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

by Violet Duke

  Maddie lifted a skeptical brow, but couldn’t help but smile. “Top secret communications? Are you going to send me smoke signals from the roof of the firehouse?”

  “Something like that.” Jamison winked as he reached for the door. “Later beautiful.”

  “Later,” Maddie echoed, a warm, excited feeling filling her chest. She wasn’t sure sneaking around with Jamison was good for her heart, but it sure as hell wasn’t boring.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  SATURDAY MORNINGS HAD always been one of Jamison’s favorite times at the firehouse—the scent of waffles and eggs and coffee brewing, the roar of laughter and conversation as husbands and wives and extended family gathered in the break room setting up folding tables, the shouts as kids ran around playing soccer on the grass behind the station, waiting for brunch to be ready.

  It was a festive time, a time to be grateful for family in all its forms—the one he was born into, and the one he’d joined when he became a member of the Summerville Fire Department.

  Jamison knew his choice to leave his Atlanta Department and return to Summerville had seemed like a step backward to most of his Atlanta friends, but the SFD was home. He’d grown up in this firehouse, and kissed his first girlfriend before a brunch very similar to the one he was helping to cook today. He treasured the chance to grow older in a place that felt so right and, best of all, to watch his brother hold his baby girl at the table where dozens of his friends had held their own children, where he’d helped celebrate more birthdays and engagements and anniversaries than he could count.

  Most Saturdays, whether he was on duty or not, there was no place Jamison would rather be than at an SFD family brunch. But today, he couldn’t wait to make his escape.

  Maddie had slept over at his house the past two nights and lingered over coffee and the paper with him both mornings—two of her three mornings off from the bakery—and now the morning felt…strange without her.

  It didn’t help that Naomi was at the firehouse, snuggled up next to Jake, sipping coffee and glowing with happiness, alternating between beaming up at her soon-to-be husband and down at the sleeping bundle in his arms. Noelle was so tiny, she made Jake’s arms look even more massive in comparison, and a massive man holding a tiny baby was bonafide female-heroin.

  Every woman in the room had stopped by to coo and ooze estrogen all over the new family, ensuring Jamison had to fight his way through a crowd when Jake motioned him over.

  “What’s up?” Jamison said, meeting Naomi’s gaze with a polite smile before giving Jake his full attention.

  Jamison’s secret relationship with Maddie had only made him feel more awkward around her sister. His gut told him that Naomi wasn’t going to be a fan of their relationship—deserved or not, Jamison had a reputation as a womanizer, and Naomi was fiercely protective of her younger siblings—which made Jamison determined to keep him and Maddie under wraps as long as possible.

  So far, sneaking around with Maddie had been nothing but a pleasure, and he saw no reason to mess with a good thing.

  “Some guy called for you this morning,” Jake said. “I told him you weren’t here, so he said he’d call back later. I tried to tell him you weren’t on duty until tomorrow, but he hung up.”

  Jamison frowned. “Who was it?”

  “I don’t know. He didn’t leave his name,” Jake said. “But he sounded pretty intense. You don’t have bill collectors after you again, do you?”

  Jamison rolled his eyes. “No, Dad, not since I was twenty-three. I’m managing my funds responsibly.”

  “Well, we can help if you need it,” Naomi said. “Please don’t hesitate to ask if you get in a bind.”

  Jamison nodded, ignoring the spark of irritation her words ignited somewhere in his pride-center. Naomi wasn’t being judgmental, simply generous. She’d obviously been making an effort to reach out and mend their relationship since their confrontation at the Fireman’s Ball, but so far Jamison had kept her at a distance.

  He was happy for Jake and Naomi, he really was, but for some reason he still felt uncomfortable around his brother’s soon-to-be wife.

  That doesn’t bode well for any of your future relationships, especially with Maddie. She’s already pointed out how weird you act around Naomi.

  “Thank you,” Jamison forced himself to say, knowing it was past time to man up and at least meet Naomi halfway. “I appreciate it, but I’m doing fine.” He met Naomi’s gaze and smiled, a real smile this time, one that made her expression soften and a hopeful light enter her blue eyes.

  “Can I get you two anything?” he continued, finding it easier to let down his guard than he’d expected. “More coffee or a waffle or something? I think Kiki’s getting ready to open the serving line.”

  Jake shook his head. “Nah, I’m good. I’ll wait until everyone else is through. I already had first breakfast with Faith earlier. She couldn’t wait.”

  Naomi laughed. “That girl must have a hollow leg. She eats like a horse.”

  “I heard that,” Faith said from the next table over, where the tall, athletic blonde was entwined with her own Whitehouse sibling, Mick. They’d been joined at the hip since New Year’s and living together for almost as long. So far, however, there didn’t seem to be any trouble in paradise, and Faith was happier than Jamison had ever seen her.

  “Does that mean I’m uninvited to dinner tonight?” Faith asked. “Or should I just eat a snack first to fill up my hollow leg before I come over?”

  Naomi laughed again and leaned over to assure Faith she was still more than welcome to dinner; Jamison took the opportunity to ease away from the table and through the crowd. The clock on the wall said it was almost ten, and he had someplace important to be.

