by Lori Foster
But he couldn’t stop himself from asking over his shoulder, “How did you expect me to look?” And, he added silently, needing the information if he hoped to succeed in his new altruistic plans, whom did you hear it from?
“I dunno.” She followed on his heels, the squishing and squeaking of her sneakers echoed by the tapping of Cleo’s nails. “I thought maybe you’d have long hair, like the guys who model for the women’s magazines. Maybe gold necklaces. Something along the lines of the gigolo look.”
Finding her description absurd, Max shook his head. He picked up a towel and turned to face her. “Here you go.”
She swiped at her face and throat. “You’re not offended, are you?”
“More like amused. And curious.” No woman he’d ever been with would have described him as anything less than macho, virile…but never a gigolo.
Intrigued, he asked, “Who’s been talking about me?”
“Your sister, mostly.”
Max almost tripped over his own two feet. “Annie?” Well, hell, that wasn’t in the least exciting.
“Yes. Your sister loves you dearly, and she’s very proud of you. But she claims you’re a reprobate.”
“Annie told you I wear gold chains?”
Maddie laughed. It was a nice laugh—natural, warm. Cleo stared at her as if confused, her doggy lips rolling and shuddering as she gave a low growl.
“No, that part I imagined all on my own. Annie just told me what a romancer you are, how women seem to find you irresistible.”
Max nodded. As many women as men read his column. And they sent him letters of appreciation. He knew women, inside and out, body and soul.
Which was why his weekly column was so successful. He liked it that no one knew he wrote the thing. Anonymity was his friend, otherwise he could just imagine the women who’d be chasing him. It was bad enough that his reputation was so well known, but if women found out he was the weekly love expert…
“I’ve heard about you from some other women, too.”
Her statement drew Max out of his reverie. “Is that right?”
Maddie blotted at her hair as she spoke, oblivious to the sexy display of her breasts beneath the transparent tee. For the most part, Max kept his gaze fixedly on her face. But he was human and male and that combination made it impossible to ignore her tightened nipples completely. He couldn’t not look every now and then.
“You’re the world traveler,” Maddie claimed with fanfare, “the lover extraordinaire, the prize every woman wants to win.”
Her candid banter charmed Max. He couldn’t quite decide if she was coming on to him, or poking fun at him, but she did it in such a way that either was okay. It was a unique approach, one he was unfamiliar with.
He leaned in the doorway, Cleo by his side. “Every woman?”
That crooked grin appeared again. “Certainly. I feel ready to faint just being in your presence. The sexual vibes are all but knocking me over. Why do you think I spent so long on the floor?”
Biting back a grin, Max asked, “Because you’d nearly knocked yourself out?”
“Au contraire. Because I opened my eyes—”
“One eye.”
“—and saw you and the world tilted. I was far too dizzy to sit up straight.”
Those beautiful eyes—both of them for double the impact—twinkled at Max, keeping him from knowing how serious she might be.
She started to dry her shirt, looked down and gasped. “Good grief!” She shielded her breasts with the towel and glared at Max. “You could have said something!”
Purposely being obtuse, Max asked, “About what?”
“About…about… I’m showing through!”
He shrugged. “It didn’t bother me.”
Grumbling under her breath, Maddie turned her back on him and tied the towel around her upper body, knotting it at the side like a sarong. Cleo barked, the sound far from playful.
“There, you see?” Maddie said over her shoulder. “The dog agrees that despite your reputation, you should have been gentleman enough to let me know that more was showing than should have been.”
“Actually,” Max explained, “Cleo just hates people to turn their backs on her. She distrusts anyone who does.”
“Oh.” Maddie shifted slightly toward Cleo, tilted her head, and said with real sincerity, “Sorry girl. But Max was rude for not saying anything.”
Apologizing to his dog?
Cleo snarled.
“Aha!” Maddie said. “She obviously agrees that you’re lacking in manners.”
“Because I didn’t tell you that your breasts were showing?” Max watched her closely, waiting for her to blush. She was far too cocky to suit him.
