Bad Boy's Bridesmaid (57 page)

“Maybe some other time.”

Nolan didn’t let me run far. “Maddox is
out of jail.”

I stilled. The coy edge in his voice
forced me to turn. Nolan rubbed his strong chin.

“Keeping secrets?” he asked.

I swallowed. It didn’t help. All the
cookie dough I ate for breakfast solidified into a rock in my stomach. I forced
a smile, if only to keep up appearances.

“What do you want?” I whispered.

“Just a cup of coffee, Josie. A chance
to talk.”

Like I had a choice.

Nolan offered his arm. The thought
revolted me, but I wouldn’t challenge him at Maddox’s expense. I took his
elbow. My skin somehow looked darker, less cinnamon and more toffee under his
hand. He liked that, but I wasn’t used to being a fetish.

Anne’s Beans wasn’t owned by Anne Wilks
anymore—she sold to Tommy Waddock ten years ago who willed the property to his
second wife, Anne Markson. They kept the name, but the locals still called it
Tommy’s place. In any case, it was the best shop to get a cup of coffee in the
town, especially when Anne, Tommy, and Annie each sent their customers to my
family’s shop for a treat with their drink.

Rebecca Darcy worked the shift
tonight—nine months pregnant to a husband she hadn’t seen in ten, but the town
kept that quiet as poor Cade was on his second tour and did all he could. We
sat, but Rebecca hovered, winking as I claimed the corner table. She was one of
the townspeople who thought Nolan and I made a good match.

Well, most everyone thought it.

Nolan ordered two coffees. I didn’t
touch mine. He added just enough creamer to match the coffee to my skin tone.
Then he savored every drop, licking his lips as he dumped in enough sugar to
open his own candy store in the cup.

I said nothing, but that was fine.
Nolan didn’t like me for my conversational skills. He glanced over me as though
I were a thousand dollar contribution to his campaign and smiled.

“Did you sleep with him?”

My breath caught. I stared at him.

“
Excuse me
?”

Nolan was direct. I was sure he
imagined every moment I spent beneath Maddox.

“I asked if you slept with him.”

I licked my lips. “I don’t think that’s
any business of yours.”

“Did you, or didn’t you?”

“I’m not telling you.”

“We had an agreement, Josie.”

My stomach twisted. “No. You told me
what you wanted. I never agreed to anything.”

He sighed, blowing on the coffee to
cool it down. “I’m only doing this for your own good.”

That wasn’t true. He wanted to control
me.

And he could.

I lowered my voice, hissing just like
the disgusting snake pretending to be a prince. “You threatened Maddox’s life.
You said you’d kill him if I stayed with him.”

Nolan didn’t flinch. “I said no such
thing, Josie.”

“You meant it.”

“It’s hard to prove intent.” He stared
me down, the blue in his eyes deceptively sweet. “Maddox is the wrong man for
you. If you stay with him, you’ll get hurt.” He sipped his coffee. “And so will
he.”

No doubt. And Nolan would be the one
pulling the trigger. No—he’d hire someone else to do it, the same sort of
low-life and hardened man that Maddox nearly became.

I hated this. These horrible threats
shouldn’t have existed in a small town like Saint Christie. We weren’t a big
city. We didn’t have
crime.
We had…Maddox. His family was bad news, and
he looked kinda scary in a leather jacket with his tattoos, but the town wasn’t
unsafe
. Our biggest threat came from a raccoon appearing in the
afternoon and the occasional firework that exploded too near a cranky
neighbor’s house.

But Maddox always said darkness lurked
anywhere a shadow was cast—big city, small town, campaign fundraiser, or candy
shop.

Nolan’s family was supposedly
legit
,
and their favorite son a man of principal and ethics. The town trusted him, but
I knew the truth. Nolan hated Maddox, and Maddox had enough skeletons in his
closet and crimes in his past that no one would think twice if one day he
stopped coming around.

I had to do whatever I could to prevent
Nolan from hurting the man I loved.

And I was running out of ways to keep
Maddox alive.

“Maddox went to jail, Josie.
Rightfully.” Nolan’s eyebrows rose. He almost looked handsome, but I didn’t
trust his twisted smile. “I’m trying to save you from making a bad mistake.
You’re involved with a man who has a record. A bad one. Vandalism, assault,
theft.
Arson
.”

