It certainly did. The simple addition changed her outfit from…uh, drab to fab. Well…maybe not fab. Maybe just spruced-up drab. But a definite improvement, nonetheless. To this point in her life, Madison’s greatest concern was her clothes keeping her warm. She knew there’d be a different standard out here. Clearly, the proprietor knew her stuff.
With a chuckle, Summer offered her hand. “Other people shake. I do guerrilla makeovers. Anyway, thanks for letting Annabeth drag you to my shop.”
“I just got into the car. She did the rest. Although I don’t understand your reasoning behind bringing me here.” Madison turned to Annabeth, who was flinging a seashell print scarf around her neck. “What do my clothes have to do with Knox?”
“Oh my goodness, everything,” Summer blurted out.
It was official. She’d been shanghaied here for a purpose, not just for fun. Madison glared at Annabeth, and then turned to Summer. “I assume that means you know Knox, too?”
“Yes. He’s yummy. Super tall. Super muscled. But I crossed him off the possibility list the moment I met him. We’re like two positive ions. Electrons?” She banged the backs of her hands together. “Too similar to ever work. Not even short term. He certainly doesn’t repel me, but we’d spend all our time trying to outdo the other.”
“See why I brought you here?” Annabeth said smugly.
“No.” But it was good to hear that the stunningly beautiful woman wouldn’t be her competition.
Madison was also starting to wonder just how much she’d talked about Knox at last night’s dinner. Both before and after the drinks kicked in. She remembered telling Annabeth that theirs had been an adorable meet-cute. A great date. One where they discovered a fanatical shared love of grilled cheese sandwiches, U2 (except for that mistake of an album, Pop), and schlocky horror films where they crossed a velociraptor and a chicken. A date that lasted for four hours. A date she hadn’t wanted to end. Criminy. She had it bad…and had apparently blabbed all of that to Annabeth. Hence the clothing intervention.
Moving to the armoire, Annabeth began yanking out dresses. “Summer thinks just like Knox. She gets the game.”
Nope, Madison was still lost. And falling a little bit in love with a pale blue linen shift with scalloped cutouts around the neck. “What game?”
“Cat and mouse. Catch and release. For men like Knox, it is all about the chase. We want you to make him chase after you with his tongue hanging out.”
Madison was truly at a loss. She liked the visual that Annabeth painted, though. Who wouldn’t want a hunky man panting after her? But there were two obvious facts her new friend had overlooked. Madison had no trouble reeling in the opposite sex. She’d dated her way through all sorts of men in Alaska. It was precisely why she was so positive that she’d never find the kind of man she wanted out in the bush. Plus, she already had Knox on the hook. Zero chasing required, to her mind.
“Why? Why complicate things?”
“You guys have already hit it off stronger than I’ve ever seen. While good, that almost makes it too easy. We don’t want Knox getting complacent and thinking you’re the one who has to chase him.”
All this talk of chasing was exhausting. If Madison wanted something, she got it. Period. You worked hard enough, kept your eye on the prize, and you’d get it…eventually. This mindset had never let her down. Even with her strict budget, she knew she’d find a way to get that blue dress, for example. Then she looked at the price tag. And froze. “I can’t possibly afford these clothes. They’re beautiful, Summer, all of them, but way out of my price range.”
“I can’t afford to shop here, either,” Annabeth said with a grin. “Funny how easy it is for me to choose between making a car payment and splurging on a cashmere tank top.”
“So you’re just taunting me with all of this?”
Summer shook her head. “Not in the least. I’m planning to expand to online retail. I need lots of photos. But I can’t afford to spend money on models. Annabeth promised to help me round up real women who’ll pose for the online catalog.”
Madison had come to terms with her height and bone structure years before. No point whining over what couldn’t be changed. But she suddenly wished that she was forty pounds lighter. “I don’t look like a model at all. I’m too big. I’d look like a model on steroids who swallowed two other models.”