Maddie nodded at him instead. “Exactly.”
Her lack of embarrassment disappointed him.
“You should have told me. A gentleman always lets a lady know when her modesty is threatened. And being a gentleman doesn’t detract from your reputation, I promise.”
“Okay.” Glancing down at her plump bottom in the snug jeans, Max said, “You’ve got a rip.”
She blinked at him over her shoulder, not understanding. “I’ve got a…?”
“Rip. In the seat of your jeans. Your panties, which match your bra and are really quite pretty, by the way, are showing.”
Max watched as she slapped her hands over her behind. It was a generous, well-rounded behind and her hands weren’t adequate. He added, “Just being a gentleman.”
Maddie back-stepped to a chair in the seating area of the bookstore and plopped down. “I don’t suppose you have another towel?”
“Nope. Best I can do is offer my shirt.”
She flashed that silly, endearing grin. “Now, I certainly couldn’t turn that down. But not yet please. I need to keep my wits about me for a bit longer, at least until I’ve gotten what I came for.”
“Which is?” Max pulled out his own chair and straddled it to face her. The storm still raged, rain lashing the front windows and lightning splitting the dark afternoon sky. Thunder belched and rolled.
The lights in the bookstore flickered once, and all three occupants looked up to see if they’d go out. When they stayed on, Cleo settled herself nervously at Max’s side, her head on his foot.
Max absently patted the dog while watching Maddie. She really was cute, though he hadn’t thought so at first. And he enjoyed chatting with her. The things she said took him by surprise—not that he’d ever admit it to her.
It was a cozy scene, comfortable, until Maddie said, “Annie told me about Satisfying Alternatives to Intercourse.”
Max almost fell off his chair. He did jerk to his feet to tower over Maddie, disbelieving what she’d said, not about to hear this concerning his baby sister, never mind that Annie was getting married soon. His reaction startled Cleo who howled like a hungry wolf.
“Now I see where she gets it,” Maddie muttered, eyeing Max’s antagonistic stance.
Startled, Max wondered if she was right, but he didn’t relax one bit.
Shaking her head, Maddie gave an aggrieved sigh. “Well. It’s obvious you know nothing about it.”
Max choked. “Ha! I know a great deal as a matter of fact!” If he hadn’t sworn off casual sex, Max thought, he’d show her just how much he knew.
“No.” Maddie shook her head, looking somewhat pitying and utterly positive over her conclusions. “You’re clueless.”
Heat rose up Max’s neck. He felt his male consequence pricked, challenged. In a tone caught between menace and sultry promise, he said, “I can name any number of alternatives. As to how satisfying they are, I suppose that’d depend—”
She actually laughed at him. “Down boy.”
Cleo sat.
Maddie laughed again. “At least the dog obeys.”
Ready to strangle her, Max shook his head. “Only when she wants to, which isn’t often.” Then he added, “And never for women. Cleo hates women.”
“She doesn’t appear to hate
me.”
“I know. Strange.”
Maddie leaned forward, teasing glints in her blue eyes and whispered, “It’s a book, Max.”
“What’s a book?”
Her eyelashes were spiked from the rain, her collarbone still dewy, and she smelled nice. Like the fresh air outside and a sexy woman inside. His muscles tightened. She was teasing and bold and funny…and she liked Cleo.
He wanted her, dammit, but he had made that ridiculous vow to his contrary dog.
“I work at the women’s shelter,” Maddie said, “teaching classes and counseling various groups. One of our biggest problems used to be unplanned pregnancy, but with one of the groups I have now, there’s more to it. I mentioned this to Annie, and she ordered me a book that she’d heard about.”
So she was a counselor, Max thought with admiration, and decided her extra empathy and area of expertise had a lot to do with why she’d so easily understood Cleo, and gotten past the dog’s bluster. An amazing woman.
And an amazing reaction for him. He could never recall having such an instant liking and respect for a female.