  After snagging a large mug of coffee with extra cream, a waffle drizzled with syrup and covered in crushed walnuts, and two forks, Jamison ducked into the hall and made his way through the weight room and out the back door.

  Outside on the grass, abandoned balls lay where the kids had left them when they were called in to eat and a row of bikes glinted in the sun. It was the kind of warm, sunny morning that practically begged you to come have your meal outdoors. But thankfully, so far he was the only one to answer the call.

  Balancing the plate on top of the mug, Jamison climbed the fire-escape ladder and continued up the two rows of stairs to the roof. As soon as he stepped onto the cracked asphalt he smiled—now the morning felt complete.

  Maddie was already sitting in one of the chairs he’d snuck up earlier this morning, dressed in a red sundress that barely brushed her knees, with a ring of white daisies in her hair.

  “I see you got my note,” he said, grinning as she turned to glance over her shoulder, her eyes lighting up when she saw him coming.

  “I did,” she said. “But it’s a good thing Lucy’s back at work, or I wouldn’t have been able to come.”

  “You think I’m an amateur?” Jamison settled into the chair next to her. “I knew she’d be at work, and what time she was coming in.”

  Maddie’s eyebrows lifted as she accepted the coffee he extended to her. “Impressive.” She took a sip, sighing in pleasure. “Mmm…and extra creamy, just the way I like it.”

  “I knew that, too,” Jamison said. “I’ve done all my detective work.”

  Maddie grinned. “You’re clearly wasting your potential fighting fires. You should have been an international man of mystery.”

  “Or a mob boss,” Jamison said.

  “Or a high-class male escort,” Maddie said, giggling when he shot her a hard look. “What? You’re discreet, romantic, and your love-rod is absolutely worthy of a thousand dollars
a night.”

  “It’s not a love-rod, it’s a cock,” Jamison said derisively, though he secretly loved that Maddie had nicknamed his stuff. “And it’s not the cock that’s worth a thousand dollars a night, it’s the man who knows how to use it.”

  “And to think I get it all for free,” she said with a naughty wink. “I’m a lucky girl.”

  “You are,” Jamison agreed, cutting a bite of waffle and offering her the fork.

  Maddie slipped the bite into her mouth with a sexy little purring sound. “Hmm…this is delicious. My compliments to the chef.”

  “I can’t take credit for that,” Jamison said, cutting himself a larger bite. “Kiki brings the waffle mix. I’ve tried to get her recipe, but she won’t tell anyone what she puts in it.”

  “Cinnamon and ginger for sure,” Maddie said, squinting up at the blue sky as she considered. “And maybe nutmeg, and something a little unexpected. I’ll need another taste to sort it out, but I will.”

  “Think you can crack her code?” Jamison asked, impressed.

  “You’re not the only one with spy potential.” Maddie handed him her fork. “Load me up. A few more bites and I’ll have it all worked out. I might even make you a batch tomorrow morning if you’re lucky.”

  “So you’ve decided to let Lucy open on Sundays?” Jamison cut her another bite.

  Maddie’s eyes narrowed. “How did you know that?”

  “I told you, I know everything.” He winked. “I had a heart to heart with Lucy yesterday when I was scoping out the Saturday schedule. She feels she’s ready for more responsibility. Especially if the dough’s premade and all she has to do is load the pans and man the ovens. She thinks maybe you’re a little bit of a control freak.”

  Maddie licked a bit of syrup from her lips. “Oh, yeah?”

  “But I told her that’s not true,” Jamison said, leaning closer to her tempting mouth. “Because I know for a fact that you have fantasies about being tied up and blindfolded by a domineering man with an impressive love-rod.”

  Maddie laughed, that low sexy laugh that felt like fingernails raking down his back. “You did not. The poor girl would have died. She would have blushed hard enough to set her hair on fire.”

  “No, I didn’t.” Jamison admitted. “But I did tell her I’d put in a word for her, you know…next time I saw my friend Maddie.”

  “You’re a good friend,” Maddie said.

  “I am.” Jamison kissed her, confirming that her syrup-sticky lips were every bit as delicious as they looked.

  “Yum,” Jamison whispered as they pulled apart.

  “Cloves,” Maddie replied in a husky voice. “And possibly molasses.”

  “You’re the sexiest food detective ever.” Jamison cut her another bite and delivered it directly to her mouth.

  “You’d better believe it.” She closed her mouth around the fork in a slow, deliberate way that made Jamison’s thoughts turn to the way her lips had closed around something much more intimate last night.

  He blinked hard and forced his eyes away from her lips. If he let his thoughts head in that direction, it wouldn’t be long before he’d be sneaking Maddie down to his Mustang for a drive into the country, out into the boonies until they found a deserted road where he could pull over and taste every inch of her.

  Since she had to be back at work soon, that wasn’t a good idea. Besides, he was enjoying hanging out with her. Their relationship had changed in dramatic ways from a week ago, but she was still as easy and fun to talk to as she had always been.

  “You’re not too bummed about missing out on the family meal are you?” she asked, taking another sip of coffee before offering him the mug. “I know you guys all love Saturday mornings.”

