Surrounding all of that are solar panelled lanterns hanging on metal hooks. There are a few solar panelled lights in the rocks, and some even in the water. But since it’s light out, she won’t be able to see those.
“Where did you buy all of this? I’ve never seen anything like it.”
I clear my throat when she bends down to take a closer look at some of the things I made. “Um, I made them.”
She pauses from reaching for a figurine, slowly turning to face me, her lips parted. “You made these?”
“I did.”
She stands, taking my hands in hers. “Maddox, these are incredible. Do you sell these for people to buy?”
I snort. “No. They’re just things I like to do in my spare time.”
She shakes her head, letting go of my hands. “Maddox, you have a real talent here. You could set up your own online store for these.”
“I’m pretty sure people would return them.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look so vulnerable,” she comments.
“I’m not.”
She grins. “Yes, you are. Maddox, you’ve got nothing to be shy about. You’ve got talented hands.”
It’s my turn to grin now. I wink, causing her to blush. “I get told that a lot.”
She lightly slaps my shoulder, careful not to startle Asher. “Now there’s the Maddox I know.”
“And love?” I finish.
She rolls her eyes. “You never stop.”
“It’s in my blood,” I tease.
Her smile slips, and she stares up into my eyes. My heart stops for a second, and I brace myself. “I’m being serious about the features. They’re beautiful.”
I swallow past the nerves—nerves I never normally get. “It’s just pieces of wood.”
She steps closer, her eyes glazing over as we continue to stare into one another’s eyes. “No. It’s art. What I don’t get is why you never show this side of yourself to people. You give off this fun, loving, carefree personality, but you, Maddox Carter, are so much more.”
I try not to let her words, or the way she’s watching me, get to me. It’s hard with her gaze boring into me, pleading with me to see what she sees.
“Are you saying I should do other stuff with my hands, other than give women pleasure? Because I’m sure that will upset a lot of women.”
Her expression drops before she shakes her head a little, then takes a step back. “Wouldn’t want to disappoint the masses.”
I open my mouth to apologise, but Max pokes his head out of the kitchen door. “I thought we were going shopping? You just left me.”
“We are going shopping.”
His brows pull together. “I just said that, dipshit. Come on. I need to go today. I’ve got work tomorrow and Lake’s definition of shopping for the week is more like for the night. She never gets enough.”
He shuts the door behind him, and I turn back to Amelia. She forces a smile. “We wouldn’t want to keep him waiting.”
“Amelia,” I call out, but she ignores me, heading inside.
I run a hand through my hair, wondering why I feel like this. I speak to every girl who isn’t related like that. It lets them know I’m not interested in more than a fuck. But for some reason, having Amelia thinking that of me is bothering me.
I glance down at Asher, letting out a sigh. “I don’t do relationships.” He yanks his fist out of his mouth, making a gurgling noise. “I know she’s hot and can cook, kid. But I’m not a relationship kind of person.”
He babbles again, and I steel myself against the guilt eating me up. “Nope. I’m a single pringle.”
And nothing is going to change that.
Not her round arse in those jeans.
Not her laugh.
Not her seductive voice in the morning.
Or how great her tits are.
I’m staying single. And she isn’t going to bewitch me into anything else.
CHAPTER TWENTY
AMELIA
As we wait inside the doors of Morrisons for Maddox’s uncle and aunt, I can’t help but run over what happened before we left. I stupidly thought we were sharing a moment, but I was wrong. I let myself picture being with him; something impossible, since it’s been made abundantly clear that he doesn’t do relationships.
I have two choices: put an end to the friendship or try to move on, and since I don’t want to explain why I don’t want to be friends anymore, I only have one option. Even though I could keep torturing myself by being around him.
My mum was right, I don’t want to be alone for the rest of my life. Maddox being in my life, evoking these feelings, is proof of that. It might be too soon after a baby, after Cameron, but I don’t care. I don’t have to commit to anything. I could go out on a few dates and see how I feel. It could be that these feelings were evoked because of Maddox. However, I won’t know until I put it to the test.
