Cold feet - Page 40/81

Madison felt a sudden heady rush of excitement. "How wild are you willing to get?"

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

SHE WANTED TO GET WILD?

Caleb sat at the table he'd been lucky enough to snag as a small group left the crowded bar, which was pulsing with music and movement, and watched Madison walk away from him toward the ladies' room. He admired her legs for probably the millionth time, noticed a few other guys doing it, too, and knew there wasn't any way he'd be able to live up to his mother's standard of decency tonight. Ever since he'd seen Madison in that dress, he'd been interested in only one thing.

The waitress came by, but he waved her away because he was going to end the evening right now. If he allowed himself to show Madison Lieberman the meaning of wild as he saw it, he'd be taking misrepresentation to a whole new level. And when she eventually found out who he was, she wouldn't thank him. To say the least...

She emerged from the bathroom, and he stood up, planning to guide her out and drive her home. It was the right thing to do. If she wanted to go dancing, she could go with someone else. But when she reached him, she slipped her hand in his and said, "They're playing John Mayer's 'Wonderland.' I love that song. Can we dance?"

Caleb hesitated. He really didn't want to make the situation any more complicated than it already was. But she was looking up at him with those wide eyes, wearing an expression of such hopeful expectation that he couldn't bring himself to deny her.

Knowing he'd probably pay a high price for the next few minutes, he nodded and led her out onto the dance floor, where she put her arms around his neck and snuggled up to him. He could feel her br**sts against his chest as John sang about the wonder of discovering a woman, and at that point he couldn't even think about leaving.

There was unethical...and then there was irresistible.

MADISON WAS EXHAUSTED when Caleb brought her home, but she'd had a wonderful time. She hadn't laughed so much since before she'd married Danny, and she didn't want the evening to end. Not yet. After Caleb went home she'd have to revert to her old life--become Ellis Purcell's daughter again and deal with the contents of the box beneath her mother's house. She still wasn't sure what to do with it. But she couldn't leave it where it was.

"Would you like to come in for a nightcap?" she asked as he walked her to the door, hoping to hold reality at bay a little longer.

He shook his head. "Not tonight."

"Why not?"

"It's late."

"You're going to be home by midnight, and you drank nothing but soda at the club," she said with a laugh. "I guess your idea of wild is about as tame as mine."

"I doubt it," he said dryly.

She raised her eyebrows. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means if I'd had anything stronger, or the situation was different, I wouldn't be going home right now. At least not by my choice."

She studied his handsome face, wondering at the thoughts behind the dark eyes that had watched her so closely all night. "So you do want to stay?"

He didn't answer but extended his hand to her.

Butterflies filled Madison's stomach as she accepted it--a sensation that only grew more pronounced when he pulled her against him. "What do you think?" he breathed. Then he kissed her, much more powerfully than he had the first time.

Madison liked the barely leashed tension she felt in Caleb. She also liked the taste and smell of him. She immediately began to imagine his bare chest as she'd seen it that day in her yard, and couldn't resist slipping a hand beneath his shirt to feel the smooth skin at his waist.

As the wet warmth of his tongue moved against her own, her knees went weak and the butterflies in her stomach spread throughout her body. But before she could decide whether or not to let things go any further, he pushed her gently away from him.

"I want to stay, but not because I'm interested in a nightcap," he said, and walked toward his cottage.

Madison stared after him, too surprised to respond. She liked Caleb. She enjoyed his company and found him incredibly attractive. But she didn't know him very well, and her own life was...complicated.

"Caleb?" she called, torn between letting him go and asking him to stay.

He stopped a few feet away and turned.

"I--you're leaving at the end of your lease."

"I know," he said, and started moving again.

"If we were to make love, it would probably be a mistake."

He reached the cottage, opened his door and flipped on the light. "I know."

"That doesn't mean I'm not tempted."

It was difficult to tell from a distance, but she thought she saw him grin. "I know," he said and stepped inside.

"You could have acted a little more excited," Madison mumbled, chuckling as he closed the door. He hadn't pressed her or indicated in any way that being with her tonight was important to him. He'd only admitted that he wanted something significantly more intimate than meals and laundry, and it was probably a sad commentary on the state of her psyche that such nominal interest tempted her as much as it did.

"He's too disruptive to my peace of mind," she murmured to herself. She needed to be thinking about other things--like the women's shoes and underwear, and the locket, lurking beneath her mother's house. She'd decided she'd take care of that problem tonight, while Brianna was at Danny's. But the thought of driving there in the dark and sneaking into the damp crawl space while her mother slept and Johnny camped out in the garage chilled her blood.

The telephone rang. Madison glanced at it, surprised that anyone would call her so late, then hurried to pick up for fear it was something to do with Brianna.

"Hello?"

"Everything okay over there?"

Caleb. Madison smiled in spite of herself. "Everything's fine. Why wouldn't it be?"

"Just checking."

"I should've let old Mr. Sanderson move in. You know that, don't you?" She peeked outside to see him standing at his window again. The light in his living room provided a backdrop.

"You're probably right."

"Except that you've shown me a few things he never could have," she said.

"Like?"

"That I'm not dead from the neck down."

His chuckle was soft and stirring. "You seem perfectly vital and healthy to me."

"So tell me why you want to go back to San Francisco," she said. "What's there?"

"A whole other life."

"What does that entail? Friends? A job? A woman?"

"A view of the bay."