by Elle Kennedy
“But all you have to do is snap your fingers and a big pair of boobs will land in your hands?” She shook her head, her expression livid. “Unbelievable.”
His nostrils flared. “I don’t get why you’re so pissed.”
“Of course you don’t. Why would you?” she muttered. Before he could wrap his head around that derisive remark, Maddie was marching to the door. “I’m going to get some coffee. I’ll be back in five.”
Blinking in confusion, he stared at her retreating back, wincing when she slammed the door so hard it rattled. What the hell was wrong with her? Had he really committed some unforgivable crime by asking her who she was taking to Nate and Charlotte’s wedding?
Sighing, he walked into his office. He headed for his desk and flopped down on the plush chair, suddenly feeling annoyed. He could use some coffee right now too, but he was kind of terrified to call Maddie’s cell and put in a drink order. Besides, he was confident she’d bring him a cup anyway. She always did. Buying coffee, taking messages, talking to clients, checking up on job sites—Maddie did it all, and she did it so well he knew he’d be utterly lost if she quit. Well, she quit every other day, he amended with a rueful grin, but only during their heated arguments, and never for good. Because no matter how prickly she could be, Maddie Wilson was the most dependable woman he’d ever met.
He would just let her cool off for a bit. He wasn’t sure why she’d gotten all huffy over an innocuous little question, but she’d get over it. She always did.
Feeling better, Owen unrolled the blueprints for the lake house they would be starting construction on next month, quickly getting lost in details and measurements. He heard Maddie return a few minutes later, but he kept working, and it wasn’t until two hours had passed that he realized she hadn’t brought him back a coffee.
Chapter Two
“Are you serious?” With a shocked look, Maddie gaped at the beautiful redhead in front of her, wondering if she’d misheard her completely. Charlotte Hill wanted her to be a bridesmaid? Her, Maddie Wilson, who didn’t even own a dress? Wait, she did own a dress, that black one she’d worn to her Grandpa Andy’s funeral. But still. She must be dreaming.
“Of course I’m serious,” Charlotte replied in that throaty voice of hers. “I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t mean it.”
Well. Bridesmaid request aside, Maddie was still trying to get over the fact that she was having lunch with Charlotte Hill, singing sensation. And Lexie Price, the editor-in-chief of the Paradise Post. When the two women had stopped by the office and asked if Maddie wanted to join them at the diner, she’d been pretty damn surprised. She didn’t have many female friends, probably because she was more comfortable having a beer and watching football rather than gossiping and talking about makeup. But she’d accepted the lunch invitation because Charlotte was marrying Owen’s older brother, and in all honesty, she was curious about both of the women sitting across the booth from her.
Charlotte had only recently returned to town after spending fifteen years climbing the charts and becoming a star. She’d reconnected with Nate, her high school boyfriend, and now the two of them were getting married. And Lexie, well, she’d always lived in Paradise, but Maddie couldn’t remember ever exchanging a single word with the blonde. Lexie was older, but that wasn’t the only reason Maddie had never struck up a conversation. Truth was, Lexie had always seemed like a total ice princess.
Maddie hadn’t thought she’d ever be having lunch with either one of them, let alone be asked to serve as a bridesmaid in Charlotte’s wedding.
“Nate can’t choose between his brothers for the best-man honor,” Charlotte added with a sigh. “So he has three best men. Which means I need three bridesmaids up there with me. My assistant Georgia is one, Lexie is the other, and I need a third.” The redhead offered Maddie a genuine smile. “Owen was over for dinner last night and he mentioned how cool you were, so I figured I’d ask.”
Owen had told someone she was cool? Uh, since when did he think that? Only two days ago he’d assumed one of her brothers would escort her to the wedding—because she couldn’t possibly get a real date.
“I know we hardly know each other,” Charlotte said as she reached for her coffee cup. “But I’m in a jam and it would really help me out. And I really do want to get to know some of the other women in town. Lexie here can be really high maintenance, and I totally need to spend time with women who are more down to earth.”
Lexie balked. “I am not high maintenance.” Her blue eyes focused on Maddie. “Seriously, I can be very laid-back.”