“Maddox didn’t burn down my shop,” I
said.

“You don’t need to protect him.”

Like hell. “I know who the real
arsonist is, Nolan. He can’t hide forever. Soon, everyone else will know too.”

“Josie, are you threatening
me
?”

I knew better than that. “It’s so hard
to prove intent, isn’t it?”

“You’re snappy today. Little too much
Matthias in you.”

“I just think it’s time for the world
to know the man you really are.”

He sighed. “And I think you might be a
bit lovesick and naïve. Do not trust Maddox. Don’t endanger yourself by letting
him in your life.”

“It’s my life.”

“Don’t waste your heart on men who
don’t deserve it.”

“Don’t tell me who to love.”

“Love is a dangerous game, Josie.
People get hurt far too easily. Do you understand?”

Damn it.

How was this happening again? I had
already broken up with Maddox once to appease Nolan. I lost him to Nolan, to
the fire, to the justice system that failed us all.

Nolan wanted me, and I had no idea the
lengths he’d go to coerce me into bed. I wasn’t about to be tied to the train
tracks, but I couldn’t risk Maddox’s life until I proved it was Nolan who
destroyed mine.

He sipped his coffee, offered me a
smile, and then challenged me with another devil’s game.

“I’d like to buy your property, Josie.”

My heart stuttered to a stop. I didn’t
answer. I didn’t have the words or the caffeine to imagine all the perverted
scenarios that he would concoct. Didn’t that bastard do enough? I denied him
once, and he set fire to my property. He burned it to the ground and left me
with nothing.

What would he take if I refused him
again?

“Absolutely not.” I said.

“The shop is gone, and you have no
plans to rebuild. The lot is on Main Street, and the vacancy does nothing for
the town. Let me take it off your hands.”

“It’s my family’s property.”

“And your family is running out of
money.”

My insides turned into a slushie. “You
don’t know anything about my family or our finances.”

“How’s your grandfather?”

His question was slimy, and he dared to
ask it with a smile.

“He’s fine.”

Nolan nodded. “One of my campaign
managers works at Willowbend. She knows your grandfather. Said his lungs were
pretty badly damaged after the fire. He can’t work, and he can’t sell his
business. You can’t rebuild the shop if all the money goes to his treatments.
Or…” Nolan stared at me. “His gambling debts?”

Like Nolan didn’t have any vices. I
didn’t speak, didn’t even acknowledge him.

“It’s time to sell, Josie. Time for a
change. A new direction in your life. Find someone who can help, who
wants
to support you.” He reached for me, taking my hand. “You know I could take care
of you.”

Repulsion and rage battled in my
stomach. I had no idea which would win out, but it wouldn’t be pretty. I was
taught to be polite, to be gentle, to be independent.

So why could I only imagine smacking
him with a saucepan and kicking him between his legs?

“I will only say this once, Nolan. I’m
not interested.” I forced him to hold my gaze and read my lips. He stared at
them, but not to hear the words—he imagined what I’d do with them. “I don’t
want your money. I don’t want your name. I’m keeping the property.”

His grip tightened over my wrist. My
heart pounded as his voice lowered, a deliberate growl.

“You will not talk to me like this.”

Likewise. “I have a few more choice
words I could say.”

“That’s Maddox talking.”

“He always could turn a phrase.”

Nolan’s grip turned painful. “Josie, I
am only asking once.”

“But I will say
no
a million
times.”

“Isn’t it enough that I would offer you
this, even knowing I am lusting after another man’s scraps?”

I’d flip the table if he didn’t let go
of me, but I didn’t know what happened after that. Who he would target next.
What he would do.

Nolan strong-armed the town, but he had
yet to raise his hand to me. Testing his patience wouldn’t save any of us.

“Let me go.” My voice was low, my own
threat. “You’ve insulted me. If you respected me at all you’d apologize and
release my hand.”

“And if I don’t?”

Hell if I knew.

But I didn’t have to find out.

The bell over the door rattled, but the
chime choked off as the door was nearly ripped off the hinges. I didn’t have
time to stop it. A blur of dark leather crashed over the table. Nolan’s chair
was tossed back. The mayor slammed onto the floor.

Maddox prepared to strike.

“
Stop
!” I dove forward to grab
him.

Nolan didn’t move, he waited for Maddox
to make the first mistake. A dozen outcomes terrorized my mind—a fight, the
police, charges, Maddox sent to jail for protecting me.

