Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection (Eight Fun, Romantic Novels by Eight Bestselling Authors)

by Violet Duke

  “Tennessee is simply volunteering to perform a cousin-marrying service other states won’t,” Piper said as she grabbed her pack from the van and swung it onto her back. “I think you should be proud of them. Love is love, after all.”

  “As long as you don’t have inbred children,” Dawn said, while Maddie shook her head, wondering how this conversation had gone so far astray.

  “But I think you should go for him, Maddie,” Dawn continued. “He’s yummy and he was looking at you like he already had you half-naked in his mind.”

  Maddie scoffed, ignoring the way the thought of being undressed by Jamison—mentally or otherwise—made her skin prickle all over. “You’re crazy.”

  “I am not crazy,” Dawn said. “I’m thirty-two years old, unreasonably excited to be away from my precious children, and dangerously horny, but not crazy.”

  Dawn and Piper both had kids—Piper two boys she had full custody of after her ex took a job overseas, and Dawn a nine-year-old boy and seven-year-old girl she’d been raising mostly solo since her husband ran off with his secretary four years ago. Both of them needed this singles retreat every bit as much as Maddie did, but they had insisted Maddie was the queen of the weekend.

  They were sweet friends, such sweet friends Maddie promised right then and there not to do anything to ruin their good time. She wasn’t going to let Jamison’s presence spoil her fun, or anyone else’s.

  She resolved to ignore him completely, a feat that proved fairly easy at first. Having birthed two, ten pound babies, Dawn couldn’t go an entire night without getting up to pee, so Maddie’s group set up camp at the site nearest the bathrooms, while Jamison and his buddies pitched their tent closer to the beach.

  The girls joined the group heading down the beach to gather driftwood for a bonfire, while the guys were on dinner duty for the first night, in charge of grilling hamburgers and hot dogs for the thirty-five singles on the trip. Maddie and her friends and Jamison and his crew ate on opposite ends of the long line of picnic tables, and by the time supper had been eaten and the beer flowing for awhile, Maddie could barely hear the rumble of Jamison’s voice over the laughter and flirtation at her table.

  Shelley and a man with brown eyes and glasses, who resembled a graying Harry Potter, were getting along like gangbusters, and Piper had two gorgeous coworkers from an Atlanta law firm hanging on her every word. The other two men at their table seemed more interested in texting than talking, but Dawn was deep in conversation with a pretty red-haired woman named Helen, whose kids went to the same art camp as Dawn’s son, and seemed to be having a great time.

  The only person who hadn’t found a conversation mate was Maddie, but she didn’t mind. It made her feel free to toss her paper plate, grab a fresh beer from the cooler, and head down the path to the beach. She arrived as the sun was setting and kicked off her sandals, letting the cool sand slither between her toes as she walked toward the ocean.

  The sound of the waves shushing in and out against the shore was one of her favorite sounds in the world, but it also made her melancholy. She and Serge had spent most of their marriage living on an island, in a condo right on the beach. They’d eaten almost every dinner on their patio and sometimes even slept outside on his-and-her hammocks, letting the surf lull them to sleep. Some of her most beautiful memories of her marriage were set to the music of the sea, and for a moment she couldn’t help missing the days when she’d assumed she was in a relationship that would last.

  Maddie sat down behind the pile of driftwood she and the others had gathered earlier in the day and stared out at the water, watching as the sun sank below the horizon and the twilight air took on a bluish hue. Gradually, the early summer air grew chilly, and Maddie’s toes began to go numb. She was about to head back to the campground to ask the organizers if it was okay for her to get the bonfire started when she heard a woman’s bubbly laugh.

  “No, you go in first.” The woman’s voice came from the other side of the woodpile. “I bet the water’s still freezing.”

  “That’s all right.” Jamison’s drawl made the hair on Maddie’s neck stand on end, even before he added. “If you get cold, I’ll warm you back up.”

  “Is that right?” The woman giggled.

