. If Maddie couldn’t fall asleep in this bed, his bar really was disruptive. It wasn’t even his bedtime yet and he could feel his own eyes getting heavy.

  As gently as he could, Emmett rolled onto his side, spooning against Maddie. Even in her sleep, she was drawn to his body heat. She curled her back against him and sighed in contentment without waking.

  Before he knew it, he was out cold. He was roused some time later by a heat spreading through his veins like an erotic dream revving his engine. His first waking sensation was the feel of fingers stroking his erection.

  He groaned and pressed against it. His hands sought out Maddie beneath the blankets. She was still lying on her side next to him, reaching behind her to stroke him through the thin fabric of his boxer shorts. His palm glided along the silk-covered indentation at her waist and up over her hip. Maddie arched her back, pressing the curve of her rear against his erection.

  “Damn,” he cursed. This was one hell of a way to wake up. Emmett snuggled closer, wrapping his arm around her waist to pull her tight against him, and then planted a trail of kisses along her shoulder.

  He was still foggy from sleep, every sensation almost like a dream as they rubbed against each other in the dark. When Maddie’s hand slipped beneath the waistband of his boxers, she curled her fingers around him and squeezed.

  “Maddie,” he groaned against her shoulder.

  “Now,” she whispered, tugging him toward her.

  He pushed her nightie up, feeling for panties that weren’t there. He dipped his fingers between her thighs and felt the moist heat of her desire. She was ready for him.

  Rolling on his back, he kicked out of his shorts and snatched the condom off the nightstand. He put it on as quick as he could so he could return to their warm cocoon of blankets. He stroked his palm down her outer thigh, raising her leg just high enough to rest it on his own. She arched her back once again and he felt out her opening.

  With little resistance, he was able to press forward, pushing into her from behind. He gripped her hips with his hands and they moved together in a slow, easy rhythm. They touched and tasted each other, taking their time, and yet reaching their climaxes all too soon. Maddie came first, her body shaking as Emmett held her tight against his chest. Her pulsating muscles put him over the edge as he buried his face in her hair and gave in to it.

  As though they’d never fully awakened, the dark beckoned them back to sleep with Maddie curled in his arms. A polite beeping sound roused him from sleep some time later. It seemed like only minutes had passed, but when Maddie sat up in bed and turned the lamp on, he knew hours had gone by.

  Emmett winced at the light. “Do we really need the lamp on?” he asked.

  “You might not, but I do. I need to get up. It’s three thirty.”

  Emmett groaned. He reached for her, tugging her back beneath the blankets and against him. “No. You said you get up later now.”

  “This is later.”

  “Well, I’m not letting go of you until four,” he sa
id. Maddie reached out to reset the alarm on her phone, then switched off the light.

  “Okay, you win.”

  Of course, now Emmett was wide-awake. He wanted to know what was going on with Maddie. She seemed to really be opening up to him, then at dinner, the talk of her brother had immediately closed her down. He didn’t understand it, although he was wondering if it had anything to do with him at all, or if it was whatever relationship Adelia had alluded to.

  Maybe here, in the safety of her bedroom, she would open up to him. “Maddie, can I ask what happened tonight at the bar?”

  He could feel her tense in his arms. “What’re you talking about?” she asked in contrast to it.

  “When I mentioned going to Grant and Pepper’s party, you seemed almost cross with me. I thought things were going well, but now I wonder if you’re holding back. Did I overstep some kind of boundary with you?”

  “No, of course not. I’m just not used to being in a relationship, I guess. Opening up to someone and incorporating them into my life is hard for me. It’s easier to keep things compartmentalized because I don’t trust myself to make smart choices.”

  “Why?”

  “You don’t really want to hear my sob story. It’s not that interesting.”

  “Tell me,” Emmett pressed. He wanted to know what had happened to her. Why did she do everything she could to keep people at arm’s length? He thought he’d broken through all the barriers just to find more tonight.

  Maddie sighed and snuggled against his shoulder. “My family has always been a big deal in Rosewood—they founded the town. I know that seems silly, but when I was in high school, we were in this glory phase. Blake was the golden god of the high school football team; Mitchell was valedictorian; I was a varsity cheerleader . . . Things were going well for all of us. The girls were always chasing after my brothers, and when I got to the age where I was allowed to date, the boys started lining up. It only took a couple of dates to realize that most of them were interested in my family more than me. I even had one who claimed I should pay for our date because I was rich.