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Authors: Marie Harte
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eyes widened and his lips curled.
Great. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since Sunday. This would only add to her sleepless nights. Before she could get up and sneak back inside, he waved at her. There went her chance to indulge in a good dose of self-preservation.
“Hello?” Her mother raised her voice. “Maddie? Are you still there?”
“Sorry.” Time to check for signs of drool. Good Lord, Flynn was hot, and way too much to handle while speaking with her mother. With her luck, her mother would insist on a conversation about available men while Flynn hovered nearby. “I have to go, Mom. I love you. Talk to you next week, I promise.”
Her mother sighed. “I know, I know. You don’t want to hear it. I’m sorry, but someone needs to tell you how to—”
“Mom. I really have to go.”
Her mother muttered under her breath and finished with, “Fine. I love you too. Bye.”
Maddie disconnected just as Flynn sidled up to her table. She forced a natural smile and tried to ignore the racing of her pulse. “Well, hello, Flynn.”
“Maddie Gardner. My day is looking even brighter. Mind if I sit?”
Resigned, she nodded. “Sure. Have a seat.” Out of the corner of her eye she saw a woman at the table behind Flynn ogling him. To help him out and no doubt prevent him from a future case of something contagious, she raised a brow at the woman. “Can I help you with something?”
The woman blushed and turned around, no doubt embarrassed to be caught staring. Smug and not sure why, Maddie tried to view Flynn’s surprise visit as nothing more than a chance meeting between acquaintances. No reason she should be feeling so nervous or excited. This was Flynn, her neighbor’s brother. He’d fixed her sink, for heaven’s sake.
She hadn’t realized she’d been tapping her fingers on the table until Flynn glanced down at her hands.
“You okay?”
No. I ’ m not. I want to have smokin ’ hot sex with you then send you far, far away, wouldn’t paint her in a favorable light, so she blamed her mother. “I just talked to my mom. I’ve been better.”
He chuckled. “Hold that thought.” He returned minutes later. But he’d been gone long enough to allow her to get her hormones under control.
Or so she’d thought. When he sat and focused all that male attention on her, her palms started to sweat.
He tipped his head back and took a deep draught from a bottle of something orange. She couldn’t look away from the cords of his throat as he swallowed.
He finished half his drink and smacked his lips. “Man, I needed that. So tell me about your mom.”
She concentrated on her cup and intentionally eased her clenched thighs. Then she took another sip of coffee before speaking. “How much time do you have?”
He grinned. “Come on. She can’t be that bad. You’re nice enough. Kind of.”
She liked his teasing. “Funny guy. My mother calls me once a week. Sometimes, if I’m lucky, once every other week. She loves me and she means well, but she’s always trying to tell me what to do.”
“I know the feeling. Hell, my mother lives a few streets down from Mike’s. I see her all the time because I practically live at his place.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Funny I hadn’t seen you before last week. I mean, I’m there practically every Friday. We play cards, the four of us. Me and my brothers and Brody.”
“Seems like a nice crowd.” A sexy crowd. All of his brothers looked alike. Strong, handsome, and too tempting to a woman who wanted little to do with men. Even Brody had been more than attractive, and she wasn’t into blonds.
“They are. Except for my nephew. He’s a schemer. Too smart for his own good.” Flynn smiled.
The clear affection for his family gave her another insight into his character, one she couldn’t help liking. Maddie didn’t come from a large family, by any means, but she’d do anything for her mother, Vanessa, or Abby. Blood or not, her extended family
Great. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since Sunday. This would only add to her sleepless nights. Before she could get up and sneak back inside, he waved at her. There went her chance to indulge in a good dose of self-preservation.
“Hello?” Her mother raised her voice. “Maddie? Are you still there?”
“Sorry.” Time to check for signs of drool. Good Lord, Flynn was hot, and way too much to handle while speaking with her mother. With her luck, her mother would insist on a conversation about available men while Flynn hovered nearby. “I have to go, Mom. I love you. Talk to you next week, I promise.”
Her mother sighed. “I know, I know. You don’t want to hear it. I’m sorry, but someone needs to tell you how to—”
“Mom. I really have to go.”
Her mother muttered under her breath and finished with, “Fine. I love you too. Bye.”
Maddie disconnected just as Flynn sidled up to her table. She forced a natural smile and tried to ignore the racing of her pulse. “Well, hello, Flynn.”
“Maddie Gardner. My day is looking even brighter. Mind if I sit?”
Resigned, she nodded. “Sure. Have a seat.” Out of the corner of her eye she saw a woman at the table behind Flynn ogling him. To help him out and no doubt prevent him from a future case of something contagious, she raised a brow at the woman. “Can I help you with something?”
The woman blushed and turned around, no doubt embarrassed to be caught staring. Smug and not sure why, Maddie tried to view Flynn’s surprise visit as nothing more than a chance meeting between acquaintances. No reason she should be feeling so nervous or excited. This was Flynn, her neighbor’s brother. He’d fixed her sink, for heaven’s sake.
She hadn’t realized she’d been tapping her fingers on the table until Flynn glanced down at her hands.
“You okay?”
No. I ’ m not. I want to have smokin ’ hot sex with you then send you far, far away, wouldn’t paint her in a favorable light, so she blamed her mother. “I just talked to my mom. I’ve been better.”
He chuckled. “Hold that thought.” He returned minutes later. But he’d been gone long enough to allow her to get her hormones under control.
Or so she’d thought. When he sat and focused all that male attention on her, her palms started to sweat.
He tipped his head back and took a deep draught from a bottle of something orange. She couldn’t look away from the cords of his throat as he swallowed.
He finished half his drink and smacked his lips. “Man, I needed that. So tell me about your mom.”
She concentrated on her cup and intentionally eased her clenched thighs. Then she took another sip of coffee before speaking. “How much time do you have?”
He grinned. “Come on. She can’t be that bad. You’re nice enough. Kind of.”
She liked his teasing. “Funny guy. My mother calls me once a week. Sometimes, if I’m lucky, once every other week. She loves me and she means well, but she’s always trying to tell me what to do.”
“I know the feeling. Hell, my mother lives a few streets down from Mike’s. I see her all the time because I practically live at his place.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Funny I hadn’t seen you before last week. I mean, I’m there practically every Friday. We play cards, the four of us. Me and my brothers and Brody.”
“Seems like a nice crowd.” A sexy crowd. All of his brothers looked alike. Strong, handsome, and too tempting to a woman who wanted little to do with men. Even Brody had been more than attractive, and she wasn’t into blonds.
“They are. Except for my nephew. He’s a schemer. Too smart for his own good.” Flynn smiled.
The clear affection for his family gave her another insight into his character, one she couldn’t help liking. Maddie didn’t come from a large family, by any means, but she’d do anything for her mother, Vanessa, or Abby. Blood or not, her extended family
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