In his freakin’ bed.
Oh no, it wasn’t happening. No freakin’ way.
Mike shifted and started to reach for it, only to still when it lifted its little head and licked him. The rough little tongue scraped across his jaw line and then it reached out a tiny paw and patted his chin.
Mike looked down at it. “You are going outside. Outside, do you hear me?”
Eyes seemingly too big for the tiny face blinked up at him sleepily.
“Don’t go looking at me like that. You are not staying here.”
He reached for it and a little paw wrapped around his finger. Mike stared down at it. Hell, the paw was so tiny that his finger was wider than the little arm.
The kitten purred, stood up, stretched and nestled closer, tucking itself firmly against him. The little purr sputtered but kept going gamely.
It really was a bold little thing.
No! Hell, no.
Jaw tight, Mike glared up at the ceiling. “You’re not staying,” he growled.
The little tongue rasped against his neck and it tucked even closer, which he hadn’t thought possible. Now he could feel the little purr rumbling against his skin. The little body was so tiny, so warm. So helpless.
Ah shit. It could stay the night. He snapped off the light and yanked the blanket up over his shoulders, effectively covering the kitten as well. It didn’t move. “If you suffocate, don’t look at me.”
The kitten purred.
No way in hell was he telling Maddy about this, nor anyone else.
Bloody fur ball thought it could take over. It had another think coming. In the morning it was going back outside. No more laundry basket and certainly no more of his bed.
Mike fell asleep with the kitten nestled in the crook of his neck.
Chapter Eight
Maddy stared out of the window into the back garden.
“I don’t get it,” Cindy said from behind her. “Mike wants you. Any fool can see his tongue practically hanging out of his head whenever you’re around. What’s your problem?”
With a sigh, Maddy returned to the kitchen bench and picked up the container of flour and a spoon. “He wants to see me naked.”
“That’s what happens.” Cindy sipped at the can of lemonade. “I repeat, what’s your problem?”
“Are you serious? Look at me.”
“So you carry some weight, so what? Come on, Mads, you’ve never been shy about your weight before.” Cindy watched Maddy measure the flour. “What’s changed?”
“He’s perfect, I’m not.”
“What crap.”
Maddy looked at her. “What not crap.”
“I wish Belinda was here to hear you say that.” Cindy grinned.
Scowling, Maddy dumped the flour into the bowl, only to cough and wave her hand in front of her face as the too vigorous tip made flour billow up into the air.
“You’re not seriously saying that Belinda and her idiot buddy have made you self-conscious?” Cindy rolled her eyes and reached for a homemade biscuit. “Get a grip, Mads. Geez.”
“They haven’t.” Maddy mixed the flour into the milk, sugar, butter and vanilla mix. “I’d never let them get to me like that. Sheesh, that’s why I knock heads with my family all the time, I refuse to be what they want.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“I don’t know.”
Cindy watched Maddy retrieve a cake tin and grease it. “You do.”
“I don’t.”
“Lovett, I’ve known you for years. You know what the problem is.”
Damn friends. Maddy scowled as she poured the cake mix into the tin.
“You’re even starting to look like him,” Cindy said.
Maddy flipped a rude gesture with her finger.
“Oh, and there’s the Maddy we all love. I wonder where her spunk has gone, though? It seems she lost it somewhere.” Cindy swung her legs up and balanced her crossed ankles on the edge of the table, her stiletto sandals dangling off the ends of her red nail-painted toes.
Closing the oven door on the cake tin, Maddy placed her crossed arms on the bench top and leaned on them. “I have spunk. I haven’t lost it.”
“So what’s the problem? You’ve already had mad sex with Mike twice, I know it made your head practically spin.”
“I never said that.”
“I can read between the lines. So now you have him close by for the rest of the week, he wants you bad, and you keep holding him off. What the hell, Mads?”
“Okay, okay. Geez, Cindy.”
Cindy held her arms out to the sides and waggled her fingers in a ‘come on’ gesture.
