The Millionaire's Revenge Contract Read online

  Chapter Two

  “It’s not that funny,” Maddie said, giving her sister an exasperated glance over her shoulder as she cut slices of pizza later the next evening. Ever since she’d told her sister what had happened with “Mr. Big” yesterday, Dani had joked about it.

  Dani wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. “Actually, it is.” She steered her wheelchair around the kitchen island to the drawer containing napkins. “A gorgeous guy strips down in front of you, you throw a shower curtain over him, and you don’t find that funny?”

  Maddie shot her a will-you-quit look as her cheeks heated. “I told you. He didn’t strip down in front of me. The naked part was already…naked.”

  “I have got to meet this guy.”

  She sighed. “You will. Tonight at the masquerade ball.” She pointed at Dani with the pizza cutter. “But you’d better not embarrass me about the shower curtain incident.”

  “Moi?” Dani said with pseudo innocence as she put her hand against her heart.

  The doorbell rang, and Maddie hurried to answer. Her friend and former coworker, Joy Fuentes, was babysitting and bringing her two sons over so her nephew would have someone to play with.

  “So did you get a good look at Naked Shower Guy?” Dani asked once Joy’s sons went to find Sam.

  Her friend laughed out loud and set a bag on the counter. “No, she kept the eyeful all to herself, the stingy girl.”

  Maddie let out a long sigh and motioned for them to keep going. “Come on. Get all the naked jokes out of your system.” She leaned back against the counter.

  “From the way you described him, he sounds delicious,” Joy said.

  “We only had coffee together, and okay, yes, he was…” Maddie hesitated. She’d been about to say he was good looking, but it was more than that. He was gorgeous. He was built. Everywhere. A man who was obviously hot blooded. Though she didn’t believe in instant attraction, it was there front and center every time her gaze had crashed into his.

  “He was?” Dani prompted, laughter in her voice.

  “He was nice,” she settled for saying, stifling the smile that wanted to escape.

  Dani gave her the don’t-bullshit-me look she’d perfected when she was a teenager and Maddie had told her that climbing into the back seat with her boyfriend would make all her hair fall out. Then she said abruptly, “You should go to the ball, dance with this Mr. Big, and—”

  “Or Mr. Naked Prince Charming, if you’d rather us call him that,” Joy cut in.

  Maddie groaned.

  “At the ball, if he asks, I think you should go out with him. You spend your life taking care of everyone else, and you deserve to have some fun,” Dani said.

  “I like helping,” she defended.

  Her sister lowered her voice and said fiercely, “Because you’re still trying to prove that you belong. Still fighting those demons that Dad gave you when you were young.”

  Maddie blinked. “It’s cool. I survived.” She didn’t like thinking about the past.

  After her so-called father had discovered she was the product of her mother’s affair, he’d become Maddie’s biggest tormentor. Once the truth had blown up in their faces, the kingdom of happily ever after had crumbled. Standing in her pink tutu, with her four-year-old princess-loving heart wounded by yet another vicious comment, her mother had taken her aside and desperately whispered, “Be a good girl, Maddie. Make yourself useful, so he’ll let you stay.”

  She’d tried. Oh, how she’d tried. She’d been quiet and obedient. Kept her room pristine. Never asked for anything. She’d been a straight-A student, earning awards and acclaim all the while searching her father’s face in hopes of a scrap of acceptance that never came, but she refused to hate him or be bitter about the choices he’d made.

  She preferred to focus on the positive rather than the negative.

  “Yes, but you rarely do anything just for yourself. You’re twenty-nine years old, and all you do is work and take care of others, especially me.”

  “We’re family,” Maddie said firmly. She refused to apologize for caring about others.

  “You also give a lot of yourself to friends, to strangers, and to the community. You put money in my work locker the first week we met years ago when you heard my son needed medicine I couldn’t afford after my husband lost his job,” Joy said. “Face it. You’re a giver.”

