“No, no,” he scolded the dog lightly as he picked him up and took him back to his bed. “You’re supposed to go to sleep.”
Madison watched as the dog lay down once more, staring at Collin.
“I think he wants me here,” Collin said as he sat next to Madison on the side of the bed.
Madison snorted. “That is the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard for a man to share my bed,” she said.
“I mean it. Watch.” Collin got up and walked to the door. Immediately, Teddy was on his feet, scampering toward him. But the second Collin returned to the bed, the puppy went back to his own and settled in.
Madison shook her head. “Unbelievable. Well, then, you take him.”
“Me? I’m not going to take him.”
“He wants to sleep with you, so why don’t you take him downstairs? To the couch.” Madison made a shooing motion with her hands. She didn’t like the fact that Teddy seemed to suddenly prefer Collin. Was he the dog’s favorite now? She knew it was childish, but still. Did Collin charm everyone?
Collin’s shoulders slumped. “Okay,” he agreed. “I’ll take him downstairs with me.” He stooped to pick up the dog. Madison noticed how small the puppy was in his muscular arms, how easily he lifted the squirming furball. His forearms kept the dog safely tucked against his chest. The picture would have been adorable, except that Madison still felt a sense of rejection.
Collin trudged toward the door, but as soon as he got there, the puppy whined and kicked, fighting to free himself.
“What the...?” Collin managed, as Teddy wriggled out of his grasp and jumped to the floor, scampering back to his towel bed.
Madison felt relief. So, the dog didn’t want to leave. He just didn’t want Collin to leave, either. The realization hit her—Collin had been right.
“I think he wants us both here,” Madison admitted. Part of her didn’t mind that idea. Not with Jimmy Reese on the loose.
“It’s what I’ve been saying.” Collin studied her, and she found the look in his eyes unsettling. Not to mention the swath of bare skin... Why didn’t the man wear a shirt?
“Fine,” she said. Then she made a pillow wall, dividing the bed in half.
Collin slid his fingers into the waist of his sleep shorts. He tugged downward. “I’ll just...”
“No!” Madison exclaimed, blocking her eyes with her hands. “No, keep those on.”
“I was kidding. It was a joke.”
“Not a funny one.” Madison parted her fingers and glared at him. Collin sighed.
“Besides, you’ve already seen it,” he said.
“Yes, but maybe I’m still scarred.”
“Ha, ha.” Collin made a face and then shrugged. “Fine. I’ll keep the shorts on. For your sake.” He walked over to his side of the bed and scrutinized all the throw pillows she’d lined up down the center. “Is the great wall of pillows really necessary?”
“Yes, it is,” Madison declared, pulling the covers over herself. Collin settled in on his side, and she felt the mattress lurch beneath his weight.
“Just to warn you, I’m a cuddler,” Collin said. “These pillows probably won’t even stop me.”
“Cuddler? You? No way.” Madison couldn’t possibly imagine him spooning. Then again, he had been cuddly after the sex they’d had. She tried not to think about the way their naked bodies had fit together... The pillow wall might not be enough, after all.
“I am. I might spoon you by accident, so be prepared.”
“That’s what the pillows are for,” Madison said, as she rolled over. She gazed fondly at Teddy on the floor next to the bed. The puppy could barely keep his eyes open now, as he lay on his bed of towels. Sneaky dog. “Good night, Teddy,” she said, reaching up to click off the lamp on the bedside table.
Collin coughed. “I don’t get a good-night?”
“No. No, you don’t,” Madison said, but in the dark of the bedroom, she grinned.
CHAPTER TEN
COLLIN THOUGHT HE might never fall asleep. Hearing Madison’s steady breathing and the dog’s occasional shifting on the floor, he was hyperaware of every little sound and movement in the small dark bedroom. Collin was used to one-night stands. He preferred them to the sticky entanglements of relationships. His longest relationship to date was a year and that was with a fellow law student years ago. She’d been destined for corporate law, he for prosecution, and both held a definitive understanding that their relationship was temporary, a mutually beneficial agreement until graduation.
