by Anne Logan
Several minutes later, Alex heard the front door close. Several more minutes passed before he sensed that Maddie had returned. When he looked up, she was standing in the doorway, her face livid.
CHAPTER TWELVE
FROM THE LOOKS of her, he’d really pushed Maddie’s buttons this time. Alex sighed. “I know, I know,” he said. “You don’t have to say a word. Just drop it, Maddie.”
“Just drop it, Maddie,” she mimicked. “In other words, we only discuss what you want to discuss when you want to discuss it. Well, I’ve got news for you. Next time you want to prove a point to your daughter—a stupid point, at that—you can find someone else to be your patsy. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me these past few days, but I’m tired of you looking down your nose at me.”
Alex shoved his chair back and stood, turning to her. “Come on, Maddie, you know I didn’t mean—”
“No!” she shouted, pointing a finger at him. “You come on. I know exactly what you meant to do, what you’ve been trying to do since we left New Orleans.”
All the frustration and tension he’d carefully kept a lid on suddenly boiled over. In two steps he was standing almost nose to nose with her. “Since you know so damned much, why don’t you clue me in and then we’ll both know?” he said in a voice that had cowed even the most hardened criminal. “And while we’re on the subject, I know exactly what you’ve been trying to do, too.”
But Maddie came right back at him. “Someone has to be on Carla’s side. You’re so narrow-minded, you can’t see straight. You think people like me are trash just because we don’t conform to your standards. And you tremble in your boots even at the thought of your daughter wanting to be like me. It must be nice to be so damn perfect, so high up on your righteous pedestal that you can look down on everyone else.”
For what seemed like an eternity, she continued glaring at him, her eyes narrowed, shooting sparks of fury, her mouth a slash of tight-lipped anger. Then without warning, as if someone had thrown a switch, he saw the rage dissipate. Her body relaxed, her face went slack and her bottom lip began to quiver. Her eyes widened and filled with tears.
The abrupt change stunned Alex and left him feeling as if he had been punched in the gut. “Oh, God, Maddie. Don’t,” he whispered. Anger he could handle, but tears…His heart twisted, and he reached out and traced the path of a lone tear that had slid down her cheek.
She shook her head and swatted at his hand. “Just go away, and leave me alone,” she pleaded, her tone almost desperate. “I can’t fight anymore, not tonight.” But when she tried to back away, he grabbed her arms.
“No more fights,” he said, sensing as he drew her closer that she was talking about more than just their argument. She’d been through hell the past week. It was a wonder that she’d held up as well as she had.
Maddie wedged her hands between them and pushed against his chest. “Please—I can’t deal with this—this—whatever it is between us. I’m not good at playing games. I—”
Alex didn’t give her a chance to finish as he lowered his mouth to hers and silenced her protest with his lips.
For a heartbeat, she resisted. This is wrong, she thought. This shouldn’t be happening. But nothing could have prepared her for the explosive sensations that ripped through her as his mouth devoured hers. She had wondered how it would feel to be kissed by him, had even dreamed about it the two restless nights she’d spent alone in his bed, but imagination and dreams couldn’t compare to the mind-shattering actuality that left her dazed…wanting more…needing more…much more.
She struggled to free her trapped hands then threw her arms around his neck as she drew him down, closer, wanting the kiss to last forever.
This feels so right, she thought. As if she’d been lost all of her adult life, wandering in an abyss of solitude, and had finally come home.
The moment that Maddie stopped fighting him and began kissing him back, Alex could have sworn that the floor beneath him had suddenly shifted and the only way he could keep from falling was to hold on to her even tighter.
When he finally did break off the kiss, she whimpered, but her whimper turned into a groan when he thrust his hips against her, and he began nuzzling the velvety flesh beneath her earlobe.
Her hair smelled of wild strawberries, and she tasted warm and sweet, ambrosia to his fired-up senses. His desire flamed hotter, and he could feel her body tremble in response to his rock-hard need pressed tightly against her belly.
