by Lori Foster
Maddie nodded and when he lifted his hand she asked, “Always?”
He grinned. “Yeah.”
She bit her lip, and her gaze tried to see him below the water, but the bubbles made that impossible. Finally she sighed. “Okay. Can I go get my surprise now?”
Max stalled. “Uh, now?” He looked around. The yard was secluded, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to get into anything too frisky out in the open that way. “What about waiting until we—”
Before he could finish, she’d scrambled out of the hot tub—giving Max a delectable glimpse of her pale round bottom—then darted for the door. She was back in less than half a minute with her bag.
Max stiffened, anxious and turned on and curious.
To his surprise she called Cleo to her and the dog came running, her tooth-punctured ball clamped in her mouth. Cleo growled and grumbled and groused as she approached Maddie, but her tail was out and wagging. Max leaned back into the water and felt contentment swell inside him.
Life was good with his dog happy and his woman making him crazy with lust.
All he had to do was figure out this love business.
“Come here, Cleo,” Maddie was saying and she seemed oblivious to her nakedness now. Max was far from unaware. The chill of being wet and in the cool air had Maddie’s nipples drawn tight. He could almost taste her.
Reaching into the bag, Maddie lifted out the ornate collar. Red leather, with colorful studs, just as she’d ordered.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” she asked Max. “I couldn’t find anything pretty enough for Cleo at the pet store, but I’d noticed her collar was looking a little old.”
Max stared at the decorative, gaudy fetish collar and wanted to roar in hilarity at his own misconceptions.
He also wanted to moan out his disappointment. Though at first he hadn’t been too keen on getting kinky, he’d kind of gotten used to it.
“She didn’t like for me to mess with it,” Max explained, nearly choking on his suppressed laughter.
Maddie nodded. “This one is pretty. I found it at a…specialty shop. She’ll like it. It looks fit for a queen.”
A queen indeed, Max thought.
Cleo held perfectly still as Maddie removed the old leather collar and replaced it with the new. Once Maddie was done, the dog cast a nervous, uncertain glance at Max, which made him wonder if she knew where it had come from.
He not only had a kinky woman, but now his dog looked a bit risqué as well.
Max was grinning too much to reassure Cleo, so she looked away and shook her head. The collar was butter-soft red leather and sparkled with multihued faux gems and shining studs.
Cleo’s rough yellow fur stuck out in clumps around it.
Still clutching her bag and looking at the dog, Maddie backed up next to where Max lounged in the tub. She sighed dreamily. “Doesn’t she look wonderful?”
Max looked at Maddie, his heart feeling as swollen as his male parts always did when she was around. The combination was explosive. “Yes, she does.”
Cleo again shook her head to get a feel for the collar, woofed in acceptance, then grabbed up the hapless ball. With a snarl, she ran off to do battle, slinging the ball away then snatching it back again for more punishment.
Max reached out of the tub to hook his arm around Maddie’s hips. “You’ll never guess what I thought you had in that bag.”
When he recalled his heated visions of bondage and dominance games, Max’s pulse raced. There would still be time to play those games, he decided. He’d find the time.
Maddie’s eyes were hot when she looked at him again. Of course, they were still swollen and red, too, and dog hair clung tenaciously to her cheeks and forehead. “You won’t guess,” she purred, “what I do have.”
Lust surged upward, nearly obliterating everything else. Max sat up on the bench in the tub, retaining his hold on Maddie, and said, “Tell me.”
Smiling wickedly, she pulled out a large white feather and whisked it around in the air. “I found this when I bought the collar and couldn’t resist. I’ve decided I want to try it.”
Max eyed the feather. “On what?”
“On you.”
His stomach clenched hard and he met her gaze. “Because that’s what your ex-fiancé was doing?”
“No.” She leaned down and kissed the end of his nose, then whispered, “Because the idea of having you tied up and at my mercy is very appealing.”
Max tried to peek into the bag. “What else do you have in there?” No way would he let her use the damn feather on him, but using it on her might be fun.
