She's So Over Him (Mills & Boon Modern Tempted)

by Wood, Joss

  ‘Ms Shaw?’

  Maddie jerked her attention back to the present and lifted her head to look at Slick, Slick and Slicker. Oh, good grief, now she’d forgotten their names! This was disastrous!

  A cool redhead dressed in a black designer suit sent a polite smile her way. Her voice was low but quick. ‘You’ve had a long day, Maddie, and we appreciate your patience.’

  She hadn’t been given a lot of choice.

  ‘We are very impressed with your portfolio and we’d like to offer you the position as events co-or-dinator within Bower & Co.’

  Well, duh. Maddie tried to feel excited and couldn’t. She didn’t want to be here in these smart offices, a million miles from where two oceans met at the tip of a continent. The redhead stood up on icepick heels to hand her a leather folder.

  ‘Here is your contract, your remuneration package and your scope of duties. I suggest you take the evening to read it and return the signed copy to us tomorrow.’

  Maddie placed her hand on the folder. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘However, there is a small issue that is not covered by the contract.’

  Of course there was, Maddie thought. She lifted her eyebrows. ‘What might that be?’

  The redhead—Anna Kidd! Good, she’d remembered one name—laughed.

  ‘Don’t look so worried. It’s just that we have scheduled our annual conference for the weekend of August eighteenth. We feel that it is imperative for you to be there. I understand that it means you flying back for a weekend, but we’ll cover your costs. It’ll give you an excellent opportunity to meet the team, establish some relationships and get an idea of how we work.’

  If that wasn’t a sign that this job was totally not for her, Maddie didn’t know what was. It couldn’t have been clearer if God had reached down and smacked her around the head.

  ‘That’s a generous offer.’ Maddie tapped her finger on the folder. ‘Except that I am unavailable that weekend.’

  Anna’s eyes cooled and her thin brows lifted in surprise. ‘May I ask with what?’

  Maddie considered lying, considered finding a quick excuse, and decided it didn’t matter if she told the truth.

  ‘I have a function I’m organising that weekend.’

  ‘Surely you have a colleague who could take it over?’ Slick Two asked in surprise.

  ‘It’s a function that I am organising pro-bono. A triathlon race for charity.’

  Anna Kidd’s dismissive laugh had the hair on the back of her neck standing up. ‘Surely you can explain to them that something more important has come up?’

  Maddie took a deep breath and pushed her chair back. ‘Except that this job offer is not more important. I made a commitment and I intend to see it through.’

  Three perfectly lipsticked mouths fell open. ‘You are prepared to risk this job for an event that you’re not even getting paid to do?’

  ‘It looks like it.’ Maddie pushed the folder away, suddenly deeply certain she was doing the right thing. She sent them a dazzling smile.

  Anna looked at her colleagues and then back at Maddie, utterly puzzled. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand this.’

  Maddie picked up her bag. ‘I can see that. I can also see that I wouldn’t be happy working for a company who can’t respect the fact that once I make a commitment to a project I have to honour it. Thank you for the offer, Ms Kidd, but I think I’ll pass. I’ve got a race to organise and a home to get back to. Send Dennis my love.’

  When Maddie had closed the boardroom door behind her she dropped her head and shrugged off the weight she’d been carrying around for the past couple of months.

  She didn’t belong here. Her life and any future happiness lay at the tip of Africa, even if her heart belonged to someone else.

  It was time to go home.

  Cale had had no idea that a month could be such a long time. The sun was setting on the eve of the race and Cale still thought of Maddie as being somewhere in the house, issuing orders, chasing down a detail. He kept expecting to bump into her rounding a corner, he rolled over in sleep looking for her, waited to hear her voice lifted in temper, laughter, reassurance. Oscar and Lance whined at his feet, and Marilyn’s jaw rested on her paws, her eyes on the driveway. Even his damn dogs missed her. Like them, he harboured the faint hope that at any moment he would hear the roar of her car as she careered up his driveway.

  Two minutes after Maddie’s plane had taken off he’d suspected that he had messed up. Now, sitting on the top step of the veranda, Cale recalled their last conversation again and admitted that he’d messed up badly. He should have asked her to stay—begged and grovelled if necessary.

