The Bachelor Pact (43 page)

"He could definitely use some pointers." Maddie inched up beside him. "My brother seems to be striking out with women all the time."

He struck out on purpose. Maddie knew that, didn't she? Lance narrowed his eyes at her while two cameramen pulled Rory to the side to sign autographs.

For cripes' sake, if he'd wanted to win the date, he could have. He knew how to be romantic.

"What answer persuaded you to pick Rory?" Maddie asked Sophie.

Sophie tilted her delectable little head in thought. "The negligee. I love sexy red underwear."

Oh, good Lord.
Did she have to plant that mental picture? Besides, Sophie didn't need a skimpy see-through negligee for her to be sexy; she could seduce a man wearing a damn feedsack.

"What do you think about the consolation prize for the losers?" Sophie asked.

He was
not
a loser. "I'm not much for those singles clubs."

"Too bad you didn't win the date," Maddie said with an evil twinge to her voice.

"Listen, girls," Lance said, deciding to fess up. "I overheard you talking backstage and realized this was a setup, so I threw the game on purpose."

Sophie's dark eyebrow arched. "Really?"

"Face it," Maddie said. "You don't have a romantic bone in your body."

"Rory beat you fair and square," Sophie added. "Besides, bachelor number one was my next choice. You were dead last in the running."

Her words sank in, along with an image of her wearing that sexy red negligee for Wolfman. Lance had been
last
on her list? "Look, Sophie, I was just joking around. But you should be careful of this guy—"

"I don't need your advice on my love life," Sophie said.

Maddie thumped her foot up and down. "I can't believe you're being a sore loser, Lance."

His temper flared. "I lost on purpose."

Maddie rolled her eyes. "Right."

"Because you didn't want to go out with me." Sophie jabbed his chest with her finger for emphasis, but hurt softened her voice. "Don't worry, Lance; you didn't need to throw the game. I wouldn't go out with you if you were the last man on earth."

* * *

"The last man on earth?" Reid Summers laughed over the jukebox strains of country music blaring through Smoky Sam's. "She really said that?"

Chase tightened his hand around his beer mug. "Hell, yes, can you believe it? After she practically begged me to go on the show."

"Maybe she planned to turn you down all the time and she wanted to embarrass you on TV."

"That would be cruel."

Reid wiggled his eyebrows. "I bet she could be wicked."

Lance didn't like the look of lust in his brother's eyes. Reid would flirt with anything in a skirt, morals be damned. He'd always been fun-loving and cocky, but at least he kept Lance sane by not letting him get too serious about anything. Especially a woman.

"Besides, what are you so pissed about? I thought you didn't like Sophie."

"I... I never said I didn't like her."

"But you don't think she's attractive?"

Attractive? Sophie was a sex goddess. "Uh, I never said that. Exactly."

Reid grabbed a handful of peanuts from the bowl on the bar. "I'm not following, bro. You like her and you think she's attractive, but you don't want to date her?"

"No. Yes." Lance turned up his beer and drank greedily, trying to make sense of his reaction when none of it made sense to him. "Hell, I wouldn't have minded a date or two"—
and a night or two in her bed
—"but... Sophie's too sophisticated for me."

"You don't like sophisticated women?"

"It's not that, but..." What the hell was it? "She runs with a different crowd. TV producers, jet-setters, you know. They're not like us."

"Ego can't take the rich and famous, huh?"

"Yeah, that's it. It's not like I care if she runs off to Cancun with this guy and they get it on." His stomach churned.

"They might even end up getting hitched."

"Probably what she wants." Lance crushed a peanut in his hand. "If Maddie has her way, she'll arrange the wedding for them before they return from their trip."

Reid drew a slashing motion across his throat. "Maddie knows how to go straight for the jugular."

"Yeah, just look at Chase. Instead of being here with us, he's probably carting Maddie's packages around the mall."

"Letting her lead him around like a puppy on a leash."

"Purse holding and paying for expensive shoes and shit he can't afford."

"Sucker."

Lance winced. "I'm not falling into that trap."

Reid lifted his mug for a toast. "Here's to bachelorhood."