“Yes, all right.” Maddy took a deep breath and blew a strand of hair out of her eye that had flopped out of the hair band she was currently using to hold her hair back. “Yes, I am worried about what Mike will think once he sees me naked.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s perfect.”
“And?”
“He’s built like a woman’s wet dream.”
“And?”
“I’m not.”
“Maybe if the woman was a lesbian, you would be.”
“I mean, I’m not a man’s wet dream.”
“He thinks you are.”
“I know I’m not.”
“Maddy,” Cindy said patiently, “It doesn’t matter what you think, it’s what Mike thinks that matters.”
“But this is my problem, remember?”
“Yeah, and because of your problem you’re going to let the best thing that ever happened to you walk away?”
Maddy was horrified. “He’s looking at other women?”
“God, Maddy, no! Cripes, did your common sense go the same way as your spunk?”
“Sorry. No.” Closing her eyes, Maddy pulled the hair band out and ran one hand distractedly through her hair. “I’m in knots about this.”
“So un-knot yourself.” Cindy grinned. “I’m sure Mike will be glad to help.”
Maddy stabbed a finger in her direction. “You are never to tell Mike about this.”
“Fine. Whatever.”
Playing with the hair band, Maddy murmured her greatest fear. “What if he looks at me and I turn him off?”
“You haven’t so far.”
“He hasn’t seen me fully naked.”
“He’s seen your arse and boobs. The backs of your thighs. There isn’t much left, is there?” Cindy tipped the lemonade can to her mouth and took a healthy swallow. “And he’s still hanging around panting after you.”
“I thought Robert knew me.”
Cindy dropped the drink can and gaped. “What?”
“Robert. You know. Matt’s friend from school.”
“Oh my God. Is this what it’s all about? That moron’s treatment of you? That was years ago!”
“I don’t know.” Maddy dropped the hair band. “Okay. Yes, a little. Come on, Cindy, you remember what happened, don’t you? Robert took me out and I was so happy, and then he coerced me into…” She swallowed. “You know.”
“And you’re letting that affect you now? Good God, Maddy, you were a teenager. You’re a grown up now. You know he was a moron and a right shit and probably still is. You can’t let that affect what you have with Mike.”
“I’m not.” Maddy winced when her friend narrowed her eyes. “Okay. A little.”
“You’re seriously going to let that experience with Robert affect you now?”
“I can’t help it.”
Cindy smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand. “So your brother paid Robert to take you out. So you didn’t know. So Robert was such a little shit that he conned you into giving him your virginity in the back seat of his very crappy car. So what?”
“So what? So how about him letting everyone know how much I jiggled and wobbled and it was like screwing a marshmallow?”
“And how about Matt and Darren beating the shit out of him for it?”
“And how about me being the laughing stock
of the school for the rest of the year?”
“And how about me for sticking up for you and getting a black eye from Betty Martin for it?”
“Oh yeah? How about me putting glue in Matt’s underwear and he had to go to the hospital to get them removed?”
Cindy started to guffaw. “Yeah, that was great.”
“Mum didn’t think so. She thought so even less when she heard about Robert and me.”
“So what?” Cindy was still grinning. “Do you know how ridiculous you sound, Maddy? You were a teenager with no experience and full of doubt. You grew up into a woman with a career and her own means of support, and you have a hunk of manhood who has seen parts of you already and he’s still panting for more.” Her hilarity vanished. “Seriously, Maddy, this is Mike we’re talking about now. Do you honestly think he’s the kind of man to screw you and then laugh about it and tell the world?”
“Of course not.” Maddy’s defence of him was immediate.
“Do you want him to think that he’s the problem?”
“Why would he think that?”
“Because you won’t let him into your bed. I’ve seen his puzzled looks at you when you have your back turned. You let him kiss and cuddle you but you draw the line at getting into his bed.”
“He’s recovering from concussion.”
