Marry Me, Maddie

by Rita Herron

  "Like the twenty or thirty guys you plan to date?"

  "Exactly." She smiled sweetly, deciding to change the subject before he broke into another lecture. "No wonder the boys have been so excited about this project."

  His shoulders lifted slightly. "Yeah, winning this bid was the best thing that could have happened to us. The Tour of Homes is the next."

  "I'm excited about the home show, too." He simply frowned and Maddie scanned the lush green grass, the rippling tide, the clusters of live oaks and hardwoods shading the property, wondering if he wasn't glad she was decorating the homes. Ignoring the doubts nagging at her, she opted for optimism, "You guys will be a huge success."

  Chase nodded. "Hopefully, with the Savannah Economic Development committee enticing businesses onto the island with their research facilities, we shouldn't have trouble selling the lots." He paused, and they stood in companionable silence, savoring the sounds and scents of the surrounding woods. Dusk settled over the river, ricocheting streaks of purple and orange across the grainy earth shimmering below the surface of the water.

  "I wish Mom and Dad could be here to see this," Maddie said. "They would be so proud of the boys."

  Chase simply nodded again, then pointed to the immaculate property designated for the recreational activities. "The golf course is almost finished. So are the swimming and tennis facilities. And all the river lots have private boat docks."

  "What an incredible clubhouse," Maddie exclaimed. "I can picture a big old-fashioned southern wedding right there on the lawn."

  He shifted, looking uncomfortable. "Yeah, if someone's crazy enough to get married, I guess it'd be a good place."

  Maddie frowned and started to comment but Chase continued, "We built a ballroom for formal entertaining and corporate functions and some smaller rooms for private parties."

  "Your design?"

  Chase shrugged. "Mine and Lance's. We figured the buyers will be looking to entertain rich clients."

  "Smart brother I have." She paused, then tapped his chest with her fingernail. "Oh, and you're not so bad either."

  Chase looked at her long and hard, his jaw clenched. "That's not what they used to say in school."

  "Well, some of those morons weren't so smart either. As I remember, you pointed out exactly how stupid they were on occasion."

  The corner of Chase's mouth twitched. "I did have a way with words, didn't I?"

  Maddie laughed. "Yeah, the four-letter ones. I spent hours trying to find them in the dictionary when I was eight."

  A low chuckle rumbled from Chase's chest, easing the tension. "You should have checked the boys' room."

  "Why didn't I think of that?"

  His voice turned low, husky. " 'Cause you were too busy being a good girl."

  "So I was. But not anymore."

  Chase hesitated, their gazes locking for several long, tense seconds. Maddie thought he was going to lecture her about being a good girl. Instead he plastered on his business face as if a personal conversation was off-limits. "Are you ready to see some of the houses?"

  "Sure." Maddie followed him up the hill, faintly aware of his musky scent as he took her hand and helped her climb over a stump. His damp palm was so large it swallowed hers as he maneuvered them through the foliage. Maddie stumbled over a tree root and almost fell, but he steadied her. She landed against his chest, the heat pouring off her in waves. One look into his eyes, and she pulled away, quickly righting herself. Although she thought she detected a spark of desire, Chase's expression had been guarded. But his touch had felt hot.

  So real and hot for a moment it seared through her caution.

  Play with fire, and you'll get burned.

  The old childhood warning rattled through her head. But when she caught up to Chase, any trace of a reaction on his part had disappeared completely. Maddie turned sideways, trying to gracefully climb in the truck without hiking up her skirt. Chase, seeming impatient, gripped her around the waist and lifted her. Maddie's breath caught when his hands slipped to mold over her hips.

  "Thanks," she said awkwardly when she settled in the seat.

  "No big deal. I used to lift you all the time when you were five, remember?"

  He used to ride her piggyback, too. "But I'm not five anymore, Chase."

  "You always will be to me, shortstop."

  Maddie frowned. The stubborn man was impossible.

  He climbed in his pickup, then cranked the engine without a word and drove through the freshly cleared roads.

  "How big are the lots?" Maddie asked, still seething.