Or, Maddox ending it right then and
killing Nolan on the floor of a coffee shop.

“Maddox,
no
!”

My cry probably echoed over the town. A
dozen onlookers rushed inside the shop, and most of Nolan’s campaign hurried to
his aid, rushing to help him from the ground. The rest separated Maddox from
Nolan.

One man or a dozen, it wouldn’t matter.
Maddox seethed, jaw clenched and eyes narrowed for the hunt.

“You don’t touch her.”

He didn’t care who watched. The threat
resonated, and the news of the fight between town hero and villain would race
through the streets. Nolan would never forgive him for upstaging his campaign
rally.

God, this wasn’t the welcome home I
hoped he’d get, but it was the one I knew he’d have.

“Maddox,” I whispered. “I’m fine.
Please leave.”

He didn’t listen to me. He seized my
hand where Nolan’s grip had nearly bruised. Difference was, Maddox’s grasp
would. He pulled me from the store and tugged me into the street.

This was a disaster. I didn’t need the
rescue. It was Maddox who needed the most help, the most protection. And now
that he’d humiliated Nolan, I’d never save him from his own impulsive
destruction.

I was out of time. I had no choice. I
had to prove it was Nolan who targeted me, who set fire to my shop. The sooner
he was behind bars, the easier I could protect the man I loved.

If I wasn’t already too late.

Someone was going to get hurt, but I’d
do everything in my power to ensure it wasn’t Maddox.

Chapter Six
– Maddox

That bastard put his hands on her. He
was lucky I didn’t put him through the window.

Josie struggled until she realized how
bad it looked for her. How bad it looked for me.

I had no idea why Nolan wanted her this
time or why she would even meet with that son of a bitch. Then again, it wasn’t
like she had been very forthcoming the last time I saw her.

Any other woman was better off opening
her legs than her mouth. But it’d never been that way with Josie. I wanted in
her heart. In her head. I had to know why she’d endanger herself in Nolan’s
presence, or if she even realized how dangerous that man was.

How the fuck did she survive without me
for a year?

How did I survive without knowing she
was safe?

Her apartment was close enough, but
everybody watched me drag her away. Where the hell did they all come from? One
raised voice, and the damn church bells rang to alert the village that Andrew
Maddox had returned, and he’d claimed the virtuous again, ready to steal
innocence and draw blood.

Josie was generally optimistic, but
even she questioned me as we reached her apartment. I locked the door while she
squealed some bullshit chastisement. I wasn’t listening. As long as I had her
safe, as long as I had her in my arms, she could call me every name in the book
and I’d still teach her more and dirtier profanity.

“Are you out of your mind?” Josie
collapsed against the wall. “Maddox, you can’t act like this! If Nolan decides
to press charges—”

I didn’t let her finish. She was
already pinned to the wall. Something inside me snapped.

When I was in jail I counted the hours
until I saw her, and when I was with her I memorized every blessed second I
held her in my arms. She had kicked me out the other night, and part of my mind
shredded itself. It was forged together now, glued with testosterone and
stitched with adrenaline.

I kissed her, silenced her every
protest of my lips and captured her within my arms. That didn’t mean she
quieted. Her mew of indignation treaded a thin line between anger and
submission.

I missed her submission.

Josie was always beautiful, but she
destroyed me when she turned feisty. That’s when her almond eyes turned
vibrant, a dancing darkness. Her lips, pouty and full, begged to be kissed.

I needed her, and I wouldn’t rest until
I knew she was mine. I’d give my life to know she wasn’t hurt, scared, or
trapped with that fucking bastard who wanted her as a prize, not because she
was the most amazing woman in the world.

And so I kissed her until she softened
in my hands.

Then I took control.

She fit with me. Or I crowded around
her. I never knew the answer to that.

Josie was tiny. I was big.

She surrendered. I took.

My girl wanted. I delivered.

Her lips trembled. Why was she so
afraid? I planned to give her body more pleasure than she could handle. I broke
the kiss, but my nip to her neck silenced her next argument. I bit exactly
where I knew she was vulnerable. Her groan was music, her hushed breath just a
prelude to what I’d awaken in her desire.

“You can’t…” Josie shuddered as my
attention trailed down. Her eyes closed. I knelt before her. “Maddox, we have
to talk.”

