Slow Burn (A Madaris Family Novel) (11 page)

Skye shook her head. Little did Edith know that her close relationship with her aunt didn’t end. Oh, there had been years they hadn’t been able to talk like they used to, but once she left home for college to live on campus, she and her aunt met each week for tea at one of the café houses on campus. Those days had been the high points in her life. Her aunt had always been there giving her support when things got rough with her parents. And her aunt had given Skye her blessings when she’d told her of her decision to find Vincent. In fact, her aunt had been the only supportive one.

“Skye?”

She blinked upon realizing Slade had been talking to her.

“Yes?”

“I asked what are your plans?”

She shrugged. “I really haven’t made any. Other than knowing for certain I’ll be spending time this summer in Houston.” Which was only a couple of weeks away. This was the last week of school for Vincent, and according to Lorren he was supposed to report to work for Slade the second week of June.

“I guess I need to return home and set everything in motion,” she said, which she knew also meant breaking the news to her parents. That would be the hardest part because she knew there was no way they would understand her reason for what she had to do.

“I’ll need to put in the paperwork to my employer, which won’t be a problem. Then I’ll check on a place for me to stay in Houston and—”

“You can stay with me.”

She glanced up at Slade. “Excuse me?”

He smiled. “I said you can stay with me. Our construction company built some pretty nice condos for millionaire land developer Mitch Farrell. As part of our compensation package, Blade and I are owners of several of them that we lease out. Both Blade and I live there.”

“And you want me to live with you?”

His smile widened. “I think that would be a rather nice arrangement.”

Well, she didn’t. She was having a hard time trying to figure out how they would share office space if she took him up on his job offer. She didn’t want to think how things would be if they were to share personal space as well. Besides, her moving in with him would definitely send out a wrong message to his family. They’d probably think there was more between them than friendship. It was obvious his brother and cousin already thought so.

“Thanks, but no thanks, Slade. I don’t think us living together, even for three months, would be a good idea. I’ll just check the Houston rental sections to see what I can find.”

“Don’t bother. If you don’t want to share quarters with me, then there’s a vacant condo I often use as a model, so it’s completely furnished. You’re welcome to use it.”

“I couldn’t possibly do that.”

“Sure you can. Consider it as a favor from a friend. You’re going to like it and it’s within minutes from the Madaris Office Park.”

Sky raised a brow. “The Madarises own an office park?”

Slade chuckled. “Justin and his brothers, along with Uncle Jake, are the owners. They commissioned me and Blade to build it, and thanks to Mitch Farrell, the Madaris Building went from being a four-story office building in downtown Houston to an exclusive fifteen-story building that’s surrounded by a cluster of upscale shops, restaurants, and a beautiful park with a huge man-made pond. All of it is erected on a huge parcel of land on the outskirts of town. The condos are right across from the pond.”

The place sounded beautiful and the chance to live in one of the condos was tempting. But…

“Can I think about it, Slade?”

“Yes. I’m sure living arrangements while you’re in Houston are just one of many things you’ll have to think about. But the offer is out there. If you want to fly to Houston to take a look at it, then let me know. I’ll be returning to the city on Sunday.”

She nodded. She would be leaving to return to Maine on Sunday as well. That meant she had only two more days to spend with Vincent before leaving.

And only two more days to spend with Slade.

She hung her head for a moment. Why did the thought of not seeing him for two weeks bother her?

“Skye?”

She lifted her head up and met his gaze. “Yes?”

“Whatever it is that’s bothering you, let it go. Things are going to work out just fine. You have to believe it.”

At that moment, a tremble ran through Skye’s body. Slade Madaris had to be the most positive man she knew. From the moment she had first met him, all he’d done was offer her encouragement. And something else he’d done was introduce her to passion. The man had more passion in his little finger than Wayne had had in his entire body. She had never met a man such as Slade and doubted she ever would again. He had a way of making her feel feminine and attractive without really trying. It was the way he would look at her, smile at her, talk to her in that throaty and sexy voice of his.

