Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
MADDOX
There was a very real chance that Natalie Buchanan was going to shatter my self-control.
Thirty-two nannies, and number thirty-three was going to be my ruin.
The scent of her hair wrapped around me, sweet like the most decadent dessert in the room. Her touch, warm and light, was the perfect caress on my arm. She was beautiful. Graceful. Enchanting.
But it was her intelligence and wit that would be my undoing. That, and her praise of my daughter.
No woman, besides my mother, had ever said they loved Violet. No other nannies. No friends. Not even Cece. I couldn’t remember a time when I’d heard her tell Violet I love you .
But Natalie had said it—had meant it. After just days of knowing Violet.
I was putty in her delicate hands. One dance and I was in trouble.
“Sorry.” I leaned away. “That was inappropriate. ”
Everything I’d done with her tonight had been inappropriate. The dancing. The flirting. Yet here I was, practically glued to her side.
“No apologies,” she said, with a pretty flush in her cheeks. “The teenage girl inside me is doing backflips into the pool at the moment because of that comment. You just made her dreams come true.”
“Glad I could help.” I chuckled. Though it was time to remember that Nat wasn’t my date, so I slipped my arm from hers and glanced around the room. “Who do you think it will be this year?”
“Who and what?”
“This party has become infamous. There’s always someone who has too much to drink and gives the rest of us something to talk about for the year to come.”
“Really? Everyone here seems so... snobby isn’t the right word. Classy. Composed.”
I laughed. “See the woman in the gray dress over by the tree in the corner?”
Natalie followed my gaze. “Yeah.”
“The last time I was at this party, ages ago on a rare trip home from LA, she started stripping on the dance floor.”
“Are you talking about the woman who looks like my grandmother? Short gray hair. Pearl earrings. Probably in her early sixties.”
“That’s the one. She got all the way down to her slip before her husband realized what was happening and rushed over from the bar and took her home.”
Natalie’s eyes widened. “And she comes back here? I would have moved out of Bozeman by New Year’s.”
“I don’t think she remembers and no one has the heart to tell her. That’s sort of the unspoken rule at this party. What happens here, stays here. ”
“Ahh.” She nodded. “Good to know.”
“I missed it, but last year, Tobias told me that one of Dad’s friends went around propositioning women to join him and his wife in a three-way. The wife didn’t realize it was happening until he found a winner and introduced the two.”
Natalie giggled. “I wonder how that conversation went.”
“That’s the three of them right there.” I pointed to the trio at a cocktail table. Their heads were bent together, the women whispering a secret. The man kept eyeing them both, looking rather pleased with himself.
“Oh my God.” Her eyes widened. “They totally hooked up, didn’t they?”
“Definitely. Whatever keeps the magic alive, I guess. Though I’m not one for sharing, even if it is with another woman.”
If I had Natalie in my bed, it would only be the two of us.
The flush in her cheeks deepened. “So, um... what else has happened?”
I spent the next ten minutes entertaining her with tales from past parties. I’d missed most of the embarrassing moments firsthand, but Tobias and Heath never failed to give me the play-by-play each year. And I knew my parents’ friends well enough to place stories with faces. Some years hadn’t been as exciting as others, but with Natalie’s rapt attention and the smile on her face, I kept talking just because I didn’t want her to walk away.
“I would not expect any of that from this crowd.” Natalie laughed after my last story about the man who’d gotten drunk three years ago and convinced half the party to do tequila body shots.
“Every year. People let loose. Have a little fun.”
“But body shots? A threesome? I’d expect that at a fraternity party, not your mom and dad’s Christmas function. I mean... that’s the mayor. And I recognized Principal Hammer from the high school.”
“I think this is a pretty safe space. My parents keep the invite list to those they know and who don’t run their mouths. Too much.” Bozeman was expanding fast but the small-town roots grew deep.
“Really? That’s actually amazing.”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong. They all talk amongst themselves, like we’re doing. But it usually doesn’t go further than this room.” I scanned the crowd, loving that even though I’d been gone for so many years, it felt like coming home. “I missed this party. I missed Christmas in Montana.”
“Violet told me you guys are moving home. Are you excited?”
“I am. It will be nice to be around my family. I’ll be even more excited when Violet and I can get our own place. I just bought some property this week.”
“When are you moving?”
