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

Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection (Eight Fun, Romantic Novels by Eight Bestselling Authors) Page 44

by Violet Duke

  “Maddie!” Dawn shouted, loud enough to make Maddie flinch and her mouth snap shut. “Stop this! You are being crazy.”

  “No, I’m not,” Maddie said in a small voice, hurt that Dawn couldn’t try to see where she was coming from. “I’m trying to be rational.”

  “Honey, love isn’t rational,” Dawn said gently. “I’m not saying you should jump in blind and ignore your reservations about Jamison, but bailing on him when you were the one who said you were open to something serious isn’t fair either.”

  Maddie bit her lip. “Then what should I do?”

  “Talk to him,” Dawn said, as if that were the easiest thing in the world. “Talk to him about your concerns and see what he has to say. He might surprise you. It sounds like there’s more going on in his head and heart than you’re giving him credit for.”

  Maddie took a deep breath and let it out slowly, seriously considering what Dawn had said. Considering she’d been naked with Jamison nearly a dozen times, the thought of talking honestly with him shouldn’t have been that scary. But it was. This wouldn’t be witty banter or light conversation, this would be the real Maddie standing in front of him, dressed in nothing but her fear and insecurities.

  But Dawn was right. Jamison deserved to know what she was thinking before she cut and ran.

  “Okay,” she finally said. “I’ll talk to him. I’ll do it tonight.”

  “Good,” Dawn said. “Now can I ask your advice on my latest trial of angst and woe?”

  “Sure thing.” Maddie stood up straighter, immediately feeling more like herself now that the conversation was shifting away from her problems. She’d always been more comfortable being the strong shoulder than the one shedding tears on it.

  “I’m thinking about moving to Atlanta. Like, in the next week,” Dawn said, triggering a squeal of excitement from Maddie.

  Dawn had lived in Little Rock, Arkansas for years, far enough away that they only had the chance to see each other once or twice a year. Having another best friend close to home sounded like Christmas coming early to Maddie.

  “Don’t get too excited yet,” Dawn continued with a laugh. “I’ve had a job offer, a good one, at a private college where I’ll make almost double what I’m making now. They need someone ASAP because their full-time art professor eloped with their part-time art professor. They both quit without notice to go follow a Grateful Dead tribute band across Eastern Europe. But if I move, then Dave and I will have to work out a new custody arrangement. He would have the kids for six weeks in the summer, and I’ve never been apart from them for that long. I don’t know if I could handle it.”

  “Maybe you could break it up a little?” Maddie suggested. “Three weeks at the start of the summer, and three weeks at the end?”

  Dawn made a considering sound. “That could work, but even three weeks seems like a lot. I was missing them like crazy after the singles retreat.”

  “I can imagine,” Maddie said.

  She and Dawn talked for a few more minutes—weighing the pros and cons of a potential move—and by the time they hung up Maddie felt like she had a much better sense of perspective.

  Sure, she’d been through a terrible breakup, and maybe had a few more scars than she’d realized until confronted with another man acting like he cared about her, but at least she and Serge didn’t have to worry about custody or visitation. In many ways she was less encumbered by her previous relationship than her friends.

  Now she needed to woman up and take her love life by the horns. She had to gather her courage and confront Jamison. If he was really as into her as he seemed to be, then he’d be willing to talk through her issues. And if he didn’t seem inclined to listen, well…that would tell her everything she needed to know.

  Maddie tucked her cell into her pocket and hurried down the stairs, feeling lighter than she had since she’d crawled off the fire station roof. She swept behind the counter, filling orders faster than Lucy could ring them up, concentrating on the work, refusing to glance at the clock or count down the hours until Jamison was due to give his secret knock at the bakery’s back door.

  *

  JAMISON STEPPED INTO The Horse and Rider around four o’clock, still feeling off-kilter from his morning with Maddie. He kept racking his brain, trying to figure out what he’d done wrong, but coming up empty. Sure, he’d talked feelings a little, but in his experience, women usually loved that kind of thing. Besides, Maddie was the one who said she wanted them to have a shot at something serious.

  Maybe she’s changed her mind. Maybe she’s decided you’re not all she thought you were.

  Jamison scowled as he crossed the room, settling onto a stool near the bar and ordering a Corona, hoping a beer or two before he met Maddie would help him relax. Being stressed-out was one of his least favorite things, and not something he normally did when he was dating.

  The moment things got stressful, Jamison walked. He routinely bailed at the first sign of impending angst. But the thought of putting an end to things with Maddie made his stomach ache. He didn’t want to imagine a future where he didn’t get to make her laugh, make her come, hear her say his name in that way that left no doubt she was completely into him.

  Or so he’d thought…

  “Hey, what are you doing here?”

  Jamison turned to see Mick Whitehouse sliding onto a stool beside him. The younger man’s curly black hair was darker than Maddie’s, but their blue eyes were nearly identical, so identical any chance of banishing Maddie from his thoughts evaporated as soon as Mick sat down beside him.