“So now I have two offers out there on the table,” he said. “One is for you to come to work for me this summer, and the other is a place for you to stay. The decision, Skye Barclay, is yours.”

Almost a week later after returning to Maine, Skye still
hadn’t made a decision regarding Slade’s offers. She had, however, gotten an approval from her employer for a leave of absence for the entire summer. Now the only thing remaining was telling her parents what she planned to do.

As she sat at the desk in her office she glanced out the window. She had a beautiful view of the city’s skyline as well as the Kennebec River.

She’d always thought that Augusta was a world-class city where its citizens were able to pursue lifelong learning while attending first-class schools, patronizing libraries and historic and cultural facilities. Downtown, where her office was located, was considered the heart of the city, and a lot of buildings were situated along Water Street and throughout the Capitol complex.

As she sat there, she couldn’t help but recall the last two days she had spent in Ennis with the Madaris family. It had shown her that a normal family life did exist for some people. Everyone had been simply wonderful, and she had hated when Sunday had come around and it was time to leave.

She had quickly made friends with Slade’s brother Blade and his cousin Luke, and Justin and Lorren’s hospitality still had Skye in awe of their love, not only for each other, but for their children as well. Because of them, her brother had grown up to be a very special young man with outstanding respect for others and values.

And then there was Slade.

Her heart caught every time she thought about him. After he had made those offers to her, there was never a time the two of them were alone. They spent time with Blade and Luke as they shared more and more tidbits about the Madaris family as well as some of their escapades while growing up. It was easy to see the three weren’t just relatives by blood but were also close friends who wouldn’t hesitate to do what they could for one another.

She couldn’t help but smile each and every time she recalled something she and Slade had done together. Thanks to him she’d had her first horse-riding experience, and she now appreciated the value of taking walks whenever she had a lot on her mind. Even without trying he had made her feel special, not only as Vincent’s sister but as a woman as well.

She couldn’t forget the kisses they had shared, and in the final days when, thanks to Blade and Luke, he couldn’t seem to get her alone, she couldn’t help but remember the flirtatious glances and heated looks he had sent her way. Those memories only made the decision of whether to take him up on his offers that much harder.

She jumped when the intercom buzzed on her desk. She glanced at her watch and saw it was almost lunchtime already. She had called her parents asking to meet with them later today. It would be then that she would tell them of her plans, and no matter what, she would not change them.

When the intercom buzzer sounded again she quickly reacted by hitting the speaker button to respond to her secretary. “Yes, Ida?”

“Wayne Bigelow is here. He says he’s taking you to lunch.”

Skye frowned. Just showing up out of the clear blue sky and thinking she was supposed to drop her plans just for him was typical Wayne. They didn’t have lunch plans. In fact, as far as she was concerned, there was no need for them to see each other at all. He had said what he had to say to her, had told her exactly how he felt, before she’d left for Texas.

“Do you want me to send him in, Ms. Barclay?”

She could hear the annoyance in Ida’s voice. Evidently, as usual, Wayne was out in the reception area being a nuisance. For some reason he thought whenever he walked into a room, everyone was supposed to stop whatever they were doing and give him their full attention. He truly didn’t like being ignored. He’d probably heard she had returned to town and was a little ticked off that she hadn’t called him. Maybe it was time to let him know they really had nothing else to say to each other. He needed to get on with his life like she planned on getting on with hers.

“Yes, Ida, please send him in.”

Within minutes he strode into her office. She glanced up at him. He was handsome; she would have to give him that. But an acknowledgment of his good looks was all she would give him. The man was so full of himself it was a shame. In her opinion his attitude only diminished those good looks. And he’d always had a
better than thou
attitude about him. Spending time with Slade and seeing how a true gentleman carried himself made Wayne’s offensive behavior that much more obvious.

“Get your purse, Skye. I’m here to take you to lunch.”

She shook her head. And of course he expected her to obey his orders since he had walked into her office barking them out. He hadn’t taken the time to do something courteous like give her a proper greeting, ask how she was doing or how her trip was. Doing any of that would have meant it was all about her, but Wayne intended for it to be all about him. She wondered how she had remained engaged to him for the time that she had.