On the heels of that thought, comprehension dawned. Max resumed his seat. “Satisfying Alternatives to Intercourse.”
“Yes, that’s the title.” Maddie bit her lips, and Max thought she was trying to keep from laughing at him again. He appreciated her restraint. Of course, he also enjoyed the sound of her laughter.
“Annie left me a message last week saying the book was in, but I haven’t had a chance to pick it up until now.”
Max continued to watch her, a variety of thoughts winging through his mind—most of them now centered around why an attractive, intelligent woman would need a damn book to tell her such things. She had to be, oh, maybe twenty-six or so. Old enough to have learned plenty of alternatives by now. Heck, he’d even invented a few, and that was while he was still a teen.
“So you’re going to use this book for…research?”
“More as a reference. It’s nice to be able to state documented facts to back me up when I give information or make recommendations. Also, what I learn in the book will help make me more credible in some situations. Despite my four-year degree, two years specialized and two years in the field, I still get teased for being a newbie.”
Fascinated, Max asked, “Wouldn’t women accept what is said more readily if it came from…experience?”
Max hoped she’d give a clue as to whether or not her brazenness was derived from experience or just plain old cockiness. With women you could never tell, and he’d long ago learned never to make an assumption about a lady.
But his question backfired on him in a big way.
“That’s an excellent idea! It’s so nice of you to volunteer!”
“But I never…” Max faltered. “Volunteer for what, exactly?”
“Why, to talk to the women, of course.” Leaning forward, her damn towel gaping a bit, she elbowed him in a show of conspiracy. “I can imagine you’d hold their attention, at least.”
Max leaned back in his chair in appalled denial. “Absolutely not.”
“You’re refusing?”
“Yes!”
Scrunching up her face with a dark frown, Maddie grumbled, “Then it was worthless advice.”
Max glanced down at Cleo and they shared a look. Strangely enough, the dog was silent. Her tongue lolled out one side of her mouth, and there was a look of confusion on her furry face that mirrored Max’s. He cleared his throat. “Uh, you could tell them.”
She seemed to give that a lot of thought. “After you tell me?”
He supposed that answered his question about experience. Maybe. With this one he couldn’t be certain. But his curiosity grew by leaps and bounds with every word she uttered. “I’ll be glad to…discuss things with you.”
“Hmm. I’ll think on that. Now—” Maddie tilted her head. “—do you happen to know where Annie might have put it?”
“It?”
She made a sound of exasperation. “You do have trouble following along, don’t you?”
“Not usually, no.” In fact, he was generally the one guiding the conversation. He wasn’t sure if he liked this new development.
Maddie drummed her fingers on the chair arm. “The book? The reason I’m out in this miserable storm in the first place?”
“I’ll look.” In fact, he’d be glad of the opportunity to gather his wits and get his thoughts back in order. But just as he said it, another rumbling boom split the air with deafening force. The lights flickered and went out.
Max, slowly sinking back into his seat, said, “Then again, maybe I won’t.”
They weren’t in total darkness. Though the sky was gray and threatening, it was still midafternoon and some light penetrated the thick, ominous clouds. Added to that was the continuous flash of lightning, strobing across the sky. But the sudden obliteration of every noise—no humming light fixtures, no air-conditioning, no buzz from the small refrigerator in the back room—left them in a cocoon of silence.
Cleo yowled and launched her rotund body into Max’s lap. Since she wasn’t exactly a small dog, and in fact bordered on fat, she was an armful. Fur went up his nose, into his eyes, and a wet snout snuggled frantically into his neck.
Max caught her close, but couldn’t prevent his chair from tipping sideways and both man and dog went sprawling flat.
Over Cleo’s panicked rumble, Max explained, “She’s jittery in storms anyway, which is why I have her with me today, but she’s especially afraid of the dark.”
Max expected some criticism from the woman. But as he attempted to soothe Cleo, crooning to her and rubbing her ears, Maddie left her chair and knelt beside them. Her knee bumped Max’s chin.
