She glanced down at her third glass of Petit and bit back a strangled giggle. Such a lightweight, but the heady thrum in her veins helped ease the mixture of shame and unquenched lust that burned in her stomach. An all-too-familiar feeling after a rather idiotic run-in with Chase.
He had kissed her.
And then, in the ultimate heart crusher, he’d wanted her to forget it. Been there, done that, and she definitely had the wounded heart to prove it.
Why had he kissed her if he was so obviously disgusted by the idea? Who knew. Maybe the answer was in the depths of her dark purplish wine?
Her father’s boisterous laughter brought a faint smile to her face, and she twisted around on the bench. He stood with her brother and two of the three Gamble men. Chase was hiding somewhere else, most likely from her.
After he’d kissed her—and she felt the need to keep reminding herself that it had been he who’d kissed her—she hadn’t seen him. Like the child he treated her as, she’d conveniently hid away in the bathroom while he deposited their luggage in the gaudiest cabin ever. Not her proudest moment.
Madison just couldn’t make sense of any of it, and it wasn’t fair. The last thing she wanted to be dealing with during her brother’s wedding was this. It was a time to celebrate and laugh, not a time to add another notch on the humiliation belt.
But of course, here she was, grateful that it was dark enough to hide the flush that hadn’t faded yet. Worse still, that kiss had sent her spiraling backward in time to the one night she never wanted to remember, but also didn’t want to forget. Except now she couldn’t stop the onslaught of little vignettes replaying from that evening.
It had been her junior year in college, and as usual, she was in between boyfriends, still madly infatuated with her childhood crush, and the happy owner of one sexy little black dress that months of her part-time research gig at the university had paid for.
The opening night of Chase’s nightclub, Komodo, had changed everything. All these years and it seemed like yesterday. The drinks. The dancing. Everyone had been there—her brother, Lissa, Chase’s brothers, her friends. It had been a great night, one for celebrating. The evening had been a raving success, and Madison had been unbelievably proud. So many people had doubted him, but she never had.
It had been past closing time. Her brother and most of her friends had already gone home when she found Chase in his penthouse office on the third floor, staring at the landscape of the city. The straight line of his spine, the perfectly tailored cut of his suit across his broad shoulders had stolen her breath. She’d stood there for what seemed like hours but was probably the barest of seconds before Chase had turned to her and smiled…smiled just for her.
Madison had ventured into his office, complimented him eagerly on the success of the club, and listened to his plans to open two more: one in Bethesda and another in Baltimore. She’d felt special that he had included her in such knowledge. It was like she belonged next to him for the first time and that thrilled her.
Both of them had been drinking, but neither of them had been three sheets to the wind. Alcohol may’ve been the proverbial courage in the bottle, but it couldn’t be blamed for what happened next.
She’d moved toward him, only to give him a hug good-bye, but when his arms had returned the gesture and she’d tipped her head back, something amazing and crazy happened.
Chase had kissed her—gently, carefully, and so sweetly that in a heady heartbeat, she had really thought all of her dreams had been coming true. Before she’d known it, he’d settled onto one of the supple leather couches in his office pulled her onto his lap, and the kisses… Oh, God, the kisses then had been blatantly carnal and claiming, erotically promising. His fingers were quick and deft, moving the zipper of her dress down, revealing her to his heated stare. His hands had been everywhere, skimming over her breasts, sneaking under the dress, discovering for the first time one of Madison’s oddities: She hated wearing panties. And he had gone crazy then, easing her onto her back, his fingers finding her most hidden places and thrusting as his body and tongue mimicked the movements.
When she had cried out his name, he’d gone incredibly still, his breathing ragged a second before he tore himself away from her and ended up pacing clear across the room like a jungle cat.
There hadn’t been much time for her to be confused. Chase had freaked, ushering her out of his office, and the very next day, he’d called her, apologized for his drunken behavior, and promised that it would never happen again.
And it hadn’t…until several hours ago.