Tempting the Best Man(36)

Sweet and sexy, and it meant nothing.

All he wanted was to have sex with her and get it out of his system.

What a douche.

Her hands trembled as she reached for the faucets. Sitting next to Chase for most of the night had been a practice in pure torture. Several times she wanted to turn and say something to him—anything. Or take her glass of water and throw it in his face. The latter would’ve made her feel better, at least for a few moments.

But there was nothing to be said, and after this weekend, she would go back to her life and finally forget about Chase Gamble.

Washing her face, she tugged her long hair into a ponytail and went to the bed, settling under the covers. Tonight she didn’t feel bad about him ending up on the couch rejected from the sixties. Served him right.

Madison rolled onto her side, placing her back to the door, and squeezed her eyes shut. Mentally tallying up the e-mails she’d need to answer and phone calls to be made when she returned to work next week, she tried to bore herself into sleep before Chase returned.

No such luck.



When the moon was high, its pale light slicing through the wooden shutters, the door creaked open and his footsteps broke the silence.

“Maddie?”

Holding her breath, she pretended to be asleep. Way to act like a grown-up.

The footsteps drew closer and then the bed dipped under his weight as he sat. Silence stretched out, taut and tense as her nerves. What was he doing? She was half afraid to find out.

Chase’s heavy sigh overshadowed the pounding of her heart. A second later, she felt the very tips of his fingers brush back the strands of hair lying againt her cheek, tucking them behind her ear.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, but she heard him. “I’m sorry for everything.”

Her breath caught, reminding her that she had indeed been breathing. Madison wasn’t sure what his apology should mean. Should it undo everything? Should it just lay between them, a proverbial white flag so there was some hope for a friendship in the future, because there wasn’t a future without him, no matter what?

And she wasn’t sure who was to blame the most for this catastrophe. Sure, Chase wasn’t innocent, but it was she—and the feelings that she’d brought into this—that complicated everything.

Madison squeezed her eyes against the rush of tears and clamped her mouth shut.

Chase hovered for a few more seconds and then the bed shifted as he moved to stand. Unable to stay quiet, to pretend that this wasn’t happening, she rolled onto her back. “Chase?”



He froze, one hand planted deep in the covers beside her hip. In the darkness, his eyes looked black, his features stark, strangely open and vulnerable.

She really didn’t know what she was doing. Her body was at war with her heart and thoughts, and ever since she was a child, she’d had terrible, horrific impulse control.

She reached up, placing her hand on his smooth jaw. Instead of pulling away, he pressed his cheek into her hand and closed his eyes.

“This has been a wedding to remember, huh?” he said, his cheek rising against her hand as he gave a little smile. “And there hasn’t even been a wedding yet.”

Then he placed his hand over hers and slowly brought it to his lips. He pressed a kiss to her palm, and her heart flipped over. “I’m sorry, Maddie. I really am. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking to say that to you earlier. Getting it out of my system isn’t what I want.”

Her fingers curled around his. Confusion swept through her. “I don’t…I don’t understand.”

He drew in a deep breath. “I don’t even know what I’m thinking. Chad was spouting all this Oprah bullshit and some of it made sense—as insane as that is.”

“What?”

Chase smiled a little, and then his eyes met hers. “I want you.”

Madison’s breath caught. Hope was back, beating at her insides. With Chase, everything was like a roller coaster. Up. Down. Up. Down. “You said that earlier.”



“And I meant it.”

So much confusion still churned inside her, but her heart moved on, creating more space for him. The word that left her mouth pretty much sealed her fate. “Stay?”

Chase hesitated, his body going so still, so tense that she could feel the edginess rolling off of him. Then he sprang into motion, kicking off his shoes as he unbuttoned his shirt. It fluttered to the floor like a white flag.

Her heart was in her throat as her gaze flickered over the expanse of his well-defined chest, across the dips of his rock-hard abs. He was beautiful, something straight out of her fantasies. In the pale light of the moon, in the shadows of the cabin, she swept aside her reservations and fear. She existed on what she always had—her love for Chase.