"Bachelorhood."

"To singles clubs."

Lance frowned. "A different woman every night."

"No panty hose draped over the shower rod."

"No loss of the remote control."

"If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with. And you don't even have to share the bed all night."

Lance grabbed another handful of peanuts and tossed them down his throat, nearly choking on a splintered shell. He normally slept better alone, and he needed a lot of sleep. In fact, he was legendary for being able to fall asleep anywhere, anytime.

What about Sophie? Did she prefer having the bed to herself?

Or was she loving the guy she was with and sharing her bed with him?

* * *

Chase Holloway closed his eyes on a sigh as Maddie licked a path along his neck, then lower to his belly. He'd never been in such heaven.

"I love you, Chase."

Chase curled his hands into her riot of curls. "I love you, too, Maddie. Damn, you get hotter every day."

"It's this summer heat wave."

"No, baby, it's you."

Maddie lapped at his navel. "Thank you for going shopping with me today, honey. I'm sorry Lance and Reid gave you a hard time."

"They'll get over it." Chase's gaze raked over her seductive outfit—a French-cut black leather bustier with black fishnet stockings. "Anytime you want to go shopping in that lingerie store is fine with me."

Maddie traced a finger along his inner thigh, teasing. "Is that the reason you gave up beer drinking with the boys for me?"

Chase's body tightened into a big, quivery mass. "Sweetheart, beer drinking is way overrated."

Maddie laughed softly and closed her hand around him, torturing him with her touch. Chase moaned and dragged her up to cover his body, then flipped her over and took her mouth, tasting the fiery sweetness that made his wife so hot. Seconds later he slowly untied the ribbons securing the garment together at her chest, then nipped at the rosy tips of her breasts, suckling and laving her as his hands explored the rest of her body. Maddie was always supple and giving, and so damn erotic he would never get enough.

To think he'd once feared marriage would be confining—hell, now he wanted to confine
her
on occasion. He pushed her hands above her and pinned her to the bed, teasing her with his aching sex as he kneed her legs apart. Sometimes he wanted to tie her to the bed and keep her there so she would never leave him. He was so damn afraid he'd wake up one morning and be all alone, that he'd once again be the outsider, that all the good things that had happened to him the past few months would have been only a dream. Those nights, he'd wake up in a cold sweat, remembering that orphanage, the holidays he'd gone hungry.

Panic would literally rob the breath from him. Then, right there in the middle of the night, he'd have to take Maddie to make sure she was real. And thank God, Maddie always responded, always loved him back with the same heat and passion that she had the first time they'd made love. In fact, the chemistry seemed to grow hotter, more intense every day....

He raised his head and gazed into her eyes, memorizing every precious inch of her, from her fiery auburn hair to that pouty lower lip to the way the two of them lay naked and entwined. He felt exposed, raw, but he didn't care.

Maddie traced a finger along his jaw. "You have that look in your eye again."

She always seemed to be able to read him.

"I guess I'll have to make it go away," she whispered. A sultry smile spread onto her face as she pulled him to her.

Chase was lost as he popped the snaps at her crotch, then rose above her and slid inside her slick heat. Maddie's moan shook the walls, her wild abandon unleashing his hunger. For the next few minutes he simply buried himself inside her, letting her love wash away any lingering doubts that what they shared would suddenly disappear. She clutched his arms, then clawed at his back as he drove himself deeper, her throaty whispers urging him harder, faster, until they both panted and kissed each other hungrily, their bodies slapping in rhythm as they rode the crest of their love. He felt himself coming apart, sensations spiraling out of control, and lowered his head to flick his tongue across the tips of her breasts again, licking and circling each hardened peak as she stretched her stockinged legs wider, circling her ankles around his hips. Her hands gripped his buttocks, pulling him into the heaven he craved, and he fought to hold off the pleasure. His loud suckling noises echoed through the air as she gasped and writhed beneath him, her sounds of pleasure triggering his own release.