  “Yes ma’am,” Jamison drawled, seconds before Maddie heard the unmistakable smacking sound of two people playing kissy face.

  She cringed, lip curling, disgust that Jamison was already hooking up with a complete stranger mere hours after their arrival warring with the embarrassment pulsing through her veins. The last thing she wanted was to be discovered eavesdropping on Jamison’s make out session, but she couldn’t very well make a run for it now. She hunched lower in the sand, praying Jamison and his friend would finish their smooching and make a dash for the ocean without noticing her.

  No sooner had she finished the thought than the couple stumbled across the sand three feet away. But, despite the fact that his lips were trailing down the blonde’s neck and his hands were wandering over her bikini-clad body, Jamison spotted Maddie immediately.

  CHAPTER TWO

  JAMISON PULLED AWAY from the woman with a guilty look. “Hey, Maddie. I didn’t know you were there.”

  “Yep, I’m here all right,” Maddie chirped in a forcibly upbeat voice as she struggled to her feet, smiling weakly as the blonde shot her a none-too-friendly look. “But I’m on my way back to the campground this very second. As you were, soldiers!”

  She saluted the couple as she prepared to bolt, tripping over the sandals piled next to her and nearly falling before she righted herself, snatched her shoes, and fled across the sand without a backward glance, her cheeks flaming.

  Maddie wasn’t surprised to hear the woman break out into laughter behind her—the kind of laughter that left no doubt you were being laughed at not with—but it still hurt. The thought that Jamison might be chuckling along hurt even more.

  In fact, it hurt so much that when she arrived back at the campsite and saw Dawn and her new friend, Helen, busting out the whiskey and Coke, Maddie didn’t hesitate to accept a red Solo cup of her own. She downed the first drink quickly, and when Jamison came walking up from the ocean ten minutes later—alone, she couldn’t help but notice—she was pouring her second.

  By the time the organizers lit the bonfire and everyone had gathered around to continue drinking, chatting, and flirting, Maddie was feeling no pain, and by the time the fire died down and most of the campers had retreated to their tents or the shadows for some privacy, she was ready to rumble.

  This night had been far too tame, and Maddie was determined to do something about it—ASAP.

  “Skinny dipping,” she announced, standing up and pointing one arm at the ocean. “The time has come.”

  Shelley, the only member of their group who hadn’t already gone to bed, giggled from her perch on a piece of driftwood, graying Harry Potter beside her. “Oh no, the whiskey strikes again.”

  “It’s not the whiskey,” Maddie said, every word crisp and clear despite the fact that her blood felt hot and her head was buzzing. “It’s my destiny.”

  “You could drown,” a serious male voice said from the darkness behind her.

  Maddie turned to discover Jamison standing in the shadows at the edge of the fire’s dying glow. “Are you spying on me?” she asked in an accusing tone, though she was secretly pleased that he wasn’t off sucking face with that scrawny, mean-laughing blonde.

  “I’m watching out for you,” Jamison said. “And I’m not above restraining you if you try to do something stupid.”

  “Restraining me?” Maddie laughed as she crossed the sand to where Jamison stood with his arms crossed, looking sexier than ever with hard shadows emphas
izing his high cheekbones and strong jaw. “That sounds kinky.”

  Jamison gazed down at her for a long beat before saying in a quiet voice. “It could be, if that’s what you’re into.”

  “I’m not sure what I’m into,” Maddie said, crediting the whiskey for the fact that Jamison’s unexpected proposition hadn’t stolen the words right out of her mouth. “But I’ve always thought I might like getting tied up. Or blindfolded. Or tied up and blindfolded. Where do you stand on bondage?”

  Jamison muttered something beneath his breath that sounded like a curse. “You’re drunk,” he said, his voice tight. “I think you should go to bed and we can continue this conversation tomorrow when you’re sober.”