“Oh, Maddie,” he whispered as he slid his lips farther downward to the circle of flesh above the neck of her T-shirt. “I want you so bad, I ache,” he murmured, sliding his hands around to cup the sides of her breasts.
Maddie groaned again. “Yes, oh, yes,” she answered, pulling back a fraction to give him better access when he began gently kneading her breasts, his thumbs flicking back and forth over her nipples. Not even the barrier of her T-shirt and bra were protection from the shivers of exhilaration his touch was evoking.
Suddenly, he broke away, his breath coming in short gasps. “One last chance to say no.”
There were reasons she should tell him no. She knew there were. But at the moment, she couldn’t think of any—didn’t want to think—so she remained silent.
Desire once again flared in his eyes and Alex swept her into his arms. He crossed the room, his eyes never leaving hers. Then he strode purposefully down the short hallway to her bedroom. On his face was a look of such intensity, such masculine hunger, that for a split second, she felt fear. But it was the kind of fear that came from her own insecurity, a fear that she might be a disappointment to him, since her experiences had been limited.
In the bedroom, Alex lowered her onto the white comforter covering her bed. Taking hold of the hem of her T-shirt, he pulled it over her head in one easy motion and discarded it on the floor. Then he reached around behind her. When he unhooked the flimsy excuse for a bra that she wore and pulled it away, all her doubts about pleasing him faded when she saw searing desire flare even hotter in his eyes. Hesitantly, almost reverently, he reached out his forefinger and traced an erotic path over each nipple.
Maddie closed her eyes and her head lolled backward as a moan escaped her throat. She had never experienced anything so erotic, so sensual. But when she reached out, intending to pull him down beside her, he shook his head and backed away.
Staring at her with an intenseness that both thrilled and aroused her even more, he stripped off his shirt in record time, tossing it aside.
Still tingling from his touch and burning with anticipation, Maddie drank her fill of the sight of him as he withdrew a square foil packet from his back pocket.
The shadow of his beard darkened his jaw, and his broad, muscular chest was covered with a light sprinkling of black hair that swirled around his nipples and arrowed down over his flat stomach to disappear beneath the waistband of his trousers.
He kicked off his loafers and peeled off his socks. When he unbuckled his belt and unsnapped his pants, excitement hummed in her veins. Other than her own ragged breathing, the only sound in the room was the rasp of his zipper.
He made short work of ridding himself of his pants and briefs, and when he straightened, time seemed to stand still for Maddie. Completely stripped of all the trappings of civilization and fully aroused, he was magnificent. At that moment, she wanted him more than she could remember ever wanting anyone or anything.
“Ah, Maddie, see what you do to me.” His strained voice was a raspy whisper.
A tiny mysterious smile appeared on her kissswollen lips. Ever so slowly, she leaned backward, propping herself on her elbows, offering herself up for his pleasure, and her eyes flashed a blatant invitation that was impossible to misinterpret.
Alex hungrily devoured her with his eyes. Just the sight of her was almost his undoing.
Her glorious auburn hair was a wild, mussed array of tangles, and her pale breasts were perfectly shaped, her rose-colored nipples pebble-hard and begging to be
suckled, evidence of her own arousal. Below her breasts, her narrow waist was small enough that he could easily span the width of it with his hands. Tight, faded jeans shaped the womanly curve of her hips and hugged her thighs and calves.
For a moment, he was almost afraid to touch her, afraid he would lose control if he did.
But there were still barriers to be dealt with. Alex leaned forward, and in seconds, he had unfastened and tugged off her jeans, leaving her with nothing on but a black lacy scrap of underwear.
This time when she reached for him, Alex didn’t resist, but came willingly, covering her body with his, bare flesh against flesh, muscular male meeting softer female, each taking time to glory in the closeness.
The intrusive sound of the telephone ringing brought a frustrated groan from Maddie and a muttered curse from Alex. “Let it ring,” he whispered.