  “Came for a quick beer or two before I meet a friend,” Jamison said. “Can I buy you a round?”

  “Sure, thanks,” Mick said.

  Jamison signaled for the bartender to bring another Corona before turning back to Mick. “What about you? Drinking alone?”

  “No, I’m meeting friends from high school for beer and wings after they get off work,” Mick said. “Faith’s working again tonight, so I didn’t want to stay at home alone. I get all pathetic and mopey by her third night on duty.”

  Jamison grinned. “Life as a firefighter’s main squeeze not all you thought it would be?”

  Mick shrugged. “It’s not easy, but she loves her job and I love her so…we’ll make it work.”

  Jamison nodded, secretly wondering if Maddie would feel the same way, or if she would come to resent his time at the station the way some of his ex-girlfriends had in the past.

  Maybe she was already thinking that it was a pain that Jamison was gone nearly half the week. Maybe she wasn’t on board for a relationship that involved a certain amount of separation. Even though significant others were allowed to visit their partners on duty, it wasn’t the same kind of availability someone with a nine-to-five job could offer.

  “And the four days off in a row thing is nice,” Mick continued. “I’ve worked it out so I do most of my remodeling work while Faith’s at the station so we can spend all her free time together.”

  “Sounds nice,” Jamison said, his stress pendulum swinging back the other way as he considered the possibilities for him and Maddie to coordinate schedules.

  If she could log her early mornings at the bakery while he was at the station, they could linger in bed together at least three mornings a week, something that sounded absolutely heavenly as far as Jamison was concerned.

  “It is. And Faith and I are really good.” Mick cleared his throat as he pulled his beer closer to his chest. “She told me that you two talked and you helped her a lot, so…thanks, man. I appreciate it. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost my chance with her.”

  “No worrie
s,” Jamison said gruffly, not wanting to think about chances that might be lost.

  Mick laughed. “Sorry, am I grossing you out? My friends don’t let me talk about Faith anymore. They say I’m too whipped, but I think they’re just jealous.”

  Jamison smiled. “No, I’m not grossed out. I…” It was his turn for awkward throat-clearing. “There’s actually this woman I’ve been seeing.”

  Mick’s brows lifted. “Oh, yeah? New girl?”

  “Kind of new, kind of not,” Jamison said, shocked that he was confiding in Maddie’s brother, of all people.

  He’d always liked Mick, but they’d been too far apart in age to be close growing up. But now… Well, Mick was in a relationship, and Jamison wanted to be in a relationship with Mick’s sister. There was a chance Mick might be able to offer some insight, even if he didn’t know it was Maddie Jamison was talking about.

  “We’ve known each other for a long time, but now things are different,” Jamison continued. “Good different, though. At least I thought so. We’ve been having a lot of fun together, easy conversation, never an awkward moment, but when I started getting a little heavy today it was like she couldn’t get away from me fast enough.”

  Mick took a swig of his beer, seeming to think on what Jamison said. “You think she isn’t on board for something serious?”

  “No, she’s on board,” Jamison said. “At least she said she was. She’s the one who said she didn’t want to date unless there was a chance it could become something more. So why would she suddenly change her mind, especially when everything’s been copacetic?”

  Mick grunted. “Man, I don’t know. Women are confusing. That’s one thing I love about Faith; she’s so direct. There’s never any bullshit mystery. Only good mystery.”

  Jamison shook his head. “Yeah, but that’s the thing, this girl has always been direct with me, too. She never hesitated to tell me what was on her mind when we were friends.”

  Jamison watched Mick out of the corner of his eye, hoping he hadn’t said too much. The last thing he wanted was to tip Mick off that he was talking about his sister, but at the same time he needed a guy’s point of view and he couldn’t talk to Jake, so…

  “Well, if you were friends first, and you could talk then…” Mick trailed off with a shrug. “I mean, that friendship is still there, beneath the other stuff. Maybe you should try getting back to more familiar ground, talking to her the way you did before things got complicated.”

  Jamison chewed on the idea for a moment. “That could work.”

  Mick took another swig of beer. “Or you could skip talking and go right for the grand, romantic gesture. That ought to let you know whether she’s into you pretty quick.”

  “Force her hand, you mean.”

  “Totally,” Mick said, obviously warming to the idea. “Get it all out into the open at once. Like a shot. Then you’ll know where you stand.”

  Like a shot. It wasn’t a bad idea. Especially if it involved shots…

  He and Maddie hadn’t had any trouble getting along when there was whiskey involved. Maybe a little return to their roots—a few shots and a steamy, semi-public encounter—was exactly what the relationship doctor ordered.

  CHAPTER NINE

  HE WAS LATE. Maddie had already changed into a floor-length sleeveless black peasant dress, freshened her makeup, and paced the length of her apartment at least twenty times, growing progressively angsty the longer she was forced to put off the impending Serious Discussion.

  Jamison had always been early before, but now it was nearly five-thirty and Maddie had yet to get the text saying he was out back.

