Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 96850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
He simply left it.
Madden pushed off the wall when he heard a car door slam out in the driveway.
A hesitant knock on the front door got him moving. He stood in front of the threshold a moment, his gaze trained on the wooden Fáilte sign above the door and he said a quick prayer, asking his ancestors to lend him some of their luck, then he opened it to Eve standing on the stoop, gorgeous in a pair of jeans and a snug white T-shirt, tucked in tight, as if he needed any more encouragement to stare at her tits and remember last night.
How she’d looked topless in the parking lot, glowing in the lamppost light.
You’d do well to keep your head on straight for this.
Right.
“Eve.”
“Madden.”
After taking a moment to absorb her, he stepped back. “Come in.”
She tucked her long, loose hair behind her ear, before stepping inside, passing close enough to Madden that it almost seemed like she was having mercy on him by doling out a bit of her smoky peach scent. God, what he’d give for the freedom to back her into the door and kiss her hello. How was it possible their mouths had never touched and yet, he missed kissing her so badly? It was as though half of his soul had been stolen before he even knew he had a soul to begin with.
“The kids are with their new babysitter?” Madden asked, closing the door behind Eve.
“Yes. Veda.” She set down her purse on the console table but kept her phone in hand. “I’m starting to think she might be my guardian angel. She kind of fell into my lap.” Eve chuckled. “Two days ago, I didn’t know she existed and now she’s in my top five contacts. Weird how that happens.”
For Eve, this was rambling. Madden loved her sharing any part of her life with him, but he didn’t love knowing she must be nervous. “She must be special if you’ve seen fit to trust her.”
“Yeah, she is.” She opened her mouth and closed it, shaking her head.
“What?”
“She’s trying to convince me to open a music venue behind the club. We have an appointment with a town inspector tomorrow. This is on the heels of hiring a woman named Full Bush Rhonda. I may need a vacation.”
A laugh rumbled in his chest. “Being open to new things is healthy. A totally practical marriage, for instance.”
“Is that your best shot at a segue?”
“How’d I do?”
Her lips twitched. “Not bad. If only I was ready to talk about it.” Eve sauntered backward a few steps, keeping her eyes trained on him as she moved deeper into the house, no idea she was going in the direction of his bedroom. And he imagined what it would be like, coming home from a night out with Eve, her seducing him farther into the house, both of them stripping clothes off in their haste to make it to the bed. “So . . . this is your aunt’s house. I’ve only ever been in the garden.”
A pang caught Madden in the sternum.
He remembered Eve in the garden, outside his window, along with Elton and Skylar. Knocking. Wondering why he wouldn’t come swimming. Worried about him. Before any of them knew his kidney disease was the culprit for his lethargy and pain. Before Eve had forced him into going to the hospital.
Madden rubbed the scar on his lower right abdomen absently. “Aye, my aunt needed the quiet. We were alike that way. I don’t mind some noise now, though.” He shrugged a shoulder. “Playing ball, I suppose I had no choice but to get used to shouting again.”
He didn’t mean to say again. It had just slipped out.
But the stumble caused Eve to quit her perusal of the house and look at him, a question hovering in her eyes that she didn’t voice. His difficult upbringing had been alluded to throughout the years, but when Eve or his friends asked about it, he’d taken a cue from his aunt and let the silence speak for itself. There was no sense giving them that burden to carry, was there? He knew firsthand how heavy it was. “I’m so glad you found your aunt, Mad.”
“Me too,” he said, with a firm nod. “Although I think if she’d invited you in for tea, she would have enjoyed knowing you, Eve. She was only set in her ways. It had nothing to do with . . .”
“With my father owning the much-maligned strip club?” Eve winked at him. “It’s okay, Mad. I never assumed she was judging me. Or barring me from the house.”
“I wouldn’t have stood for it.” When she only stayed silent, Madden cursed under his breath. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I brought this up.”
“It’s good that you did, actually.” Her smile was tight. “My reputation in this town has a lot to do with what I came here to say.”