Billionaires Dollar Series

I guess this is the Washington way-cabins, forest, and hunting.

I can handle that.

“This is the guest suite,” Rita says, pushing open the door to a bedroom. Windows open up to the woods beyond, a large poster bed in the center. “Make yourself at home and take some time to get settled. Albert will head out to shoot in about an hour.”

She closes the door behind us and then it’s just us, Maddie and me, in this giant room.

She runs a hand over an oak dresser. “It’s like a shrine to outdoorsiness,” she says, stopping by a taxidermied pheasant. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to sleep with this guy watching us.”

I sit down on the bed, hands braced behind me. “We can banish him to the bathroom.”

“You think I’ll be able to use the bathroom with him watching me?” Opening a drawer, she finds a package of tissues. Turning the pheasant around, she drapes a paper tissue over its head. “There!”

“You have impeccable problem-solving skills.”

“I try.” She rocks back on her heels. “You know, you look good when you’re not wearing a suit.”

I grin. “But only when I’m not?”

Maddie bites her lip. “Not what I meant, but hey, if you heard it that way…”

“You’re terrible.” I stretch back on the bed, looking at the vaulted wooden ceiling above. My phone stirs in my pocket, but I ignore it. “There’s only one bed in this room.”

“Considering we’re supposed to be engaged, I think that’s to be expected.” She pauses by the nightstand, picking up a book from a neat stack.

I raise my eyebrow at her. “And you’re okay with that?”

“We’ve slept in tents together,” she says. “Probably much closer than we will in this giant contraption of a bed.”

Yes, I think. When we were ten. And all it takes is one glance at Maddie, at the dark hair that shines like silk and the curves of her petite form, to see that she’s not ten anymore. But her tone makes it clear that I’m the only one having those thoughts.

I close my eyes at the memory of the kiss, just a few days ago, when it felt like her body was opening to me.

“Look at it this way,” she says. “This will give you some training for sleeping with a woman platonically.”

“Yippie,” I mutter.

Her laughter fills the room, just like it did in the car, and it warms every surface it touches.

Albert gives me one of those bushy-eyebrowed looks as we walk back toward the cabin, his Jeep parked behind us. “Not bad,” he comments. “Not bad at all for a banker.”

I shrug. “I was raised in a town that had one foot in the forest, the other in the ocean.”

“It shows.”

Dennis frowns at me. I give him a bland look. He must have hoped I’d flounder out in the woods. Albert sees it too, for he nods toward the shed in the back. “Will you give the birds to Robert for dressing?”

A final glance toward me, and Dennis retreats down to the shack.

My next sentence is calculated. Risky, but calculated.

“Your son doesn’t care much for the idea of me, does he?”

Albert kicks off the mud from his boots. “No, I can’t say that he does.”

“Oh well.” I lean back, tugging at my jacket. “And here I thought I might be inching you closer toward our deal.”

Albert grins. “All we’ve done so far is shooting.” The look in his eyes tells me he’s well aware of my frustrations-he know he’s drawing this whole thing out.

He’s also enjoying it.

“Well, if that’s all we ever do, I’ll be happy I got the chance.”

Albert shakes his head, but there’s amusement there. “I’m starting to see how you got someone as nice as Madison to say yes to you.”

“Words are sweet,” I respond, heading to the front porch. He follows, and we both stop at the domestic image revealed.

Maddie and Rita are in the kitchen, elbow deep in cooking. Maddie’s hair is tied back and her cheeks flushed, from the heat of the stove or excitement, I don’t know.

“Just in time!” Rita says. “Dinner is in half-an-hour.”

I walk around the kitchen counter and pull Maddie against me, kissing her silken hair.

She pushes me away with a laugh. “You’re muddy.”

“I thought your love was unconditional.” Her cheeks flame further. Beside her, Rita chuckles.

“Men,” she says. “Off to the showers with you, and don’t come back until you stop getting dirt all over my floors.”

“Yes ma’am,” Albert says, heading off in one direction.

Maddie’s eyes track me as I leave toward our room. And God help me, but I wink.

She looks back down at her chopping board immediately and I’m forced to stifle the mad urge to laugh. Being fake engaged just might be the most fun I’ve had in years.

Dinner is a quiet affair, marked by considerable praise for Maddie-all of it well-deserved.

“Will you please write down the recipe?” Rita asks. “Whatever you did to this meat is… well. In my twenty years of trying to cook venison, I’ve never gotten it this tender.”

“I’ll write it down before we go tomorrow,” Maddie assures her.Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

“How much would you cost to hire as a private chef?” Albert asks. Rita gives him a light shove in reproach, but they’re both smiling.

“The key,” I say, draping my arm around the back of Maddie’s chair, “is to marry her. That’s my strategy and it’s working beautifully so far.”

“A shame you can only have one wife,” Rita quips to her husband.

By the third helping of red wine, Maddie switches our glasses when our hosts have their backs turned. My half-empty for her full.