  “Ah, but I might not have the guts when I’m sober,” Maddie said, body humming with desire as she reached out, letting her fingers trail down Jamison’s rock hard chest, feeling the outline of his muscles through his thin tee shirt.

  The man was built like a Roman gladiator, and Maddie couldn’t help thinking she’d like to see him dressed in a gladiator’s loincloth and nothing else.

  “That should tell you something right there,” Jamison said in a condescending tone that made Maddie’s nose wrinkle.

  “Yeah, it does,” she said, blood running even hotter. “It tells me that I’m a drag.” She pressed her hand to his pectoral muscle, sighing as she let her nails dig lightly into the firm flesh. “When I’m sober all I think about is all the reasons I can’t play with you.”

  “You play with me.” Jamison’s hand covered her own, pressing her palm closer to his chest, sending a rush of awareness zinging through Maddie’s already buzzing body. “You’ve been playing with me for months, looking at me like you want to eat me alive then making a run for it before I can get a damned word in.”

  “I’ve never eaten anyone—alive or dead, so…” Maddie trailed off, not sure what else to say. She hadn’t realized her attraction was so embarrassingly obvious.

  “You know what I mean.” He stepped closer, his hands dropping to her hips. “Things haven’t been the same since that day in the bakery. I can’t stop thinking about you…in ways I’ve never thought about you before.”

  Maddie swallowed, dizzied by an even more intense wave of desire. Her nipples were already pulled tight inside her bra and her entire body ached for Jamison to touch more of her, all of her. She wanted his mouth on hers and his hands everywhere, until they were as tangled up as he’d been with that woman this afternoon.

  Which reminded her…

  Her eyes narrowed as she pushed his hands firmly from her hips. “You did a pretty good job of not thinking about me while you were slobbering all over Blondie a few hours ago.”

  “You told me to stay away from you,” he said, with a non-apologetic chuckle. “I was just trying to get my mind off my troubles.”

  “I am not your trouble,” Maddie said, nose in the air as she circled around him and moved down the beach, looking for the perfect place to enter the water. “I’m not your anything.”

  “Where are you going?” Jamison fell in beside her, following her as she drifted further and further from the fire, until they reached a stretch of beach far enough from the others that there was little risk of being observed.

  “I’m going skinny dipping.” Maddie stretched her arms over her head, fingers wiggling, already anticipating how nice the cold water was going feel on her heated skin.

  “I’m not letting you get into the water drunk,” Jamison said. “You’ll drown and I’ll never forgive myself. Not to mention your brother and sister will kill me.”

  Maddie laughed. “I’m not going to drown. I lived on an island for six years. I swim like a fish.”

  “You certainly drink like one,” Jamison mumbled. “I can’t believe you’re still standing after all that whiskey.”

  “Believe it,” Maddie said, reaching for the bottom of her tee shirt and pulling it over her head, a thrill racing through her as she tossed it away.

  This was what she loved about whiskey. It made her feel ten feet tall and bullet proof, capable of behaving in wild, delicious ways the normal Maddie would never dream of.

  “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but stop taking your clothes off, Mad,” Jamison said, a pained note in his voice. “Right now. I’m serious. If you get in the water, I am coming in there after you.”

  “I see,” Maddie said, stepping out of her shorts before going for the hook on her bra and popping it free. “Well I guess you’ll have to come after me, then.”

  She dropped her bra to the ground, a rush sweeping across her skin as she met Jamison’s eyes. Even in the moonlight, she could see the hunger in his expression. He wanted her, as badly as she wanted him—maybe even more.

  The realization made her feel even more invincible. Invincible and seductive. She backed toward the water, beckoning Jamison to her with one crooked finger.

  “Come and swim with me, Jamison,” she said, running a hand through her hair. “I dare you.”

  And then she turned and strolled into the water, secretly hoping Jamison would dare more than a swim.