“You’ve been quiet,” Maddox murmurs. “I’m sorry if I said something to offend you.”
“You didn’t,” I tell him, and it’s the truth. Nothing he said offended me, it just made me realise that what I’ve been feeling is useless. It will never amount to anything.
“Is it because Jasmine wanted to stay with Paisley?”
I smile, remembering her face when I said yes. She was so excited. I haven’t trusted anyone with her other than my parents and child minder since Cameron. But keeping her secluded will probably do more harm than good. And Paisley is a good person. She has Charlotte there, and I know Landon is going back. I know they’ll look after her. I just hope she doesn’t cause too much of a mess in the kitchen, although Ella seemed to enjoy the company.
“No. She was loving it there. Once Paisley mentioned showing her the pigs, there was no way I would have gotten her to leave.”
“Maddox,” a woman calls out, waving.
The extremely good-looking guy next to her, grits his teeth, groaning. “Fuck!”
Maddox chuckles under his breath. “Hey, Liza.”
“Oh, who is this?” she asks, turning her attention to me.
“This is my friend, Amelia, and her little boy, Asher. Her daughter, Jasmine, is with Paisley,” he introduces. “Amelia, this is Paisley and Jaxon’s mum.”
Hearing the word ‘friend’ stings. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too,” she tells me, her voice soft.
“Are you feeling okay?” the guy rumbles, looking sexier when he arches his eyebrow at Maddox.
“Worried about me?” Maddox asks, grinning wide. “How thoughtful of you.”
He gestures to me. “I mean, you’ve not set on fire or anything and you’re with a chick who has kids.”
“We aren’t together,” Maddox grits out. “And she’s cool.”
“So, you won’t mind if I ask her out?” he asks, turning to me and winking. I have to admit, my lady bits twitch. “You free sometime? Maybe Maddox can babysit.”
“She doesn’t date arseholes,” Maddox snaps, grabbing the trolley.
“Reid, let’s go before you put your foot in it again,” Liza warns, giving the guy a disapproving glance. “It was nice to see you both, and I hope to see you again soon.”
“Always up for your breakfasts,” Maddox calls out, winking at her.
The Reid guy goes to take a step towards Maddox, his fists clenched, but Liza grabs his wrist, pulling him along. “Really, Reid. We are out in public.”
“But, Mum,” he growls.
They leave, and I turn to Maddox, arching an eyebrow. “Who was that?”
“That’s one of Jaxon’s younger brothers. He’s the one who damaged Landon’s car.”
“Was that Reid?” Max growls, up on his tip toes to look through the crowd.
“Don’t you dare,” Lake warns.
“I dare. It’s going to cost him a few hundred quid to replace that part.”
Maddox rubs his hands together, grinning. “Let’s go.”
When they head off, Lake and I rush to keep up.
Once they’re a little behind Liza and Reid, they slow down, giving us a chance to browse the aisles.
“I swear, they never grow up,” Lake comments.
I chuckle under my breath. “I’m good with that,” I tell her, smiling down at Asher sleeping in the baby seat.
“He’s beautiful. Max told me how Maddox delivered him and how good you handled it all.”
I glance at her, eyes widening. “Really? Because Max kept screaming at me to close my legs.”
She laughs. “Sounds like him. He didn’t handle the birth of the triplets well,” she states, but then pauses, shaking her head. “He didn’t handle any of it well, but that’s another story. He has a tendency to dramatize everything, but it’s one of the things I love about him.”
“I can see that,” I agree, stopping short when I notice Maddox dodging another trolley to get to Liza’s. He drops a fresh fish into the trolley before racing away, hiding behind another post. “What are they doing?”
Lake lets out a sigh. “I’ve come to learn to never ask. I was so scared my kids would take on Max’s nutty behaviour, but out of all the family, it’s Maddox who is the closest to his personality. But they also clash, so if something happens, walk away.”
