by Celya Bowers
“So, what kind of book is it?”
She set her knife and fork across her plate, signaling that she was finished with her meal. “Well, it’s kind of a mystery, but it has some romance elements in it as well, so his publishers want to market the book as a romantic suspense instead of a mystery book. He needs some re-branding help. You know overhaul his website, guest appearance on some blogs, and internet shows, for a start. We haven’t even talked about the book launch in December. I have an appointment to speak with some of the local stations to interviews him as well.”
“Wow! I can’t see him writing a romance, but it is a big part of the fiction market,” Sean said. “My mom reads those kinds of romances all the time. You know someone gets killed, but someone also falls in love.”
“Wouldn’t it be nice, if falling in love was as easy as it was in some of the romance novels?”
10
Maddie has lost her mind. That was the only way to explain the events of the evening and why she had invited Sean inside her house for coffee. Really? She had a full day tomorrow and had no time for a late-night dalliance with the very sexy man of Irish and African descent.
She stood in the middle of her kitchen, watching her coffee pot gurgle and wheeze at her. Her mind was a million miles away. A weak beeping noise interrupted her thoughts. It took a few minutes to register that the noise was coming from the coffee pot! She really had to get it together.
She quickly assembled two cups, a silver coffee pot, cream, and sugar and placed it on an antique silver tray. She smiled as she picked up the tray and headed into the living room.
Sean rose from his seat on the couch the minute he saw her. He had taken off his jacket and looked even sexier if that was possible. Down girl, she told herself. Sure, it had been a while since she’d had any intimate connections, but this was getting ridiculous! He walked toward her and reached out his hands.
“Here, I’ll take that.” He took the tray out of her hands and placed it on the coffee table. “Smells great.” He motioned for her to sit down on the sofa. “I had a great time tonight. Even with all the investigative talk. You never gave me an answer about Saturday night.”
She knew that. She wanted to say yes, but something was holding her back. He’d been a perfect gentleman at the restaurant. Why not? Her business was doing well, it was time for her to start living. “You’re right, I didn’t give you an answer.”
“So, what’s your answer?” He doctored his coffee and took a sip. Intense green eyes stared in her direction.
She made a production out of pouring a cup of coffee, adding sugar and cream, hoping to stall for a little time. After a sip, she finally looked into those big eyes and said, “Yes, I would love to go to dinner on Saturday.”
“Great!” He sat his cup down on the table and moved closer to her. “Now that we have that out of the way, we can talk about...other things.”
“Such as?” Maddie cleared her throat. “What did you want to talk about?”
“This.” He pulled her in his arms and kissed her. His firm lips coaxed her mouth open and his hot tongue dueled with hers for a fight to the finish.
Maddie thought she was dreaming. No man had ever kissed her with the intensity Sean was kissing her. His kisses the other night was nothing like what she was experiencing now. She felt his large hands caressing her clothes covered body. Yeah, he knew exactly what he was doing, she thought.
Finally, they came up for air, both breathing hard and staring at each other like teenagers in heat. She was too old to feel like an inferno was brewing inside her body. At 35, all those bubbly emotions were supposed to stay dormant in her body, not come to the surface the first time a man touched her.
“Are you okay?” Sean asked quietly. He reached for her hand and brought it to his lips. “I’ve wanted this and more since I met you.”
“I’m fine,” she lied. Her body screamed at her, demanding she continue those hot kisses. She closed her eyes, hoping to gather strength to send him home before things got out of hand. This was wrong on so many levels.
“Good.” He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer to him. “This is all I need.” He kissed her neck, leaving a hot trail of desire as he lowered those sinful lips to her shoulder.
Maddie gave up her fight and decided to enjoy all the sensations flowing through her. Every place than man touched left a trail of fire. “Why don’t we go upstairs?” She tried to catch her breath.
“Music to my ears,” Sean said. He rose, erection evident, and extended a hand to her.
Maddie shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” She took his hand, rose, and led him to the stairs.
“You can always change your mind,” he said quietly as they walked up the stairs. “If you’re having second thoughts, now would be a good time to say so.”
They stopped in front of her bedroom. “If I didn’t want you here, you wouldn’t be here.” She walked inside her bedroom and hoped she displayed an air of confidence as she sat on the bed.
He walked to bed and sat next to her. “Okay, you got any protection?”
“In the bathroom in the closet.” She kicked off her shoes and moved to the center of the bed.
Sean watched her for a long minute then he strode into the bathroom. She could hear him banging the closet doors, obviously looking for the prize. After she heard him muttering expletives, she went in the bathroom to help.
“How hard is it to find one box of condoms?” She opened the drawer by the sink and retrieved the box. She placed them in his hand and walked back into the bedroom.
“That was not in the closet? That was in the vanity,” he said, unbuttoning his shirt. “Last chance. Are you sure?”
She resumed her position in the middle of her king-sized bed. “Yes, I’m quite sure. How about you?”
Sean looked at her, then jumped on the bed. “Does that answer your question?”