Maddie held the bag away, then lifted out a velvet mitt. “This is for stroking.”
“Ah.” He knew just where he’d use it on her, too. “Anything else?”
Not quite meeting his gaze, Maddie mumbled something, and Max said, “What’s that?”
She mumbled again, scuffing her bare toe along the edge of the hot tub.
Max tipped up her chin, curiosity humming thickly through his veins. “What else did you buy, honey?”
Maddie hesitated, then reached defiantly into the bag and withdrew a sexy little barely there camisole of cream lace. It had interesting cutouts where her nipples would be, and ended at about her hipbones. Max shuddered, just imagining Maddie decorated with that bit of fluff.
“Nice,” he rasped.
Maddie clutched the camisole to her chest. “Really?”
“Oh yeah.” Forcing his gaze to her face, he said, “You’ll look great.” Then he added, “But no better than you do standing here right now, buck naked with dog hairs sticking to your skin and your hair all mussed.”
She frowned.
He meant it.
Max reached for her. “Come here, sweetheart. I want to talk to you.”
She dropped the feather and the lingerie onto a lawn chair and climbed back into the tub with a splash. When she started to sit beside him, Max again brought her onto his lap—facing him this time.
Max cupped the water in his palms and rinsed her cheeks, her chest, until the dog hairs were gone and all that was left was the effects of her tears. He supposed Maddie was one of those women whose eyes stayed puffy for hours after crying. He didn’t mind.
He kissed her chin, her nose, her soft mouth. “Why were you crying, honey?”
Maddie played with his chest hair. “I already told you.”
“Because you love me?” Max had never felt vulnerable before, but he felt totally exposed saying the words to Maddie now. If he had heard her wrong, if she denied them, he wasn’t sure what he’d do. His heart rapped sharply, clapping against his ribs.
She bobbed her head. “Yes.”
“And that’s a bad thing?” He wanted her to look at him, but she kept averting her face.
“It hurts.” She peeked at him, then pressed herself hard against him with a bear hug. “I don’t want to put any other notches on my bedpost.”
“Thank God.” Max returned her hug.
“I don’t want you to leave me, either, but I promise I won’t be a pain about it. If you…if you want to see me occasionally still, I think I’d like that.”
“Maddie, where is it you think I’m going?”
“You took the job with your father.” She squeezed him so hard she nearly choked him.
“You’re going to be traveling again.”
“A little.” Max stroked her back, then her soft bottom. “And only if you and Cleo can come with me most of the time.”
Maddie bolted back so hard she lost her balance and toppled off Max’s lap. Her head went underwater then she reappeared with a sputter. Max caught her beneath the arms and lifted her.
“For crying out loud, Maddie! What are you doing? Trying to drown yourself?” He wasn’t sure he liked such a volatile reaction to his suggestion.
Maddie spit out chlorinated water and wheezed, “You want us to travel with you? Really?”
The tension that had been squeezing his heart started to ease. Max grinne
d. “Yeah, really. Cleo needs me too much to be left behind very often. And I’d only leave her with you, anyway. No one else.”
Her smile was beautiful, brighter than the afternoon sun lighting the yard. “You trust me that much?”
Max nodded. “When I go places too far for Cleo to go along, I’ll have to leave her behind. I’d feel better knowing she’s with you, because she loves you.”
Maddie looked toward the yard where Cleo was performing the strange act of dragging herself forward with just her front legs, scratching her behind on the ground. Maddie chuckled. “I love her, too, and I’d be happy to watch her for you.”
“Here?” Max ventured, pushing just a little. “Because she’d be most comfortable in her own house.”
With a wary stillness, Maddie looked at Max. “Okay, if that’s what you want.”
Max shoved aside his uncertainty—as any manly man would do—and stated, “You know, if you’re going to be staying here sometimes, you really ought to get over this silly aversion you have to marriage and give the idea some thought. I mean, you said you love me, and you said you love my dog. Right?”
