Backfire

by Metsy Hingle

  And she still wanted him, Madeline admitted Monday morning as she poured the hot milk into her cup and reached for the coffee. She added the dark brew to the milk, creating the café au lait she adored. Only now, after spending the better part of the weekend with Chase, both in and out of bed, the wanting had turned to something deeper. Something far more dangerous than a simple affair.

  Sighing, Madeline measured one spoon of sugar into the coffee. She thought about her hips for the briefest of seconds and added another scoop of sugar anyway. Who was she kidding? She mocked in silence her poor attempt at selfdeception. She had known from the outset that an affair with Chase would be anything but simple. And she had known in her heart and had even admitted to herself, when she had gone looking for him at the hotel that night, that she was already halfway in love with him.

  She let out another deep sigh and stirred her coffee. She just hadn’t expected to fall the rest of the way so quickly. Or all alone. And from all indications she had done just that-tumbled headfirst for a man who proclaimed to have no roots and to not want any.

  Well, what did you expect, Madeline? When did you ever go into anything using logic instead of your heart? She’d put her soul into learning the hotel business despite her father’s disapproval. And he’d opted to sell off a chunk of the hotel rather than give her a chance to prove she could run it. And she’d known from the first time she’d set eyes on Chase McAllister that he was a threat to her, not only to her dream of running the Saint Charles but to her heart, as well. But she’d foolishly convinced herself she could love Chase, indulge in a quick affair with him and still manage to walk away with her heart.

  No question about it, Madeline. You’re a certified idiot. Disgusted with herself, Madeline took a sip of her coffee and reached for more sugar. It was time this idiot started exercising some common sense, she decided. And she’d start by cutting her losses now—before Chase discovered just how badly she had fallen.

  “Is that coffee I smell?”

  Madeline jerked, her spoon clanging against the china cup. “Sure is. Would you like a cup?” she returned, pleased at how calm she had managed to sound. Forcing a smile on her lips, she turned around to face him.

  “Love some. But I’ll get it. You go ahead and finish yours.”

  He strolled into her kitchen with only a towel draped around his hips, as though it were the most natural thing in the world. His hair was still damp from the shower, and she could see the nick to his cheek, no doubt courtesy of her razor. Spotting the teeth marks on his shoulder, Madeline jerked her gaze back to his face and caught the devil gleam in his eyes. She spun around and busied herself setting out another cup and saucer on the countertop.

  “Better yet,” Chase murmured coming up behind her. He snagged an arm around her waist and kissed the back of her neck, then turned her to face him.

  Madeline’s eyes fluttered closed as he lowered his head. He kissed her slowly, tenderly, taking what seemed an eternity to taste every inch of her mouth, until her entire being seemed centered on the mating of their lips. So drugged was she by the feel of his mouth that she was barely aware that he had unbuttoned the jacket of her suit and was working on the pearl studs of her blouse until she heard one of the pearl backings hit the tile floor. Madeline jerked her mouth free and opened her eyes.

  “Why don’t we forget about the coffee and go back to bed?” he coaxed, kissing the base of her throat that he had exposed.

  “We can’t. We have to go to work,” she protested even as the first ripples of desire began to gather in her. She clung to his shoulders as he moved to her neck.

  “I’m the boss, remember. I say let’s play hooky.” His hands gave up on her blouse and started in on her skirt while his mouth zeroed in on her ear.

  It was the hiss of her zipper that brought Madeline to her senses. Ducking under his arm, she scurried across the kitchen. With shaky fingers she went about refastening her clothes and renewed her resolve to get out while she still could. “Chase, I think we need to talk about our…about what happened between us this weekend.”

  He grinned at her, that wicked, knee-weakening grin. “You mean the fact that I think you’re the most sensual woman I’ve ever known and despite a weekend of mindboggling sex with you, I want you again?”

  Madeline flushed from the root of her head to the tips of her toes. “I mean we never really discussed our…well, our relationship.”

