Suddenly Sexy(46)

Sam groaned.

"No, nothing like that," Maddie said in all seriousness.

"Maybe she thinks my mother's too controlling." He gave his mother a glare that hopefully conveyed the message: "shut up before you ruin this for me".

It didn't work. "Or is it because he's too popular. I can understand that," she said wistfully. "I'm dating a man who has several other women chasing him."

Great, his mother was too embarrassed to talk about her affair yesterday but today she wouldn't shut up about it.

"Oh?" said Maddie, leaning away from Sam and towards his mother. "You're dating someone?"

His mother smiled. "Yes. Perhaps you know him. Kevin Bowcher?"

Maddie's eyebrows nearly flew off her forehead. "Really?" She turned to Sam, a wicked gleam in her eye that he didn't like. "Didn't you date his daughters?"

Just his luck. She didn't remember the ex-con part but she remembered the daughters. "Not at the same time," he said.

The doorbell rang and his mother sprang out of her chair and answered it. Kevin stood on the porch and waved. Sam and Maddie waved back but his mother shuffled Kevin off before he could open his mouth.

Thank God he hadn't come in. How does a man make small talk with his mother's date? And should he enforce a curfew? Maybe he should've, just to give her a taste of her own medicine.

"Your mother seems to be enjoying life," Maddie said calmly. Too calmly.

"Yes, but not always her own."

She smiled, but a frown quickly chased it away. "Look, Sam, there's something I need to say."

"Right." Why did he feel so nervous? Probably because Maddie's face had "bad news" written all over it. "Do you want a drink before we get started?"

She shook her head.

"Scone?"

"No."

"Is it too warm in here?" He stood. "Should I turn up the air conditioning?"

"No. And quit stalling."

He wiped his palms down the front of his jeans and sat.

"It's not that bad anyway, depending on your point of view."

He relaxed. That was a relief. He was an optimist. Whatever the problem was, they could work it out now that she was prepared to talk to him. He went to sit beside her on the couch but she sidled closer to the armrest and he found himself high and dry. Not a good sign.

"Do you remember the other day, when I told you what I was working on?"

"A love potion. What's that got to do with... Oh." He frowned and stared down at the beige carpet, not believing what he was hearing. This wasn't happening to him. It couldn't be. No way.

"Yeah," Maddie said quietly. "So you see, this whole thing is," she waved a hand in the air, "not real. I bathed in Pheramour before I saw you and ever since then, you've been, um, very attentive."

It really was happening. He looked up at Maddie and searched her face to see if she was joking but she just chewed her lip and shrugged apologetically. Hell.

He'd fallen in love with a bottle of chemicals.

"So none of this is real?"

"No. Sorry."

He blinked at her. Sorry. She was sorry. Sorry for the trouble she'd caused, sorry for the ache in his heart, the churning in his gut, sorry for the fool she'd made of him the last few days. She was sorry. Well hell, not half as sorry as he was. He'd actually thought he'd liked her. Maybe loved her. Thank God she'd kicked him out of her bed before he'd made the stupid mistake of telling her.

He had so many questions, so many things to say to her, and yet all he could utter was, "Why?" because it was the shortest and he didn't trust his voice yet.

She shrugged. "Because you were there."

Oh, good. He was there. "Glad to know I made it all nice and convenient for you."

Maddie winced. "Sam, please, it wasn't like that." She flushed and he guessed it was exactly like that. He just happened to be around at the time she needed a man. Lucky him.

"I thought we had something special," he said flatly. He stood and strode around his mother's living room. He needed to walk. Maybe if his legs moved then his brain would start working again, because right now it had shut down. "I thought this feeling," he clutched the T-shirt over his heart, "was real."

She didn't answer.

"Maybe," he said, pacing across the Oriental rug, "maybe it's not working." He paused to look at her. She was so incredibly beautiful, sitting on the end of his mother's couch in her business skirt and stiff white shirt. Wait a minute. How could he still think she was beautiful if the love potion had worn off?

"Maddie, are you wearing it now?"

"No, but there's still some lodged in my epidermis."

He sat next to her and took her hand. "Maybe it's not working. Maybe this is real." He was aware he was talking too fast. He sounded desperate. He didn't care.