“You’re not big at all. Tall, yes, but proportionately so. And if you promise not to think I’m hitting on you, I don’t mind saying that you’re stunningly beautiful in a natural goddess type way. You’ll be perfect. You can keep what you wear for the photo shoot if you promise to come back and model for me in a fashion show in the fall.”
The offer was too good to be true. “I can’t accept clothes this expensive for just a few photos.”
“Yes, you can. I don’t want a website that only appeals to waifs and meth moms.”
Annabeth bobbled the set of bracelets she’d been trying to pull off a mannequin. “Summer, it is amazing you not just survive, but thrive in a customer service–oriented business with the way unadulterated truth flies out of your mouth.”
“Life’s too short to live any other way.” Summer’s red lips tightened into a thin line. “I know that for a fact.”
“Come on, Madison. Join me in being one of Forever Summer’s real women. It’ll be fun. An experience I’ll bet you never got in Alaska.”
True. And good things were supposed to happen in threes. On her first week in town, she’d met an amazing man, scored an awesome roommate with reasonable rent, and now had lucked into the nicest clothes she’d ever owned. Madison knew it was time to take what Fate handed her and enjoy all the goodness of her new life.
“I’ll do it. And I’ll definitely owe you more than just a photo shoot and a fashion show.”
“We can haggle later. For now, let’s get you into some of these outfits that’ll drive Knox crazy.”
Therein lay Madison’s confusion. “But I already have a second date with him.”
“Exactly.” Summer hustled her back to a dressing room, grabbing outfits on the way. Including a maxi dress in twenty shades of green that Madison suddenly, desperately wanted. “We’ve got to get you ready for it.”
Okay. She was on board with spending the evening trying on fabulous clothes with two new friends. With her mom dragging her hither and yon across the sparsely populated Alaskan Bush, Madison never had the chance to develop any strong friendships. Her heart-to-heart with Annabeth the previous night had been a joy and a revelation that true girlfriends were something else to be added to her must-get list in her new life.
But Madison still didn’t understand why they were pushing her so darn hard. Clearly there was something they knew…and weren’t telling her. “Why are you doing the hard sell on Knox? He’s smart, has a wry sense of humor, and is drop-dead handsome. I don’t think he needs you pimping for him.”
Summer and Annabeth exchanged a look. One that probably filled in the piece Madison was missing. Annabeth plopped down on the ladder-back chair painted in zebra stripes in the corner of the dressing room. “Nope. This push is all about you. You came literally all the way across the country to start a new life. I want your first experience with a D.C. man to be terrific.”
“Believe me, so do I. It’s one of the reasons I came out here.”
A snort mixed with a belly laugh rolled out of Annabeth. “Better men? You came to our stressed-out capital, where men are pasty from being locked in offices sixteen hours a day, to find better men? That’s funny. Most of the men in town are too focused on climbing some rung of the governmental ladder to even remember their date’s name. Let me assure you, Knox is an anomaly.”
“What about all those lumbersexuals in your neck of the woods?” Summer fanned herself, a little dreamy-eyed. “Muscled men in beards and flannel. They did a whole spread on them in Cosmo last fall.”
“A lumbersexual is a man living…oh, say here…and growing a beard to be ironic and weari
ng designer flannel. Actual lumberjacks? Not so sexy.”
Necessary to the economy, yes. Well muscled? Eh, about half of them. The other half hid that layer of muscle beneath several layers of beer and reindeer jerky fat. Not to mention that none of them she’d encountered had a clue as to what the word was for the metal band that holds an eraser on a pencil. Madison didn’t just want muscles. She wanted a man who exercised his brain like a muscle.
Summer clasped a hand to her chest. “Say it isn’t so. Don’t kill my dreams. At least not my naughty ones.”
Annabeth, however, jumped straight up out of her chair. “Wait. Just wait.” She shook a red-tipped finger at Madison. “You seriously came to D.C. to meet a man?”
