Dear Diary, he dropped a bombshell!
If there was one thing Maddie couldn’t abide, it was interfering matchmakers. And she had the biggest one in the United Kingdom on the phone, gushing about some man named Alfie.
“I promise you, darling. You’re going to love him. I told him all about you, and he can’t wait to meet you.”
Maddie flicked a heavenward glance to the ceiling in her kitchen as she crossed to the giant fridge/freezer.
In recent months, her mum had made it her weekly job to fix her up with one eligible bachelor or another. Only her taste in men didn’t run along the same track as her mother’s taste in potential sons-in-law. Not that there was anything wrong with the men her mum chose, they were just not ... something. She didn’t know what was missing exactly. Just that the guys were all too blah. Not one of them made her stomach dip the way Zach had. She wanted the complete chemical reaction thing. The sweaty palms, stomach dips, nervous flutter in the base of her throat, missed heartbeats, weak knees, and warming insides. Above all, she wanted a man who made her laugh.
That’s why she was attracted to Zach. He made her laugh. Every thought of him left her nerve endings tingling. He was the most masculine male she knew. Always had been. More than likely it was why her entire body buzzed when he walked into a room. She was pretty sure every woman who ever so much as glimpsed Zach Canady felt the same way.
Maddie wanted the whole man candy, butterflies-in-the-stomach deal. A man who would love her even if she wasn’t all that adventurous and exciting.
Too bad he didn’t exist.
“Mother, we’ve been through this before. I’m not looking for a fella.”
She may as well save her breath for all the notice her mother took. “He just broke up with his long-term girlfriend, so you know he’s not afraid of commitment. Not like that last boy. What’s his name?”
From the righteous indignation in her mother’s tone Maddie could tell she was gearing up for a good rant. She wasn’t in the mood to listen. All she wanted was to make a light snack and relax in her hot tub after her long day at work. Her day hadn’t gone well. The list was long and frustrating, starting with the arrival of the wrong shade of kitchen floor tiles, which threw off the planned recording on how to lay ceramic floor tiles and ending with the annoying fact that she couldn’t stop thinking about Zach. He’d changed. There was a seriousness about him that hadn’t been there ten years ago. What had changed him? The Zach she knew would’ve stripped naked and been in that hot tub last night faster than she could say come on in.
She pulled open the fridge door and reached in to grab a bottle of water. This Zach was different from the man she knew, but his deep voice still made her heart flip and her stomach bottom out. Her hand connected with a small tube.
She pulled it out.
Lipstick.
Maddie didn’t recognise the shade of scarlet. She certainly didn’t wear that shade.
“Mum, did you leave your lipstick in my fridge?”
“Why would I do that? Don’t try to change the subject. What was that last young man’s name?”
Maddie puffed out a breath. “Lyle.”
She popped the lipstick onto the counter next to the fridge. Perhaps it belonged to Lisa. She’d been complaining of pregnancy brain even though she was only three months along.
“Yeah, that’s it. Lyle. The problem was his eyes were too close together.”
Maddie grabbed a bottled water, unscrewed the cap, and took a swig of the ice-cold liquid as she headed back to the recliner she’d vacated moments ago. She wanted to point out that it hadn’t been Lyle’s eyes that had been the problem, but the not-so-ex-girlfriend he was still seeing. She’d never get her mum off the phone if she gave up that juicy piece of bait, so she kept silent.
“You don’t have to worry about Alfie, love. His eyes are very far apart. You can trust him. His mother and I have become good friends in recent months...”
Maddie faded out of the conversation. An image of a spindly man with goldfish-like eyes on either side of his head, and an ex-girlfriend in the background sobbing her heart out came to mind. Then another image appeared. Zach, naked, tanned, and mouth-wateringly toned, trying to console her after the wide-eyed Alfie realized his ex was the woman he truly loved and went back to her—
“Maddison.”
