The Bachelor Pact (31 page)

Chalking her worries up to anxiety over the coming tour, she parked in front of Cynthia's house, killed the engine and grabbed her notepad.

Cynthia greeted her with a glass of sweet iced tea and a plate of sandwiches.

"Thanks, what a relief. I'm starved," Maddie admitted.

"I'm so glad you agreed to help me," Cynthia said, brushing a wrinkle from her pale green suit. "I'm not very good with colors but I do so want to have a nice place."

"Hoping to impress someone?" Maddie teased.

Cynthia blushed. "Well..."

"You don't have to answer that." Maddie said, snatching a sandwich. "Just tell me what you have in mind, and we'll go from there."

They spent the next twenty minutes chatting about Cynthia's likes and dislikes while they ate. During the conversation, Maddie learned Cynthia was the daughter of an orthodontist from Raleigh, had recently ended a bad relationship where her boyfriend had actually stolen most of her furniture and she had dreams of becoming president of her own company someday. Maddie liked her.

She drained her tea and placed the glass on the small glass-topped kitchen table. "Okay, so you want something elegant and modern but not so outlandish and pricey that your place doesn't feel homey?"

"That sounds vague, doesn't it?" Cynthia asked, looking unsure of herself.

Maddie patted her hand. "Don't worry. I think I know what you mean." She studied the small living space and began to sketch a few ideas, asking questions as she drew.

"If you go with a neutral palette, you can always add splashes of color in the accessories to liven up the place. What kind of art do you like?"

An hour later, Maddie had outlined several ideas, and Cynthia had narrowed her selections down to two choices. She wanted to think about them overnight.

"You know, you're really easy to talk to," Cynthia said. "I'm glad Jeff... I mean Mr. Oglethorpe recommended you to me."

Maddie folded up her sketchpad. "Cynthia, is Jeff one of the people you want to impress?"

The young brunette fluttered a manicured hand over her chest. "Maddie, I'm sorry, this is awkward, isn't it? I know the two of you were involved—"

"Don't worry about that," Maddie said, waving her off. She ignored the fact that Jeff still seemed to be pursuing
her.
Chase was the only man for her. And she wanted Jeff to find someone who would really love him. "If you like Jeff, then go for it, Cynthia. Just because he and I didn't work out doesn't mean I don't want to see him happy."

Cynthia's light blue eyes twinkled with surprise. "You really mean that?"

"Absolutely. As a matter of fact I'm kind of involved with someone else myself."

"Really? Who?"

"This guy I work with."

"That handsome man you were with at the restaurant?"

"Yes, things are pretty hot with us right now." Maddie's face heated as she remembered her earlier encounter with Chase in the exercise room.

"Oh, wow," Cynthia said. "He was buff. I bet he knows how to please a woman."

"He sure does," Maddie said with a laugh, deciding she'd better not say too much. Suddenly anxious to see Chase again and find out how her brothers had taken the news of their relationship, she stood and thanked Cynthia for lunch, promising to bring back full-color sketches when Cynthia called with her decision on the fabrics.

As she drove back toward the subdivision, Maddie found herself smiling like a schoolgirl. While she and Cynthia discussed window treatments and furniture, she hoped Chase had been explaining to her brothers the wonderful bond the two of them shared. Lance and Reid might be upset at first, but then... they'd understand. They'd have to.

Chase would make certain they did.

They'd probably even be happy for her since they loved Chase so much.

Memories of that stupid bachelor pact rose in Maddie's mind to taunt her, threatening to destroy her hope, but she shoved her reservations aside. Surely after their wild coupling today, Chase would have to tear up that stupid piece of paper, too, and admit he cared about her. Maybe even that he loved her.

* * *

Reid's beeper chirped. He glanced at the number and frowned. Knobby Smaltz. What had the P.I. discovered?

Only one way to find out.

He made a token excuse to Lance, saying he had to meet with a plumbing subcontractor and hurried toward his truck. The radio blared an old country-and-western tune "Crazy," as he drove a safe distance from the complex, veered down an old dirt road by the inlet and parked in the shade of a live oak dripping with Spanish moss. What better place to hide while he carried on his clandestine conversation. What better song to indicate how this whole thing with his father made him feel. Crazy.

He hated all this lying and sneaking around.

How had his father handled it? Had their mother known the secrets his father had harbored?

And what if Knobby had discovered another Summers, one who wanted to meet them, to be part of the family.

No, he wouldn't allow the situation to come to that.

If Knobby had discovered someone, Reid would find them and head them off before Lance or Maddie ever had to know.

Gripping the phone with sweaty hands, he punched in Knobby's cell phone number and waited. Seconds later, the man's rough-hewn voice echoed over the line.

"It's Summers. What do you have?"

Knobby wheezed through the phone. "The nurse at the hospital said there have been several inquiries, all anonymous. But one of the calls was a repeat, a woman."

"And?"

"And she's not at liberty to give out any information regarding your father."

"That's a relief."

"Don't relax too soon."

A bad feeling twisted Reid's stomach. "Why not?"

Knobby's rusty breath rattled over the line. "There may be a hitch here."

"Go on."

"Someone broke into the files about a month ago."

"Shit."

"She isn't sure what the person was looking for."

"Were any files taken?"

"No, but the intruder could have photocopied files." Knobby whistled through his teeth. "Looks like the kind of thing that could mean trouble. I guess you'll just have to wait and see."

Several minutes later, Reid dropped his face into his hands and groaned. He had to think.

The first step. He'd ask Knobby to find out if his father had any accounts set aside that they didn't know about. Maybe his dad had taken precautions or set up some kind of fund in case this... these others ever came back to haunt him.