Maddie didn’t quite buy that. The blonde was wearing a hunter-green blazer, a brown suede skirt, three-inch heels and a pale-green silk scarf around her neck. For lunch at Betty’s diner.
“You type up an itinerary when we go for dinner and a movie,” Charlotte retorted, her green eyes twinkling in amusement. “You are not laid-back.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being a planner.”
“There’s something wrong when you plan bathroom breaks.”
As entertaining and bewildering as the exchange was, Maddie had to interrupt. Clearing her throat, she said, “I’m flattered that you asked me, Charlotte, but I’m not really the fancy-dress-wearing type. And I’m too damn tall. I’ll tower over you up there on the altar.”
“Please?” Charlotte said, giving her an imploring look. “I don’t know who else to ask.”
She stifled a sigh, wondering if it was a crime to say no to someone as famous as Charlotte. But really, why would she want Maddie to be part of her bridal party? There were so many other better candidates. Ones who knew how to walk in heels, for example.
“It’ll be fun,” Lexie added, taking a sip of her herbal tea. “Tomorrow we’re driving to Denver for the dress fittings, and Friday is the bachelorette. We’re doing a drunken karaoke night.”
Dress fitting aside, the drunken karaoke thing did sound pretty fun…
“Please?” Charlotte echoed. “I’d love to have you standing up there with me. Any friend of Owen’s is a friend of mine.”
“I’m no friend of Owen’s,” Maddie mumbled under her breath.
But both women heard the remark, and two pairs of eyes narrowed on her.
“You’re not?” Charlotte sounded confused. “But he said—”
“Oh, I’m sure he said a lot,” she answered through gritted teeth. “We’re best buds, Owen and me.”
A short silence fell, broken by the sound of Lexie’s husky laughter.
“Oh my God, you like him,” the blonde accused.
Maddie flinched. “What? No.”
“You do,” Lexie said in a delighted voice. “You totally have a thing for Owen Bishop.”
“Does he know?” Charlotte asked curiously.
“Have you slept with him?” Lexie demanded.
She could feel her cheeks getting hot. Great. She was being interrogated by two women she hardly knew.
“No, I haven’t slept with him.” She couldn’t stop her next words from popping out. “And I never will.”
Charlotte eyed her in fascination. “Why not?”
After three years of keeping her feelings for Owen to herself, Charlotte’s measly question released some kind of floodgate. Before Maddie could stop herself, she opened her mouth and everything came out like a gush of water.
“Because he treats me like a pesky little sister,” she confessed. “Because I’m his best friend. Because he’s too busy screwing every airhead with big boobs. Because he thinks I’m so undateable that I need one of my brothers to escort me to a wedding. Take your pick.”
Lexie let out a soft whistle, while Charlotte’s green eyes widened. “Wow,” the singer said. “Sounds like you have some pent-up anger issues.”
Maddie had to laugh. “More like frustration issues.” She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter, though. Owen sees me as some faceless, sexless blob.”
“You are not a blob,” Lexie said in a surprisingly fierce voice.
&
nbsp; She laughed again. “Thanks, but let’s be honest here. I’m no supermodel.”
“You’re tall enough,” Charlotte replied with a grin. She pushed away her coffee cup and clasped her dainty hands together. “And you’re really pretty.”
“You are,” Lexie agreed, sweeping her blue-eyed gaze over Maddie. “You’ve got great skin—”
“With freckles,” she cut in.
“Pouty lips,” Lexie went on.
“Fish lips,” she corrected.
“Gorgeous eyes,” Charlotte piped up. “Spectacular rack. Long legs.”
“Seriously,” Lexie insisted. “Some makeup, tighter clothing, a haircut—and you’d be a perfect ten.”
“More like a solid five,” she grumbled.
“Owen does like the busty airheads in the short skirts,” Lexie conceded, a thoughtful expression crossing her face. “But I think, with a little effort, you could totally catch his eye.”