“It was one of my top three reasons.” It was more of a three-way tie, as she felt all the reasons were a priority. To be truly happy in life, Madison believed you needed a good job, a family, and a forever home. Washington D.C. had the best potential to provide her all three. Once she found—and met for the first time—her brand-new-to-her half-brother.
Summer unzipped Madison’s skirt and handed her a pair of coral cropped pants to try on. “That’s sort of old-fashioned.”
That was the most polite comment of the many she’d received when divulging her Grand Plan. Her thesis advisor had flat out told her she was nuts. Her mom opined that she’d never find what she was looking for anywhere, so why bother leaving Alaska? And the woman who trimmed her hair right before moving had called her a backward, backwoods dream chaser. Not one of them had phased Madison, or caused her to have second thoughts. But she did appreciate Summer being so circumspect in her assessment.
“Actually, it’s pretty modern thinking, to my mind. I’ve figured out what makes me happy, and I’m going after it. I want to find a man who wants more out of life than fishing in solitude. I want to find a man who thinks the sun rises and sets on me. One who’ll give me lots of babies and still be convinced fifty years down the road that I’m the light of his life. I want a man who needs me. Who’ll plant himself somewhere with me.”
Summer and Annabeth exchanged glances in the mirror. Annabeth sank back onto the chair. “Uh-oh.”
“What?”
“Knox Davies is not that man. I thought you just wanted a fun hookup. Knox will wine and dine you, and, if the rumors are true, make you see fireworks before he’s even gotten his pants off. That’s where he excels.”
“Well, that and making money.” Summer tied a bow above Madison’s belly button with the tails of a white shirt. “He rakes in money as fast as he goes through women.”
To Madison’s comparative eye, everyone was rich who didn’t get paid in bear meat and mossberries, like her mother had and still did. Knox was her age. How wealthy could he really be? “Money doesn’t matter. Neither does his propensity for women-hopping.”
“But Madison, he’s a player, through and through. If you’re seriously looking for a man to give you a ring, you need to look somewhere else.”
“I’m not worried.”
Annabeth shook the tails of a scarf at her. “You’re going after the white whale here. Searching for a grail that doesn’t exist.”
“I’ve set my eye on Knox. I’m big on follow-through. He gives good date so far. So I’m going to go on another one with him, see what happens. If he’s not worthy of a future, at least he’ll be fun. His kisses proved that already.”
Summer gave a knowing nod. “Knox Davies is definitely the man for that job.”
“And if I decide that he is marriage material, well, I’ll make that happen.” Madison didn’t doubt it for a minute. Others might, but she knew she’d accomplish whatever she set her mind to. “Just you watch.”
“Oh, you can bet we’ll be watching,” Annabeth chortled.
Chapter 3
It was hard for Knox to help Madison across the gangplank when so much of his concentration was on keeping his tongue from rolling to the floor like a cartoon character’s. She looked like a million bucks—and he should know. A pale blue sundress dipped low between her breasts, and then fell in folds to swing halfway down her thighs. That left a lot of leg exposed for him to ogle. If he could tear his gaze away from her creamy breasts. And the way her acres of sunlight-colored hair tumbled over her shoulders.
Good thing he had to busy himself with untying the ropes mooring them to the dock. It gave him a chance to recite the periodic table in his head. That always pulled the blood out of his pants and back up to his brain.
“Shouldn’t you let the crew handle those?”
“I am the crew. And the pilot. This is what you call a one-man operation.”
Madison turned in a circle on the teak deck, taking in the sleek lines of the thirty-four-foot Sea Ray yacht. “This isn’t a rowboat, Knox. Stop kidding around before you get in trouble.”
“No joke. I rented her for the afternoon. Since I’ve got my license, I’ll be your captain on this scenic cruise down the Potomac. Figured it’d be nicer to get to know each other uninterrupted.”
“Holy cow.”
Uh-oh. He’d thought their first date went well. So well that he’d pulled out all the stops for number two. Had he read her wrong? “Sorry. Is this weird? Would you rather be on a tourist boat with screaming kids and cheap box wine?”