Her mother’s annoyed snap startled her, and she nearly dropped the phone. “Sorry, Mum.” She grabbed an envelope from the stack of mail on the lamp table next to her recliner and fanned herself. Was she having her first hot flush at thirty-two?
“Where did you drift off to?”
Fantasies of a naked Zach, playing the saxophone in a private bedroom show just for her, would have to wait until later. She needed to get off the phone. She couldn’t stand another minute of listening to her mum try to set her up with what was essentially a blind date.
“I have to go, Mum. I have a meeting with the people representing Andalucía tomorrow, and I need to prepare. Tell Dad I said hi.”
“Okay, but phone me the minute you get home. I want to hear how the deal went. Good luck for tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Mum.”
The phone had left Maddie’s ear when her mum’s voice carried through the speaker.
“So what do I tell Alfie? Yes?”
“No.”
“What? Weren’t you listening? He’s a great catch.”
“I’m still not interested.”
“At least meet him.”
“Mum, I’m not interested in dating anyone right now.”
~*~
Zach WAS too tired to think. Too tired even to turn on lights as he moved through his darkened house with weary steps.
After a long excruciating business dinner, he just wanted to crawl into bed and catch a few hours’ sleep until he had to rise at five and head to his office at CCP Development.
As if the stress of moving operations from Long Island to London hadn’t been enough to stretch his nerves to snapping point, he had just sat through a depressing meeting with his acquisitions manager. Apparently, his latest project had hit complications.
Add to that the fact he couldn’t get thoughts of Maddie out of his head all day. The Maddie he’d encountered last night was a million miles from the Maddie he once knew. What had happened to his sweet Maddie? The studious, focused girl he could’ve counted on never to change. Prim and proper—in thought if not appearance—she was a smart know-it-all in class, and a shy mouse, hiding in the university’s library at night.
She took care of him, nourished his spirit, and encouraged him to finish his degree when he wanted to chuck it in and run off to become a musician.
He’d always be grateful for her friendship, for her listening and reasoning skills. If it hadn’t been for Mad, he might’ve allowed the urge to defy his dominating father to ruin his future.
As a result, he owed Maddie his success.
And now instead of thanking her, he was noticing what amazing curves she had to go with that drive-me-wild voice.
Zach blew out a breath. Everything in his world was completely on its head. Nothing was right. He wanted to put this sorry night behind him. Tackle it fresh tomorrow, because there was no way he was going to let anyone ruin a deal he’d spent two years putting together.
A deal that would take his company global, and make him a force to be reckoned with in the property world. Zach had worked hard to get where he was. Proud to know his financial freedom was independent of his father’s wealth. He wanted nothing from the man who had sired him, and if he ever heard of a way to remove his father’s genes from his DNA, he’d do it.
So many times while he was young, Zach had bitten back the impulse to tell Hector he regretted having him as a father, more than the other man hated having him for a son. He’d left home as soon as he could, and had lived life to his choosing, gone to university, had taken out student loans, and worked hard to get a first degree.
He had done it all without any help from Hector Canady, who had died eight months ago. When Zach had received the news of his father’s sudden and fatal heart attack, he’d felt nothing, couldn’t even force a tear. He knew his father wouldn’t have wanted him to attend his funeral so he didn’t, but had visited Hector’s resting place soon after moving back to the UK.
Even with the reality of knowing his father was buried six feet beneath the gravestone that spoke of a man who would be greatly missed, Zach felt nothing but anger toward him. He’d wanted to say so many things, none of which would have been eulogy worthy. Had wanted to point out how successful he’d become on his own—that he’d amounted to a hell of a lot more than a hill of beans. In the end, the only words that had made it past the regret that had tightened his throat were, Dad, you were a huge disappointment to me.
The same words his father had castigated him with on too many occasions to remember.
He shrugged out of his dinner jacket and trailed it behind him as he climbed the stairs to his bedroom, tugging at the knot of his silk tie. The only reason he didn’t drop his clothes on his way to his room, was that he’d have to pick them up in the morning. He didn’t think his cleaner would appreciate the task.
