Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Epilogue
Chapter One
“So what are you wearing for New Year’s?”
Maddie froze with her Halloween fun-size Snickers halfway to her mouth. “You’re kidding right? I just put the Jack-O-Lantern away and we’re already talking New Year’s? Can’t we just take a day and…breathe.”
“Breathing is highly overrated,” her friend Kiera said as she fished through the candy bowl and pulled out a crunch bar. “If we’re going to find the perfect outfits, we need to start planning now. This is going to be our year; I know it!”
Maddie didn’t have the heart to remind her how they said this every year for at least the last six. Ugh. Just thinking about that number was depressing. Six New Year’s Eve’s in a row without a date. She reached for the candy bowl and pulled out two more Snickers bars.
“You’re not going to fit into anything fabulous if you don’t cut out the sweets.”
“This coming from the girl on her fourth crunch bar. Give me a break,” Maddie sighed and ripped open her candy.
“Come on. Don’t be like that,” Kiera said as she reclined on the sofa. “I think we’ve been going about this all wrong.”
“Really? And what brought you to this conclusion?”
“Other than the fact that we haven’t had dates to kiss at midnight?”
Maddie nodded.
“We don’t go out enough before New Year’s. We tend to go to parties on the actual night in hopes of meeting someone, when in actuality we should be lining up our dates in advance.”
“Oh, is that all?” Maddie asked sarcastically.
Kiera sighed. “Look, we go to the gym, we do our Pilates and Zumba, we go out for our girl’s nights with everyone, but we’re not putting any serious effort into dating anyone, and then we’re disappointed that we’re alone when the ball drops.”
“If you’re suggesting we try online dating, I’m out.”
“It’s not the worst thing we’ve tried.”
Unfortunately, it was the truth. Maddie had been on more blind dates than she could count, tried speed dating, and had even flirted with some co-workers, but to no avail.
Looking over at Kiera’s hopeful face, she hated to burst her bubble. “I can’t,” she said. “I just…can’t. It’s not who I am.”
“Then who are you? How do you think people meet one another in the digital age? This is how it’s done. Come on, Maddie. I don’t want to do this alone. I want this to be the year we have dates on New Year’s.”
“Believe me, I would love that too. But I’m not really interested in doing the online profile thing. Seriously. It’s not gonna happen.”
Kiera eyed her suspiciously. “This is because of him, isn’t it?”
Maddie felt the blush creep up her cheeks as she played dumb. “Him who?”
“You know darn well who I’m talking about. Him. Your neighbor. Sergeant Sexy. The guy who’s never home and the one you drool over whenever you see him.”
“How can I see him if he’s never home?”
Kiera sighed loudly. “Knock it off. You’ve been crushing on that guy for over a year, but you’ve never even hung out with him.”
“I have too!” Maddie cried. “Just…just…geez when was that? Oh, a few weeks ago, I got some of his mail by mistake and I brought it over to him. We hung out then.”
“Really? Did he invite you in?” Kiera asked.
“Well, no. He was technically getting into his car and leaving, but I know if he had been in his apartment, he would have.”
“And you know this…how?”
Maddie rolled her eyes. “Okay, I don’t! Call it wishful thinking. All I know is Noah is a really nice guy who…”
“How do you even know?” Kiera shouted. “You’ve had maybe a dozen conversations with him over the last year. That’s not enough to judge a person by. You don’t hang out with him. You watch for him through your front window in hopes of catching a glimpse of him.”
“That’s not true,” Maddie interrupted. “That would be creepy.” Kiera gave her a bland expression. “But…I do tend to listen through the wall to see if he’s home.”
“Because that’s not creepy.”
“Oh, relax. It’s not like I’ve got a glass to the wall or drilled a peep hole.” She sat back with a huff. “He must work a lot. Ever since he retired from the Marines, he’s been…busy. Probably doing some kind of dangerous work and getting caught up on being a civilian again.”
Kiera reached over and took one of Maddie’s hands in hers. “Look, if I thought there was even a tiny hope of you and this guy hooking up, I would be cheering you on. But it’s been a year and he’s still kind of a stranger. I think it’s time to move on.”
Maddie knew she was right but it still didn’t sit well with her. She knew if Noah would give her a chance, she could prove they’d make a good couple. Sure he was a little bit grouchy and standoffish, and maybe…just maybe…he seemed to never quite look her in the eye, but she couldn’t shake the feeling they were meant to be…more.
“Look, it’s not just…Noah.” But it was. “I’m still hopeful I’m going to meet a great guy on my own. I want to have a cute story to tell our kids – not something like we were set up by a robot.”
Kiera laughed. “A robot? Seriously? That’s what you think online dating is like?”
“No, of course not. I was being sarcastic. Sheesh.” She popped the last fun-size piece of candy in her mouth. “I’m just not ready to give up yet.”
“I don’t see online dating as giving up, Mads. It’s a helpful tool, that’s all.”
Maddie shrugged. “You give it a try and tell me how it goes. I’m holding out hope I’m going to meet Mr. Right all by myself and have him standing beside me at midnight.”