Madison was different, and not just because she was carrying his child. Okay, that did make a huge difference, but maybe it was just the difference he needed. Collin had always thought he’d one day start a family, but one day never came. Now, he had to seriously consider that this might be the best chance he’d ever get to settle down. He’d never really been forced to think about it, and he knew himself well enough to realize that without proper motivation, he’d keep putting family on the back burner.
He glanced at the wall of pillows between them and had to laugh a little. She kept surprising him. She’d be harder to win over than he’d thought. He shut his eyes, thinking that being in her bed was closer to his goal than being out of it, pillows or not.
Then, he remembered Jimmy Reese and his muscles tightened. He knew the man probably had no idea the two of them were on this island, but he also knew that he couldn’t take any chances. Not with Madison. Or the baby.
* * *
COLLIN WOKE TO the feeling of warmth and softness in his arms. For a second, he forgot where he was as he snuggled up to the warm body next to him. Then, distantly, he remembered—North Captiva Island. Madison’s bedroom. Madison was pregnant with his baby. The thought sent a shiver of satisfaction through him, even though he lay with his eyes closed against the rising sunlight. So, sometime during the night, Madison had softened toward him, moved away the barrier of pillows and snuggled into him. Maybe the standoffish defense attorney had a soft spot for him after all. Maybe she didn’t dislike him as much as she said she did.
He pulled the warm body closer, and then, suddenly, got a wet lick across the face.
That wasn’t Madison.
His eyes flew open and he saw Teddy sitting on top of a pillow, licking his face. He glanced around the bed but there was no sign of Madison. Just the puppy in all his furry glory.
“Well, this is great,” he mumbled, as the puppy continued to cover his cheek in saliva. “Stop it,” he growled, pushing the animal away. But the yellow dog wouldn’t be deterred as he gave Collin’s face another slobbery dog kiss, tail thumping hard against the covers. Collin propped himself up on one elbow to see that he was alone in the bedroom with the pup. Where had Madison gone?
Then he heard a telltale retching sound from behind the closed bathroom door. This was followed by a flush of the toilet.
He swung his legs out and got up, hurrying across the floor. He knocked softly.
“You okay?” he asked the closed door.
“Fine,” Madison grumbled. But then, she heaved again.
“You don’t sound fine,” he said, trying to turn the doorknob, only to find it locked. “Madison, let me in.”
“Be out...one minute,” she called and flushed the toilet once more.
Collin felt an urgent need to help. Worry flicked across his mind. Did she eat something bad? Was it the flu? Could either one hurt the baby? Or was this morning sickness? He rattled the doorknob a second time.
“Madison, come on, let me in.”
He could hear the faucet running, and then it stopped. The bathroom lock clicked open as she swung the door wide.
“I said I’m fine.” She looked pale, her hair disheveled, her mouth wet from where she’d splashed water. She was anything but fine.
“You don’t look...”
Suddenly, her eyes grew wid
e, she clapped a hand on her mouth and pivoted on her heel. In seconds, she’d run back to the open toilet and threw up once more. Collin jumped quickly into the room, holding back her hair into a makeshift ponytail. It brought him back to his college days, when he used to work at a local bar. He’d held back the hair of many a girl he knew in that restroom.
Madison was too weak to fend him off, so she let him help her. Teddy, concerned, sat at the door of the bathroom and whined. Madison’s last dry heave stopped and she straightened, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
“Are you okay? Fever?” Collin let her hair go and put a palm on her forehead. She felt cool, no fever.
“No.” Madison shook her head. “Morning sickness.” She pointed to her lower abdomen.
“How long has this been going on?”
“Since I peed on a stick, pretty much,” she said. Madison moved to the sink and turned on the faucet, running her hand beneath the tap and rinsing out her mouth.