“No. I mean, that’d be fine, too. This is definitely better.” She looked at the navy cushions plumped along the seating area on the foredeck, the silver ice bucket with condensation tracking down its sides, and the low vase of white flowers on the table. Then she lightly trailed her fingertips along the wooden railing. “I’m just surprised.”
God. Knowing her background, Knox hadn’t given a second thought to putting her on a boat. What if Madison was scared? Or scared of hurling? Or both? “I can jump off and grab some Dramamine before we go, if you’re worried. Haven’t you ever been on a boat before? I thought seaplanes and boats comprised a good portion of Alaska’s traffic.”
“They do. I’m good with boats. No seasickness or anything. I can probably drive one as well as you can. Just not a boat like this.” Madison shook her head. “It’s too much, Knox.” Disapproval coated her voice as thick as bilge water.
He put a hand on the small of her back and guided her to the wheelhouse. Women occasionally got overwhelmed when he put his wealth on display. That usually disappeared within about ten seconds, and then they rolled with it as if born to it. Knox had yet to meet a single one who had any trouble spending his money in great big handfuls. She’d undoubtedly change her tune as soon as they were under way.
“Rule number thirteen—there is no such thing as ‘too much.’ Not in my life.” Moving his hands over the controls, Knox piloted them away from the pier and eased into the pre-dinner rush hour of boat traffic on the Potomac.
Madison hovered right behind his shoulder. “Never? What about too many mosquito bites?”
So she was a pusher, huh? Determined to always find the loophole and be right? Well, so was he. “They’d be proof I was outdoors having a great time.”
“Too many beers?”
“Again, proof of a great time.” It was like she’d never talked to a man before. Nobody with a Y chromosome would admit to having too many beers. Ever.
“How about too many dates with the same woman?” she asked slyly.
Aha. Knox knew his reputation. He knew that half the women he dated already knew about it, and the other half either learned about it from web searches or their friends.
Sure, he moved through women fast. But none of them denied having one hell of a time while they were with him. He didn’t leave a trail of broken hearts, because he deliberately kept things light. Fast. He never gave anyone the time to even start to get her heart involved. That was how his particular brand of romance worked. And it worked just fine. Not a single complaint, so far.
Raising an arm, he pointed out the gleaming white columns of the Kennedy Center off the aft side. “You’ve been talking to people about me.”
“Yes.”
Knox admired her unapologetic acknowledgment. He far preferred a woman who was up front, who didn’t dance around the truth until you got dizzy. “Yet you came out with me anyway.”
“Yes.”
“Sure that’s smart?” he teased.
“I wouldn’t want to be judged on what anyone said about me. I figure I’ll give you a chance to impress me—or not—yourself, rather than decide through hearsay.”
Knox reached behind him to pull her flush against his side. “So the pressure’s on.”
“A little bit.”
The edge in her voice said it was considerably more than a little bit. Which was weird, right after her whole open-minded shtick. “How am I doing so far?”
Her arms raised, and then fluttered down till her hands flattened her skirt. “There’s this whole obvious wealth thing I’m going to have to overlook.”
Knox shoved his sunglasses onto the top of his head to get a better look at her golden brown eyes. Because she sounded deadly serious. Which didn’t add up for him at all. Money was an asset. It fixed a whole hell of a lot of things. And he happened to be damn proud of how hard he’d worked to amass it. “You don’t see it as a plus?”
“Not entirely. I am wondering if you did all this in the hopes that my panties would spontaneously melt off my body as soon as my eyes finished bugging out at the extravagance.”
Knox didn’t get it. Not one bit. He wasn’t asking her to sweat through a ten-mile hike, or help build a house with Habitat for Humanity, like one of Riley’s dates had conned him into. How did he get into trouble for treating Madison so well? “You’re upset.”
“Yes. A little bit,” she amended. “If my panties come off, I want it to be my choice. I don’t want it to be because you hustled them off of me.”
Wanting It All: A Naked Men Novel Page 4