  She had decided to take his tardiness as a sign that tonight wasn’t the night for their talk, call him to make sure he was okay before she canceled, and put the stress-inducing encounter off for another day or two, when her phone vibrated in her hand, making her jump and let out a startled bleat.

  She glanced at the screen, expecting an apology for being late, but Jamison’s message simply read—

  Look outside your door.

  Maddie frowned, glancing uncertainly at the apartment’s front door. Had Lucy left the bakery’s back door unlocked, and Jamison let himself in? But if so, why wouldn’t he just knock? Why the weird message?

  “Jamison?” Maddie called, but there was no answer and no sound from beyond the door. “Jamison?”

  Still nothing, not even the creak of a floorboard. Finally, Maddie’s curiosity got the better of her and she tiptoed across the apartment. She opened the door and peeked out, but there was no one there.

  She was getting ready to reply to the text—and ask Jamison where the heck he was and what she was supposed to see outside her door—when something on the ground caught her eye.

  There, beside the doorstop sat a folded piece of white paper with her name on it and a shot glass full of amber liquid.

  Maddie knelt down, claiming both glass and note before standing up to scan the stairs. Still no sign of Jamison. She flipped the note open to read—

  Roses are red, violets are blue, I always have fun when I drink whiskey with you. (Enjoy your shot and look for another surprise at the bottom of the stairs.) -J

  Any other night, Maddie would have taken the shot and enjoyed the fun surprise, but tonight wasn’t a night for fun surprises, and it certainly wasn’t a night for whiskey. Maddie set the shot back on the ground untouched and started down the stairs.

  At the bottom, there was still no sign of Jamison, only another note resting atop a puddle of black fabric on a table for two in the corner.

  Roses are red, this blindfold is black, cover those pretty eyes before you meet me out back.

  Maddie ran her fingers over the silky fabric, momentarily tempted. She had no doubt that whatever Jamison was up to would lead to them both having an amazing time—they’d proven that Jamison + Maddie + whiskey = mind-blowing sex, and she could imagine the blindfold would only sweeten the equation—but in the end she left the blindfold and the note on the table before making her way through the kitchen to the back door.

  Sure, it would be easier to get swept up in whatever sexy adventure Jamison had planned, but tonight she needed to talk more than she needed to get naked and sweaty.

  Roses are red, Maddie is vexing, her mental voice piped up. Why waste time talking when you could be sexing?

  “Oh shut up,” Maddie mumbled as she pushed through the door to see Jamison’s red Mustang idling in the delivery van’s usual spot near the dumpster.

  Maddie’s eyes found Jamison sitting in the driver’s seat and watched his smile fade as he realized she wasn’t playing along. A moment later, he shut off the car and swung out the driver’s side.

  In a white dress shirt that emphasized his bronze skin, dark wash jeans and a fresh shave, he looked good enough to eat and smelled even better. Even over the faintly sour trash smell drifting from the dumpster, Maddie could still catch his Jamison smell and it made her ache all over, her traitorous body refusing to acknowledge that her heart was in the midst of major qualms.

  “Trouble tying the blindfold?” Jamison stopped in front of her, an uncertain note in his voice.

  “No.” Maddie took a breath, eyes dropping to the pavement, knowing she wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to lean into his arms if she kept looking into his eyes. “I think we should talk.”

  Jamison ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

  “Sorry,” Maddie said, trying to remember how she’d planned to start this conversation and coming up empty. Now that Jamison was standing in front of her, it was hard to concentrate on anything but how much she wanted to be closer to him, to lay her cheek on
his chest and inhale his addictive scent, to feel his hands moving over her skin, banishing her ability to think about anything but how amazing he made her feel.

  “Don’t be sorry,” Jamison said. “If you want to talk, let’s talk.” He shifted from one foot to the other and back again. “Do you want to go inside? Maybe get some coffee? Or maybe let me throw back that whiskey shot I’m guessing you didn’t drink. If you’re going to end it, I might need a shot of whiskey.”

  Maddie’s eyes flew to meet his. “I’m not going to end it,” she said. “I’m just…confused.”

  “Confused about what?”

  “About where this is going, about what I want,” Maddie said, fingers twining anxiously together. “About what I feel and what…you feel.”

  Jamison nodded, but his expression remained guarded. “I’m guessing this has something to do with what I said on the roof.”

  Maddie nodded.

  “So, what? It was too soon for you?” Jamison asked, his gaze shifting uncomfortably to the wall behind Maddie. “I mean, if so, that’s fine because I—”

  He broke off with a shake of his head. “No, you know what? It’s not fine. You’ve always called me on my bullshit, and now I’m calling you on yours.” He frowned down at her. “I thought everything was good—better than good. I thought we were having fun.”

  “We were having fun,” Maddie said. “We are, I just—”

  “And not just in bed,” he said, brows drawing together. “I look forward to spending time with you, no matter what we do. Even that time we played Scrabble was fun and I hate board games. Like, really hate them.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, continuing in a softer voice, “And until this morning, we seemed to be on the same page. So you’ll have to forgive me for being surprised that me falling in love with you is suddenly freaking you out.”

 

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