  Jamison shrugged. “Nah, I’m good. I’ve had more than my share of brunches and, I don’t know…it didn’t feel the same this morning.”

  “How so?” Maddie asked, brow knitting. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” he said. “I guess it’s just…”

  “Just what?” she asked, her warm gaze making it feel okay to be honest, to let her know that this was quickly becoming about more than sex for him. Way more.

  “I like having you around,” he said. “A morning doesn’t feel right without you in it.”

  Maddie’s eyes widened slightly before she smiled and dropped her gaze to the coffee mug. “That’s sweet.”

  The words were right, but her tone was several degrees cooler than a moment before and Jamison couldn’t help but feel like he’d taken a misstep. He did his best to move the conversation back to safer ground—asking Maddie what he should get the baby for a christening gift and if she’d be up for a trip to the old drive-in movie theater that had just reopened over in Red Bank—but things still felt off. When Maddie stood a few minutes later and made her excuses to leave, Jamison wasn’t surprised.

  Bummed, but not surprised.

  She kissed him goodbye and promised to see him tonight, but there was something wrong, something that made Jamison’s chest feel tight and his last few bites of waffle taste like sandpaper in his mouth.

  For the second time in his life, Jamison was falling for a woman, but his second matchup with love was starting to look like it might end the same way as his first—with Jamison out cold in the ring and the woman he’d fallen for slipping out of the arena, never to be seen again.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  MADDIE PACED BACK and forth in front of the apartment window overlooking the street with her cell to her ear, nibbling her thumb as she waited for Dawn to finish making sandwiches for her kids and get back on the line.

  Maddie knew she shouldn’t leave Lucy alone downstairs in the bakery for much longer, but she needed girl talk so desperately she was willing to risk Lucy being overwhelmed by the Saturday afternoon rush in the name of gaining some peace of mind.

  “Okay, I’m back,” Dawn said, sounding breathless. “The savages are fed and I’m all yours for at least the next fifteen minutes, or until someone spills something.”

  “Thanks so much,” Maddie said. “I’d usually talk to Naomi, but I can’t talk to her about this and I’m so confused. I don’t know what to do.”

  “Jamison troubles?” Dawn asked.

  Maddie nodded, though she knew Dawn couldn’t see her. “I think I should just end it. Like, tonight. Tell him I’m sorry, but I can’t do this. Give us both a clean break before things get too complicated.”

  “But weren’t you the one who said you didn’t want to date unless it had the chance of going somewhere?” Dawn asked, sounding as confused as Maddie felt.

  “Yes,” Maddie said. “But that was before!”

  “Before he started falling for you.”

  “Or acting like he’s falling for me,” Maddie said, thinking about what Jamison had said on the roof this morning enough to make her stomach flutter with anxious butterflies all over again. “I’m not sure what to believe. I mean, I’ve known him for years as a friend, but I don’t know how he acts with women he’s dating. This might be his M.O.”

  “In what way?” Dawn asked.

  “Maybe it’s more than his magic love-rod that made all those women fall for him,” Maddie said, warming to her theory. “Maybe he gets them addicted to the love-rod, then turns on the lovey dovey charm to reel them in, and then—BAM! As soon as they start to lower their defenses and want to snuggle up and play house, he decides he’s bored and moves on.”

  Dawn made a skeptical noise. “I don’t know Maddie. It
doesn’t sound like he was being manipulative. It sounds like he’s just having a great time being with you. You’re having a good time with him, right?”

  “Yes,” Maddie said around a mouthful of her thumb, her teeth digging into the skin so hard it stung. “The sex is so good I think I’m becoming a nymphomaniac.”

  Dawn laughed. “Then why do you sound so miserable? You’re making problems where there aren’t any. Relax and enjoy things. Give him a chance. You might be pleasantly surprised.”

  “Maybe. Or maybe not…I don’t know. I’m so confused.” Maddie turned back to the window, gazing at the firehouse across the street where only half an hour ago she had been happier than she could remember being in ages.

  Argh! Why did Jamison have to start looking at her with mushy eyes and saying sweet things and ruin everything?

  “I don’t know if I’m ready to jump into something serious with lots of feelings in it,” she continued, spinning away from the window. “Especially with a guy like Jamison. He’s been my friend since we were little and I love him, but I know what he’s really like. He’s the nicest heartbreaker ever, but he’s still a heartbreaker.”

  “Now, slow down for a second,” Dawn said, but Maddie pressed on.

  “I mean, I’ve never seen him in a relationship for more than a few weeks, and never anything serious.” Maddie paced faster, running a shaking hand through her hair. “He says there was this woman, Wendy, in Atlanta that he was ready to commit to at one point, but no one in Summerville ever met her. And how serious could it have been if he never brought her home to meet his family or friends?”

  “Maddie, I think—”

  “And what is wrong with him, anyway?” she continued. “To start saying things like ‘the morning doesn’t feel right without you in it’ to me right now? We’ve only been dating a week and I’m nowhere near as pretty as most of the girls he’s dated or as thin or as blonde. I mean, sure, I have big boobs, but that’s only because I have a big bottom to match, and I’ve never seen Jamison with a girl with a big bottom. What is he thinking? And why is he—”