“Walk away?” I ask, unsure if being here is all right now.
“Trust me,” she gently orders.
“Oh my God,” I whisper when I see Max slide out from under one of the stacks of shelves, throwing a pack of biscuits into the trolley. I glance around for Maddox, but he’s nowhere in sight.
“Reid, I said I wasn’t buying all this crap,” Liza snaps, taking the biscuits back out and slamming them down on the shelf.
“W-what? I didn’t put them there,” he argues.
“Don’t,” Liza warns, before heading forward.
“So, you and Maddox,” Lake begins. “He said you’re just friends, but I saw the way you were watching him at breakfast.”
Flustered and feeling my cheeks heat, I shake my head in denial. “We are just friends.”
She chuckles, giving me a knowing look. “If you say so.”
“I do,” I rush out. “I mean, you know him. He’s your nephew. He doesn’t do relationships.”
“But you want to,” she adds on, then snorts, watching as Maddox does some sort of spin dance, drops a pack of donuts in the trolley, then races off.
Keeping one eye on the things I need, I answer Lake. “We’re just friends.”
“Word to the wise: don’t fight it. He might not realise he’s into you yet, but he will. Then you need to be ready.”
“I-I don’t know what to say to that.”
She reaches over, placing her hand over mine. “Nothing to say. They’re hard not to love. Trust me.”
I take her word for it and watch as Max reaches for the crisps, dumping two bags of twenty-four in the trolley before racing off.
We come to a stop at the end of the aisle, watching as Liza spins around to Reid and leans up to clip him around the ear. “Reid Hayes, if you put one more thing in this trolley, I am going to wring your neck.”
“Mum! But it wasn’t me.”
“Don’t ‘it wasn’t me’, Reid. It’s only us here,” she snaps, before walking off.
Reid pauses at her words and spins around, facing us. Realisation hits him, and he storms towards us. Reflexes have me taking a step back when he reaches me, pulling the trolley and Asher with me.
“Where are they?”
“Somewhere,” Lake tells him.
When he turns to me, a squeak passes my lips and I shrug. He growls, storming past us. “Wow.”
“Hopefully nothing else happens.”
Ten minutes later, Lake is eating her words. We’re nearing the end of the shop when we hear a commotion in the aisle over. Racing around the corner, we come to a stop at the scene in front of us.
“Stop smashing the jars,” Max yells. “That’s good food going to waste.”
Glancing down at the floor, my eyes widen. There’s a smashed jar of bolognaise sauce at Reid’s feet. When Max drops another jar, I startle, gaping at the scene.
“Stop trying to attack me,” Max yells. “Look, he’s attacking me.”
A shop assistant rushes over. “What is the problem?”
Max, shockingly, starts to cry. “He keeps smashing these jars at my feet.”
“Oh, sir, are you okay?” she asks, before glaring at Reid.
“No,” he blubbers.
“Fucker did it,” Maddox rumbles close to my ear, and a shiver races up my spine.
Lake glances from Maddox to me, before giving me a knowing look, which I ignore. “Did what?” I whisper.
“Watch.”
Reid grits his teeth. “No need. Pass me two jars and I’ll go pay for them and leave them at the counter.”
“Thank you. Off you go.”
Reid storms off in our direction, pausing when he sees Maddox. “You are going to pay for setting that lunatic on me.”
Maddox chuckles. “Try it. You’ve still got Landon to deal with.”
Reid snorts. “Like hell. He’s gone soft.”
“We’ll see,” Maddox sings, clearly enjoying himself.
Once he’s left, I turn on Maddox, shaking my head. “You two are terrible.”
He chuckles. “This is tame compared what it used to be. This would have ended up in a brawl any other time.”
“His face was priceless,” Max declares, laughing uproariously when Lake slaps his shoulder.
Maddox nudges my shoulder as he watches Asher sucking on his fist. “Have you finished?”