  “So?” Maddie knew what it was like to need something and not be able to afford it. So when she could help others financially, she took the opportunity to do so. “The world is full of takers. I want to be a giver. What’s wrong with that?”

  “Nothing except you need more out of life to refill your own happiness well,” Joy said. She was quoting one of the many self-help books she’d read, Maddie was sure.

  “Exactly. You should have fun and you should have it with Naked Shower Guy,” Dani added.

  “My life is fine,” she grumbled.

  “Maddie…” Dani’s voice carried that warning tone that signaled there was a life advice lecture on the tip of her tongue.

  Maddie turned to get the plates. “Honestly, it’s not a big deal.”

  Dani groaned, her frustration clear. “Not a big deal? You’re so busy that you haven’t had a steady relationship since Scott.”

  Hearing his name made Maddie wince. “No big loss. He was low rung on the evolutionary ladder.” Anger still burned in her that he’d thought he could treat her the way that he had.

  “Well, I for one think that you should forget all about that loser and be open to a tall, dark, and handsome someone coming into your life,” Joy said, wagging her eyebrows. “Like shower guy.”

  Maddie sighed. She would get his name at the party so all the naked guy teasing would hopefully stop. “I promise you, I’m good as-is without a man.”

  “That’s because you haven’t been with someone who could make your breath stop with just a look. Someone who made you feel like you were on fire when he touched you.” Dani’s voice cracked. “Someone who made your tears his own.”

  Her throat tight, Maddie put her hand on her sister’s shoulder, giving it a sympathetic squeeze. “What you and Brody had was unique. Being in a room with you two was like watching magic come to life. That sort of thing doesn’t happen for everyone.”

  “So there’s no one special at the moment?” Dani persisted, looking at Joy for confirmation first.

  When her sister got onto a subject, she could stick there for hours. “There’s no one worth mentioning, past or present. With how badly my dating life is going, I might swear off men altogether.”

  Dani wrinkled her brow and picked up a bag with treats for all the kids. Setting it on her lap, she wheeled her way to the table. “Swear off men? Wouldn’t you miss the intimacy?”

  “No.” Maddie didn’t bother to tell her sister that the only intimacy she’d experienced lately had all the excitement of watching a documentary on rocks. It would be different with Naked Shower Guy. A sudden rush of heat made her skin flush. Maddie surveyed the table, then put her hands on her hips. “I’ll tell the kids to wash up, then you and I will get ready for the party.”

  One of Joy’s sons came up to her. She leaned down, and he whispered something in her ear. Joy straightened, looking worried. “The boys mentioned going on the camping trip next month with their father…”

  “And Sam’s father is gone,” Maddie finished quietly.

  Joy nodded. “The fact that it’s a father-and-son outing upset him. He ran out of the room.”

  “I’ll get him.” Maddie went in search of her nephew and found him sprawled across the bed in the apartment’s guest room, his attention caught by a game on his tablet.

  “Dinner,” she sang out, leaning down to ruffle his hair.

  Sam scowled up at her. “Maddie! You made my man fall into the lava.”

  “So sorry. I hate when that happens to my men. Wash up.”

  Tossing the device aside, he slid from the bed and stomped into the bathroom, mutter
ing as he did so. Maddie watched him go, her heart aching. Sam had struggled so much this past year since the car accident. The first question he’d quietly asked in his little boy broken voice when he’d learned that his father was gone was, “Are there hockey games where my dad is now?”

  Brody had played on an amateur hockey team, and he and Sam used to travel together to the games.

  Maddie had assured Sam there were, and that night, after he’d fallen asleep hugging his father’s team jersey, she’d stepped into the hospital’s hallway and doubled over, sobbing. She’d allowed herself to fall apart for five minutes, then she’d straightened up and went to work doing what she did best. Making sure her family was taken care of.

  She’d find a stand-in man for the camping trip so Sam wouldn’t feel out of place without his dad.