  The past month without Maddie had taught him that life without her was the emotional equivalent of the sixteenth level of hell—that life held no guarantees, gave no refunds. You simply had to take what blessings you were given and be grateful. Maddie was a huge blessing and he’d let her go. Cale suspected that was very bad karma.

  He felt movement behind him and glanced up as Megan rested a hand on his shoulder and sat on the concrete step next to him. Wrapping his hands around the coffee mug she gave him, he smiled his thanks.

  ‘Oliver would have loved her as a sister-in-law,’ Megan said. ‘He would have said that she is perfect for you. Outgoing, vivacious, independent. Fun.’

  ‘All the things I’m not,’ Cale muttered into his coffee.

  Megan leaned back and twisted so that her back rested against the wall. Cale recognised her expression—the same one she used when the boys were being particularly stroppy.

  ‘Feeling sorry for yourself?’

  ‘Damn right. It’s the night before the race and instead of working I’m sitting here thinking about a woman.’

  Megan smirked as she threaded her hand through his arm. ‘How the mighty have fallen.’

  Cale glared at her, resting his arms on his knees. ‘If you’re going to be sarcastic, you can just go away.’

  ‘Oooh, testy too!’ Megan chuckled at his annoyed face.

  They sat in silence for few minutes, listening to the sound of the high tide crashing on the rocks and Lance’s gentle huffing.

  Cale placed his coffee cup on the step between his feet and stared at the dark garden.

  ‘I know she loves you. Do you love her?’

  He took a sip of coffee and scowled. That was such a girl question! ‘Hell, I suppose so! I don’t know what else could be causing me to feel so miserable. I’ve never wanted to be loved—in love,’ he added.

  Megan grinned. ‘Don’t be stupid. Everyone does. You’re just scared. A sexy, smart, funny, independent woman loves you. You should be getting on your knees and thanking God for her.’

  ‘What if I can’t persuade her not to take the job? To stay here? Or, if she does stay, what if we can’t make it work?’

  Cale felt Megan’s shrug.

  ‘You’ve done a pretty good job of making it work so far. But you weigh it up. What would be worse? Maddie or no Maddie? How’s this month been for you, champ?’

  ‘Absolutely awful. She has the power to annihilate me.’

  Megan rested her head on his shoulder. ‘Well, that’s the flipside—the risk. But such joy, such exquisite joy, is on the other side of the coin, Cale. I don’t know what your future holds. All I can say is on one hand you risk getting your heart stomped on by a herd of angry buffalo, but on the other you risk not experiencing great happiness.’ Megan stood up and slapped her hands against her thighs. ‘So, I’m here to tell you, on behalf of your twin, to pull your head out of your bum and to stop being such a wuss. Take a risk and stop sulking.’

  ‘Ollie would’ve phrased that far more colourfully.’

  ‘Yeah, with a lot more swearing.’ Megan smiled her loving, sad smile and patted his shoulder on her way to the door, leaving Cale to his tumultuous thoughts.

  It was odd to be in a race but not racing, Cale thought as he slowly pedalled through a pine forest at the tail end of the amateur race. He squinted as a
ten-year-old beetled past him. It was also odd that he was being passed by kids barely off their training wheels.

  But then again he was cycling with the world’s most cautious doctor, Alex.

  ‘Oliver would’ve got such a kick out of this,’ Cale said, holding the handlebars with one hand.

  ‘Oliver always loved attention,’ Alex said dryly.

  So he had.

  ‘Have you spoken to Maddie?’

  ‘No.’

  Beneath his sunglasses, Cale’s eyes narrowed. Maddie had found every excuse in the book to avoid having a face to face meeting with him, and since returning from the States she seemed only comfortable with sending him impersonal e-mails.

  How was he supposed to start talking her into staying in the country, staying with him, if she wouldn’t even have a blasted conversation with him? The woman was beyond stubborn…

  Unfortunately so was he, he admitted ruefully. It had taken Maddie’s leaving and his empty and cold house and his empty and cold heart to make him realise how much a part of his life she was. The best part…

  Love, she’d taught him, didn’t mean sacrificing himself or who he was for someone else. Unlike Oliver—and how could he not have realised this sooner?—Maddie was a fully functioning adult.