I nod. “I have. Although, I’m a little traumatised after that. Does your uncle take acting lessons?”
Maddox shrugs. “He’s just that crazy.”
We head over to the tills, Maddox walking ahead of me with his uncle. Lake uses the till next to me to unload her shopping onto. Maddox stops, helping me put it all onto the belt.
“Excuse me, sir,” a deep voice demands, and I glance up from the trolley, seeing two security guards standing at the end, hands on hips.
“Me?” Maddox asks, straightening.
“And you,” the younger of the two says, jerking his head at Max.
Oh God.
I glance at Lake for answers, but she doesn’t seem fazed, unloading her trolley onto the belt without a care.
What on earth is happening?
The older guy steps forward. “Could you two please step this way?”
“Why? We’ve not done anything wrong,” Max argues.
Maddox lets out a sigh. “What did that little dweeb do?”
“Please, sir, don’t make this difficult,” he warns, keeping his tone even.
“I’m a respectful P.E. teacher. I won’t be manhandled,” Max argues as one reaches for his arm.
“Max,” Maddox hisses.
“No, I’ve done nothing wrong,” Max snaps, dodging the guy.
My lips part as they restrain Max, pinning him against the wall. “What are you doing?” he screeches. “Why are you touching me?”
“We were informed you have been shoplifting, sir.”
“Shoplifting?” he asks, snorting. “I don’t need to— Hey!”
“Sir, please keep still,” the youngest grits out.
“Help!” Max yells. “Help! He’s touching my junk.”
“Oh my God,” I breathe out.
“Just do your shopping,” Lake whispers, acting like she doesn’t know them.
Slowly, I do as she says whilst keeping an eye on what’s happening.
“Lake! Lake! Aren’t you going to defend your husband?” he barks out, squealing as the guard pats down his legs. “Stop trying to cop a feel.”
“Clear,” the oldest guy announces, turning to Maddox now.
Maddox steps forward, groaning. He lifts his hands into the air, letting the guard pat him down. When he gets to his chest, Maddox’s eyes widen. “Hey, watch what you’re touching.”
“We are doing our job,” the younges
t grits out.
“Oh my God, you just touched my knob,” he yells, trying to get away. “What are you doing?”
“This is harassment,” Max hisses. “You can’t do this.”
“You are acting dramatic. We are doing everything by the book,” he replies, but he can’t hide the nervous look he casts at everyone watching.
“I bet you don’t feel everyone up like that,” Maddox bites out. “Or is it just me?”
“All clear,” the youngest announces, stepping back. “It seems there was a mistake.”
“I told you that,” Max hisses.
“Do we need to call the police or are you going to calm down?” the oldest reacts.
Maddox flinches when the closest guard to him hands him back his phone. “Yes, so we can tell them how you like touching defenceless men.”
“Hi, I’m the manager. Can I help you?” a woman asks, stepping into the huddle.
Max jabs his finger at the guard. “He was touching me inappropriately.”
Maddox flinches away from the guard. “Me too. Me too.”
The guards sputter. “We were doing our job.”
“You work in a supermarket, and we aren’t a slab of meat,” Max yells, before bursting into tears. “I’ll never come here again. He touched me.”
“That’s sixty-four pounds and twenty-eight pence,” the cashier announces, and I startle, turning to find she’s packed my bags for me. She grimaces, looking at the scene. “I thought you might need some help.”
“I-I—”
She waves me off as I begin to pay. “It’s okay. They’ve been in here before. The security guys are new, so they aren’t aware of them. So is the manager. It will be entertaining to see what she does.”
I unload the bags back into my trolley. “Thank you.”
“Have a nice day,” she tells me, before beginning to put through the customer’s food behind me.
Lake steps up beside me. “Let’s go before they call the police. With any luck, Max will realise his food is running away and begin to chase it.”
“He didn’t do any shopping,” I remind her. Come to think of it, I only saw her put a couple of things in.
Maddox Page 20