“Every morning?” Collin couldn’t believe it. Suddenly, he realized how Madison had been suffering these last few weeks. Suffering alone. He didn’t like that. She shouldn’t have had to suffer daily, vomiting by herself. He should’ve been there. Yet, how could he have been? She’d never even told him. Maybe never planned to tell him.
“Every morning, and sometimes every afternoon,” Madison said, looking exhausted.
“Can you... Can you keep anything down?” Now, Collin was beginning to worry about the baby. Was he getting any food?
Madison gave a reluctant nod. “Sometimes I can. I’m usually better after I eat a little.”
“Then let’s get you some food.” Collin helped her out of the bathroom, and Madison even took his elbow for support. He shoved down his feelings of resentment that she hadn’t told him, hadn’t shared her burden. Right now, the priority was to get some food in her stomach. Feed mother and baby.
“First, could you take Teddy out?” she asked, looking pale. “I don’t want him to...”
She ran back into the bathroom and retched again.
“I should stay with you. Fix you some food. If you can keep it down, that is.”
She shook her head and pointed away from her. Teddy sat at his feet and whined. He looked for her belt, the makeshift leash, then hooked it onto his collar and led him downstairs to the door.
“Okay, dog, we’re going out. You’re gonna do your business and then we’re going in,” he said in his strictest voice. Teddy, however, cocked his head to one side, clearly not understanding. Still, Collin walked the dog confidently out to the small yard.
He scowled down at the puppy. “Now, you go,” he said in his best do-as-I-say voice.
The dog just gazed up at him, tail wagging.
“Go,” he said. “Go. Poop. Pee. Whatever you need to do.”
The dog’s pink tongue lolled out, and Collin felt his frustration rise.
“Go. Now.” He rattled the belt. The dog continued to sit there, staring at him. He didn’t even bother to sniff the grass.
“Go, dog.” He pulled Teddy to his feet and walked him in a little circle. The dog followed happily but still didn’t sniff the grass or give any sign that he was going to do anything other than follow Collin’s ankles.
He tried a few more walks around the small yard; the dog didn’t seem at all interested. Maybe he didn’t need to go.
Collin felt he ought to get back to the house. Madison was sick, and she needed food, and she’d be in no condition to prepare it herself. He walked Teddy up the stairs and into the patio door.
Then, predictably, the dog, freed from the leash, trotted over to the corner and...peed a giant puddle.
“No, no, no, no!” he cried. “No! Teddy! No!”
“What is it?” Madison called from upstairs. She glanced down from the stairwell and saw the mess. “I thought I asked you to take him out.”
“I did. For fifteen minutes! I ordered him to go, but clearly he prefers inside.”
“You ordered him to go,” Madison repeated. Color was starting to return to her cheeks, and she sent him a lopsided smile.
“Yes. He’s a dog. I’m a human. I ordered him to go.” Collin thought the chain of command was pretty straightforward. Humans sat at the top. Period.
“I guess that didn’t work too well. Maybe you can’t just order people around.”
“Teddy’s a dog, not a person.”
“We probably don’t work in very different ways. Dogs and people, I mean.” Madison came down the stairs as Collin got the roll of paper towels and went about sopping up the mess.
“Bad dog,” he growled at Teddy, who seemed not to understand. Madison came and scooped him up in her arms, rewarding his rebellious behavior in Collin’s opinion. “You’re just encouraging him,” he said.
Madison giggled. “Who’s an adorable little puppy? You are!” she sang to the dog in a high-pitched voice as they both moved to the kitchen.
Collin washed his hands at the sink. “You still hungry?”
“I should probably try to eat something,” she admitted.
Collin threw open the refrigerator door and peered in. She had eggs and yogurt, a single container of blueberries and a carton of milk. He glanced in the pantry and found some pancake mix.
“Blueberry pancakes?” he offered, and she raised her eyebrows in surprise. Teddy barked his approval.
Madison laughed again. “He obviously wants some,” she said, looking at the pup.
“He’s not getting any,” Collin teased back as he gathered up the necessary ingredients.