  A whole lot more…

  CHAPTER THREE

  JAMISON WENT STILL—paralyzed by the sight of Maddie Whitehouse running into the waves in nothing but a pair of G-string panties, her killer curves on display in a way Jamison had never seen before, a way that made his already aching body throb with the need to have her in his arms, to have her full breasts pressed flat against his chest and her ass in his hands and her body his for the taking.

  In the months since their almost-kiss he’d had several fantasies that involved a naked Maddie propositioning him, but those were fantasies. He’d never dreamed it would happen in real life, let alone on a deserted stretch of beach in blue moonlight that made his childhood friend look like a sex goddess rising from the waves.

  She was beautiful. Mesmerizing.

  She was also going to get herself killed. Maddie might be a strong swimmer, but she’d also drunk an impressive amount of whiskey. As a friend, he was obligated to go in after her and make sure she didn’t drown.

  Or so he told himself. His heart was in the right place, but there was nothing friendly about the hunger pumping through his veins as he stripped off his tee shirt and jeans and followed Maddie into the ocean, his cock so hard it pulsed with a heartbeat of its own. For a moment, the chilly water threatened to defuse the situation, but then Maddie turned to face him and Jamison’s flagging erection rallied with the enthusiasm of a long-benched player being called onto the field.

  She’d waded in far enough for the waves to lap against the underside of her breasts, making it impossible for him to keep his eyes off the pale, round orbs. She was a D-cup at least, maybe a double D, and Jamison knew she’d feel perfectly full and heavy in his hands. He could already imagine the weight of her resting in his palms, her nipples tightening as he brushed his thumbs across her tips, making her moan his name.

  Lately, he’d been fantasizing about Maddie calling out his name with disturbing frequency. No amount of logical thinking could seem to stop the younger Whitehouse sister from dancing, semi-clothed, through his thoughts and popping up in his most lurid dreams.

  Maddie was one of his best friends. They’d been so close growing up she practically felt like family, and he didn’t want to risk losing her over a fling they both might come to regret. Not to mention that he had only recently recovered from the awkwardness inspired by the idiotic decision to make out with her sister, Naomi—his brother Jake’s ex-girlfriend—when they were teenagers.

  The smartest call would be to stay far away from Maddie, her full lips, sparkling b
lue eyes, and irresistibly lovely breasts until the focus of his attraction shifted elsewhere.

  But that was the trouble with irresistible things, they were so…irresistible.

  Jamison waded deeper into the water, not stopping until he was close enough to Maddie to see that her nipples were pulled into tight buds and her lips parted in a silent invitation he knew he wouldn’t be able to refuse.

  Still, he tried. “You’re drunk, and I don’t want to do something you’ll regret, but if you keep looking at me like that I’m going to kiss you.”

  Maddie’s lips pushed into a pout. “Just kiss me?” She stepped closer, lifting her damp fingers to slide his St. Florian’s medal over his shoulder and trace a path down the center of his chest. “I’m practically naked, Jamison. Oh wait,” she continued, bobbing in the water as she reached down. A moment later her hand emerged with her soaking wet underwear, which she tossed out to sea with a flick of her wrist, sending more blood rushing to Jamison’s already aching length.

  “Now, I’m all naked,” she said in a voice so sexy it felt like a tongue licking its way from Jamison’s stomach to his cock. “All naked and ready and willing. Don’t you want to try to lure me into your smolder-web?”

  He swallowed hard, fighting to keep his hands to himself as she shifted closer and the waves swirled between his legs.

  “I mean, considering your reputation, I expected more,” Maddie continued, tilting her head back to hold his gaze. “Don’t you want to touch me?”

  Jamison bit his lip. “I want to do more than touch you.”

  “You want to do me?” Maddie asked, somehow managing to make the expression sound sweet.

  “It wouldn’t be like that, and you know it.” Jamison winced as Maddie moved even closer, so close he could feel her heat against his skin and her breasts were mere inches from brushing his chest. He was seconds from losing control, but he had to try to get through to her. He didn’t want to take advantage, or do anything she would regret when the whiskey wore off.