“Any midnight or were you still thinking New Year’s?”
Seriously? She’d settle for either, but for the sake of argument, she said, “New Year’s, of course. That’s what we were talking about, weren’t we?”
“Just making sure.” Standing up, Kiera threw away her candy wrappers and grabbed her coat. “I need to get home. Tomorrow’s Sunday and that means finishing up lesson plans and doing my laundry.”
“Now that Halloween is over, you know your kids are going to be bouncing in their seats in anticipation for Christmas.”
Kiera zipped her jacket. “They’re second graders. They bounce in their seats on a usual basis.” She smiled. “But they’re adorable and I have a lot of holiday crafts planned for between now and Christmas to keep them happy.”
“I always loved the turkey made out of a hand print. Pretty clever if you ask me.”
“I’ll be sure to make you one,” Kiera teased and hugged her. “I’ll talk to you during the week, but we’re still on for wine and design Friday night, right?”
“Do we really think it’s a good idea to combine painting and drinking?” Maddie asked as she stepped back. “Seems to me we’re going to be a bunch of tipsy women with nothing to show for our night but some clumsy art.”
“I’m not even going to dignify that with a response,” Kiera said as she opened the door. “It was Donna’s turn to choose and it’s what she wants to do. Be there and at least pretend to have fun, okay?”
“Fine.” She’d go, she’d drink, she’d laugh, but at the end of the night she knew she’d probably end up with the grownup version of the hand-print turkey to hang on her refrigerator.
Maddie followed Kiera out the door and to her car where she hugged her. “You know I just want you to be happy, right?�
� Kiera asked.
Nodding, Maddie said, “I do. And I know you’re right. I’m really too old to be harboring a crush. Especially on a guy who’s obviously not interested in me.”
“Hey, if it’s any consolation, Sergeant Sexy is seriously crush-worthy. You just need to find someone who’ll actually be there for you.”
With a sigh, Maddie looked over her shoulder and back toward her apartment. “Actually, right now I’d totally settle for somebody who’ll change the light bulb that blew out a month ago along with the broken front steps.”
“Why haven’t you called the management company? Isn’t it their responsibility?”
“It is and I have. They keep promising to send somebody over but they never do.”
“Well, call them again in the morning and be firm,” Kiera said, climbing into her car. “You pay decent rent here. They should be maintaining the place.” And with that she waved and drove away.
With another sigh, Maddie waited until Kiera’s car was out of sight before turning back toward her door. The light had been out for a while and between that and the broken step, she knew she was going to get hurt one of these days.
“No time like the present,” she mumbled and walked back inside with a sense of purpose. Immediately going to her small storage closet, Maddie pulled out her three-foot ladder and a pack of light bulbs. “I may not be a carpenter, but at least I’ll be able to see when I come home at night.”
Honestly, she was afraid of heights – even the three foot ladder gave her pause. But right now she was determined to do something for herself since the management company didn’t seem inclined to hold up their end of the agreement.
Carefully balancing the ladder on the creaky front steps, Maddie moved it around to make sure it was as level as it could be before starting to climb.
Once her feet were both on the first step she stopped and took a deep breath and let it out. “I can do this,” she whispered. At the second step, she began to shake. Straightening, Maddie reached up to see if she could reach the burned out bulb, but she was still a couple of inches shy of it. Cursing under her breath, she reached forward until her hand was barely touching the exterior wall of her apartment and placed her foot on the top step of the ladder.
“What the hell are you doing?” A masculine voice said from behind her.
Maddie screamed and lost her balance just as an arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her off the ladder. She struggled and kicked and screamed some more until both her feet were on the ground. Spinning around, she was ready to kick some serious butt when she saw who her attacker was.
“Noah? What…what are you doing here?”
“Saving you from breaking your neck,” he growled. “What the hell were you doing?”
Her shoulders relaxed a bit and she let out a sigh. “You already asked me that.”
“And you never answered,” he countered.
“I’m tired of waiting for the management to send someone over to replace this light. Between that and the busted step, it’s dangerous to be out here at night.”
“So you thought the solution was to come out here at night and perch that flimsy ladder on the broken step to replace the light bulb?” he asked sarcastically.
Maddie frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. Noah was big. And tall. He easily towered over her by nearly a foot and he was built like a linebacker, but she wasn’t easily intimidated. “First of all, there’s nothing wrong with my ladder. And secondly, I avoided the bad step. I need to see out here, and no one at the management office is taking me seriously. It’s been three months.” She shrugged. “I was handling it just fine until you scared me.”
“I saw you trembling from the parking lot, Maddie. Don’t bullshit me.”
Okay, fine. So heights weren’t her thing, but if Noah hadn’t shown up, she would have gotten through it and changed the bulb. Rather than respond, she continued to stand defiantly and watch him.
“Look, I highly doubt you saw any trembling,” she said, trying to sound confident, “I was doing fine. I’m annoyed that I have to be doing this when I’ve asked repeatedly for it to be taken care of.” Then she studied him for a moment. “Doesn’t it bother you? You come up these stairs to get to your apartment. Isn’t it annoying that things have been let go for so long? I mean, we pay rent – not cheap rent either – and no one maintains the property!”