“So...you cook?” Madison’s oversized T-shirt slipped down one side of her arm, revealing her smooth brown shoulder. He tried not to be distracted by it, although everything about Madison was distracting. She looked just as striking without makeup as she did with it, her natural beauty evident in her smooth blemish-free skin. Her dark eyes studied him. They were large, reminding him of a doe’s. Big, luminous, hypnotic.
“Since I was a kid.”
“Really? I never thought you’d be...” She hesitated as she searched for the right word. She took a hairband from her wrist and wrapped her hair in a messy ponytail. “Domesticated.”
Teddy got tired of sitting and waiting for his share and began wandering around the kitchen, sniffing the floor for scraps. Madison watched as he made his way around.
“It’s about survival. I’ve been cooking breakfast since I was seven.” Collin grabbed a big bowl from the cabinet and began measuring out the pancake mix. He cracked two eggs and expertly poured them in, then added some plump blueberries. He stirred, feeling Madison’s watchful eyes on him.
“That’s young,” she said.
“Like I told you, Mom worked two jobs, sometimes three.” He searched for a pan and found one in a lower cabinet. He set it on the gas stovetop, and turned the gas on with a click and a whoosh. Then he flicked a pad of butter into the pan. He wished he’d thought to bring over a shirt, but he’d just have to flip pancakes without one. At least it wasn’t bacon.
“She was too exhausted to cook most of the time, so that fell to me. Sunday was the only day she didn’t have to get up at four to take the morning shift at the bakery where she worked, so I’d make pancakes. My sister would fry up sausage. Then we’d go to church. That was our Sunday.” Collin poured a little batter into the pan.
“Aw. That’s so...sweet.”
He glanced up, frowning. “Don’t sound so surprised.” Why did she always assume he was a jerk? He wasn’t a jerk. Not most of the time. Just to dogs who refused to pee outside. She sat on a chair at the kitchen table.
“The thing is, you’re such a...”
“Hard-ass,” he finished for her.
“Well, I wasn’t going to say that, exactly...” She sunk her chin into her hands as she rested her elbows on the table.
�
�But you were thinking it.” He got a spatula from a nearby drawer and flipped the pancake. It went smoothly, and the cooked side was a perfect golden brown. He hadn’t lost his touch.
She chuckled. “Yes, I guess so.”
“You’d better get used to the fact that I’m deep,” he said. “Lots of layers to this onion.” He grinned and she broke out laughing, throwing her head back and showing her bright white smile. She was beautiful. She reminded him of his mother in that moment—his mother when she wasn’t worn-out and tired; his mother when she lounged around in her pajamas, looking relaxed and not so stressed. She’d loved his pancakes, heaped praise on them. He remembered how he’d enjoyed taking care of his mother, since she worked so hard to take care of him and Sophia.
Collin flipped the pancake onto a waiting plate, then started another. Soon, he had a perfect stack. He divided them between two plates and took them to the table, adding syrup and two glasses of milk. Collin felt full of satisfaction when Madison hungrily dug in.
“Oh...” She groaned in pleasure. “These are so good,” she mumbled, her mouth full. She took a big drink of milk. “You really can cook.”
“Get used to it,” he said. “I’ll be doing this a lot more often. When we’re married.”
She froze, a bite halfway to her mouth. “You can’t be serious.” She stood then, taking a little of her pancake, without syrup, and putting it on a plate.
“Better not feed him—” but she was already placing the plate down on the floor “—table food.” Collin shrugged and shook his head. That dog would be spoiled soon. Probably wouldn’t even eat dog food if they ever got some. Teddy instantly wolfed down his breakfast, eating so quickly Collin was afraid he might choke.
“Slow down, buddy,” he cautioned, not that the dog could understand him.
“He’s not too interested in taking orders from you,” she said.
“He ought to be if he knows what’s good for him.” He glanced at Madison. “And at some point, you and I need to talk. I am serious. I meant that proposal.” He raised his fork and popped an oversized bite of syrup-drenched pancake into his mouth.
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