“Don’t worry,” she said, tightening her grip around his waist. “I have no intention of answering it.”
Maddie’s reply brought a smile to his lips, but at that moment, the answering machine clicked on, and the cultured, high-pitched sound of the caller’s voice seemed to echo through the quiet condo.
“My name is Joan Charbonnet, and I’m trying to get in touch with Alex Batiste…”
Every muscle in Alex’s body went rigid, and a look of utter disbelief flashed in his eyes before his face blazed with rage. “What the hell—” He pulled away from Maddie then stretched out his arm to snag the receiver of the phone on the bedside table.
“What do you want, Joan?” he asked harshly, his voice full of suppressed fury as he shoved himself to a sitting position near the edge of the bed.
Joan. Alex’s ex-wife. The sudden awareness of who he was talking to was a shock of cold reality, and Maddie inched farther away from him. As she watched Alex grow more furious, the mindless passion she’d felt grew colder.
Heedless of his nakedness, he vaulted to his feet. “Since when do I need your damn permission to take my daughter on a trip,” he shouted into the receiver.
Feeling like an eavesdropper and beginning to shiver at the thought of what she had almost allowed to happen, Maddie eased off the bed.
Now shivering almost uncontrollably, she quickly and quietly gathered up her clothes. For a moment, she paused, waiting. But waiting for what? she finally, embarrassingly, admitted. He’d looked at her only once since the interruption, but it was as if he were looking right through her, as if she didn’t exist. The thought that he could so easily dismiss her and what they had just shared hurt like a knife twisting through her heart. Feeling more and more like a fool with each passing minute, she fled to the bathroom, clutching her clothes to hide her nudity.
Not even the closed door was enough to muffle his angry side of the conversation.
“How did you get this number, Joan?”
With every intention of blocking out the rest of his conversation, Maddie dropped her clothes, stepped over to the bathtub and turned on the faucets full force.
When Alex heard the water running in the bathroom, swift and painful regret shot through him. What the hell must Maddie think? he wondered. His gut feeling said to go after her, to try to smooth things over. Besides, he thought, it would give him a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction to hang up on Joan. He’d made up his mind to do just that, but as he listened to his ex-wife go into excruciating detail of how she had tracked him down, his anger flared again.
“I can’t believe you had the gall to call Casey,” he shouted. But what he really couldn’t believe was that Casey had told Joan where she could reach him, unless…“Just what the hell did you say to him?” Alex demanded.
Her snippy answer was exactly as he’d thought. Heedless of who she might worry, and just as self-serving as ever, Joan had lied to Casey, had told him it was of the utmost urgency that she reach Alex. Anything to get what the spoiled witch wanted, he thought bitterly. But Alex didn’t have much chance to dwell on Joan’s selfishness. The phone line was humming with her furious rantings and ravings as she reminded him that she had total custody of their daughter, therefore complete say-so over where Carla went and what she did.
The jab still had the power to cut him to the quick. He’d fought his ex-wife for joint custody, had dragged her into court many times. And even though he’d cleaned up his act and not touched a drink for years, he’d lost the case. But he knew that the only reason he’d failed was that the judge had just happened to be an old friend of Joan’s family. The outcome had been out of his control.
With superhuman effort, Alex called upon every ounce of self-discipline. ‘’I don’t give a damn if you do have total custody. If I remember right, you’re the one who called me,” he reminded her. “You’re the one who couldn’t handle Carla anymore and you’re the one who begged me to look after her while you traipse around the world with your new hubby, so just climb down off your high horse and get to the real point of this conversation.”
When Alex learned the real reason that Joan had called, he came unglued. “You can just forget it!” he shouted. “You said I could have her for a month, and I’m damn well holding you to it. If you think I’m going to let you stick Carla in some snooty finishing school in Switzerland now or ever, you can think again. And if you don’t like it, then leave loverboy and fly your butt home. I’ll be happy to drag you into court. And Joan…” Alex’s tone turned deadly. “This time there will be a different judge, one who might be interested to know about the little party you and the good doctor threw recently, the one where you gave out little packets of white powder for party favors while your daughter was in the house.”