Zach didn’t bother to cover a yawn as he threw his jacket toward the corner of his bedroom, where he roughly guessed his white Chelsea armchair sat. He kicked off his shoes, pulled off his socks, unbuttoned his dress shirt as he crossed the room to open the bedroom window, and close the curtains.
A cool breeze drifted in along with the lazy sound of bubbling water, and before Zach became conscious of the fact, his steps had taken him to the window in his third bedroom. His gaze sought Maddie in the dim light from her garden.
An emotional connection Zach thought dead came to life as he watched her. It’d been a long time since he felt a deep bond with anyone—ten years to be exact. Before he’d allowed another part of his anatomy to do his thinking, and ended up making the biggest mistake of his life.
With her tawny hair piled in a haphazard mess on top of her head, Maddie painted a picture of contentment. He’d give his fortune to feel that way.
Suddenly he was no longer exhausted, he was wide-awake and in need of his old friend’s company. Maddie always had a way of putting things into perspective, and right about now he could use some perspective.
~*~
ANDALUCÍA WAS almost in her grasp.
Maddie’s heart gave a tiny leap of excitement beneath the cover of hot tub bubbles. The old Spanish Georgian house had been in her family for almost a century when grandfather Teófilo had remarried in his late octogenarian years, only to die eight months after leaving everything to his young bride.
Her mother’s family had tried to fight for their stolen heritage, but the will had been incontestable since Teófilo had cut out the entire de la Botella side of the family.
Maddie didn’t have the type of money needed to purchase a house like Andalucía, but she could at least use her TV show, Return To New, to restore the neglected property to its original beauty. The renovation program would pull in more viewers, and she’d have the added bonus of making her dad see that choosing to become a property developer, rather than a yacht designer like him, had turned out to be a good choice in the end.
“Hello, Maddie.”
At the sound of her name on a dark delicious voice, Maddie almost slipped off the seat in her hot tub.
Zach.
Heart pounding with recognition of a primal male, she sought him in the dim light. He peered over the fence a mere few feet from her hot tub gazebo.
“Hi.” That smile was lethal to her equilibrium. “Tell me I didn’t wake you.” How was it possible to become aware of her knees going weak when she was sitting in water?
“Not at all, I just got back from dinner.”
“Hot date?”
He rubbed his eyes, shook his head with a humourless laugh. “Nightmare business dinner. What about you? Or did you spend your entire evening in there?”
Maddie looked at the digital panel on her hot tub … midnight. She’d never admit to hanging out here hoping to see him. “No, not quite.” Awkward seconds passed as Maddie searched for a topic ... any topic that would give them a reason to make conversation. “Want to talk about the nightmare business dinner?”
This was her old friend, for crying out loud. They’d house-shared in university. There was nothing they didn’t know about each other. He knew she had a meddlesome mother and a quiet yacht-designer father. And she knew about his autocratic father whose dictatorial behaviour had chased away Zach’s mother when he was five and made Zach’s life a misery.
His smile disappeared, replaced with a frown. “Most definitely not.” His tone vetoed questions, and made Maddie curious.
“So, what do you want to talk about?” She was aware of the distance the years had put between their friendship. If they still shared the close relationship they once had, she would’ve pursued her curiosity and found out what had put the worry lines between his brows tonight.
Instead, she sank back against the tub, rested her head on its edge, closed her eyes, and pretended she wasn’t hypersensitive to his presence.
When he didn’t reply she half-hoped he’d left. Part of her would have been relieved—the part that wanted to behave like a giggly schoolgirl whenever he appeared. However, the part of her that longed for her best friend would have been awfully disappointed.
Keeping her eyes closed, she murmured, “Zach?”
Still no reply.
Forced to open her eyes, she sought him in the dim light. He was scowling at her as if she was a puzzle he struggled, without success, to figure out.
“What’s the matter?”
