Chapter Twenty-Seven
Cami
Maddox scrolled toward Annex A and then cleared his throat. ”Right. This is the current plan of the park.”
I looked at it in fascination. ”You”ve numbered every tree.”
”Yeah, the way you have,” he said. ”We plan to have this path snake here, where your main trail is right now. In order to connect it to the hotel, we’d have to take down these two.” He pointed to tree numbers 16 and 18. They were very old and the reason why we didn’t build any stations there—they were at-risk trees that could fall any second now due to the rot. It was only a matter of time before they had to be cut down anyway.
”That”s fine by me. They had to go anyway.”
”Then we”ll take down the fence to your property here, and it’ll be a smooth transition to the distillery and the hotel.”
I listened to him intently, but only part of my brain was following everything he said. My heart gave a mighty sigh. I hadn”t seen many similar contracts, but I was 100 percent certain that the vendor was in no way obligated to include a plan. And yet Maddox had done it purely for my peace of mind.
”Cami, what are you thinking about?”
I turned to him, tilting my head sideways. He”d only put his pants back on, so his torso was completely uncovered. He was so damn tempting. ”That you do deserve that second round of getting down and dirty after all.”
”I was on probation?”
I gave him a seductive smile. ”Not exactly.” I traced his cheeks with my fingers, stopping at the dimples at the sides of his mouth. ”Thank you for putting so much effort into this. I wasn”t expecting it. And I know you didn”t have to do it.”
”It wasn”t a big deal.”
”If I talk to Gabe and the architect, will they say the same thing?”
Maddox started to laugh. ”You”re good. And I’d advise you not to do that. The architect might tell you that I”m the most exigent client he”s ever had. Gabe informed me that he”s going to sleep for the rest of the week. I kept him up by sending him various versions of the plan these past few days.”
”Oh, so that”s why you weren”t replying to my messages as quickly as usual.”
He shrugged. ”What can I say? I had a goal, and I wanted to see it through.”
”You could have just sent me the contract next week.”
He shook his head. ”No. If we push the sale faster, it”s going to benefit all of us. We can start the construction earlier, and you can begin working on your business. You don”t have to worry about how the bad weather will impact the bookings or even bother setting up the ice rink.”
I loved this man. Yep, plain and simple, I just did. He didn”t even know up until today that I’d planned to open a new business. He”d just wanted me to feel safe.
”What are you thinking about?” he asked.
”I keep wondering how I totally misread you in the beginning.”
”Can’t help you there. That”s on you.”
I pinched his chest. ”Really? Your know-it-all, slightly jerkish attitude didn”t have anything to do with it?”
He winked at me. ”You just said it—you misread it. Others might call it charming and determined.”
”Right, of course. My bad,” I said with a laugh.
We sat silently for a few moments, just taking each other in.
”Maddox?”
”Yeah.”
”I”m damn happy that Jeannie talked you into bringing her over to the park that day.”
”What”s one thing got to do with the other? You were still at my throat.”
”And you at mine. But seeing you with her shifted something in my head. I kept thinking to myself, ”No one who is so nice to his grandmother can actually be a jackass.””
Maddox frowned, but then a playful grin spread across his face and a twinkle popped in his eyes. ”I bet that was her plan.”
”Why are you so suspicious of her?”
”Because I know her ways. She took acting very seriously. Half her mind is always on plot points, meet cutes, and stuff like that.”
I covered my mouth and started to laugh. I’d almost forgotten that Maddox had told me his grandmother was a famous Boston actress.
”What?” he asked.
”I cannot believe you just said ”meet cute.””
He shook his head, wincing. ”Yeah, neither can I. Damn, I can practically feel my balls falling off.”
I batted my eyelashes. ”If you ask me really nicely, I can check and see if they”re still there.”
”You”re something.” He put an arm around my shoulders, kissing my temple. ”I should warn you.”
”About what?”
”I didn”t realize it until now, but Gran was surprisingly relaxed when we were at her house.”
”How did you expect her to be?”
We moved to the couch, and Maddox pulled me onto his lap. Oh, I much preferred this position.
“When my brothers came with dates, she”d make these sly comments about how they belonged together and how she expected great-grandkids from them.”
I nearly fell off his lap. ”She actually said that?”
”Yes.”
”Maybe she”s learned boundaries.”
He chuckled. ”No. One thing I can tell you for certain is that Jeannie Whitley will always push boundaries.”
”But she hasn”t said anything to us.”
”Exactly! Which makes me think she”s not even focusing on us anymore and has already moved on to my younger brothers.”
”I”m not even sure how to react to that.”
”Neither am I. I’ll keep them in the dark for now. Maybe my hunch isn”t correct.”
”But you think it is.”
He leaned forward, kissing the column of my neck. ”My hunches almost always turn out to be correct.”
”Ah, there”s some of that cockiness rearing its head again.”
”You know it, babe.”
I leaned in, kissing the right side of his neck and then the left one.
He straightened up and asked, ”What time does your dad go to sleep?”
I looked at the clock. ”It”s only eight, so he”ll be awake a while longer. Why?”
”Think he”d want us to go over the contract together?”
”I can do that with him tomorrow. I don”t think he plans to look at it before the lawyer does, but he”d really enjoy seeing that plan.”
”I can walk him through it. And assure him that I”m taking care of his daughter.”
Something was shifting between us right now, but I couldn”t put my finger on it. The way he”d phrased that made me sigh. ”You”re sure you want to confront Dad tonight?”
”How bad can it be?” he asked.
”Not sure. I”m not actually sure he”s met anyone I”ve been dating since...” I thought back. ”Yeah, since junior college.”
Maddox blinked at that. ”Are you serious?”
”I didn”t feel the need for him to meet any of my dates, and he”s never been interested in it. I guess he figured that if someone was important enough, I”d introduce him.” I mean, he had met Maddox already, but that was in a different capacity. We were dating now, and that had seemed to bother Dad.
Maddox”s eyes flashed as he cupped my face, touching my jawline tenderly. ”Am I important enough, Cami?”
”Yes,” I said in a breathy voice. ”Yes, you are. You know that.”
His nostrils flaring, he lowered his hand to my neck. ”This is happening fast.”
I nodded. ”I was just thinking that.”
”But it feels right. Even if it weren”t about the contract, I”d still want to talk to him.”
”I didn’t peg you for the kind of guy who likes to befriend the father.”
”I wouldn”t say I am, because this would be the first time I did it.”
A shiver went down my spine. For some reason, I hadn”t realized that when he said he didn”t do relationships, he truly meant it.
“But I can put myself in his shoes,” he continued. ”I know how important it is to my family to meet everyone”s significant others. I don”t want him to worry about anything.”
I grinned, moving my hips a bit, pressing myself against him. ”You”re definitely getting some extra you-know-what once we”re back. You totally deserve it.”
”I like where this is going. But now, let’s get dressed.”
I jumped to my feet, collecting my discarded clothes, though I put on a warmer sweater, since we”d be heading outside.
I was giddy as we left my cabin. I texted Dad, asking if I could drop by with Maddox. He”d replied yes instantly.
Dad was obviously uneasy, and talking with Maddox would change that.
How on earth did he realize that?
All the lights were on in Dad”s house as we pulled up next to his car in the driveway.
”Ready to do this?” I asked.
”Here goes nothing,” Maddox replied good-naturedly.
Oh, heavens. I truly love this man.