  She was responsible and thoughtful and had a work ethic second to none. She’d never asked him to look after her emotionally, financially or even physically… She’d only ever asked him to love her.

  And, because he was a coward, he’d run screaming into the night.

  He deserved the mental and emotional beating he was currently taking.

  He knew she’d got the job; he’d tagged the question on at the bottom of an e-mail about refreshments for the race and she’d said that the interview had gone well. If she’d signed the contract already he’d find the best damn lawyer he could to break it…

  Maybe Kate would take the case.

  He had to talk Maddie out of going, but if he couldn’t he’d pack his stuff and follow her there. NYC would be hell, but he’d be with Maddie, which would be heaven…

  ‘Talking about Maddie…’ Alex said as the track veered down to the left.

  Cale shook his head as Alex slowed down to a crawl. How could he possibly be related to this man? He could walk faster than he was cycling, and the slope had all the steepness of a crumpet.

  ‘What about Maddie?’ Cale asked as he reached for his water bottle. ‘And can you please hurry up? You’re an embarrassment.’

  ‘Bite me,’ Alex retorted. ‘There are tree roots sticking out of the ground.’

  ‘Listen, ants are overtaking you. Go over the damn roots. Maddie?’

  ‘Oh, apparently she’s not going to the States.’

  Cale lowered his water bottle and stared at his brother. ‘What did you say?’

  ‘She’s staying here.’

  ‘Seriously?’

  ‘According to Gigi, apparently so.’

  Cale let out a massive whoop, and with the widest grin spun his wheels to dodge around Alex as he accelerated away

  ‘Later!’

  ‘Oh, okay… Man, you’re fast. Cale, watch that root…!’

  Oh, hell, Cale thought as he and his mountain bike parted company. This is going to sting.

  The race was over, the prizes were handed out and Cale was wrapping up the proceedings. Maddie looked at him standing on the podium and winced. He had a bad scrape down the right side of his face, and she knew from Megan that he had a vicious foot-long graze from midway down his right buttock to the top of his thigh. It was ironic that his was the only injury sustained by both professional and amateur racers alike, and that it had happened when he’d tumbled off his bike going down an exceptionally easy hill in the amateur race.

  It made no sense. Cale could navigate the amateur route with his eyes closed.

  He and Megan and the twins, and Alex and the other two of the three Grant triplets, all wearing T-shirts sporting Oliver’s naughty face, had taken on roles for the race: chatting to celebs and amateur racers alike, soliciting donations from the spectators and chivvying people along. They’d been great, and had brought a personal element to the race that Maddie felt was frequently missing from a lot of charity events.

  Maddie, standing offstage, allowed her tired eyes to track over the Grant family, standing in one cohesive bunch next to Cale on the stage. His family… standing together as they always did. There wasn’t much she wouldn’t give to be part of that clan.

  Maddie tuned in to what Cale was saying.

  ‘They say that most people know how you seem but only some people know who you are. Oliver absolutely knew me. One of my favourite memories is of the two of us naked, hanging upside down from a tree branch. We were six, and while I was trying to cover up Ol let everything dangle. Even then he had made the choice to live life at full throttle. I feel his presence every day of my life and I miss him constantly. His sons remind me of his humour, his spirit, his enormous capacity for adventure. His colleagues and friends remind me how much he was loved. His death reminds me that I might not always have the time to love, to live, to be happy.’

  Maddie swallowed, fighting tears. She saw Megan bury her head in Alex’s shoulder and gulped.

  ‘Oliver died of leukaemia two years ago today. He was an adventurer, in heart and body, and I have to tell you he is rolling on the floor laughing at my stupid injury. He’d also be so proud of what we—all of us—from his family, the volunteers and the racers—have done today. He’d say that we kicked racing’s butt.’ Cale pulled a face. ‘Well, probably not as diplomatically as that.’

  All the racers laughed, obviously remembering Oliver’s filthy language.

  ‘We’ve raised a considerable amount of money for our chosen charities, and there is one person more than anyone else who made this happen. Maddie Shaw, the only love of my life, has worked tirelessly on this project, has sweated blood and tears to do this. Mads, thank you.’