  "The estate lots run up to five acres, but plans include a phase with smaller lots around three acres." He pointed out four houses that had already been framed.

  "I'm already thinking of ways to give each house a unique touch. I've decided to choose a theme and build around it."

  Chase shot her a worried look. "Not like those themes you used to come up with when you worked on the parties at school."

  Maddie laughed. "So, you remember those?"

  "Who wouldn't? I don't know many proms that had a rodeo theme. Or Star Trek costumes."

  "Well, now I wouldn't mind a broncing bull in one of the game rooms."

  Chase quirked an eyebrow, studying her. "For real?"

  Maddie laughed, sensing his worry. "Yeah, but that would be in my own house. I know what I'm doing, Chase."

  His gaze darkened, questioning.

  She shook off the desire building within her, trying to focus on work. "When is the tour scheduled?"

  "Six weeks."

  They passed a two-story stucco contemporary with skylights that instantly caught Maddie's attention. "These houses are so big, it'll take me a while to pull it all together. I'll be in charge of four, right?"

  "Right."

  "I need to start work right away then. Some of the custom window treatments and bedding will have to be rush-ordered to be ready in time."

  "But you think you can handle it?"

  "Of course," Maddie said emphatically. "Stop worrying."

  Chase angled his head toward her, his jaw tight. "It's just this project; the tour is important to the company, Mad. Your brothers and I have put everything we own into—"

  "The tour is important to me, too, Chase." Maddie folded her arms across her middle and rubbed her hands up and down her arms. "Not only do I have to prove myself to Lance and Reid, but I have a loan to pay back, too."

  Chase stared at her long and hard, as if something she'd said had upset him. Finally he nodded and continued the tour. Maddie began to silently plan the themes as she marveled at a two-story Georgian home with white columns.

  "That one is studded for five bedrooms, a rec room in the basement, an exercise/fitness area off the rec room, and two offices, one on the main floor and another upstairs."

  "Perfect for the corporate couple," Maddie said, thinking about Jeff and his droll idea of marriage.

  Chase's gaze swung to hers as if he'd read her mind. "Regrets?"

  Maddie shook her head. "Heck, no, I'm excited about my new freedom. Sophie and I are going out on the town tonight."

  "Barhopping?"

  Maddie laughed. "Sure, I have a lot of catching up to do."

  Chase's eyes widened. "Have you broken this news to your dear old brothers yet?"

  Maddie winked. "No. Maybe you could tell them for me."

  "Hell, no. You think I have a death wish?" When Maddie laughed, Chase gave her a dark look. "Look, Mad, you know you need to be careful—"

  He was treating her like a kid again. "Don't you dare give me a lecture, Chase Holloway, you of all people should understand what it's like to want to play the field."

  "What makes you think that, shortstop?"

  "Daphne."

  Chase shifted uncomfortably and stared out the window.

  "Come on, aren't you proud of yourself?" Maddie asked.

  "A gentleman never tells," he finally said in a low voice.

  "I didn't know you were a gent
leman."

  "I'm not." He cut her a sharp look, then grinned, the jagged scar on his forehead twisting slightly in the light. "And there's a lot you don't know about me, Mad."

  Maddie's stomach tickled with strange sensations. She tried to think of a comeback, but he turned away and focused intently on the drive, his smile fading. A sprawling lot with hundred-year-old oaks loomed in front of them. Chase cut the engine and leaned across the seat, his hand brushing Maddie's knee as he opened the glove compartment. A tiny shiver of apprehension darted up her spine, but all business, he hardly noticed. He pulled out a set of blueprints and unfolded them.

  "This is going to be a southern plantation home, on a smaller scale, of course."

  Maddie's eyes widened. "Oh, my gosh, with sleeping porches and all! Chase, it's wonderful. Whose is it?"

  "It's mine."

  "Yours?"

  He rubbed the back of his neck as he stared at the plans. "Yeah, it's not as big as some of the others, but I figure if I can build it at cost, I'll be able to swing it." He shrugged sheepishly. "I've been saving awhile."

  Maddie couldn't contain her surprise. "How did you manage, going to school and working?"

