Lance—"
"You'll always be our little sister," Lance muttered.
Maddie pounded her fist over her chest. "Maybe so, but I'm also a grown woman with a right to make my own decisions, to go out with whomever I please, whenever I please, and I intend to do so, no questions asked." Maddie paused to grab a much-needed breath. "Do you understand?"
Lance and Reid simply glared at her.
Maddie's voice rose an octave. "I said do you understand?"
"Yes," Lance mumbled.
"But we don't like it," Reid added.
"I didn't say you have to like my rules, but you will abide by them." With a stern glare, Maddie shifted sideways to unlock her front door. "So you're just going to have to learn to live with them." With one last determined look, she swung open the door, sauntered inside and left the three of them sitting on the porch.
Lance and Reid immediately turned to Chase. "This is worse than we thought," Lance said.
Reid stood. "Yeah, man, you have to do something."
A splinter jabbed Chase's palm as his hands tightened around the wooden arms of the swing. He'd already gotten in over his head by committing to babysit Maddie on the job. What in the world did they want him to do now? Tag along on her dates?
* * *
Monday morning Maddie was still shaken from her confrontation with her brothers—the next thing she knew they'd be tagging along on her dates. She patted herself on the back for not giving in to temptation and revealing any details about her side trip with Sophie. Although she had a nagging suspicion Chase and Lance and Reid were the three men who'd sneaked into the resort and been thrown out. They'd looked so damn guilty the whole time she'd lectured them. Plus, Lance had scratched himself silly and Chase's eye patch, his little accident, was all too coincidental.
Even if they had been there, they had no idea what she'd been up to. She laughed wickedly.
Let them all wonder what really happened.
She loved her brothers dearly, but she had to assert herself, or they'd suffocate her. Just the thought of Chase Holloway sitting there on her porch with that patronizing attitude infuriated her. Why, they'd probably all three had dates and sex Friday night while they expected her to play the good girl. And that patch—fantasies of Chase wearing nothing but that patch, making love to her had haunted her all night.
Damn man.
It wasn't fair Chase saw her as a kid sister when she'd been lusting after him all weekend. Dreaming of him naked and hot and irresistibly aroused. And bigger than both those Italians put together.
Determined to banish Chase from her mind until she was forced to meet him later to discuss the designs for the model homes, she steered her new decorating van into the subdivision on Skidaway Island to meet her first client, mentally ticking off the questions she needed to ask. Armed with carpet, flooring, tile and fabric samples, along with dozens of catalogs of furniture styles, accessories, window treatments and her laptop, which virtually allowed her access to any and everything a customer could possibly want, she felt prepared to deal with whatever arose.
Until she met Nora Ledbetter; her three-year-old terror, Jake; and their Saint Bernard, Lulu.
Three hours later, she exhaled in exasperation, determined to make a sale no matter the consequences. Noisy Nora, she dubbed her because she had on so many bracelets she clanged and banged every time she moved, had the attention span of a gnat. Maddie settled herself on the corner of the brick hearth. She'd been trying to discern the woman's tastes so she could steer her into a few decisions today, but so far the only decision Nora had made was that she was undecided on everything. She didn't even know what color scheme she wanted to use.
Which virtually affected every decision they needed to make.
"Look, I'm Jake the Snake!" The redheaded little boy plopped onto the floor of the half-finished den and slithered through the array of fabric swatches Maddie had so
"You'll always be our little sister," Lance muttered.
Maddie pounded her fist over her chest. "Maybe so, but I'm also a grown woman with a right to make my own decisions, to go out with whomever I please, whenever I please, and I intend to do so, no questions asked." Maddie paused to grab a much-needed breath. "Do you understand?"
Lance and Reid simply glared at her.
Maddie's voice rose an octave. "I said do you understand?"
"Yes," Lance mumbled.
"But we don't like it," Reid added.
"I didn't say you have to like my rules, but you will abide by them." With a stern glare, Maddie shifted sideways to unlock her front door. "So you're just going to have to learn to live with them." With one last determined look, she swung open the door, sauntered inside and left the three of them sitting on the porch.
Lance and Reid immediately turned to Chase. "This is worse than we thought," Lance said.
Reid stood. "Yeah, man, you have to do something."
A splinter jabbed Chase's palm as his hands tightened around the wooden arms of the swing. He'd already gotten in over his head by committing to babysit Maddie on the job. What in the world did they want him to do now? Tag along on her dates?
* * *
Monday morning Maddie was still shaken from her confrontation with her brothers—the next thing she knew they'd be tagging along on her dates. She patted herself on the back for not giving in to temptation and revealing any details about her side trip with Sophie. Although she had a nagging suspicion Chase and Lance and Reid were the three men who'd sneaked into the resort and been thrown out. They'd looked so damn guilty the whole time she'd lectured them. Plus, Lance had scratched himself silly and Chase's eye patch, his little accident, was all too coincidental.
Even if they had been there, they had no idea what she'd been up to. She laughed wickedly.
Let them all wonder what really happened.
She loved her brothers dearly, but she had to assert herself, or they'd suffocate her. Just the thought of Chase Holloway sitting there on her porch with that patronizing attitude infuriated her. Why, they'd probably all three had dates and sex Friday night while they expected her to play the good girl. And that patch—fantasies of Chase wearing nothing but that patch, making love to her had haunted her all night.
Damn man.
It wasn't fair Chase saw her as a kid sister when she'd been lusting after him all weekend. Dreaming of him naked and hot and irresistibly aroused. And bigger than both those Italians put together.
Determined to banish Chase from her mind until she was forced to meet him later to discuss the designs for the model homes, she steered her new decorating van into the subdivision on Skidaway Island to meet her first client, mentally ticking off the questions she needed to ask. Armed with carpet, flooring, tile and fabric samples, along with dozens of catalogs of furniture styles, accessories, window treatments and her laptop, which virtually allowed her access to any and everything a customer could possibly want, she felt prepared to deal with whatever arose.
Until she met Nora Ledbetter; her three-year-old terror, Jake; and their Saint Bernard, Lulu.
Three hours later, she exhaled in exasperation, determined to make a sale no matter the consequences. Noisy Nora, she dubbed her because she had on so many bracelets she clanged and banged every time she moved, had the attention span of a gnat. Maddie settled herself on the corner of the brick hearth. She'd been trying to discern the woman's tastes so she could steer her into a few decisions today, but so far the only decision Nora had made was that she was undecided on everything. She didn't even know what color scheme she wanted to use.
Which virtually affected every decision they needed to make.
"Look, I'm Jake the Snake!" The redheaded little boy plopped onto the floor of the half-finished den and slithered through the array of fabric swatches Maddie had so
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