“He’s over that. You know it, I know it, and he knows it. Stop farting around, Maddy. If you really want him, if you care about him, then you need to go and get him before he gives up and someone else claims the man you know belongs with you.”
The thought of Mike leaving her made her heart feel like lead and her gut clench.
“You don’t sleep around,” Cindy said bluntly. “I bet Mike is the first man you’ve made love to since that disastrous episode with Robert.”
Maddy dropped her eyes to the hair band lying on the bench between her fingers.
“I thought so.” Cindy nodded. “So Mike must be a special man for you to have twice made love to. And you’d let that go just because you’re worried about what he’ll think of you?”
“I know. It’s stupid.”
“Bloody oath it is.” Cindy stood up, downed the last of her drink and crossed the kitchen to drop it in the bin. Moving beside Maddy, she grabbed her shoulders and turned her around. “Now straighten up. Wash the flour off your face, tidy up, and go have your lecherous way with Mike.”
Maddy couldn’t help but grin a little.
“You’re a woman, a heck of a lot of woman, and you’re going to stake your claim on your man. Now, what are you?”
“Befuddled?”
Cindy smacked her lightly on the side of the head. “You’re a woman going to claim her man. You’re going over there, rip his clothes off, throw him to the floor and have your dirty way with him. Now what are you?”
“Obviously a brazen slut if I listen to you.”
“Very good. Now I’m going to ring you tonight and I expect flaming hot news that will make my toes curl. Right?”
Maddy laughed.
“Don’t disappoint me, Maddy. I’ll be waiting.” Grabbing her shoulder bag, Cindy left the kitchen. Only seconds later, she popped her head around the door and looked seriously at Maddy. “Think about what I said. If you want a life with Mike, you need to do something about it.”
Maddy listened to her friend’s high heels click along the hallway, then the light slam of her security screen door. The smell of the cake baking filled the kitchen, and Maddy thought how much Mike would like it.
It had been a long time since she’d baked for anyone but herself. She’d been doing a lot of baking for Mike.
Because she cared about him.
Because he meant a lot to her.
Because she wanted to please him.
Biting her lip, Maddy crossed to the kitchen window to peer out. Yep, Mike was still out in the backyard and she could see him talking to something below the fence level. It was the kitten, she was sure of it. Opening the window, she heard the deep rumble of Mike’s voice.
“This is where you should be,” he was saying. “In the bloody shed, not sleeping in my bed. Don’t think this changes anything. You’re staying out here.” She watched him walk back to his veranda. She couldn’t see him anymore but his voice was still clear. “Well, are you coming in or not? You’re the one who followed me outside. Now I’m not standing here holding the door open for you all day while you sniff the bloody flowers. Right. In. Yes, I’ll give you something to eat. Shit, you’re a demanding fur ball.”
She grinned. Yep, the big lug was well and truly hooked with the kitten. He refused to admit that it slept in his bed, but she’d caught sight of it sleeping on his pillow. Mike had glared at her, daring her to say something, but she’d simply looked innocently at him and asked him how his head felt.
It didn’t take a fool to notice that he now had a proper litter tray and proper cat food bowls in the laundry, and tins of kitten food and milk in his pantry. He even had little bits of raw mince in the fridge that she’d seen him slip into the cat food bowl.
Mike had a kitten. Man, she really wanted to tease him about it, but she knew the best thing was to pretend she didn’t even notice.
Yeah, the big bear next door was dangerous looking but he had a soft spot for the helpless. He treated ladies with care, he had a sense of humour under that forbidding demeanour, and he wanted her.
He didn’t care about her weight, he didn’t care what she did for a living. Mike liked her for herself. More than liked, she’d seen it in his gaze. He’d openly admitted it. He wanted her forever.
It was a dream she’d long given up on, and here she was allowing old hurts and other people’s problems with her weight affect her.