  “All right.” He poured himself a cup of coffee, added milk and stirred in sugar. “So let’s discuss it.”

  Her stomach in knots, Madeline took a deep breath and began, “I wouldn’t want the fact that we’re…that now that we’ve had sex, for it to affect our working relationship.”

  “It won’t,” he assured her.

  “But it could. If word got out at the hotel that we were having an affair, it could hurt both of our careers.”

  Chase set down his cup. The devil gleam disappeared in his eyes. So did his smile. “Cut to the chase, Princess. Exactly what is it you’re trying to say?”

  “I’m saying we wanted each other and we went to bed together. We satisfied our curiosity. And even though this weekend has been a…a wonderful diversion for both of us, now it’s time for us to go back to the real world.”

  “A diversion? Is that what it was for you?”

  Madeline tipped up her chin. “All right. Sex with you was an earth-shattering experience. No doubt it’ll rank right up there at the top of the list as my most memorable affair. Satisfied?”

  “Not even close. And despite that prim little brush-off speech, I don’t think you’re satisfied, either.”

  She eyed him warily while struggling to keep her heartbeat steady. “So what is it you’re saying?”

  “I’m saying I want more.” He spit out the words and moved in, trapping her against the refrigerator. “A lot more.”

  “Then you…you want to continue our affair?” she asked, her heart scrambling with hope that it was more than an affair he wanted.

  His eyes narrowed. “Don’t you?”

  “Yes,” Madeline admitted. “But I think we need to set down some parameters for our, um, our relationship.”

  “You mean you want to set up guidelines?”

  Feeling somewhat foolish, Madeline pushed away Chase’s arm and walked over to the counter to fuss with the coffee. “Yes. I think it’s the sensible thing to do.”

  “All right.” Chase leaned against the counter and folded his arms over his chest. “So exactly what are these guidelines you expect us to follow?”

  Madeline tore her gaze away from the attractive picture he made, standing in her kitchen wearing only a towel and that amused smile on his lips. “Well, for one, as long as we’re involved with each other, I expect our physical relationship to be exclusive.”

  “Not a problem, since I have no intention of sharing you,” he told her. “Like I told you, I’ve never quite gotten the knack of sharing anything I considered mine. And make no mistake, Princess. I do consider you mine.”

  Madeline swallowed. A flurry of excitement danced along her spine. “It works both ways, McAllister.”

  “Selfish, too, huh?” he asked, laughter in his eyes. “I always did think that rule about sharing was overrated. But don’t worry, you won’t be sharing me with anyone, darling.”

  Reaching for her, Chase pulled her against him. “Because I haven’t been able to even think about another woman since I met you.”

  Another seed of hope sprouted inside Madeline. She struggled to temper that hope with logic, telling herself that having an affair with her didn’t mean Chase would fall in love with her.

  “What else?” he asked, unfastening the buttons of her jacket again while he kissed the corner of her mouth.

  “We agree to be discreet,” she whispered huskily as she began to succumb to the magic of his touch.

  Chase’s lips stilled. His fingers stalled at the neck of her blouse. He pulled back a fraction and stared into her eyes. “You
mean keep our relationship secret?”

  “Well, I hadn’t exactly thought of it in those terms. But yes, I suppose keeping our involvement a secret would probably be a good idea.”

  “And convenient, I bet.”

  “Probably,” Madeline agreed, mildly annoyed at his eagerness to accept her offer to keep their relationship under wraps. But annoyance aside, the suggestion made sense-especially for her. She sighed. “I guess it would be. Sometimes I forget just what a small city New Orleans can be. And despite the city’s wild, party image, there are a lot of old-fashioned values at work here. You’re probably right. It wouldn’t serve any purpose for people to think of us as a couple. That would only lead to complications.”

  “Complications for whom?”

  “Why, for both of us,” Madeline replied, puzzled as much by the edge in his voice as by the shift of undercurrents coming from Chase. “You have your position at the hotel to consider and I…I have my family and my friends.”

