Take a Chance on Me(26)

Maddie’s body twisted and she emerged from the car. A beam of sun caught the thick tumble of waves in her ponytail, highlighting a million different strands of red. Hair that beautiful could only have been a blessing from God. Her lips tugged down. “I couldn’t find anything else.”

“I’m sorry,” Mitch said, not sorry at all. The certainty that she needed to stay had only grown since last night, and the less money she had, the better. The trick was to make sure she had enough that she didn’t worry about taking advantage, but not so much that she could go anywhere. Like a motel.

“Did you look in your trunk?” Charlie asked, ever so f*cking helpful.

Mitch shot him a glare, but the bastard just gave him a smug smile.

“Duh,” Maddie said, banging the heel of her palm on the side of her head. “Most of the mess is in the car, so I didn’t even think to look.” She reached inside the car and pressed a button. The trunk popped open. She trotted over and flung it the rest of the way.


With a loud gasp, Maddie’s hand flew to her chest.

Mitch’s gut tightened. Why did he have a bad feeling?

She pulled out a gym bag and jumped up and down in the excited way women had. “I’d forgotten I’d left it in there. I remember now: my hands were full and I couldn’t carry it.”

Mitch crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes narrowed on the gym bag.

“It won’t be much, but at least I’ll have some clothes!” She dropped it to the ground and crouched next to it. The zipper seemed to echo in his head as she opened the damned thing and started to rifle through the contents.

The duffel contained workout clothes, a towel, running shoes, and a variety of other female items. She clutched a bottle to her chest and hugged it tight, beaming at him with a smile so bright his breath caught. “My shampoo.” Another bottle clutched tight. “My perfume.”

The contents should have eased his mind, but didn’t.

“Oh my God, makeup.” She held a bag and raised her gaze to the heavens. The sunlight caught her ivory skin so she fairly glowed. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

Charlie chuckled. “She is a cute little thing, isn’t she?”

The knot in Mitch’s stomach grew, and he realized he had ground his teeth so tight that his jaw was starting to ache. With considerable effort, he forced his muscles to relax. He was safe. She hadn’t found anything that would send her away.

She opened a side pocket and squealed with delight as she unearthed toothpaste and a toothbrush. In a split instant, all of her frantic motion stopped as she froze. Her eyes widened, and a huge smile split her face. “I can’t believe it. Going to the gym to work out my frustration finally paid off.”

She slipped her hand into the side pocket and pulled out a shiny silver credit card.

Ah, f*ck.





Chapter Seven



Sitting in the parking lot of Revival’s only motel, Maddie clutched the credit card tightly enough for the hard plastic edges to bite into her skin. In the hoopla of the week before the wedding, she’d forgotten about tucking the card into her gym bag to renew her membership.

At first, the discovery had seemed like a gift from God. But like most gifts from the heavens, this one had come with strings and unforeseen tests.

Mitch sat next to her. The hard and impenetrable quiet between them was a stony, almost tangible thing.

Outside, the sun blared too brightly against the asphalt parking lot as the temperature climbed steadily over the afternoon. Even with the air-conditioning blasting, her bare thighs stuck to the black leather seats of his BMW.

Another minute ticked by on the electronic display.

At a loss for how to tackle the elephant in the room, she trailed a path over the sophisticated electronic console. “Is this car a holdover from your lawyering days?”

The corners of his mouth turned down. “Something like that.”

They’d managed to keep up an affable front after the sinfully good-looking sheriff had driven away in his cruiser, and Mitch had driven her to the “local” Target, twenty miles away. As they’d roamed the various aisles, he’d broken the ice with his wicked charm and teasing attempt to seduce her back to his house. She’d lapped it up, enjoying every second, because she’d known it would come to an end soon enough.

Even lunch had been heartbreakingly fun as he’d presented numerous closing arguments to sway her. But the bad mood lurking under the surface had reared its ugly head when she’d offered him gas money.

She scowled. What was the big deal?

He’d driven her around practically half the day and taken his time, effort, and resources to help her. It wasn’t a cardinal sin to pay her own way, although he clearly didn’t agree.

On the ride to the motel, the tension grew as discontent stirred like a boiling pot waiting to spill over.

Why wasn’t she happy?

With the backseat loaded with Target bags, and five hundred dollars in her pocket from the cash advance she’d taken from the ATM on her way out the door, she’d accomplished exactly what she’d wanted. Except what had she really proved? That given a credit card with a healthy limit, she could take care of herself?

She stared out the window at the motel that would be her home until her car was fixed. Rundown and decrepit, the sign advertised color TVs and vacancies, with the V blinking at intermittent intervals. The parking lot was littered with the usual cars and pickup trucks pulled into neat little rows outside their accompanying doors. A carport decorated with multicolored tinsel housed a pack of Harleys. Maddie didn’t know if the odd touch made the place more ominous, or less. She pointed at the strange sight. “Isn’t it a little early for Christmas decorations?”