“Hello, Wayne. We didn’t have a lunch date and at the moment I’m too busy to drop whatever I’m doing to go anywhere with you.” She flipped open a file that was on her desk for good measure.

“Besides,” she decided to add, “why would we go out to lunch? It’s not as if we’re still seeing each other. If I recall, you called off our wedding before I left for Texas. I’d think you would be getting on with your life like I’m trying to do with mine.”

He pulled out the chair across from her desk and sat in it, waving her words away with his hand. “Your stubbornness got me pretty upset and I said some things I should not have. But I’m over that now. I’ve decided the wedding is back on, and have called the planner to let her know it as well.”

That bit of news angered Skye. The audacity of the man! She threw down the file she held in her hand. “You should not have done that, Wayne, because the wedding is not back on.”

“Sure it is. Same date. Same time. And,” he said in a low voice that was meant to really capture her attention with its supposed sexiness, “I’ve called that place in Hawaii to let them know the honeymoon is back on as well.”

She had heard enough. “If you’re counting on me marrying you, then you will be left standing at the altar alone, because I have no intentions of showing up. I know what you said to me that night and—”

“Like I said, you made me angry, Skye. How was I supposed to act?”

Like a true gentleman and not an ass,
she wanted to say. Instead she said, “Like someone who cared about my feelings. But you didn’t.”

He stood angrily. “You had made up your mind to travel miles away to meet someone you didn’t know based on some investigator’s report. Someone who didn’t know you and could probably care less that you existed.”

“That’s right and what you should have been was supportive.”

“Supportive while my future wife made a fool of herself? Get real, Skye. What purpose did it serve, finding this so-called brother of yours? Okay, according to your parents, you were treated decently, but what’s to come of it? Is he willing to leave the parents who raised him to start a life with you?”

“That wasn’t my purpose in going, Wayne. I just wanted to meet him and get to know him.”

“Fine, and I hope you’ve done both, because now you’re back and I intend for us to move forward in our wedding plans.”

Now it was Skye who stood. “There won’t be any wedding plans because there won’t be a wedding. That’s the last thing I plan to say on the matter. Now I would appreciate it if you left.”

He looked surprised, almost shocked. “You’re asking me to leave?”

“Yes.”

He frowned. “Okay, I can see that you’re still upset, but we can talk about this at another time. I’ll drop by your place later,” he said, heading for the door.

“You aren’t welcome at my place any longer, Wayne.”

He didn’t turn back around, nor did he stop walking. He merely tossed over his shoulder, “Sure I am. You’ll have cooled off by tonight. I’ll make plans for dinner.” And then he opened the door and left.

For the longest moment she was too stunned to speak. In essence Wayne hadn’t heard anything she’d said, and if he had heard it, he hadn’t been listening. Well, she would have to show him. She would make sure the security guard who manned her apartment building knew that Wayne was no longer welcome.

She was about to sit back down when the intercom on her desk sounded again. She reached out and pushed the button. “Yes, Ida?”

“Your aunt Karen is on the line.”

A smile touched Skye’s lips. She had returned to town only to discover her aunt had taken a trip to Boston with friends. “Please put her on through.”

A few minutes later her aunt’s cheerful voice sounded. “Skye, how are you?”

“I’m fine, Aunt Karen; how was your trip to Boston?”

She heard her aunt’s quick laugh. “Oh, as usual it was wonderful. I have to tell you all about it.”

She leaned back in her chair and made a quick decision. “How about now? What are your plans for lunch?”

“I don’t have any. Would you like for us to meet somewhere, let’s say in half an hour?”

“I’d love to. There’s so much I want to tell you,” Skye said excitedly.

A few minutes later, she hung up the phone. At least there was one person who was interested in knowing how she’d spent her time in Texas.

Wayne Bigelow waited until he had gotten into his car and snapped on his seat belt before making what he considered an important call on his cell phone. As soon as the voice he wanted to hear came on the line, he said, “She’s trying to be difficult.”

