Take a Chance on Me(25)

“Fuck. Off.” Mitch fired each word like a bullet.

“Mitch, please,” Maddie said, tone pleading.

“Do I have to take you in?” Charlie’s attention shifted in Maddie’s direction and his mouth twisted into a smile that Mitch had seen him use on hundreds of women during their fifteen-year friendship. “I’ll be happy to look after her for you, Mitch.”

A stab of something suspiciously close to possessiveness jabbed at his rib cage. Mitch shot Charlie a droll glare. “Over my dead body.”

One black brow rose over his sunglasses. “That can be arranged.”

“Please, don’t take him to jail,” Maddie said, sounding alarmed.

Both Charlie’s and Mitch’s attention snapped to her.

“Now, why would you be thinking that?” Charlie asked, in an amused voice.

Maddie’s gaze darted back and forth. “He threatened you.”

Mitch laughed and Charlie scoffed. “Honey, he’s nothing but a pesky little fly I’d have to bat away.”

Comprehension dawned and her worried expression cleared. “Oh, I see. You know, you should tell someone this is some macho-guy act before you get rolling.”

“And what fun would that be?” Charlie rocked back on his heels. Even with his eyes hidden behind the mirrored frames, it was damn clear he was scoping Maddie out from head to toe. Under his scrutiny, she started to fidget. She pressed closer to Mitch, almost as if by instinct, pleasing him immensely.

“Don’t mind him, Princess.” He slid his arm around her waist, pulling her tighter against him. “He likes to abuse his power over unsuspecting women.”

“Um,” Maddie said, fitting under the crook his arm as though she were made for him, which was odd considering he towered over her by a foot. “I bet it’s quite effective.”

Charlie laughed. “Maddie Donovan, you’re everything I’ve heard and then some.”

Maddie stiffened, pulling out of Mitch’s embrace and cocking her head to the side. “How do you know my name?”

“Honey,” Charlie drawled, the endearment scraping a dull blade over Mitch’s nerves. “This is a small town. People don’t have anything else to do but talk. Give me time and I’ll know your whole life story.”

That strawberry-stained mouth pulled into a frown, and two little lines formed between auburn brows. She studied the cracked concrete at her feet. Suddenly, she looked up, her cheeks flushing when she realized they were watching her. She smiled brightly. “Oh well, I guess this is what I get for making an entrance.”

Charlie chuckled, shifting his attention to Mitch. “I like her. Are you bringing her tonight?”

Mitch nodded. “That was the idea.”

Maddie glanced at him, shielding her eyes against the sun. “Tonight?”

“Sunday night is one of the few times none of us work,” Mitch explained. “Sam, Gracie, Charlie, and I usually get together and have dinner. I’d planned on mentioning it at some point.”

“That sounds fun.” She gestured at her car. “I should keep looking.”

Charlie bent and peered into her car, smiling. “I can see you’re one of those tidy women who likes everything in its place.”

Maddie’s chin tilted with that defiant little lift. “If you must know, I actually am. My car is one of the few places I throw caution to the wind.”

Mitch studied her. Somehow, he didn’t quite believe that. He thought that the real Maddie was represented in that mess of a car. Hell, he should know: she’d managed to blow through his life like a tornado in less than twenty-four hours. But unlike her, he welcomed the chaos. After three years of mind-numbing monotony, it felt good to use his brain again and even better to feel the kick of excitement, the rush of challenge she presented.

“I see,” Charlie said, resting his elbow on the top of her car. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

Maddie shook her head. “Nope, just looking for money.”

Charlie stepped back and walked up to Mitch while Maddie climbed into the driver’s seat on her hands and knees, oblivious to the taunting view her ass presented.

Mitch said, in a dry tone, “Thanks a lot, *. I’d almost had her relaxed before you showed up.”

“Is that what you were doing?” Charlie asked in a slow, amused drawl. “Relaxing her?”

“I was working on it.”

“That’s not all you were working on,” Charlie said. “What’s the plan?”

“At this point, I’m winging it.”

Maddie’s calf flexed as she contorted herself in an impossible position and she disappeared into the well of the passenger’s seat.

“And to think,” Charlie said, “if she’d have stayed in her car, I would have been the one coming to her rescue.”

“Fuck off,” Mitch said in his mildest voice, ignoring the kick of possession thumping insistently against his chest. He’d known Charlie since they were teenagers. Charlie knew all the right buttons to push and was looking for a reaction.

Mitch wouldn’t be giving him one.

Besides, even if Charlie had found Maddie first, it wouldn’t have mattered. Charlie had been sleeping with Gracie for over a year, and while they were more friends with benefits than lovers, it had been a while since either one of them had gone looking elsewhere.