“I’m wondering about that man-eater act last night.”
Yep, she remembered this Zach well. Boy did he have a big brother complex. She took a deep breath and curbed the impulse to throw something at him. It was about time he discovered she was a woman.
She twisted her body so she could prop her chin on her hands resting against the top of the tub, as she forced herself to maintain eye contact.
“Who says it was an act? Maybe I’ve turned into a vamp since we last saw each other.”
His voice grew deep and intimate. “Have you, Maddie? Because the girl I remember was sweet and innocent. She brought out a guy’s protective instincts.”
That was always the problem. Zach felt he had to protect her, while he lived free and easy—dating a string of trollops.
The most excitement she’d had in university was when she got home to find Zach’s I’ve-got-a-girl-in-my-room-tie wasn’t hanging over the doorknob.
Everyone partied and dated their university days away, and all Maddie did was study. Until Zach’s mate, Sam, had taken an interest in her.
That was the spring she’d finally had fun. By the summer, her friendship with Zach was over.
“The girl you remember grew up.” She slid back into her original position with her head against the tub’s edge, eyes closed. “I don’t need protecting, Zach. I never did.”
“Spring break the last year we were at university would contradict that statement.”
“Spring break was the only worthwhile thing about that last miserable year.”
“Come on, Maddie. It wasn’t that bad.” Zach raised his voice as if he’d moved away from the fence.
“Maybe not for you.” She spoke up in case he’d walked back toward his house.
“We had fun.” His contradiction sounded even farther away. He was probably off to bed.
She definitely didn’t want to mix Zach and bed in the same thought, so she aimed a brilliant parting shot that came out a little too loudly. “Hate to break it to you, but watching you work your way through the entire female student body wasn’t my idea of fun.” She hoped she hadn’t woken the neighbours.
“Surely not the entire female student body?” His yummy voice, so low and close to her left ear startled her, made her yelp with shock.
She hadn’t heard him come through the gate and was unprepared for the intense alpha-male mixed with citrus scent that captured her in a sensual haze.
“Hey, careful.” His chuckle reached her as his strong, masculine hands grabbed her shoulders just as she slipped off the seat and saved her from sliding beneath the water. “Sorry. Didn’t intend to make you drown.”
With his face so close to hers, she could see the tiny laughter lines next to his eyes. Her heart beating an erratic tempo, it was all Maddie could do to continue to breathe. One inch, that’s all she had to lean-in in order to touch her mouth to Zach’s enticing lips.
What if she did it? Leant right in and kissed him? What would he do? Would he kiss her back or pull away in disgust, as he’d done the only time she’d got drunk enough to work up the courage to make him see she was desirable?
Granted, drunk and stupid hadn’t been the way to go about it, but the least he could have done was not make her feel like an imbecile for trying.
The memory was enough to make Maddie draw away, using anger to distance herself from him. “Then why did you sneak up on me?” She pressed her hand against his warm chest as a silent urge for him to back out of her personal space. He didn’t budge. “Did it cross your mind to wait for an invitation to come over?”
His chest felt incredible against her wet palm, toned and the light sprinkle of hair tickled her skin. She had difficulty resisting the urge to smooth her hand over the solid muscle. What was he trying to do to her? Coming over to her garden uninvited, his shirt open, exposing all those lovely lean muscles with the light dusting of hair on his yummy chest. It was enough to make a girl lose her train of thought.
“Or do you still disregard everyone but yourself?”
He stilled, his face shadowed. “You’re angry with me.”
“What could I possibly be angry about, Zach?”
“Our last fight.”
“What fight?” She folded her arms to keep her fingers from tracing that narrow line of hair down his muscle packed stomach and closed her eyes to shut out the mesmerizing sight of his chest—damp from her hand. “I don’t remember ever fighting with you. The way I remember it, the last time I saw you, you were getting ready to make a huge mistake, and I tried to stop you.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t listen, Maddie. That must’ve hurt.”