The sound of Joan’s gasp was the only answer he got. Feeling more satisfied than he had in a long, long time, Alex firmly replaced the receiver in its cradle.
He’d meant what he’d said to Joan. He didn’t want to, but if she pushed him too far, he’d put Carla on the witness stand to testify to what she’d seen the night of the party.
It took him a while to calm down after his conversation with Joan. Pacing in front of the closed and locked door of the bathroom, he tried to think of a reasonable, acceptable apology as he waited for Maddie to come out. He regretted the interruption, regretted that Maddie had to witness the altercation. But most of all, he regretted the pain he’d seen in her eyes moments before she’d fled the room.
Admit it, Alex. The voice in his head seemed to come out of nowhere. Why can’t you admit that there’s more to your feelings for the woman than sexual gratification?
Abruptly, Alex stopped pacing and stared at the door. It was in his nature to examine all the facts of a situation before coming to a logical conclusion. And it suddenly struck him that he’d let his preconceived notions of Maddie blind him to the real facts. The truth was that she awakened emotions in him that he thought had long ago atrophied; and the only rational explanation was that he had fallen in love with her, the kind of love that a man felt for a woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
The shock of the revelation reverberated to his very soul. He closed his eyes and shook his head in denial. Impossible, he thought. How could he have fallen in love with a woman he’d only known for a week, a woman who was his opposite in every way?
Pivoting on his heel, Alex bolted from Maddie’s bedroom as if streaks of lightning were chasing him. There was nothing he could say to her, not without telling her the truth about how he felt. And that wasn’t something he was prepared to do just yet. If ever.
WHEN MADDIE CAME out of the bathroom, she found her bedroom empty and the condo silent. Just as well, she thought as she tiptoed past the closed door of the guest room and entered the kitchen. She’d reached her limit of endurance. Tomorrow would be soon enough to face Alex again, she figured as she poured herself a glass of milk.
With the intention of waiting up for Carla, Maddie stepped around the packing boxes stacked in the middle of the kitchen and slid open the door leading to the patio.
Outside, a warm, gentle breeze s
tirred the air. The night was clear and it seemed as if a million stars were winking down at her from the dark heavens. The sight was a balm to her weary soul and heavy heart, and for the remainder of this night, all she wanted was peace and eventually sleep.
She had a long drive to face the following day. Then there would be packing, unpacking and settling in before she could finally concentrate on “playing amateur detective,” as Alex had so bluntly put it.
Alex. Maddie sighed. Everything always seemed to come back to Alex. She’d had a close call earlier, one that she suspected might possibly take a lifetime to recover from. But she supposed she should be grateful that the situation had worked out the way it had. If things had progressed further between them, it was highly likely that she would have ended up telling him that she loved him.
Now all she had to do was keep a lid on her emotions until she got back to New Orleans.
Just thinking about New Orleans sent a sudden ripple of unease snaking through her veins.
“With someone threatening you…won’t it be dangerous?”
“She’d be a lot better off here where it’s safe than in New Orleans.”
Were Tara and Alex right? Was she being foolish by insisting on returning to New Orleans?
Maddie rubbed away the gooseflesh that had popped up on her arms. Danger came in many forms, she thought. Yes, she was frightened of going back, but the knowledge that Alex had the power to steal her soul was almost as terrifying as the unknown danger she faced; yet, what choice did she have? Not only had she promised her brother she would find out the truth, but there was also Crescent Antiques to consider. She was now half owner, which meant half the responsibilities were hers.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ALEX HAD OFFERED to hitch the EZ-Haul trailer to his car. At least a hundred times during the trip back to New Orleans, Maddie wished that she’d let him instead of stubbornly insisting that the trailer be hitched to her car instead.