  “And heaven forbid that your father or your friends find out you and I were sleeping together.”

  Madeline flushed at the reminder of what their relationship was based upon. “I don’t see what purpose it would serve to publicize the fact. I haven’t had very many relationships with men,” Madeline confessed. She forced herself to meet that cool, blue gaze of his. “The people who know me well may not understand. They would more than likely think things are more serious between us than they are. They’d have expectations. And I’d just as soon not have to give them any explanations when you go back to New Jersey in a few months and things between us end.”

  “What if I don’t want things to be over between us when my job here ends? What if I’m interested in more than a brief fling?”

  “Are you?” Madeline asked, praying he didn’t hear that quiver of hope in her voice.

  “No,” Chase told her.

  He wasn’t looking for more than a fling, Chase reminded himself. A brief affair with Madeline was all that he had ever intended. He should be happy that she wasn’t looking for anything more than that. So why in the hell did it leave an acid feeling in his gut?

  “Fine. Since you’re staying in the hotel, meeting there won’t work. I suggest we meet here at my place when we want to be together. That way we exercise discretion and avoid anything that might publicize our involvement.”

  Madeline had just offered him a dream affair. Hot sex with a classy and beautiful woman whom he both liked and admired. A relationship with no strings. No commitments. It was tailor-made for him. And it held as much appeal for him as a trip to the dentist’s office.

  “Then we’re agreed?”

  “No.” Chase ground out the word, furious with Madeline for her sensible suggestions and with himself for being hurt by them. “I don’t agree.” Despite his successes and the fact that he had made something of himself, listening to Madeline’s cool approach to their affair reawakened feelings he had long since buried. He felt like the boy he had been—the kid at St. Mark’s no one had wanted, the one who had been skipped over for adoption, the one who had been left behind each holiday, the sorry little kid whose mother hadn’t loved him enough to live.

  “I may agree not to make love to you on my desk with everyone watching, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to sneak around corners to see you and pretend there’s nothing going on between us when there is.”

  “But, Chase—”

  “No buts, Madeline. If I’m not good enough to be seen with you in public, to share a dinner table with you and your pedigreed friends, then I guess I’m not good enough to share your bed, either.”

  Madeline blinked. Her green eyes widened with astonishment. “That’s not how I feel! Where on earth did you get the idea that I was ashamed of you?”

  “From you. Isn’t that what that little speech of yours was about? Isn’t that the reason you decided we need a list of guidelines for an affair?”

  She shook her head. “Oh, Chase. That’s not how I feel. Not at all. How could you even think such a thing?” She touched his cheek. “I was simply trying to save us both from what will probably be some awkward questions if people start seeing us together as a couple.”

  The sick feeling in his stomach began to ease. Chase captured her fingers, brought them to his lips. “Princess, I’m not worried about what people will think or say if they find out we’re seeing each other. The truth is, I doubt that anyone’s going to be particularly surprised. Not even Paul or Chloe. I haven’t exactly made a secret of my attraction to you.”

  “I wasn’t thinking about them so much as my father, Chase. I know the two of you haven’t been seeing eye-to-eye lately. I don’t know how he’ll feel about the idea of us being together.”

  “My guess is he won’t like it,” Chase told her honestly. He didn’t want to think about Henri Charbonnet. He didn’t want to think about the possible complications his affair with Madeline would pose to his plans to destroy the man.

  “You’re probably right. But not just because it’s you. Except for my brief engagement to Bradley, my father’s always stressed that I should never mix hotel and business relationships with personal ones. He thinks it’s an unwise practice and doesn’t believe in it.”

  Maybe not now, Chase mused silently. But Henri Charbonnet had believed in doing so at one time. Long enough to break a young woman’s heart and make her take her own life. “I want you, but I don’t want to make you unhappy by causing trouble between you and your father. If you want to end things, tell me now. I won’t like it, but I’ll understand.”