Maddie’s bottom lip quivered. Oh hell, Max thought. If she started crying again he didn’t know what he’d do. Her eyes would end up swollen shut.
Maddie gulped. “You…you’d want to marry me?”
He never hesitated. “Yes. I told you all along that I was through with short-term affairs. But I swear, baby, I’d never cheat on you. Not like your ex did. So if that’s what’s worrying you—”
“Do you care about me, Max?”
She looked so uncertain, Max grabbed her up close and kissed her breathless.
“Care about you? I’m crazy nuts for you.”
“You are? It’s not just sex?”
“I’ve loved you,” Max growled against her mouth, “almost from the moment you threw yourself against the bookstore’s door. And by the time you fell inside on the floor, I was a goner.”
Maddie made a small sound of surprise and he kissed her hard again. Damn, he didn’t ever want to stop kissing her.
“I love how you taste, how you laugh, the crazy clothes you wear and the incredible things you do to my body. Hell, yes, I love the sex. And so much more. I especially love the way you take all the bluster away from Cleo and how you accept your friends and give so much of yourself. I kept telling myself that you’d be perfect for Cleo, but the fact is, you’re perfect for me.”
“Oh Max.” She sniffled loudly.
“I need you, Maddie. I already told my father that I didn’t want to travel and leave you behind. Not even for a few days. Not when I don’t have to.”
She pushed against his chest and sat up to face him. Being that she was on his lap, there was no way she could miss his erection.
She smiled. “I don’t want you to put off a great job with your family just because of me. As long as I know you’re coming back, I’ll be happy.”
Max cupped her cheek. “As long as I know you’re here waiting for me, I’ll be coming back.”
Maddie reached beneath the water and encircled his erection. “Too bad I don’t want to get the velvet glove wet.”
Max groaned. But he caught himself before succumbing. That thought amused him enough that he could fight off the lust. For just a moment. “I have another job you should probably know about.”
Dismayed, she paused in her attention to his body and said, “More travel?”
“No, writing.” He explained about the column he did for the magazine and to his surprise, Maddie glared at him.
“I read that column! You’re always so cynical!”
“I was uneducated.”
“Ha! You know more about women—”
“Their bodies, yes. But you’ve taught me about my own heart.”
Her frown melted away. “Oh, Max.” She kissed him, then asked hesitantly, “No one knows you write that column?”
“No, and I’d like to keep it that way.”
Maddie grinned in relief. “Me, too. I’m finding I’m the jealous sort—which is new for me—and I just know if anyone found out that you write—”
A familiar female voice intruded. “Well, well. Someone go get my shotgun.” Mavis sounded highly amused.
Max looked up and saw two of Maddie’s friends standing just inside the gate to the privacy fence.
Bea caught his eye and added, her own voice heavy with humor, “Is it legal to carry on out in the open like this?”
Maddie screeched and slipped neck deep into the water. Unfortunately, she went between Max’s legs and used his left thigh as an added shield. There was no way he could duck. A quick survey showed that his modesty was intact, thanks to the bubbling water and Maddie’s shoulders.
“Bea, Mavis,” Max said, trying not to lose his cool at the sudden turn of events. “What are you two doing here?”
Bea held out her arms in a grand gesture. “We came to tell Maddie that Carmilla is eloping! She and Tiny are heading to Las Vegas tonight and Carmilla expects a party when she returns.”
Maddie jostled around with joy, almost forgetting her state of undress. “That’s wonderful!”
Mavis laughed. “Yeah, she always talked about Tiny, but she figured he’d forgotten about her. Not so. She used your young fellow here as an excuse to get in touch with him again, and nature took care of the rest.”
Bea tipped her head at Max. “Looks like nature has been working on the both of you, too. So tell me, when’s the wedding?”
“Just as soon as I can arrange it,” Max said, and then his father stepped out of the house.