Well, Madeleine Lovett hadn't gotten where she was by obediently following what everyone else wanted. Hell no, Maddy Lovett had always followed her own head and heart and done what she wanted, regardless of other’s opinions, and she wasn’t going to stop now. She’d fixed her own damned roof, climbed ladders, changed tyres, and faced an angry, intimidating Neanderthal of a cop, and damn if she wasn’t going to claim that Neanderthal cop right now.
A knock sounded on her door and she cursed the timing. Striding through the hallway, she was just in time to see Mike opening the door and entering with a scowl on his face. Make that the right timing.
“Damn it, Maddy,” he growled. “Your security screen is unlocked. I’ve warned you about that. I-”
His words were cut off by Maddy wrapping a hand around his nape, tugging him down, and fastening her lips on his.
She kissed him hard, deep, her tongue sweeping in to taste his essence.
Mike growled in appreciation, his big hands clamping on her waist before moving around to splay over her bottom.
When she lifted her head, he looked down into her face, his eyes already glittering hotly. “Oh yeah,” he rumbled. “That’s the way to greet me.”
“Good,” she replied boldly. “Because I want you naked and in my bed.”
His eyes widened in shock and she almost laughed. Emboldened by both his surprise and the heat in his eyes, she twined her fingers in his shirt, turned around and walked back down the hall.
Mike followed willingly. More than willingly. He actually crowded her, his big body hard against her own so that by the time they came to her bedroom, he pushed her inside and grabbed her shoulders, hauling her up on tip toes so he could kiss her.
His kiss was almost desperate, hungry, and he couldn’t seem to get enough of her, his big hands cupping her bottom and squeezing, pulling her hard against his hips.
“Wait!” She tore her mouth from his. “I’m supposed to be seducing you!”
“Sorry.” He lifted his head and spread his arms. His heavy, muscular chest rose and fell with every fast, hard breath he took, and his eyes burned with the pale blue fire of desire. “Go ahead. Seduce me.”
She couldn’t help it, she started laughing even as she grabbed the bottom of his t-shirt and drew
it up. She had to laugh even more when Mike had to bend forward so she could draw it over his head.
No sooner had she tossed it aside and placed her hands on his ribbed stomach than he groaned and grabbed her. “Raincheck on the seduction, baby. I need you now.” He was half laughing, half serious.
“You can’t.” Maddy giggled. “This is my seduction.”
“Right. Correct. Your seduction.” His fingers worked fast on the buttons of her blouse, flicking it open with astonishing speed. “Oh Jesus, a black bra with pink polka dots. I’m in heaven!”
She shrieked when he dropped his head and buried his face between her breasts, and then they were both laughing. Clothes went everywhere as they pulled and tugged, kissed and wrestled, and then they were skin to skin, hot flesh to hot flesh, soft curves to hard lines, and all hilarity disappeared as they looked at each other.
Silence descended in the room, but their awareness of each other was high.
Intensely high.
Maddy realised that she was naked in his arms and her heart hammered. Mike held her so closely, so tenderly, his greater height bent over her protectively, the heat of passion in his eyes.
Passion and something else, something that caught at her heart and made her lips part in uncertain hopefulness.
“Maddy,” he said softly.
That was all he said and then he was tumbling her back onto the bed, one arm under her knees to turn her with quick, easy efficiency so that she was stretched full length on the bed. He came over her, all hard, long, muscular lines.
She reached up and gently touched his cheek. “Mike.”
“Maddy,” he said again.
Dropping his head, he captured her lips in a kiss so sweet, so tender, that she was as lost as if he’d plundered the depths with heated passion.
This delicate desire was so different, yet the same. It wrung her heart, plucked at hidden strings, and made her feel so protected, so loved, so cherished that she could only return the kiss with an equal tenderness, opening her mouth to him, her body, her soul, her very heart.
Caught up in the lapping tides of desire, she dimly felt his hand burning a pathway down her side and hip, and further down. A big hand cupped behind her leg, drawing her thigh up so that she lay with her knee bent, and then his hand was tracing behind her knee, fingers leaving tingling paths in his wake.
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