“Later.” My fingers worked quickly,
unbuttoning her jeans. They trembled too. I ignored it. The only thing that
mattered was how goddamned much I ached to see her, taste her, feel her. “We
can talk later. Let me have you now.”

“But we can’t do this.”

What stopped us? I was done denying
myself.

But she hid from me. Still. The fire
and trial and prison were damning enough, but even now, even when I was
free…she pushed me away.

No more. I planned to prove exactly
what she was missing. I’d win her back with the flick of my tongue, nibble of
my lips, and thrust of my cock.

I unzipped her jeans. White panties
peeked from beneath. The denim was easy to shed, but that flimsy cotton barrier
stilled my hands.

In that moment, I hated panties. I
hated them on her, hated that she had them, hated that they hid her sexy little
slit from my eyes. The material shredded between my fingers, and Josie gasped
as I immediately seized those petals for my own.

I knelt between her legs, forcing her
thighs apart with greedy fingers and savoring the sweet slickness betraying her
true desire. The swell of her legs crested into the most beautiful pussy I had
the privilege of tasting, nibbling, touching. And she knew it too. Or should
have known it. I hated authority, disavowed myself of most laws, and
surrendered to no man. But for Josie?

I would’ve stayed on my knees,
pleasured her for hours, showed her exactly how much I loved her and what I’d
do to please her.

And I started right then.

Her gasp startled us both. I thought I
hurt her, but immediately her knees buckled and her fingers tangled in my hair.
She pulled me closer to that hot, honeyed slit, and I obeyed every arch of her
hips to savor her more of her pussy. My tongue slipped within and massaged the
sensitive nub.

I drove her wild. I had countless times
before. I knew where to touch, how to kiss, what to do to straddle her on the
edge of pain and pleasure until she begged for release I may or may not have
given.

“
Maddox
…” That breathy warning
nearly burst the seam in my jeans. Her orgasm always seemed to surprise her, as
if she couldn’t believe I made her feel such delirious intensity. “Wait…maybe…”

Wait
?
Like hell. Why wait when she was this close?

She bucked over my mouth, wetted my
tongue, and tightened arouund the finger I slipped within that tight fucking
slit. She was going to come for me, and I’d take every beautiful shudder that
wracked her body.

I curled my lips over her clit and gave
it a quick and fierce suckle—less romance and more strict demand. She nearly
collapsed, and I drove her into the wall. She wasn’t giving in, and I wasn’t
losing my spot between the legs of a goddamned goddess.

“Oh…
God
…”

I would have encouraged her, but that
would've meant pulling my lips from her pulsing clit. It wasn’t going to
happen. I withdrew my finger from her pussy if only to use both hands to
support her hips, to pin her between the wall and my lapping tongue. She’d be
embarrassed later, remembering the sounds and slapping and obscene grunts I
made while eating her whole.

She’d touch herself then too. Hell,
tonight? I’d stay in that bed and she could finish herself off on my thick,
hungry cock.

Her orgasm chased the air from her
lungs in a wavering groan. She bucked, but her clit wasn’t getting away from my
mouth, even if I had to nip to keep her where I could savor and swallow every
drop of cream. Josie didn’t have a candy shop anymore, but all that reserved
sweetness tucked inside her womb. I gobbled her, licked her, suckled everything
I could taste.

And I still wanted more.

Josie didn’t protest until I laid her
on the ground. Then her eyes widened. I kicked her legs apart and aimed for my
belt. The jingle slammed her back to reality, and she stared as my zipper drove
down and cock popped out.

Hard.

Desperate.

I stared at her tight, tasty, soaking
wet slit.  She was soon to get a lot messier.

Her hand rose as I fisted my cock. It
might have stilled my motions if it weren’t trembling. Josie could hardly hold
herself upright, but she gasped as if she had no idea what I planned with a
throbbing dick aimed for her spread legs.

“
Wait
.”

Now her voice shifted. She pulled
herself up, edging her body away from me.

What the hell?

“You want this too,” I rasped. “Don’t
pretend.”

“I do.” She nodded, too quick, almost
panicking. “But Maddox…we…you can’t…”

Goddamn
it.

Fucking Nolan must have scared the piss
out of her.

I didn’t need my woman to tell me no. I
was a better man than that. I didn’t want to cause her distress. I meant to be
the one who comforted her. Fixed her.