“Wedding! Why Max, that’s wonderful.” Dan didn’t look the least bit surprised to see his youngest son making merry in a hot tub with a naked young lady. He stepped out of the open patio doors and then caught sight of Mavis and Bea. He stopped stock-still, looking spellbound and tongue-tied.
“Uh, hello.”
A very slow smile spread over Bea’s face as she looked him over. She winked, then said in an aside to Mavis, “Dibs.”
Cleo suddenly noticed the crowd and began barking. Deciding she needed to protect her master she not only charged the newcomers, she put herself between them and her human family.
She leaped right into the hot tub.
MADDIE KNEW her face was still red. Red and swollen. But she was so happy, it didn’t matter. Max loved her. He wanted to marry her. Life couldn’t get much better.
She and Cleo were both drier now, except for their hair. Maddie had already combed her own and she sat on the floor, Cleo lying in front of her, while she untangled the dog’s fur. Everyone else was gathered at Max’s kitchen table. Dan had insisted on coffee and Mavis and Bea had seconded his vote. They all sipped a fresh cup, except for Max.
Dan, who could barely keep his eyes off Bea—which she obviously loved—said, “I came by to see if you’d be ready to travel as early as next weekend.” Sheepishly he admitted, “Now that I’ve finally gotten your agreement to join me in the business, I don’t want to take any chances on you backing out.”
Max, wearing only a pair of jeans and looking sexy enough to kill, leaned against the counter drinking juice. “Where to?”
“Minnesota. You’d have this whole week to get acquainted with the product and the price list.” Dan added hurriedly, “And of course your young lady and the dog are more than welcome to go along.”
Cleo snarled at Dan. She wasn’t the least bit happy having the house full, but Maddie was keeping her calm.
Max glanced at Maddie and she smiled. “I’m free.”
Max smiled, too, his look intimate enough that Bea and Mavis raised their brows and snickered. Dan gave both women another quick glance, then shared a small grin with Bea.
Max clapped his father on the back, drawing his attention away from Bea. “That’d be fine, then. I’ll be there bright and early tomorrow.”
Dan sent Maddie a look of gratitude. “I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to meet you, young lady. And I’m
thrilled you’ll be joining our family. Annie speaks very highly of you, and Lace has been singing your praises, too.”
Maddie felt ready to burst with happiness. Then Mavis stood. “All this lovey-dovey stuff is killing me. I wish you all well, but I’m much happier playing the field.”
Max grinned at her. “Another hot date tonight?”
“Every night, sweetie.”
Bea clasped Dan’s arm. “Why don’t you let me take you to lunch, sugar? Your son suggested I show you some of my slogans.”
Dan glanced at Max, his brow raised in question.
“She’s good, Dad. Very good.”
Bea gave a feline smile. “And I write great slogans, too.”
Dan choked, but quickly recovered. “Why, yes, lunch sounds very nice.”
Max shook his head. It seemed his whole world had gotten turned upside down in a relatively short time.
His brother had married, his sister had married—which included a long-time family friend getting hitched, too. Maddie had burst into his life and practically stolen his dog from him.
He glanced at her to see Cleo sprawled over her lap in bliss while Maddie bent to the task of combing out the tangles in the dog’s seldom seen tail. Maddie’s brows were drawn in concentration, her eyes still swollen, her nose still red.
Damn he loved her.
And now his father was actually smitten with a woman.
Max waited impatiently until everyone had left the house. Cleo whined at the back door and Maddie let her back out to fight with her ball. Dog hairs were all over Maddie’s fresh clothes, but thankfully there were none on her face. She went directly to Max and held him.
Max said, “Will you marry me soon?”
“As soon as you like.”
He grinned. “An agreeable woman. What a lucky cuss I am.” Then he added, “Now, about that bag of goodies you brought…”
Maddie looked up at him and smiled. “Thank you, Max.”
“For what, sweetheart?”
“For being a reprobate. For being a kinky, macho, adorable, loveable man.” She kissed him gently. “And mostly for being all mine.”