His low voice was even more sumptuous with her eyes shut. Maddie fancied she could feel it rumbling through the warm bubbles right into her body and forced herself to focus on her betrayed feelings.
“What makes you think that?”
“You can’t look at me. In fact, I can count the total number of minutes you’ve met my gaze on one hand, since we came into contact again.”
“That’s ridiculous.” She didn’t trust her eyes not to give her away. She might be doing a great job with her indifferent tone, but inside she was a quivering mess. So she kept her eyes closed, feigned relaxation. “For starters, we haven’t spent a whole lot of time in each other’s company since last night. And as for right now, I was happily relaxing when you barged in on my ‘me’ time.”
She wished his deep rumbling laugh would irritate her. Perhaps it would help to squash her silly attraction to him. Instead, it warmed a part of her heart she’d forgotten existed—the piece he’d taken with him when he left.
“Why are you laughing?”
He didn’t answer her question. Instead, he asked, “Do you want me to leave, Maddie?”
No! Never.
She opened her eyes to find him sitting on the edge of the tub, mere inches from her head, but she already knew he was there because the heat from his body had kept her on high alert to his proximity.
“Absolutely. Go.” She would not give into the fantasy of inviting him to strip off and join her.
He smoothed a stray curl from her cheek, stroking it between his thumb and forefinger before tucking it behind her ear.
“No.”
Right now Maddie wished she were the brazen man-eater she’d pretended to be the night before.
“Then why did you bother to ask if you had no intention of complying?”
“Maddie, I want my friend back, and the only way I can see that happening is if we talk about what happened between us ten years ago.”
“As far as I remember, I tried to warn you about—”
“I was referring to the night you kissed me. Everything changed between us after that.”
She was instantly catapulted back to the kiss that had taken her breath away, and spoilt her for every man she would meet after that.
Embarrassment heated her face at the memory. “You’re wrong, Zach.” Maddie stood, stepped out of the hot tub, and grabbed her robe. She couldn’t bear to sit in the water feeling naked, despite the adequate covering from her black bikini, while he avoided the real issue. “Things changed when you treated me like a jealous, conniving troublemaker because I tried to warn you about that trollop you were seeing.” There, she’d said it. Now let’s see what he had to say to that.
“Leave Kimber out of this.”
“I can’t believe you’re still defending her after all these years.” She shoved her hands into the white terry robe’s sleeves so hard she expected the material to rip, tied the sash around her waist with angry, jerky movements. “Why is it so hard for you to believe that I caught her and Sam doing the dirty in your bed?”
Even in the half-light Maddie recognised the fury underlining his calm, “Maddie, I’m warning you, don’t say anything else.”
“No, Zach. Tell me what’s so special about her.”
She ached with the searing pain of an old wound rubbed raw. Why did you choose her and not me?
“I married her.”
The blood drained from her head as Zach’s words reverberated through her. Shock robbed her of speech for a full minute. He had married Kimberley Harrison?
Trollop personified!
If she’d felt betrayed before, what she felt now surpassed all the pain she’d experienced over Zach’s inability to see her as a desirable woman. If she lived forever, she’d never recover from this treachery.
Her heart cracked as tears she tried to hold back blurred her vision. She glanced toward Zach’s house. Was Kimber in there now? Were Zach and Kimber—happy married couple—living right next door to her? Her chest tightened in a way that told her an episode of hyperventilation was on the way if she didn’t force her breathing to a steady pace.
“You ... you married her?”
~*~
THE LOOK of raw pain on Maddie’s face—before she dragged her hand across her cheek and hurried toward her patio—twisted Zach’s gut with guilt.
She didn’t deserve to find out that way. What was the matter with him? Two seconds with Maddie and his brain had shut down with fantasy overload. A reaction that had shocked him to his bare feet. Maddie was his friend, not a woman he should be fantasizing about.
How could he have blurted that out, knowing how Maddie felt about Kimber?
“Maddie, wait!”