Mad Love (Hearts Are Wild): Hearts Are Wild (20 page)

She knew he was being serious but hiding his
erection behind his hand didn’t stop her from shivering in
anticipation.

He wiggled his fingers to bring her gaze back
to the hand laid out in front of her. “Take my hand, Mad; share
this new experience with me.”

Her eyes filled once more. “I’m going to cry
again.”

Toby smiled. “As long as they’re happy tears
and you hold my hand while you do it, I’m okay with that.”

Madison placed her hand on top of his. “Are
we insane to fall in love this quickly?”

“Oh, it’s definitely insane. Completely and
utterly mad love.”

“What’s this?” Madison picked up the gift on
her pillow.

“Birthday present.”

“For me? My birthday was three months ago.”
She pulled the end of the pink ribbon to untie the bow.

“I know.”

“You forgot to give it to me?” she asked
while carefully lifting the tape from the paper so it didn’t
tear.

“No. You weren’t ready then.”

She glanced up. Toby leaned against the wall
on the other side of his bedroom. They’d made the decision—today—to
move in together, so she wondered what on earth he could be giving
her other than the home he’d already offered.

“Hurry up.”

Madison grinned. “I like to take my time.
Anticipation’s half the fun, right?”

“Not this time. I’m going to have a heart
attack if you don’t get a move on.” He rubbed a hand over his
chest. “Plus it’s really hard staying all the way over here when
you’re all the way over there. Naked.”

She’d just stepped out of the bathroom after
a shower, which he hadn’t joined her for. She should have known
then something was up. The only time she showered alone in this
house was when Toby wasn’t home.

“C’mon, Mad, you’re killing me.”

She peeled back the paper to reveal more
paper. Tissue paper this time. “What on earth?”

Giving up on slow, she tore into the final
layers and watched as a delicate porcelain figurine was revealed.
“Oh god.”

Her gaze darted to Toby. He looked equally
nervous and excited.

Glancing back down, she removed all the
wrapping and held the couple cradled in her hands. “I don’t—”

“Madison.”

He was beside her. On one knee with his hand
held out.

“Take this new experience with me.”

In the palm of his hand sat a ring of gold, a
big sparkly diamond the only thing breaking the circle. “Is that…?
Are you…?”

Toby grinned. “I love it when I stop that
mind of yours.”

“It’s only been five months.”

“I told you I was done the first time I
kissed you.”

“I…” She couldn’t take her eyes of the
ring.

“In case you need the words… Madison, will
you marry me?”

Her head was moving up and down before she
could get a word out. “Y-yes.”

“Then give me your hand.”

She held out her left hand and watched him
slip the gorgeous ring onto her finger.

“Right. Now, next new experience.” He scooped
her up into his arms and carried her out of the room.

“Wait. Where are we going?”

“I’m going to fuck my fiancé under the
stars.”

“Outside?”

“Yep.”

“But—”