  She answered by linking her arms around his neck and kissing him long, deep and slow. When she released his mouth, she said, “I don’t want to end things, Chase. Not unless you do. But I should warn you, my father might try to make things difficult for you. You know he’s already called the head of Majestic Hotels to complain about you. I can’t imagine what would happen if he told them that you and I were having an affair.”

  “If they saw you, they’d think I was lucky,” he quipped, trying to wipe the concern from her eyes. “You let me worry about Majestic and your father. Neither of them has anything to do with the way I feel about you or with the way you make me feel.”

  He kissed her neck and shoulder. He ran his hands down her spine, over her hips, her bottom, along the back of her thighs. He eased his fingers under the hem of her skirt and started to work his way back up.

  Madeline gasped. Her body trembled beneath his touch. “Tell me how I make you feel, Chase.”

  Heat shot through him, hardening his loins. He hiked up her skirt the rest of the way and jerked away his towel. “I’ll do better than that, Princess. I’ll show you.”

  Eleven

  “You’re sleeping with him, aren’t you?”

  Madeline nearly choked on the forkful of romaine lettuce at Chloe’s question. With effort, she managed to swallow and calmly put down her fork. Bringing her napkin to her mouth, she stole a quick glance in the direction Chase had been headed and breathed a sigh of relief that he was out of earshot of their table. “Just who is the ‘him’ you’re referring to?” Madeline asked, striving to sound casual while meeting the other woman’s knowing gaze.

  Chloe made a snorting sound that would have sent her friend’s ladylike mother into a tailspin. “Chase McAllister. That’s who.”

  In the two months since they had begun their affair, she and Chase had maintained the discretion factor they had both agreed upon. She saw no reason to alter things now. Especially when Chase would soon be leaving. Pushing aside the sick feeling that came whenever she thought about Chase’s exit from her life, Madeline reached for her glass of iced tea. “What on earth would give you an idea like that?”

  “Gee, I don’t know.” Chloe plucked a cherry tomato from her plate with her fingers and bit into it, her mouth spreading into a Cheshire cat grin. “Probably had something to do with the way the two of you devour each other with your eyes when you think no one’s looking.”

  “R
eally, Chloe. You’ve been watching too many soaps. It’s got your imagination working overtime.”

  Chloe shook her head. “Nope. It’s not my imagination. The two of you are lovers. I’ve had my suspicions for a while, but I wasn’t sure until a few minutes ago.”

  Madeline shifted in her seat. She skirted a quick glance at the party at the table next to hers and was grateful they were engaged in their own conversation.

  “Oh for goodness sakes, quit squirming, Maddie, and tell me the truth.”

  Madeline leaned over and glared at her friend. “Would you please keep your voice down?”

  “All right,” Chloe whispered. “But it is true, isn’t it?”

  Madeline’s brain scrambled for a convincing lie. She found none. What good would it do her to deny it? “Yes,” Madeline returned, sighing. “It’s true.”

  Chloe’s hand smacked the table. “I knew it! I told Paul so a month ago, and he didn’t believe me. Wait until he finds out I was right!”

  Madeline squeezed her eyes shut a moment and prayed for strength. When she opened them again, she said, “I would think with a new baby the two of you would have more important things to do than speculate about my love life.”

  “Oh, we do,” Chloe informed her. Riffling through her salad, the dark-haired pixie speared an olive and beamed. “Problem is when you’re both worn out from two o’clock feedings, the spirit may be willing, but not always the body. So speculating on your friends’ love lives can be a nice substitute.”

  Madeline toyed with her salad, then pushed it aside. “Is it that obvious, Chloe? I mean about me and Chase?”

  “Only to anybody with eyes in their head.”

  Madeline bit back a groan.

  “Hey, lighten up, Maddie.” Chloe patted her hand. “I’m only teasing. I’ll admit I’ve been picking up undercurrents about the two of you since day one, but I wasn’t sure things had moved beyond the lust stage until he came over to the table a few minutes ago. I would have even discounted the steamy looks that passed between you two. But it was the body language that cinched it for me.”