Maddie suddenly felt like a specimen under a microscope, the way the two women were studying her. How had the conversation gotten so far off track? She hadn’t meant to gripe about Owen, but the words had just spilled out, and now she couldn’t take them back. Truth was, his remark about taking one of her brothers to the wedding had really grated. Not to mention punched a couple of holes in her self-esteem. Did he really think she couldn’t find a real date?
Anger bubbled in her stomach. That man was a real ass sometimes. And totally clueless. After his comment, she’d completely shut down, refusing to start an argument over it, mostly because it was too damn embarrassing, how low his opinion of her was. And for the past two days, he’d carried on as if he hadn’t completely humiliated her, oblivious to her inner turmoil. She really was nothing but background scenery for him. An old couch or chair that he turned to whenever he needed something, but never a true blip on his radar.
And even knowing what he thought of her, she still couldn’t get the man off her mind. She loved him, idiot that she was. Had loved him from the moment she’d walked into his office and interviewed for the assistant position. Owen might not see her as feminine, but being around him made her feel that way. He was so big and sexy and masculine, and when they were in the same room, every female part of her reacted. Her nipples hardened, her breasts got achy, her clit throbbed.
“You think a makeover will actually get him to notice me?” she asked slowly.
“Hell yeah,” Lexie said with a grin.
“We can do it tomorrow when we go to the dress fitting,” Charlotte suggested.
“I don’t know…”
“Come on, Maddie, it’ll be so much fun!” Charlotte clapped her hands together. “We’ll go to the salon, do some shopping—and when you go in to work on Wednesday, you’ll knock his fucking socks off!”
As silly as this idea was, she couldn’t deny it held some appeal. She’d been waiting for Owen to notice her—her, and not just his best bud Maddie—for three years, but maybe it was time to stop waiting and take some action. No matter how infuriating he could be, no matter how clueless, she still loved the big jerk, and she wanted to be with him. So why not get his attention? Why not get dolled up and look super hot and make the damn man take notice?
“Okay, I’m in,” she announced with a grin.
Charlotte grinned back. “Does that mean I’ve got myself a bridesmaid?”
She sighed. “Looks like it.”
Lexie Price was chuckling to herself as she strode into the living room of her house and dropped her purse on the white upholstered sofa. She’d actually had a really good time at lunch, which still surprised her. Though she’d never admit it to anyone, she was terrified of meeting new people, especially other women. To everyone in town, she was the confident, successful editor of the Post. But nobody knew how hard she’d had to work, how much pressure her parents had placed on her to be “better” than everyone else, how in high school her father wouldn’t speak to her for days if she’d come home with a grade lower than an A+.
Truth was, she felt like a phony. Women like Charlotte and Maddie were so damn genuine. Genuinely smart, genuinely fun. When she was around people like that, she felt as if she were lacking something, and that was a crushing emotion that made her shut down, hence becoming the ice princess people thought she was.
But meeting Maddie had been nice. She’d truly enjoyed the woman’s sarcasm and easygoing personality. Maybe the two of them could actually be friends, which would bring her friend count up to three. Nate, who was serious and gruff and always there for her. Charlotte, who’d come to town as Lexie’s enemy and was now her closest friend. And maybe now Maddie Wilson.
She was still smiling to herself as she slid out of her blazer, revealing the lacy white camisole underneath. She kicked off her heels and headed for the kitchen, just as the doorbell rang. Wrinkling her brow, she walked across the shiny parquet floor toward the front door. Charlotte had gone to see Nate at the pub and Maddie had returned to work, so she had no idea who else would be at the door. Maybe her father, which wasn’t a fun thought. Last time he’d dropped by, it had been to give her an hour-long lecture about why the editorial she’d written didn’t quite meet the grade.
When she opened the door, however, she realized her father would have been a way better visitor.
“What do you want?” she asked with a sigh.
Cooper Grady shot her that little-boy grin he probably practiced in front of the mirror. “Owen gave the crew the day off, so I wanted to see if you felt like hanging out.”
Translation: having sex.