  She waited for him to finish washing up, then followed him into the kitchen. Once he was settled, she went into her bedroom to put on the crimson red gown she’d bought for the ball. Her heart beat faster at the thought of once again seeing the man who’d intrigued her from the moment she’d met him.

  She could imagine how it would feel for him to sweep her across the floor, tightly held in his arms. The dancing was one of the highlights of the annual event, but dancing with him would make this year a whole lot more interesting. Breathtaking. Sexy.

  “I think I’m in trouble,” she whispered aloud to herself.

  If she were wise, when she met up with him again, she’d keep her thoughts solely on dancing, and she wouldn’t think about his taut body or his dark eyes. She wouldn’t think about his lips or what it would feel like if he kissed her. She wouldn’t want…which if she was totally honest with herself, that storm had already brewed. What the hell, maybe Dani was right. Maybe she needed to just let go and have a little fun for once.

  If she didn’t figure a way out of this work mess, she’d have to come clean about getting fired and all the changes going on at the hotel, but she wanted to put it off as long as possible before she mentioned it to Dani. The last thing Maddie wanted was to add to her sister’s stress. She was already stressed enough thanks to capping out the benefits on her insurance, and Maddie had let Dani believe that money was rolling in from the inheritance and hotel profits when it had been coming from her own paycheck. If she told the truth now… No…not yet. She’d give it a few more days to see what she could come up with. Maybe the new owner had a heart hidden under his Armani suit.

  She crossed her fingers, just in case.

  …

  In the car on the way to the mansion, Dani said, “Brody would have loved the masquerade ball. He was always up for—” Her voice thickened, and blinking rapidly, she turned her head toward the passenger window.

  Maddie parked in the area cordoned off for vehicles and cut the engine. She reached across the console and took her sister’s hand without saying a word. Brody had been a kind, loving man, and Maddie had loved him not only for who he was but for the way he’d loved her sister so fiercely.

  “I miss him so much,” Dani whispered. “I can’t believe it’s all gone. That we’re gone.”

  “I don’t believe that a good love ever disappears. I think it surrounds you in the moments of memory. In the life that you built with him. In Sammy.”

  Dani let out a choked laugh. “Don’t let him hear you call him that. He insists ‘Sammy’ is for babies.”

  Maddie leaned over to hug her sister. She pulled back when she heard the rap of knuckles on the window and looked up to see Andrew Jefferson. They’d known Andrew in Texas, and he’d moved to Chicago last year to work for their grandfather for the summer before starting medical school. He pulled the wheelchair out of the back and helped Dani into it.

  “You’re staying by my side tonight,” he warned in his thick Irish accent. “Too many mamas here are liking the idea that their daughters could date a future doctor.”

  Dani motioned Maddie ahead of her. “I’m fine. Go find the naked guy.”

  “What kind of party is this?” Andrew asked in joking alarm.

  “The fun kind,” Dani said with a wink as they moved toward the front doors.

  Maddie put on her mask, then lifted the sides of her dress and had to wrestle for a second with all the extra material the hoop skirt added. She took a calming breath and exhaled slowly. The sound of the cicadas was loud, almost drowning out the rush of the river behind the mansion. She counted to three to center herself, then walked slowly inside.

  The mansion, built centuries ago, was lit with bright chandeliers welcoming the guests. The sponsors had taken great care to make the interior look as much like the 1800s as possible, but she barely noticed the furniture or the way the wait staff was dressed. She was searching for him.

  A stage was at the far end, waiting for the silent auction to begin, and off to the side, an area was set up for the musical entertainment. Maddie kept searching as people walked past her. She looked carefully at each one of them, trying to guess the faces behind the masks.

  A waiter in a red brocade vest and string bowtie swept by her with a tray of champagne flutes. Maddie barely noticed him as she studied a man standing beside a table. Could that be…no, not him.

  “May I have this dance?” Someone spoke behind her, and the deep male voice near her ear gave Maddie goose bumps. She turned around and met his gaze through the mask partially obscuring his face. In his clothes from a bygone era, he looked like a rakish lord.