Seconds later he brushed her hair from her cheek as she curled into his arms. They were both still trembling from the aftermath of their lovemaking. An uncharacteristic bit of emotion swelled in his chest. He'd never let emotions get to him before he'd fallen for his best friend's little sister. "Maddie?"

She traced a blood-red fingernail down his chest, teasing him again. "Yeah?"

He had to clear his throat to speak. "This has been the best few months of my life."

"Mine, too."

His voice grew low, huskier. "Don't ever leave me."

She smiled and slid her arms around his neck, then cupped his face and kissed him again, this time slowly, tenderly, filled with love. He finally relaxed.

"I just wish everyone could be as happy as we are," Maddie whispered.

Chase quirked a brow at her. "You're talking about Sophie and your brother?"

Maddie threaded her fingers through his. "I don't understand Lance. He's never treated a woman the way he does Sophie. I thought they'd be so right for each other."

"You can't fix everyone's life, sweetheart."

"But Sophie is so wonderful," Maddie argued. "She doesn't deserve to be ditched by him."

Chase shrugged. There was no winning with his wife when she had her mind made up.
Poor Lance.

Maddie poked out her bottom lip. "And she's leaving tonight with that football player for the weekend."

"Maybe she'll connect with this guy," Chase suggested.

"But he's not the one. And he might hurt her. And it's all Lance's fault, because he's so stubborn."

Chase angled his head to look into her eyes. "And you know all there is about love?"

She licked her lips. "I know when it feels right."

His expression sobered as she palmed his erection. "That feels right."

"Yes, it does." She cuddled into him. "And when I see Sophie and Lance together, it just feels right."

"If it is, they'll figure it out."

Maddie tapped her finger on her chin. "Maybe. Or maybe they need some help." She sat up, her beautiful breasts bobbing. Chase's sex leaped toward her.

Maddie caught the movement and laughed softly. "Hold that thought while I make a quick phone call."

Uh-oh.
"What are you up to now, Maddie?"

Maddie punched in her brother's number and handed him the remote. "Here, occupy yourself until I get finished."

Chase chuckled and leaned back against the pillows, but one hand snaked out to knead her breast. How had he gotten so lucky? Not only was he in the bed with a beautiful, delicious woman who loved him, but he had the remote in one hand and her naked breast in the other—what more could a man want?

* * *

"Tell me what you want," Lance said to Sophie.

You.
Sophie bit her tongue and rubbed her hand along her cat's back, taking refuge in the fact that at least she had a live-in friend, even if it was a feline.

"Sophie? I need to know exactly what you have in mind."

A long, slow, lazy afternoon in bed with the ceiling fan swirling above us to cool us off.

Thirsty from the heat, or maybe her mouth was dry from looking at Lance, she grabbed a diet Coke to occupy her mouth.
Tell me what you want.
Lance was referring to the renovations to the Victorian house she'd purchased in the historic district, not making love to her—which was all
she
could think about. He'd shown up five minutes after she'd arrived home from the show, primed and ready to discuss her house while she had less than an hour to gather her suitcase and head to the airport. She'd packed ahead of time, choosing a silver bikini, strapless sundresses, slingback sandals, and thong underwear, all of which she'd planned to use to lure him into loving her.

But now she'd be wearing those things for another man. And if her first impressions were true, she'd be fending off Rory's thirteen hands.

Worse, Lance had made the choice; he'd rather clean out rusty pipes than be with her.

The irony of the situation and his timing didn't escape her. He'd chosen to work this weekend because she would be gone, meaning he wouldn't have to see her. The message had come through loud and clear, and although she was hardheaded, she had finally gotten it. Even her cat seemed to sense Lance was trouble. He'd snarled and hissed ever since Lance had walked in the door. Protective of his mistress. At least somebody was.

"Since when did you get a pet?" Lance asked.

"Maddie brought him over. He was homeless."

"Sounds like Maddie, always trying to pair up orphaned creatures."

She winced. Had Maddie told him about her past? "Maddie's going to drop by and feed her. Be sure not to let her outside," Sophie warned. "She's been declawed and can't protect herself."

Lance frowned as the cat hissed at him. "She certainly looks like she can take care of herself."