  Maddie had got stuck on the ‘only love of my life’ comment and didn’t hear the rest of his speech. Then Cale, a huge bouquet in his hand, gingerly stepped off the podium and handed her the flowers.

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me you didn’t take the job?’ Cale demanded as he thrust the bouquet in her general direction.

  ‘You didn’t ask.’ Maddie took the flowers he was waving in front of her nose.

  ‘You still could’ve told me. I’ve been in hell!’

  He’d been in hell…? Maddie couldn’t believe that the first proper conversation they’d had in weeks was starting off as an argument. Why wasn’t he explaining what he meant by that comment?

  ‘I asked how the interview went!’ Cale said as he grabbed her hand and pulled her away from his family and the surge of people heading their way. He dragged her around the back of the clubhouse that was their base for the race, and when they were finally alone dropped her hand. ‘Well?’

  ‘I said that it went fine. And it did. They offered me the job but I didn’t take it.’ Maddie squished his flowers to her chest. ‘What is your problem?’

  Cale closed his eyes. ‘I’m sore and I’m… emotional. I want a hot shower and a handful of painkillers. And you. Most of all I just want you back.’

  Maddie cocked her head and held back a smile. ‘Really?’

  ‘Yeah. Let’s go home.’

  Maddie shook her head, wishing she could drop everything and take him in her arms. ‘I can’t just leave, Cale. My job isn’t finished. I need to organise the clean-up. Pay some suppliers.’

  ‘Megan said she’d do it.’ Cale leant his forehead against hers. ‘I can’t sit and I can’t drive. I haven’t slept properly for weeks. Take me home, Mads. Please.’

  The next morning Maddie turned over and rolled in her bed. She stretched out a leg and cautiously felt around. Judging by the light peeking around the edges of the dark curtains it was mid-morning-ish and there was no male leg or male anything else in the immediate vicinity. She knew that Cale had climbed into b
ed with her at one point, briefly waking her up when he pulled her into his arms. Maddie sighed and rolled onto her back, thinking.

  After checking with Megan that she could manage the rest of her duties for the race Maddie had bargained with Cale, saying she’d take him back to her flat—his house was chock-full of visiting family—but only if he first visited the medical tent. He’d turned the air blue as the medics had picked dirt and gravel out of his skin and disinfected his grazes. Alex, outwardly there to mock him, had also checked him over for pulled ligaments and given him an injection for pain, warning that it might make him woozy.

  It had been past eight when Alex had helped him to his Range Rover, where Cale had lain on the back seat and promptly passed out. It had been an effort to wake him up, and then she had bullied, cajoled and at times lugged him up the steps to her flat. She’d got him as far as her biggest couch and left him there, with a down duvet to keep him from freezing.

  She’d stumbled to her room and after a brief shower tumbled into bed. Immediately she’d fallen deeply asleep. Cale wasn’t the only one who hadn’t slept much lately.

  Now, her heart galloping, she peeked around her bedroom door and swallowed a whistle at the tsunami that had obviously hit her small kitchen. Maddie lifted her eyebrows; this was so unlike Cale’s usual meticulous style of cooking.

  ‘What on earth are you doing?’ Maddie asked him, briefly resting a hand on his back.

  Cale sent her a frustrated look. ‘Eggs. Bacon. I thought you deserved a greasy breakfast.’

  Maddie ducked behind him and lifted the lid on a saucepan. She hid her grimace from Cale. Burnt bacon rashers lay in congealed grease. In another pan oil sputtered. Surreptitiously she turned off the heat.

  ‘Bit distracted, aren’t you?’ Maddie grinned at his surly face before lifting her hand to briefly touch his cheek.

  ‘Yes, well, I’ve been waiting for you to wake up for… for ever!’

  ‘You could have just woken me up,’ Maddie said, dunking the smoking pan in the sink. She turned back to him and lifted the back of his brief running shorts, wincing at the foot long purple-black bruise and the still-bloody graze. No wonder he was wearing shorts on a grey winter’s day. He wouldn’t want any material near his damaged skin.