There was a brief pause before the party he’d called said, “Then it’s up to you to make sure she doesn’t become a problem. You’re a man with incredible charm, and I suggest you use it. You should never have broken off your engagement to her.”

“I thought doing so would make her come around.”

“Well, evidently you were wrong. The success of your future depends on you being able to control her. Under no circumstances is she to find out the identity of her biological father.”

Wayne rolled his eyes. “I really don’t think that matters to her. She hired a private investigator to find out the identity of her mother. And right now she’s so caught up in this brother she’s found.”

“Maybe. But then I don’t believe in taking chances, and I’m depending on you to make sure she doesn’t take her search any further.”

Then without saying anything more, the person ended the call.

Slade stood at his office window on the fifteenth floor of the Madaris Building with his hands dug deep into the pockets of his trousers. He had been working on a project all morning and decided to take a break since it was nearing lunchtime. Instead of going out, he’d asked his secretary to order a sandwich and soda from the café on the ground floor.

Below, he could see a number of people eating lunch on the benches by the pond, while others used their lunchtime to take a brisk walk. It was a beautiful day and the first week in June. He, Blade, and Luke had returned to Houston the same day Skye had left to return to Maine, and he’d tried to keep busy ever since to keep her off his mind.

But he found it wasn’t working.

He thought about her every waking moment, and last night he had gone so far as to contact Lorren for her phone number, so he could give her a call to see how she was doing and to ask if she had thought any more about his offers. But something had held him back from calling her.

This morning when he’d awakened he had considered sending her flowers, since it seemed every floral arrangement he looked at reminded him of her freshness and beauty. And he couldn’t let go of the memories of all the kisses they had shared. He had not only been taken by her; she had also shaken his world and left him mesmerized.

He turned around when the buzzer on his desk sounded. Crossing the room, he pressed the button to respond to his secretary. “My lunch has arrived already, Claire?”

“No, sir. You have a visitor. Your uncle Jake Madaris is here to see you.”

A smile spread across Slade’s lips, corner to corner. “Please send him in.”

It didn’t take Slade long to wait for his grand-uncle to open the door and walk in. In Slade’s opinion, his grandfather’s youngest brother was the epitome of a Texan man from the top of the Stetson he wore on his head all the way down to the expensive leather boots he wore on his feet. A man in his late forties, he was tall at six-seven, and as far as Slade was concerned, he was the best uncle anyone could ever have. Slade loved and respected all his uncles, but Jake Madaris would always have a special place in all of his nieces’ and nephews’ hearts, because even with his extremely busy schedule of running one of the biggest and most productive ranches on a stretch of land not far from Houston, he’d always made time for them while they’d been growing up.

“What brings you off the Whispering Pines ranch, Uncle Jake?” Slade asked, crossing the room to give his uncle a huge bear hug.

“I’m meeting Nedwyn for lunch to discuss plans for the retirement party that Diamond and I are giving him in a few weeks.”

Slade nodded. Senator Nedwyn Lansing and his uncle Jake had been good friends for years. Senator Lansing had first been Jake’s deceased brother Robert’s best friend, and after Robert Madaris had died in the Vietnam War, the senator and Jake had forged a strong friendship. The senator had retired last month after serving in the United States Senate for over twenty years.

“How is the family doing? Diamond, Granite, and Amethyst?” His uncle was married to former movie star Diamond Swain. Years ago she had traded in the bright lights of Hollywood to be a stay-at-home mom and rancher’s wife. On occasion, she could be pulled out of retirement to do a movie or two, and that was only when her and Jake’s good friend Sterling Hamilton sat in the director’s chair.

Jake smiled as he always did with the mention of the wife and children he loved and adored. “Everyone is doing fine. Since I was in town I thought I’d start from the bottom floor of this building and work my way up to the top before meeting Nedwyn at a restaurant across the way. I’ve seen Dex, Christy, and Alex, and Clayton and Syneda. And everyone seems to be doing fine. Blade and Luke came out to the ranch and spent a few days last week and I talked to Justin on the phone last night. He shared Vincent’s good news. I understand you got a chance to meet his sister while you were in Ennis a week ago.”