Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 82973 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82973 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
“Fair enough. Grab your purse and let’s get out of here.”
With a sly smile, she swayed off the dance floor to the rhythm of the music. Matt watched her walk, her ass taut in a tight, backless dress that had him swallowing his tongue. She really was damn fine, and he wished like hell he’d taken Tessa up on her offer to introduce them months ago. Zy’s wife was pretty in a golden, big-eyed sort of way. But Madison… If there was such a thing as a sultry good-girl, she was it. The woman absolutely flipped his switch. When he looked at her, his whole body sparked to life. The fact they clicked when they talked excited him even more.
As soon as she plucked her purse off the table, she faced him again. “You lead. I’ll follow in my car.”
“Come with me. We’ll swing back and pick up your car later.”
“Can’t. They’ll tow me out of here once this event is over, and in case dessert lasts longer than expected…”
She was thinking ahead, and Matt loved it. “Good call.”
Hand-in-hand, they headed for the exit. On the way, they passed the EM Security crowd. Nash watched them with brows raised.
“The redhead’s name is Haisley,” Matt murmured in his ear. “You’re welcome.”
Then he and Madison emerged into the late afternoon, warm and humid with the promise of the coming summer. But for now, the sun gave just enough sizzle to heat his skin and make him feel stunningly alive.
“Know a good place for dessert?” she asked as she pulled her keys from her little clutch.
“You’re the local. I’ll defer to you.”
“Do you want something decent or downright decadent?”
“Definitely decadent. I want the whole experience.”
“Smart man. Follow me.”
When she started sashaying across the parking lot, giving him another fine view of her backside, he wrapped his fingers around her slender arm. With that one touch, every part of his body turned hard. “Where are we going, in case we get separated?”
Madison tossed him a little smile over her shoulder. “Keep up and we won’t.”
With a bounce of her long curls over her sexy, bare shoulder, she headed to a little burgundy sedan. Never taking his eyes off of her, he hopped into his truck, turned the engine over, and hauled ass to follow.
Together, they wended through Lafayette’s late-afternoon weekend traffic, heading south of town, until the thick of the cars thinned out and even residential streets turned rural. Twenty minutes later, she pulled into a parking lot behind a stately, historic house with rising white columns and a profusion of brightly colored flowers.
He slung his truck into the spot beside her. “A bed-and-breakfast, huh?”
She stepped from her car and pocketed her keys with a shrug. “They have an attached restaurant that serves the most amazing bananas Foster. The beignets are beyond, and the crunch cake is insanely good, too. I figured if you want the whole decadent dessert experience, shouldn’t it be the absolute best?”
“You make a valid point, honey. Lead the way.”
He smiled as she took his hand. Inside, a hostess seated them, but they nearly had the place to themselves, since the lunch rush was long over, but the dinner crowd hadn’t yet shown up.
Tucked in a corner of the wide room, replete with hardwoods, lazily swaying ceiling fans, and a huge plaster fireplace, Matt set his menu aside. “You pick.”
Madison glanced up, looking pleasantly surprised. “Anything you’re allergic to?”
“Nope.”
“Anything you don’t like?”
“Unless it involves you leaving, no.”
Madison closed the menu with a smile and settled her elbows on the table, leaning in. “You’re a really smooth flirt. Does your girlfriend know that?”
He’d never really tried one of those. He wasn’t good at making himself vulnerable to anyone. And most of Laramie had given his family a wide berth—with good reason. “If you’re fishing to find out if I’m attached, let me help you. I’m not.”
That answer clearly pleased her. “I’m not, either.”
Good to know. “So how did you meet Trees?”
Instantly, her expression turned more guarded. “Through Zy.”
Over the past months, he’d heard about a woman Trees had befriended because Zy had nailed her his first weekend in town, then promptly ghosted. Madison? Not that it mattered. If she was that girl, the night she’d spent with Zy had been more than a year ago.
“What do you think about him and Tessa?” If she was jealous or still pining for the pretty boy of the EM Security team, he should know so he could right-set his expectations.
“They’re perfect together. She’s a sweetheart, and her daughter is gorgeous. Zy and I have made nice. He’s obviously a lot happier.”
“Did you two ever date?”
She flushed. “No.”
So she’d just spent the night with him once upon a time. Hell, Matt had done plenty of hooking up in the past, frequenting the bars around the University of Wyoming campus and picking up out-of-state sorority girls who knew zilch about his family reputation. The last thing he had any right or reason to do was judge Madison.