“I haven’t nailed down a date. I was hoping before the school year starts next fall. I need to get the satellite office up and running. Build a house. It would actually be easier to do all of that if I was here. Trying to do it from LA just makes it all harder and takes longer.”
“You can’t live with your parents for a while?”
I opened my mouth to tell her no but... why couldn’t I live with my parents for six months? Their house was enormous. Violet and I had our own space, and they’d love having us under their roof. “Huh.”
“Huh, what?”
“I’m wondering why I didn’t think of moving here now.”
She laughed. “Probably because it’s the middle of the school year. Parents usually think about doing everything in the summer. ”
“True.” Except why wait? It wouldn’t take more than a phone call and some paperwork to enroll Violet in the Bozeman school district. She wouldn’t be excited about leaving her friends, but that feeling wouldn’t change between now and next fall.
“Do you need to be in LA for work if your satellite office isn’t ready?” Natalie asked.
“No, I can work from Bozeman. My team won’t move until the office is ready, but if I was here, I could expedite that process. And I would like to be here during construction of the house.”
“I assume your dad is building it for you.”
I nodded. “That’s the plan. Heath will run lead on it.”
“And you can be here to help with the details. Violet can switch schools. You can work remotely. And both of you can enjoy Bozeman in the winter.”
I stared at her, blinking twice. She made it seem so simple. I wanted to live here. So I should live here. “Then I guess . . . I guess I live here.”
“You live here.” She smiled. “Welcome home.”
There wasn’t a smile in the world as welcoming as Natalie’s.
“I live here,” I repeated. Saying it out loud made it all click. I lived here. This wasn’t a trip to visit family for the holidays. We lived here. It was time for us to live here.
The to-do list in my head exploded.
First, I needed to get Violet enrolled in school. Then I’d need to arrange for some of our things to be sent up here next week. Clothes. Toys. Books. I’d probably need to take a quick trip to LA to make arrangements at the office. My assistant could organize the actual move and getting the rest of our belongings packed. The nanny I had hired for after the holidays would need to be notified. Our home in LA needed to be put on the market.
I fought the urge to send my assistant an email tonight, knowing he’d drop everything, including his holiday plans, to dive in. Then I’d have to call Cece and tell her about the new timeline.
I swallowed a groan.
“Are you okay?” Natalie put her hand on my forearm. “Your smile disappeared.”
“I was just thinking about Cece, my ex. She knows we’re moving here but I haven’t told her the details. It won’t be a pleasant conversation telling her it’s happening and happening immediately.”
“Ah.” Natalie nodded. “Will she fight you on it?”
“Exactly the opposite.” I looked to my daughter, still standing beside Dad. Mom had joined them, and they were pointing out the best desserts. “Cece won’t care. That’s hard on Violet.”
“Oh.” Natalie cringed. “I’m sorry. For you and Violet.”
“Cece was in Hawaii when we left to come here. I don’t know if she’s back or even remembers that it’s Christmas. I haven’t spoken to her in weeks and neither has Violet. Part of the reason we haven’t come home for the holidays in recent years was because it was easier in LA. Easier for me to hunt down Cece and remind her to acknowledge Violet. But this year... I just needed to come home.”
Montana was home.
“I can understand that.”
“Before the divorce, we didn’t come here often either. Cece doesn’t like Montana. She gets bored.”
“Bored? In Bozeman?”
“Not enough shopping or friends to entertain her,” I explained. “She never got along well with my parents. The first couple of years after Violet was born, I was swamped with work and it was easier to stay at home. We came here one year and all Cece did was complain that it was too cold. In hindsight, I should have just come without her.”
In hindsight, there were a lot of things I should have done differently where Cece was concerned.
“That put a damper on the conversation.” I sighed. “Sorry. I don’t talk about Cece much. Mostly because I know how she’ll look at the end of the conversation.”
“Like a spoiled bitch?”
“Pretty much.” I chuckled. “I don’t ever want people to run her down and risk the chance that Violet will overhear.”
“My lips are sealed.”
And what beautiful lips they were.
A waiter passed us with a tray of champagne flutes. I snagged two and held one out for Natalie.
“I’d better not.” She waved it off. “I’m on the clock. And speaking of such, I’d better get back to your daughter.”
“She’s fine with my parents.”
“You’re paying me to watch her.”
“Would you feel better if I didn’t pay you?”