Kept her safe.

I’d jerk it in the shower and have
plenty of time to lose myself in her later. I tucked back in my jeans, ignoring
the discomfort of a rock hard cock and unyielding denim.

I helped Josie to her feet, handing her
a shred of cotton that had been her panties. She took them, but backed out of
the room, aiming for the first pair of yoga pants she could find. The bright
pink clashed with a blouse, but she never looked so goddamned beautiful.

“Why?” I asked. “What’s wrong? It’s
me
,
Sweets.”

Josie still sweated. She rubbed her
forehead, tucking the bouncing curls behind her ears with a thick headband. She
took a deep breath with closed eyes that only puffed her lips for a kiss.

Did she have any idea what she did to
me?

“I can’t do this with you,” she said.
“Not now. Things are complicated.”

“No, they aren’t.”

She wasn’t getting away. She tried to
hide in the kitchen, but I refused to get bumped for fucking
cookies
again.

“This is you and me, Sweets. We gotta talk.”

“Not now.”

“Yes, now.” I held my arms out. “Why are you fighting me
on this? Christ, I just want to feel you. I gotta know you’re okay.”

“I’m fine, Maddox. Everything is fine.”

“It’s
not
, or you wouldn’t be pushing me away.”

She didn’t meet my gaze. “I shouldn’t have to push you
away. You should respect my wishes.”

“If I understood them, I would! You’re not making any
goddamned sense. I’m
back
. I’m here. I’m offering to give
everything
to you. I want the life, the family, you, a
baby
. Didn’t you…miss me at
all?” My voice hardened. “Didn’t you love me?”

“Don’t you dare.” Josie’s whisper punctuated with a
pointed finger. “Don’t accuse me of being anything less than faithful or
devoted. You have no idea the problems you’ve caused—”

“Because you won’t tell me. Let me be a part of this.”

Her arms crossed, but it only perked her chest up. “A
part of what? This town? This nightmare?”

I tensed. “What nightmare?”

“
All
of this. Granddad is sick. We lost
all
the money from the insurance because of him.”

“His medical bills?”

“His
gambling,
Maddox.” She covered her mouth with
a hitched breath. “Don’t tell anyone. Please. They know, but everyone is
pretending it’s the medical bills. I didn’t even know he took the money until
most of it was gone—”

“Hey.” I shrugged. “I know Matthias. He taught me
everything I knew about electrical work…and enough about the horses at the
track. I’d never say a damn thing.”

“We have
nothing
to rebuild. I lost everything. My
shop. My future.” Her lip trembled. “You.”

“You didn’t lose me.”

“I lost you
first
.”

“Bullshit. I was always there for you. I loved you. Still
do, Sweets. Why the hell did you push me away? Why didn’t you come to visit me?
Give me a single fucking word while I was in prison?”

She didn’t answer.

And then I knew.

Sure as hell, like someone punched me in the gut and
kicked me in the balls just to be sure I was down for the count.

“You think I did it.”

Josie’s eyes widened. She didn’t have to say shit. The
shock stole my erection, shriveled my pride.

“You think
I
burned your fucking store down?”

She panicked, unable to speak, rushing for me when I
turned for the door.

“Son of a bitch.” I nearly kicked the kitchen table.
Figured that’d scare her more. I settled for slamming a palm against the wall.
She jumped.

And a cascade of papers fell from her table.

The way she flinched, I’d have thought they were images
of her as a centerfold. I batted her hand away, bending down to grab the
oversize sheets of paper, an arm span wide.

“Maddox—”

“What are these?” I knew electrical plans, but these were
general building construction blueprints. “Are these…for a rebuild?”

“It’s a long story…”

No, it wasn’t. It was a very
short
story, and I
got it as soon as I saw the dates stamped on the fucking plans.

“These were created before the fire,” I said.

“I know, it’s—”

“
Nolan Rhys
.” I spat the name on the corner of the
documents. “He had an engineer draw up plans for your store a
week
before the fire?”

Josie stilled. She tried to avoid my gaze. “The night of
the fire he offered to buy the property from me. I don’t remember much after
the dinner.”

“Why?”

“It was…I don’t know. Fuzzy. I must have hit my head in
the shop.”

“What do you remember?”

“Maddox—”

My voice hardened. “What do you remember?”