  “How’d you recognize me?” Good grief, can my voice have any more of a “do me” tone?

  “Your eyes gave you away. They’re as beautiful as you are.” He traced a strand of her hair, letting it slide slowly from his grasp. “What is it about you that calls to me?” he murmured, then without waiting for an answer, he held out his hand.

  Maddie slipped her hand into his, and the jolt from his skin on hers went all the way to the center of her being. The half smile he gave her said he was aware of the effect, before he effortlessly swept both of them onto the dance floor.

  His arm slid around her waist, his moves sure, his steps flawless, making her thankful for the hours of dance lessons her mother had insisted she take. Her heart beat like a steady drum in her ears. She tipped her head back to find him looking down at her. Intrigued. Hungry.

  She swallowed, not at all surprised by the desire running like an overflowing river through her veins. Without words, he called to her in a way that made her want to answer wildly. Crazily. She wanted to let go and not worry about the consequences for once.

  “Do you feel this heat between us?”

  He slid his hand up to her back and moved his thumb rhythmically in a tantalizing caress. “I do,” he admitted.

  “Here’s where I should probably tell you I’m not the kind of woman who sleeps with a man she just met,” Maddie said. “In fact, I’m not the kind of woman who sleeps with any man at all lately, and I promised myself I was swearing off men since the ones I seem to find are bad for me.”

  “You can’t help yourself. I’m irresistible,” he teased.

  Maddie threw back her head and laughed. “He said with such humbleness.”

  “One of my many talents.” He smiled down at her. “What are you thinking?”

  She felt the pull in her bones, as if destiny had written their meeting in the stars a lifetime ago, and with a deep breath, she said softly, decisively, “I think I’d like for us to be lovers.”

  …

  Erotic images played in Cole’s mind after her announcement. Because of what he’d been through, because of the size of his bank account, he was careful who he allowed into his life, even short term. He’d never wanted to say to hell with caution the way that he did tonight. The way he was going to. “I’d like that, too.”

  The need to have her was a relentless force pouring through his body, heating his skin, driving him mad. The jewels threaded in her hair shone beneath the chandelier lights. Her slender form fit against his like it was always intended to be there. Every contact of
her soft body that brushed the throbbing parts of him worked like an axe chopping away at his self-control. He needed. She needed. There was a simple solution that would satisfy them both.

  “Come with me.” He tucked her hand in the crook of his arm and escorted her through the crowd and out a door leading into an inner courtyard.

  High in the sky, the moon cast a glow over flowers in a collection of pots. Stone benches were ethereal, otherworldly in the night. Somewhere in the distance, water trickled in a fountain. In the shadow of the building, he stopped and wrapped his arms around her. He was bewitched, a man whose whole being had lain dormant far too long, waiting to be awoken by her touch.

  He tipped her chin up, searching her face. “I’m going to kiss you.”

  Her breath came out in a ragged half laugh. “Finally.”

  He allowed himself one last look deep into the churning blue of her eyes before he took her lips beneath his and tasted what had tempted him since he’d met her. Her lips were full and soft, fulfilling every promise he’d thought they’d hold. With gentle probing, he entered her mouth with his tongue, and she captured it, lightly sucking. She gave. She demanded.

  He took and gave back in return. His body throbbed, and his head spun. He put his hands on her face, stroking her cheekbones with his thumbs. He had to drink her in and hope that she’d quench the fire and soothe the beast brought to life with her bewitching touch.

  “Don’t stop.” She let out a moan and arched her back, pressing her body more fully into him. The front of his pants shrank a size. Uncomfortable and aching, he moved to the side of her neck to trail soft, sucking kisses along the delicate skin. She tipped her head back even as her hands beseeched his body, trying to pull him closer.

  A loud burst of laughter echoed through the door, and Cole broke the embrace, automatically taking a step backward to get himself under control. His body hummed with the urge to continue the kiss and go beyond until he reached the release he so desperately craved.