He thought of his and Lance's fledgling business and silently cursed a blue streak—they were finally so close to making a success of their company.

Surely, his father had anticipated problems and set up accounts for emergency's sake. If not, he... he didn't know what he was going to do.

He racked his brain to remember if there'd been any strangers lurking around asking questions about the family lately. Suspicions gnawed at him—the only person he could think of was that TV talk-show host that had invited his brother over for dinner. Lance had said she'd been asking him about the family, that he didn't trust her, that she liked to sneak into other people's lives for a story.

And Knobby had said the repeat caller had been a woman. Could the caller have been Sophie Lane? If so, was she after a story or something else?

* * *

After getting away from Lance and Reid, Chase spent the afternoon and evening locked in his office, drawing up blueprints for a new colonial home he hoped to add to the next phase of development. He avoided calling Maddie. He also avoided her calls.

Only two more days until the tour. If he could wait until the tour was over, he could break the news to Maddie calmly, reasoning that close working conditions had prompted their affair and that they would no longer be working together, so it would seem natural to end their... their physical relationship.

Sex, lust—that was all their relationship was anyway. He did not, was not, could not be in love... with anyone. After all, this wasn't the dark ages. Just because he'd taken Maddie's virginity didn't mean he had to marry her or fall in love with her. She hadn't mentioned commitment or love; in fact, she'd been adamant about dating different guys. And as far as falling in love; well, what did he know about the emotion, except that it was another four letter word? He'd never had it from the people who should have loved him. Maddie knew he would make a sorry excuse for a husband.

But then again, she had chosen him as her first, and he did feel territorial. She was his, no one else's but
his.
She never had been, and she never would be.... Besides, wasn't she really the first woman he'd felt... emotionally involved with during sex?

No, eventually this emotional connection would dissipate, and he'd go on to someone else and so would she. They'd both be grateful they hadn't complicated things by telling Lance and Reid.

He only felt an emotional attachment to Maddie, because he'd known her so long, and because of this insufferable guilt. Yes, Maddie would find some nice guy and settle down one day.

As long as that guy wasn't the wuss.

A thick burning sensation rose in his throat as the image of Maddie with Oglethorpe or any other man passed through his brain. He balled his hands into fists and pressed one over his chest, reminding himself not to eat that spicy Creole again. On top of everything else, the damn woman had given him heartburn.

The phone trilled, and he glanced at the caller ID, breathing a sigh of relief when he noticed the number didn't belong to Maddie.

His relief was short-lived when he answered. A disgruntled-sounding client's voice echoed on the line. "Listen, Mr. Holloway, I'm going to have to tear up that contract."

Dammit, more trouble. "That's within your rights and the grace period," Chase said, fighting the edge to his voice, "but do you mind telling me why you changed your mind? The other day you seemed impressed with my work and the Summers developers—"

"Money," the man admitted in a sheepish voice. "I can't possibly stick with you when I was promised a lower interest rate if I go with another developer—"

"A lower interest rate?"

"Yeah, it'll save me thousands of dollars."

"Who offered you the better deal?"

"The Savings and Loan. I just finished speaking with the manager, and he promised to take care of me personally."

"Martin Middlemyer?"

"No, that nice Mr. Oglethorpe."

That sneaky, weaselly wuss! Anger churned in Chase's stomach. "Oglethorpe promised you a lower interest rate if you signed with another developer?"

"Right. Well, thanks for understanding."

The man hung up, and Chase pounded his fist on the desk, a sudden uneasy feeling rolling through him. He'd been suspicious of Oglethorpe before. If the wuss had promised this man lower interest rates, had he offered the same deal to the other three clients who'd reneged on their contracts? And what about the contractors? Oglethorpe and his family had connections all over town. Had he also cut a deal with them?

Furious, he fumbled through his rolodex, grabbed the phone, and punched in the number for the Savings and Loan. It was about time he had a little talk with Jeffrey Oglethorpe, the back stabber. And he wouldn't leave his office until he had some answers.

Chapter 23

Maddie tucked her feet beneath her bottom in the chair and glanced at the door for the hundredth time. She'd been expecting Lance and Reid to call or stop by all night, especially if Chase had told them the truth about the two of them, but she hadn't heard a peep from any of them. Including Chase.

Had Chase confessed? Had the boys beaten the sense out of him? Were they laughing over the fact that the two of them had finally gotten together, deciding it had been destiny?

So, why hadn't she heard something,
anything?

Determined not to be paranoid, she shrugged off the anxiety knotting her insides. Maybe the boys had accepted the news easily and were busy finishing up last-minute plans for the tour.

Or maybe Chase hadn't told them at all?

Maddie refused to think about it anymore. Instead, she turned her attention back to her best friend.

"Cheer up, Sophie. Just because my brother is a moron doesn't mean there isn't a wonderful guy out there somewhere for you."

Sophie sighed, running her finger around the rim of her margarita glass. "I know. But for some reason, the first time I saw your brother I felt this connection with him. Sounds corny, doesn't it?"

"Not at all, Soph. I had a crush on Chase when we were kids. I'll never forget the first time Lance brought him home." Maddie laughed and twirled her straw in her drink. "I got all nervous, thought he was a hellion."

"There's something about that type, isn't there?"

Maddie nodded. "But there was more than that—he always had this kind of sad, lonely look about him. Like my cat had when I found him." Maddie smiled wistfully at T. C. who lay snuggled in her lap, purring. "I never dreamed Chase would wake up one day and see me as something other than a little girl."

"I'm so happy for you, Mad."