  Chase frowned as if she'd chartered into unwelcome territory. "You know I like to work on old cars."

  "Yeah, I remember you hot-wired that one you stole—"

  "Yeah, well, I grew out of stealing." He scratched his jaw. "I've been buying 'em cheap, fixing 'em up, then selling 'em. Making a good profit."

  "Amazing." Maddie studied the massive oaks, the view of the river, speculating on a perfect spot for a gazebo. "The lot is beautiful. Will your house be finished for the tour?"

  "If things go according to schedule."

  Excitement budded in Maddie's chest. Decorating ideas sailed through her head—an antique four-poster bed in the master suite draped with French lace and white linens, black-and-white tiles in the master bath, a bidet... She had to decorate this house—his house.

  Now, if she could only convince Chase.

  * * *

  Lance gave the final instructions to the electrical crew and hoped they would get the details right. He and Reid had planned an innovative kitchen with the most recent technology available, but he was worried the actual workers hired to install the technology weren't as advanced as the technology itself. He sure as hell didn't need any problems on the job. Having Maddie underfoot was bad enough; thank goodness Chase had agreed to babysit her.

  He climbed in his Blazer and headed toward home, deciding a hot shower and cold beer would make him feel better. So would a woman, but he had no prospects in that category. Chase was lucky he had no scruples when it came to women, that he bedded them and shed them like a rattlesnake shedding his skin.

  But Lance was too serious; always had been, always would be. And if he wasn't careful, he cared about people. Not like Chase. Chase would never have trouble keeping that bachelor pact. Lance had actually avoided relationships in order to keep it—he'd had to so he could take care of his family. Still, sometimes at night or in the early-morning hours, he longed for the feel of a woman's soft curves pressed up next to him.

  An image of Maddie's friend, Sophie, with that short spiked black hair and that petite little body sprang to mind. He shifted uncomfortably at his body's arousal. Just the sight of that woman's long black lashes and creamy skin tore him into knots. He'd spent more than one lusty evening imagining her in his bed, tormenting himself with that sassy little twitch of her mouth and those voluptuous hips of hers.

  But Sophie Lane was one woman he had to avoid.

  Because she might know his secrets. And she was just the sort of woman who'd use them.

  Sophie Knows. He could never admit to Maddie or the guys that he watched the show regularly, that he had secretly harbored a thing for the woman for ages. But that stupid show of hers could cause all kinds of trouble for him and his family. Was that the reason she wanted him to come on her show—did she already know the truth about his father?

  He didn't want to hurt Maddie's feelings or ruin her friendship with Sophie, but if the woman got too nosy, he'd have to dissuade Maddie from seeing her.

  Maddie and Reid would be devastated if they knew their father wasn't the loyal family man they believed him to be. They'd all thought their parents had the perfect marriage. Lance shuddered as he remembered finding the odd box in his father's things. The letter from the woman named Maria, saying how much she cared for him, how much the years with him had meant. The catalog with all those pictures...

  Secrets.

  His father had had lots of them. And Lance intended to keep them until he went to his grave.

  * * *

  Chase watched the different emotions play across Maddie's face and knew something was up. Some kind of Maddie scheme. Maybe she hadn't been teasing about that Trekkie stuff or that broncing bull... He didn't want to hurt her feelings but he'd be damned if he'd let her ruin everything he and her brothers had worked so hard to accomplish.

  "Chase, I was thinking—"

  "Uh-oh, sounds like trouble."

  Maddie laughed. "If you let me decorate your house, it would prove to the others that you have faith in me."

  Did he?

  "You do have faith in me, don't you?"

  "Uh, yeah, sure."

  "Then you'll let me do it?"

  Chase opened his mouth to cite all the reasons it was a bad idea—friends working together, mixing business with... business, her brothers. And their tastes were entirely different. She liked wild, flamboyant color; he liked calm, neutral earthy tones that reminded him of the outdoors. She liked noise, he liked quiet, she liked—

  "Chase, oh, please, this would mean so much to me."

  Steeling himself against the tide of her disappointment as he formed the word no, he mumbled a reply, but the word he muttered sounded like a yes. He blinked, wondering if he'd heard himself wrong.