Because why else would Cooper be here? Up until three months ago, the two of them had been involved—if you could consider having sex and hardly talking an involvement. But she’d been fine with it. She hadn’t wanted any lasting attachment to Cooper, only the hot, sweaty sex he was always willing to give her. And she would’ve kept up the fling—if he hadn’t treated her like a piece of garbage a month ago and thrown her out of his house. Since then, she’d made an effort to avoid him, and when several weeks had passed and he hadn’t come a-knocking, she figured he’d written her off too.
Apparently not.
“I don’t think so,” she said with a frown, making a move to shut the door.
He wedged one steel toe boot in the doorway. “Come on, Lex, you can’t still be pissed off at me. I told you I was sorry for what happened. I was having a bad day, okay?”
“You threw me out after I gave you a blow job because you were having a bad day? Gee, Coop, forgive me if I can’t accept your apology.”
He reached out and dragged his thumb over her chin. Lexie forced herself not to react. He was too damn sexy for his own good, with those glittering charcoal eyes, scruffy black hair, and lean, muscular body. Shoving his hand away, she crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at him. “I’m serious, Cooper, go away. I’m not starting things up with you again.”
He ran his hand over the razor-sharp stubble coating his strong jaw. “Is it because of Lockhart?”
Lexie smothered a groan. Why did he always feel the need to bring up Gabe Lockhart? A few days into their fling, she’d made the mistake of revealing to Cooper her on-again, off-again relationship with Gabe, and since then, he’d been like a dog with a bone, refusing to let the subject go.
“No, it’s not because of him,” she snapped. “In fact, you’ll be happy to know I’m not seeing him anymore.”
She could have sworn she glimpsed a glint of satisfaction in his eyes. “Then what’s stopping you?”
“You,” she said softly. “You are stopping me. You treated me like a cheap whore, Cooper. Do you honestly blame me for not wanting to see you again?”
Now she thought she saw a flicker of vulnerability. Damn it, she would never understand this man. One minute he was like a shark, circling her, ready to go in for the kill. The next, he was a lost little boy, begging her to take care of him. Well, forget that. She was done with guessing Cooper Grady’s moods, done with the way he pierced her with a harsh word
then licked away the sting with the brush of his talented tongue.
“You’re being stubborn,” Cooper grumbled.
“So sue me.” She tried to close the door again, but this time he shoved his big body through the threshold to stop her.
And he kissed her.
It happened in the blink of an eye. Suddenly his warm mouth was pressed against hers, and his tongue was prodding at the seam of her lips. She instinctively parted her lips to let him in, and their tongues tangled and swirled as he cupped her ass with his hands and pulled her closer. An involuntary moan slipped out at the feel of his erection on her belly. He rolled his hips, sending a flurry of shivers through her body.
“See,” he rasped when they finally broke apart. “We can’t ignore this. We’re too damn hot together, princess.”
It was the mocking endearment that snapped her back to her senses. The shivers dissolved, the heat in her belly extinguished. Taking a step back, she drew air into her lungs in an attempt to control her rising anger. Cooper Grady was a total asshole. Sexy, yes. Amazing in bed, definitely. But still an asshole.
“I am going to ignore it,” she squeezed out. “Wanna know why, Coop?”
Wariness filled his eyes. “Why?”
“Because you don’t deserve me. I’m not a damn toy for you to play with, only to throw aside when you get bored. I’m worth more than that.” To her shock, tears stung her eyelids. Oh no. No fucking way. She was not going to cry in front of this man.
Setting her jaw, she pressed her palms on his rock-hard chest and gave him a little push. He stumbled backwards, and once he was no longer blocking the door, she shot him one last glare and said, “Go home, Cooper.”
Then she slammed the door in his face.
Chapter Three
As irritation snaked its way up his spine, Owen glanced at his watch for the millionth time and let out a loud curse. Maddie was forty-five minutes late. No, make that forty-six minutes late. The coffee he’d picked up for her at the diner was getting cold, and as he looked at the no-longer-steaming cup, he finally reached a decision—he was done making amends. If she wanted to be pissed off at him, she could go right ahead. He’d been bending over backwards the past three days, trying to fix whatever had gone wrong with them, but he was done trying.