“And when I’m done, we’re going to make slow,
mad love.”

~~~

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Excerpt from
Crazy Love

Available March 3, 2016

Rette looked away from the spreadsheet that
had her eyes straining to the point her vision blurred and blinked
several times. It did nothing to alleviate her dry eyeballs.
Reaching for the little bottle that had become a permanent fixture
on her desk, she tipped her head back and administered the
elixir-of-life to the desert that had moved into her eye
sockets.

She needed to quit and go home. Except she
hated doing that when something didn’t add up.

And, dammit, something didn’t add up.

She’d run the numbers five times—overkill
maybe—with the same result and now she was checking every equation
and number to verify they were correct. The problem was there were
six tabs with over a hundred entries on each as well as the
crossover calculations. She’d barely skimmed the surface never mind
scratched it.

With a sigh, Rette leaned her chair back to
the full extent of its tilt function and stretched her arms over
her head while waiting for the magic water to do its job on her
eyes.

There was also the other reason she was
avoiding leaving the office. But she wasn’t going to think about
that. If she let one thought slip in she’d remember where she
should
be right now and then she’d be reminded of what she
could
be doing and what she
wouldn’t
be doing
again any time soon.

God dammit.

Now she was thinking about it.

She blew out a breath making her cheeks puff
out. She should probably thank Jake for calling to let her know he
couldn’t meet her this month—or any month from now on. Except Rette
couldn’t bring herself to be anything but pissed. She’d
needed
this weekend.

Had she congratulated him? She couldn’t
remember. None of their conversation after
‘I can’t make
tomorrow or any other day in the future’
was all that
important to her. Oh, she was happy for the guy.

Maybe.

Well she would be as soon as she figured out
how to replace her booty call buddy.

They’d been hooking up for three years. Once
a month, Friday night through Sunday afternoon, for thirty-six
months.

Get in, get off and off and off, get out. It
suited her. There were no messy feelings or strings or
where-are-you-what-are-you-doing texts or calls.

No demands.

Been there, done that, bought the fucking
t-shirt, pants, shoes and hat to prove it.

Damn she was really going to miss those
fuck-fests.

She didn’t delude herself though; she
couldn’t offer Jake—or any man—more than sex. At some point Jake
had decided what they had wasn’t enough… Although now she thought
about it, he’d never asked her for more. Maybe he hadn’t changed
his preferences until he’d met the woman who’d put an end to their
weekend romps.

Wouldn’t be the first time a guy had come to
the conclusion she wasn’t what he wanted. At least this time she
hadn’t handed over her heart first. She’d never do that again. Once
burned, twice shy and all that.

Nope. No way. No how.

All she wanted was sex.

No strings. Get in. Get off. Get out.

Where the hell was she going to find a
replacement?

Rette lowered her arms and rolled her
shoulders while the soothing balm of her eye drops quenched the
thirst behind her eyelids.

One of those online hook-up sites might
work…

Except those sites were more about meeting
‘
the one
’. She definitely wasn’t looking for that.
Trolling bars and clubs didn’t appeal. The last time she’d be in
one had been for a colleague’s birthday and Rette had come out of
there feeling as though she needed to shower.

In bleach.

That type of place had never been her thing
and the thought of having to enter one now made her shudder. Not
the good kind of shudder either. Those were not in her foreseeable
future.

Dammit. Now she was wound up and frustrated
over work and sex.

Letting the recoil action of the tilt
function do the work, Rette opened her eyes and jerked upright.

Nothing had changed on the screen in the last
five minutes. Maybe she should call it a night and pick it up again
in the morning? It wasn’t as though she had anything better to do
this weekend now.

“Hey, you’re still here?”

Swiveling her chair, Rette watched the
hottest thing to wear a suit walk towards her.

Adam Moreland.

Australia’s most eligible bachelor according
to one of the country’s top women’s magazines. She couldn’t argue
with them. Rich, good looking, and by all accounts, into hot and
heavy—occasionally kinky—sex. In the last few years there’d been
numerous articles written about the man and his sex god appeal.

Such a shame he was her boss and she couldn’t
go there. She’d love to climb all over that.

Rette quit her visual perusal of tall, dark
and handsome and met his gaze with a smile. “Still here.”

“Thought you were busy this weekend?”