  "Oh, thanks, Chase! You're wonderful!"

  Before Chase could retract his misguided reply, Maddie threw her arms around him, drove her mouth over his and kissed him senseless.

  She tasted like strawberries and wine, and he had the insane urge to ask her who she'd been drinking wine with, but her hands snaked up to cup his face and the erotic pull of her body lulled his brain until he found himself curving his arm around her tiny waist and drinking from her sweet mouth. She'd said he was wonderful. No one had ever told him that before. His hands dropped to her waist, then her butt, and he cradled her in his palms, rocking himself against her. The sound of the raging river rushing over the rocks served as a perfect backdrop for the lust pooling in his loins, and mimicked his raging heartbeat. God, when had little Maddie become such a passionate woman?

  Maddie—a woman?

  Dear God, no. He was doing it again, kissing his best friends' sister, and he was supposed to be her baby-sitter!

  He jerked away, stared at her stunned face, her swollen lips, the red flush to her cheeks and saw in the depths of those chocolate eyes a hunger unlike any he'd imagined coming from little Maddie Summers. Reflected in the startled wide-eyed expression, he also saw his own raw desire blazing like a beast unleashed, searching for innocent prey.

  Disgusted with himself and completely rattled, he stalked to the other side of the trail, jammed his hands on his hips and tried to calm his labored breathing.

  Leaves rustled as she walked up behind him. He broke out in a sweat as her sweet perfume wafted toward him. "Chase?"

  He flipped his hand up to stop her. "Don't say anything, Maddie. That was a huge mistake."

  "I-I'm sorry I was just so grateful—"

  "It's all right. It was all my fault."

  "Your fault?"

  Funny, her voice sounded edgy. Angry.

  He decided not to be a coward and faced her, wincing at the slight scrape on her jaw. She'd gotten the abrasion from his whiskers. The image was titillating, but a flashback of her in pigtails and cutoffs fishing by the bank when she was ten swep
t through his mind, and his guilt doubled. Geez, what had he been thinking?

  He hadn't. The tornado moment had snatched the sense from his skull and dropped all his reasoning abilities to his groin.

  "I know you were just thanking me, shortstop. I took it a little farther. Just a male response." He kicked a pinecone into the river. "Better remember that before you go thanking anyone else thataway."

  An acorn suddenly hit him in the stomach. "What the hell?" He jumped back. A little lower and the nut would have hit his—

  "You are infuriating, Chase Holloway. You're acting like that kiss was... wasn't..."

  "Wasn't any good?" Chase laughed bitterly. "Listen, Maddie, you don't have a problem with your technique, so no more lessons or tests, okay?"

  She simply glared at him.

  "Got that?" He stalked toward her and gripped her arms. "And you can't go around kissing guys like that or they're going to get the wrong idea."

  Maddie tipped her chin defiantly. "Exactly what idea is that?"

  "You know what idea. That you want to sleep with them!"

  "And what if I do?"

  He couldn't have been more shocked if she'd hit him with another acorn. "Then you have to control yourself. You're on the rebound from the wuss. And your brothers would be disappointed if you jumped in the sack with some guy right now."

  The mention of her brothers seemed to squelch the last remnants of hunger from her eyes.

  "This is about them, isn't it?"

  Chase released her, picked up a twig and snapped it in two. "They're my best friends, Maddie, and you're like family to me."

  "That wasn't a sisterly kiss, Chase."

  "No, but it should have been. And you can't use me to irritate them. Just because you want to rebel—"

  "What?" Another acorn slammed against his stomach. "Of all the pig-headed, arrogant, stupid things to say!"

  He broke the twig in his clenched fists and watched it fall into dozens of pieces, scattering in the wind. Broken and damaged, just as he'd always felt when he was a kid. Somehow, he had to make her understand. "Listen, Maddie, I didn't mean to hurt you. Lance and Reid are the only friends—no, family—I've ever had." He raised his gaze to meet hers, steeling himself against any emotions he might see shining in her eyes. "And I'm not going to mess up that for anything, Maddie. Especially for a quick roll between the sheets."