Stirring Up Trouble by Andrea Laurence Page A

like that, but she needed a wake-up call. He’d seen her kind before, when he lived in Florida. Some people thought they were above the law, and when they discovered otherwise, it was a hard crash landing to reality. Madelyn was a spoiled brat used to getting whatever she wanted, but if she kept pushing their feud, she would give the judge no choice but to try to scare her straight. Then they would see how much influence her family really had in town.
    She recovered quickly, an expression of boredom crossing her face. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said, taking a step back.
    â€œDon’t be so presumptuous,” Emmett snapped. “We get arrested again and I guarantee you it’s a done deal. Logan says that Judge Griffin doesn’t play around, and I don’t intend to see how far I can push him. I don’t know when this exciting adventure in community service starts for us, but I’m going to be smiling the whole damn time. You’d better do the same, because you’re not dragging me down with you.”
    The bored expression slipped away, showing a flicker of vulnerability he didn’t expect to see. She swallowed hard, forcing his gaze to watch the elegant line of her throat. When he focused back on her face, a wide, insincere grin had spread across it. “Is this good enough?” she asked.
    Even though he knew she didn’t mean it, he was nearly struck dumb by the brilliance of her smile. She’d never smiled at him before. She was always irritated or trying to aggravate him. This smile was enough to light up her whole face, softening her hard edges and making her even more beautiful, if that was possible. It made Emmett want to make her smile for real, to see if a true smile could be even more impactful. A part of him hoped not. His pulse was already spiking and his nerve waning.
    â€œIt’ll do,” he managed to say. “Might want to practice in the mirror until it looks like you mean it.”
    The smile faded and she rolled her eyes. “I’ll look into that, but there are only a couple of days to practice. After you left, the court clerk said we’re supposed to report to her on Wednesday afternoon for our first assignment. We’re to be there at three and serve until six.”
    That wasn’t too bad. The bar didn’t open until five during the week. Joy usually worked on the weekends, but maybe he could get her to cover until he could get there. Or, worst-case scenario, he could delay opening by an hour without too much trouble.
    â€œHopefully, I won’t see you until Wednesday.”
    Let the games begin.

Chapter Seven
    â€œBlake, I need a responsible, industrious teenager.”
    Blake looked up from his desk and frowned at Maddie’s sudden arrival at his workplace. She knew she didn’t pop in very often; this was actually her first visit to his new office in the recently reconstructed Rosewood High School gymnasium, but this was important. She didn’t need him being grumpy about it.
    â€œThat’s nice,” he said without missing a beat. “I need a half-man, half-octopus running back with eight arms and sticky suction cups on his fingers so he can’t drop the ball.”
    Now it was Maddie’s turn to frown. “I’m being serious, Blake. I need help at the bakery.”
    â€œI’m being serious, too. If I didn’t know better, I’d think my boys were rubbing Crisco on their hands before every game.”
    Maddie took a few more steps into his office and settled into the guest chair facing his desk. Her gaze strayed to the bookshelves with plaques and trophies, including the one Blake and his team had earned last season when they went to the state championships. They came in second, which was no small feat, but that gave Blake something to shoot for. He never liked to settle for less than number one.
    A drive for perfection ran in the family—drilled in by their father.