He didn’t give her time to answer. The minute she opened her mouth, he stuck his tongue in it. Maddie wrapped her arms around him bringing his body closer to hers. She’d forgotten how good it felt be to under someone, how secure it made her feel. Yes, she could get used to this. She felt Sean’s busy hands as he unzipped her dress and slipped off her body.
She finished taking off his shirt, and soon they were down to underwear. Sean proved to be very experience in stripping with one had. Before she knew what was what, they were both naked.
“You are so beautiful,” Sean whispered against her lips. He slowly moved to her neck paying homage to every inch of skin his lips could touch. His tongue moved between the valley of her breasts igniting an inferno in darkest parts of her soul. She was done for.
Maddie’s body began a dance of its own. She wiggled against his roving hands when knowing fingers entered her body. In and out, his fingers brought her to a climax. “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I don’t usually have an orgasm that quickly.”
His smiled and kissed her, his fingers still working magic inside her body. “Oh, don’t worry. We’ re just getting started.” She felt empty when he removed his fingers, but soon she felt something else easing inside her core.
“Just relax,” he said against her ear, as he dropped a kiss. He moved against her, easing her legs further apart. His lips touched hers, then wrapped her in a tight embrace and increased the power and intensity moving in and out of her body.
Maddie could only hang on for the ride of her life. Never in her limited experience had she ever felt this good. She wrapped her legs around his very fine and well-developed behind and reached for the stars.
“Wow!” Sean slid off her body and pulled her close to him. “Just amazing.” His strong arms were around her waist, and he was breathing in her ear. “Worth every cold shower I’ve taken since I met you.” He struggled to keep his eyes opened, but between the wine from dinner, and exhaustion, he was losing the battle fast.
Maddie turned to him. She was smiling! “Yes, I would definitely say that was
one of the top ten.” She pulled the comforter over them and she moved closer to him.
He kissed her forehead. “If I had more strength, I’d make this the best. Next time.”
She chuckled. “Oh, so there’s a next time?”
“You betcha.”
His cell phone was ringing. Sean pried his eyes opened and looked around the room, bathed in sunlight. This was not his bedroom. Where the hell was, he? He glanced around the spacious room and suddenly the memories from last night came pouring back. Maddie. He was in Maddie’s bed. He noticed his boxer shorts folded neatly on the end of the bed. His shirt and trousers were on a hangar by the door. The phone rang again. He crossed the room to retrieve the cell phone from his pants.
“Conway,” he said.
“You’re not home,” his brother said.
“No, I’m not,” Sean said. “What’s up?”
“No details?”
“No.” Declan might be his brother, but sometimes he was worse than a woman.
“Harsh. I got the information on the news anchor and your missing person.”
He didn’t want anything to ruin this morning, especially anything to do with this case. “Hey, I’ll meet you later and you can tell me.”
“Must be nice to own your business,” he chided. “Well, Mr. Private I, we intelligence officers must be on the job. I’ll meet you around lunch time.”
“I offered you a partnership in Conway Investigations, but you said you wanted to stay with the FBI.”
“Yeah, yeah. That was five years ago. Who knew you were going to blow up like that? What are you doing working on a case anyway? You seldom go out in the field anymore. You usually send the hired help.”
“This was a favor to a friend, but it has morphed into something I wasn’t expecting. It started out as a simple missing person, but it’s gotten bigger. I just can’t figure out all the players yet.”
“Oh, I hate when that happens. See you around one.” He ended the call.
Sean turned his phone off and headed for the shower. He smelled breakfast.
11
Maddie had finished fixing breakfast and was pouring coffee in her prized coffee cup, when she heard the shower upstairs stopped. Sean would be downstairs soon. She didn’t want to appear super eager when he made his appearance in her kitchen. She stood in the middle of the room, making sure the table had everything.
Her kitchen table was perfect. She set the coffee pot carafe on a trivet in the middle of the table. Her cell phone buzzed announcing she had a voice mail. Funny, my phone didn’t ring, she thought. She pulled it out of her bathrobe pocket and looked at the display. Her adrenaline immediately started pumping. The number was from an unknown number, but DJ had a cell. It was a pre-pay, but still. Hope against hope, she pushed the option to listen to the message. Her blood chilled as she heard her brother’s voice:
‘Hey Sis, I can’t talk long. I just want you to know that I’m okay. Don’t look for me or you’ll get what Rachel got.’
The line went dead before she could react. How dare he? He knew about the attack. Did he send those hoodlums to beat her up? What kind of man would let his lady love take a beating? She shook her head at the possibilities. Tears instantly streamed down her face. Poor Rachel, she backed the wrong horse.
“Hey, what this?” Sean stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her. “Tears at breakfast?” Sean lead her to the table and pulled out a chair for her. Once she was seated, he sat next to her. “Babe, what’s wrong?” He reached for her hand and caressed it gently. “Bad news?”
She shook her head. Too afraid to speak and let the damn of tears she was holding at bay loose.
“Then what is it?” He pulled her out of her chair and settled her in his lap. “Is it because I’m late for breakfast?” He kissed her cheek. “My brother called me.”