“I really didn’t notice.”
She rolled her eyes. It figured. The man was up and out the door at the crack of dawn and normally came home late. A normal person would notice the lack of light or the creak of a broken step, but not Noah. Granted there were only three steps and they weren’t very large so chances were he probably skipped over them with his long legs. Unable to help herself, she snuck a glance at him and then slowly let her gaze go over him until she was looking him in the eyes.
And saw what could only be described as a smirk.
Busted!
“Well, I notice,” she said, doing her best to ignore what he was probably thinking about her for checking him out. “I had a friend here earlier and when I walked her out, it suddenly seemed like too much. I had the bulb, I had the ladder…” She shrugged. When Noah didn’t respond in any way, Maddie began to wonder if her babbling had been too much for him.
“Give me the bulb and I’ll change it,” he finally said after a long, awkward moment.
“It’s not necessary,” Maddie said, not liking the way Noah was glaring at her.
His only response was to hold his hand out.
“Fine,” she mumbled and put the bulb in his hand. Stepping back, she watched as he dropped his duffle bag on the ground – must have been at the gym – and then moved the step ladder into position. It was on the tip of her tongue to mention that maybe he should grab his own ladder since he thought hers was so flimsy, but she held her tongue.
Actually, she imagined how at Noah’s height, he almost didn’t need a ladder at all. But as she watched him, she realized the light was higher up than she thought. She had to be on the top step and even then she was stretching. Noah was on the second step and seemed to be at the perfect height.
While he was busy, Maddie let her gaze linger on him again. He was perfection. So perfect she almost sighed with appreciation. Tonight he was in his standard attire – sweatpants, a hoodie and sneakers. That’s how she knew he was at the gym. In the mornings he left in normal street clothes but every night, he came home dressed like this. She almost kicked herself for knowing these details. Watching the man through the blinds definitely put her in weird, stalker-girl territory and it wasn’t a place she was proud to be.
“Here, take this,” Noah mumbled as he handed the burned out bulb to her. Maddie took it and then took a step back.
In an instant, the porch area was flooded with light. She let out a little cheer and clapped, and for a second, it seemed like everything was fine. The next thing she heard was a loud snap, and watched in horror as the ladder seemed to crumble and Noah fell backwards onto the concrete walkway.
****
Noah saw stars.
The air had been forced out of his body and for a minute, he couldn’t breathe. Maddie was beside him, nearly hysterical.
“Noah! Oh my God! Are you okay?” Her hands were everywhere – feeling his head, checking him for injuries. “Can you get up? Should I call 9-1-1?”
Unable to help himself, Noah closed his eyes. Everything hurt. He didn’t think anything was broken, but he was sure as hell going to be sore tomorrow. In his mind, he was about to tell Maddie he was okay, but he couldn’t seem to make himself speak.
That’s when she crawled on top of him, straddling him. “Noah? Noah? Stay with me! You need to be awake!” she cried. “Please don’t pass out! I’m calling for an ambulance and…”
“No,” he said awkwardly, forcing his eyes to open.
One of Maddie’s hands was on his chest, while the other was cradling her cell phone next to her cheek. “You’re awake,” she sighe
d, smiling with relief.
“I didn’t pass out. I was…the wind was knocked out of me. I’ll be fine. Just…give me a minute.”
Everything about her seemed to relax, but she didn’t move from her perch on top of him. The hand holding her cell phone lowered, but her other hand stayed firmly on his chest. “Are you sure you’re okay? You seemed to hit your head pretty hard.” Then, without asking, she put her cell phone down and used both hands to reach behind his head to feel for injuries.
Noah understood her concern but her new position pretty much had her breasts in his face. Not that he was complaining, but it certainly wasn’t helping the situation. “I need to get up,” he snapped and winced as he moved. Maddie instantly moved off of him and stood – holding her hand out to help him up. Noah wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. He was twice her size and she thought she was going to help him?
Ignoring her hand, he stood.
And nearly fell right on his face.
Everything around him spun and when Maddie wrapped her arms around his waist to steady him, he grabbed onto her with both hands.
“It’s okay,” she said softly. “I think we need to get you to the emergency room and let them look at you.”
Noah shook his head. “I’m fine. I…I need to go inside and relax. Really.”
But Maddie wasn’t listening. She walked him over to the front steps and positioned him so he was leaning on the exterior wall of her apartment. “Wait here. Give me a minute to grab my keys.” Before he could answer she was gone, and in a flash she was back. Her arms instantly went around him again as she led him toward the parking lot.
“My bag…”
Stopping, Maddie picked it up and handed it to him. Noah slung the canvas duffle over his shoulder and let Maddie lead the way. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he should be putting up more of a fight, but everything was spinning and he was feeling a little nauseous.
Not a great combination.
And it had him feeling more than a little foolish that such a short fall had literally knocked him on his ass.
They stopped walking and Noah looked at the compact car in front of them. “I’m not getting in that,” he said flatly.
Waiting for Midnight Page 1