“Was.”

“And now…” He arched one sexy eyebrow.

Eyebrows shouldn’t be sexy. Then again, Rette
was pretty sure dog shit would be sexy on Adam. Yes, he was
definitely
all that
. Goddamn fucking shame he was her
boss. “Plans got canceled.”

“So you’re free tomorrow?”

“What do you need me to do? I’ll be in here
early anyway—” she indicated the monitor behind her “—can’t get
that to balance. There’s either an incorrect input or someone got
stupid again and fucked with my equations.”

He shook his head. “Leave it for Monday. I
need you to come with me tomorrow.”

Come with him? She didn’t normally attend
client meetings. “Uh, okay. Where?”

“Zac’s wedding.”

“Whoa. Wait.” What the fuck? “You’re asking
me to be your plus one for your brother’s wedding?” Jesus. She
glanced at her desk. What the hell was in those eye drops?

“My date canceled on me. I’ve already
RSVP’d.” He shrugged. “If I don’t turn up with someone all the
single women will be all over me and I’m not in the mood for
that.”

“Why’d your date cancel?” Rette was pretty
sure this was a world event because in the four years she’d worked
for Adam she’d never heard of it happening before.

Rubbing a hand on the back of his neck he
sighed. “Apparently between agreeing to go with me six weeks ago
and this morning she found the love of her life.”

“Harsh.”

“Not really. It wasn’t like that.”

“Oh?”

“Megan swings the other way. She’s always
been the perfect cover when I don’t want to deal with unwanted
attention.”

Okay, so she was a last minute substitute and
nothing more than a defender of his virtue. “You have to use her
often?”

Adam frowned. “Unfortunately, yes. Which
makes her new found love a thorn in my side but she’s not willing
to rock the boat with the new girl yet.”

“She has before?”

“Yeah. It’s kinda been our thing since
school.”

Why did Adam’s need for a
fender-off-of-females surprise her? The fact women had been
flocking to him since school wasn’t a shocker. His lack of interest
was though. “Most guys would be lapping up all the attention.”

“I’m not most guys. And let’s be real.
They’re not interested in me. Their attention is clamped firmly on
the rich bachelor image the media portrays. Emphasis on the
rich.”

Was there a little frustration and disgust in
his voice? “Well, it’s a pretty impressive image. And while I
haven’t seen the zeroes in your bank account I can imagine there’d
be quite a few. Plus most people don’t get to see the crazy ranting
man with his messy hair, untucked shirt and bulging eyes who storms
through this office on a regular basis.” Rette softened her insult
with smile.

He grinned. “Probably a good thing.”

Adam was right. Over the years she’d seen
more than one employee cower when he was on a rampage over
something. They never lasted in the company long.

“So you’ll go with me?”

Should she? Was she crazy to even contemplate
accepting?

It might be an opportunity to find a new
buddy. Or at least scope-out some single men and practice her rusty
seduction skills.

“Sure. What’s the dress code?” She was bound
to have something appropriate in her wardrobe.

“It’s a garden wedding. Three o’clock
service, reception at six.”

“So grass underfoot?” She’d have to wear
wedges or flats, no stilettos.

“Ah.” Adam scratched his chin. “I guess
so.”

Rette smiled. Typical man. No clue. She
grabbed her phone and opened the calendar. “What’s the address?
What time should I meet you there?”

“I’ll pick you up at one.”

“I can meet you there to save time.”

“And have everyone thinking we’re not going
home together? Not happening. I don’t want anyone thinking they
have a chance to end the evening with me.”

“I’m sure—”

Adam held up a hand. “Even with you going
home with me I’ll be fending them off.”

Rette laughed. “It can’t be that bad.”

“You wait.”

“Surely the women attending your brother’s
wedding will be family and friends. I can’t see things getting out
of hand.”

“Just be prepared to defend your
territory.”

“What?” He couldn’t mean he wanted her to act
like they were
together
together? Not that it would be a
hardship exactly, but she was already sexually frustrated. Spending
the day fawning all over Adam would have her libido shooting for
the stars.

“As far as anyone knows, we’re on a real
date. I’ll be attentive and focused on you the entire time so it’ll
be obvious I’m not available. But as I said, there will be those
who disregard our togetherness and attempt to get my
attention.”

Rette drew in a slow breath. All right. It
wasn’t an issue. She wouldn’t have to pretend to be into Adam. She
was
into him. More than advisable considering they worked
together and he was the boss. She’d just have to make sure she had
fresh batteries for BOB.

After several hours being stuck to Adam’s
side she’d be using her vibrator until one of them wore out.