Still she shook her head. She took a deep breath, forcing a calmness in her voice, she didn’t feel. “I was waiting for you, so I checked my voicemail. I didn’t recognize the number and felt it was probably DJ. It was, and he left me this message.” She re-played the brief message for him.
Sean listened carefully. Then he played the message again and sat back in the chair. “So, he knows Rachel is hurt. I’m betting he either witnessed it or he orchestrated it.”
She reached for a paper towel and blotted her eyes. “Neither answer is good. I can’t believe he would do such a thing, but the evidence is right there.” She pointed to her cell phone. “I made a mess of everything. I should have listened to Dad in the first place and left DJ alone.”
“Then we’d never have found Rachel. She would have died without medical attention. So, we saved her life. There’s still a mystery to solve and your brother hasn’t been found yet. True, you’ve heard from him, but you still don’t know where he is or what kind of trouble, he’s in.”
“True and I have to see this through to the end.” She hoped it wasn’t a bad omen. After all the drama from that one call, she remembered her wonderful breakfast she had prepared. She rose from her chair and walked over to the stove. She scooped up scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and placed them on a plate. Immediately, she heated the dish in the microwave. She prepared another dish to heat for Sean while he poured juice for them.
“I admit this has morphed into a major case I wasn’t expecting.”
“But?” The microwaved sounded and she removed the plates and walked to the table. Sean took the plates from her and put one in front of him, and one by her coffee mug. She picked up her fork and started eating her breakfast.
“Like you, I will see this through to the end. No matter what that end may be.” He stared at her with those beautiful green eyes. “So, are you all in?” He started eating breakfast.
She watched him eat their post-coital meal. She’d asked herself the same question when this journey began. The more information she learned about her ne’er do well brother, the more she wanted to get the total picture. She took a sip of coffee and she thought. Her father didn’t want any publicity, but now it didn’t look like it couldn’t be avoided. “Yes, I’m in.”
He looked up from his plate. “Good. I was afraid you were going to bail on me, once things started coming out about your brother.”
“No, I started this, so I have to know the truth. Whatever that truth may be.” Maddie resumed eating her breakfast. She had a feeling Sean knew a lot more than he was sharing with her. Maybe he didn’t trust her to do the right thing? Now she was doubting her own brother. Surely there had to be a logical explanation for his actions.
She heard the noise, bringing her out of her daydreaming state. Sean was standing near the microwave, obviously heating a second helping.
“I hope you didn’t mind. I helped myself to a second helping. You were in la-la land,” he said. “I know I’ve given you a lot to process concerning your brother.”
She nodded but said nothing. Her mind was racing with thoughts, scenarios, and horrible outcomes. The pain in her neck was slowly fading away.
“Maddie, what are you thinking?”
She looked at him as he took his seat. “I was just thinking about my parents, and sisters and brother. How am I going to break this news to them?”
“Actually, you don’t have anything concrete to report yet. Don’t get anyone’s hope up yet with supposition. Wait until you have proof.”
“I know I should, but Dad will want to know what’s going on. He’s worried about the fall election.”
“I know, but you can’t choose your family. Judge has a great record, that’s what the voters will remember, not that his adult son was in trouble.”
“I sure hope so,” Maddie said. She glanced down at her plate. When did she eat all her food? She was going to have to clear her head. She had too many things going on at once. Worrying about the outcome of election was beyond her brain power. She needed to concentrate on her business.
Mentally, she reviewed her calendar for the day. As always, her day was full, an
d she also wanted to visit Rachel. What’s a woman to do? She needed to check with Hunter, but first, she needed to get rid of the very sexy private investigator.
“Looks like I need to get my day started,” Sean said. He stood, grabbed his plate, and took it the sink. “This was delicious.” He walked back to where she sat and pulled her up out of her chair. “Last night was great. I’d like to see you again. Before our Saturday date,” he added.
She needed time alone. She had a lot to think about. “This week is kind of busy. How about Friday night? I have to accompany Hunter to a romance writer talk early Saturday morning.”
He smiled at her. “I don’t know if I like the idea of you being in the company of another man. Maybe I should join you?”
She laughed. Was he serious? “Like I need to be surrounded by two stubborn men?” She giggled at the thought of both the men locking horns.
“I fail to see the humor in that,” he said, pulling her in his arms. He kissed her gently on the lips. “Hmm, I like the way you taste,” he murmured as he kissed her again, bringing them body to body.
Maddie wrapped her arms around his neck and ran his fingers through his curly hair. Oh, he was going to be a hard habit to break, she thought as she felt his hot hands roam her body.
“You’re trying to get me in trouble. I have appointments to keep today,” he said against her lips. “I’d much rather stay here and be with you, but duty calls.” He stepped away from her, but still held her hand.
They walked to the front door. He leaned down and kissed her on the lips. “I’ll talk to you later.” He opened the door and left.
Maddie closed the door, leaned against it, and a tired breath exited her lips. She glanced at her hall clock and noticed the time. She had an appointment with a graphic artist in a few hours. Although, she wanted to bask in the afterglow of a night with Sean, she had a business to run.
***
“It’s about time you got here,” Declan scolded his brother. “I was getting ready to call your office again.”