“Poor doggy. It’s okay.” Cleo whimpered and barked and snarled, but still Maddie stroked her.
Her understanding was seductive. And Max could smell her again, that fresh sexy smell of woman and rain. He cleared his throat, afraid he was fighting a losing battle.
Maddie straightened. “I’m going to go lock the door. It’s never a good idea to leave your shop open in a blackout.”
Since she’d evidently forgotten about the tear in her jeans, Max got to glimpse those satiny pink panties again as she rushed across the room to the door. She should have looked ridiculous, he thought, what with her hair wet and a towel tied around her breasts.
Instead, she looked oddly enticing. At her ease, obviously very familiar with the shop and his sister, with soothing fractious creatures, human and animal alike. Maddie flipped the many locks and turned the Closed sign around.
When she faced Max again, there was a funny expression on her shadowed face. A look of mixed anticipation, wariness, and greed. Yes, it was definitely greed. Strange.
“I suppose,” she whispered, her eyes never leaving his face, “we should both be heading out.”
Max nodded and sat up, Cleo’s quivering, lumpy body held protectively in his lap. “Yeah. I need to get her home. She’ll be more comfortable there.”
Maddie bit her bottom lip. “The thing is, I took the bus here. And now—”
“You don’t relish sitting at the bus stop in this storm and with no lights.”
She nodded. “And wearing a towel and with a rip in my pants. I don’t suppose I could impose on you for a ride?”
That look was still in her eyes, driving Max beyond curiosity. No matter what he told himself, he simply couldn’t let her walk away. Not yet. “I can take you home. No problem.”
And maybe by taking her home he could learn a little more about her. If she’d be suitable as a wife, well then, he owed it to himself to find out.
Her smile was blinding in the dim room. “Thank you.”
“About your book…”
“It’d be hard to find in this darkness, I’m sure. Unless you know exactly where Annie put it?”
“Nope. Afraid not.” Doggy slobber ran down his neck and into his collar. Did Cleo have to drool when she was nervous? But then ag
ain, she was always nervous. Which was why Max felt compelled to give her a stable home, to show her the good side of life.
Max hugged her closer to his heart—and he saw a very discerning, sympathetic smile on Maddie’s face.
“I can come back tomorrow and get it from Annie,” she said in a soft voice that made his muscles clench.
“Annie may not be here.” Readjusting his bundle, Max stood and faced her, trying to ignore the rushing of his pulse. “I’m minding the shop for her while she and Guy make wedding plans.”
Maddie’s frown reappeared before she forced a smile. “That’s right, she’s getting married, isn’t she? That’s, um, wonderful.” In a stage whisper, she added, “Guy is a hunk.”
Max scowled both at the compliment to another man, and the attitude she couldn’t hide. “Annie’s marrying him because they love each other.”
“Of course.”
Max glared at her. “You sound skeptical and you aren’t even hiding it well.”
Maddie lifted one shoulder in a negligent shrug and brightened her smile another watt. “I’m sure they’ll be blissfully happy. I just don’t happen to believe in matrimony.”
Cursing under his breath, Max asked, “Care to tell me why?”
“Sure, why not? But let’s do this on the ride to my house.” She turned away, again forgetting about the rip in her jeans. But Max noticed big time. He hoped she wasn’t serious about not believing in marriage, because if she were, he’d have to stop noticing.
And he’d definitely have to put his lust on hold.
2
HE HAS A DOG, Maddie thought with a wistful sigh. A fat, ugly, needy dog that he treated like a queen. Her heart thumped with unnamed emotions; suddenly, Max Sawyers no longer seemed like just a sexy body, but also a very compassionate and sensitive man. Those extra qualities only added to his appeal—but they also made him something of a risk. She didn’t want to be drawn to him in any way but sexually!
Annie should have told her more about him. She’d said Max was good-looking, but she hadn’t explained that he was devastatingly gorgeous. And she’d said he was cavalier about life, but cavalier men did not commit themselves to mutts.