“Actually, yes. It feels strange to be paid when I’m enjoying myself so much.”
I held out the champagne again. “Done.”
She took it and smirked. “You’re still going to pay me, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” I tipped my flute to my lips and smiled. After a sip—my parents didn’t skimp on the champagne and it was as delicious as it was expensive—I caught Mom’s eye and motioned to Violet.
Mom waved, then nodded to Violet, mouthing, “I’ve got her. ”
“Thank you,” I mouthed back, then took Natalie’s elbow and steered her toward the door. “Consider this your break.”
“I just had a break.”
I grinned. “An extended break.”
She sipped her champagne as I led her down the stairs to the lobby. Some of the crowd from earlier had cleared out and there wasn’t as much bustle and noise. One of the tables beside a large window was open.
I walked over and pulled out a seat for her, then took my own. “I forgot how pretty this building is.”
“I rarely make it here.” She turned her blue eyes up to the star on the massive tree.
I traced the long column of her throat with my gaze, wishing I could trace it with my tongue instead. Wishing I could latch my mouth over her pulse and suck.
Christ . My cock swelled behind my zipper—again—and I drew in a long breath. There hadn’t been a woman who’d stirred my blood in years. I hadn’t even cared about women, and my fist had served me fine since my divorce. But Natalie...
I was fully under her spell.
“I don’t want you to think that I do this,” I told her.
Her gaze shifted to mine. “Do what?”
“Chase Violet’s caretakers.”
The corner of her mouth turned up. “Is that what you’re doing? Chasing me?”
“I’d like to.”
Her smile widened. “I think maybe we should table this conversation until my gig working for you is up.”
“That would probably be the prudent decision. I can wait a week.”
She lifted a shoulder. “We’ll see.”
“We’ll see?” That wasn’t the enthusiastic agreement I’d expected. She’d told me that she’d been into me in high school. That she’d had a crush. Was that where it had ended? I could have sworn she was into me but... “Did I read this wrong?”
“Maddox, you just decided to move here thirty minutes ago. When you do, Violet will need your attention. And it sounds like there are a lot of lingering feelings where your ex-wife is concerned. So... we’ll see.”
Damn . Taking on a relationship at this point would be hard. I didn’t have much extra to give. But for Natalie, it was tempting to find a way.
“You’re right about Violet. She does need my attention. But where Cece is concerned, there are no lingering feelings. I fell out of love with her three years ago when we got divorced. Probably longer than that, if I’m being honest. The way she treated Violet... well, I couldn’t love a woman like that.”
“Can I ask you a very personal question that you have every right to ignore and tell me to mind my own business?”
“Of course.” I grinned, doubting there was much I wouldn’t tell her. Even tonight, after sharing a single dance, it was like my filter had disappeared.
“Cece sounds awful.” Natalie made a sour face. “Why did you marry her?”
“Now you sound like my mother.”
“Sorry. We don’t have to talk about this.”
“No, it’s fine.” I sighed and took a sip of my champagne. Talking about Cece was never easy but Natalie deserved the details. “She wasn’t always awful. Or, I didn’t see it. Cece is beautiful and vivacious. We met in college and she was that girl who everyone gravitated toward. She is always up for a party. Her laugh is infectious. And I was a young guy who had a lot happening and she made my life... lighter.”
Natalie shifted, leaning her elbows on the table. She listened, intently. During the party. On the dance floor. Even in a room full of people, she listened. It was addictive, having Natalie’s focus.
Cece had always kept one ear on the activity, sparing the bare minimum to conversation unless it was about her. And she would have never let me steer her away from the party.
“When we got together, I was just starting Madcast,” I said. “I was working my ass off to graduate and get the company off the ground. Cece would haul me out of my house and take me to a bar and we’d have a blast for a few hours. At the time, I needed that. I asked her to marry me before graduation. We got married not long after. And things were good. Until...”
“Violet,” she whispered and a little of the heartache I felt for my daughter was written on Natalie’s face.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “Cece was on birth control. She let a little too much time go between shots and got pregnant. Everything changed after that. Gone was the fun woman who’d added some levity to my life. She hated that I worked so much. Looking back, she had that right. As Madcast took off, I worked all the time. I only went to one of her doctor’s appointments, and when she started having contractions, I was in a meeting and missed her calls, so she went to the hospital alone.”
Natalie winced. “Ooof.”
“Not my proudest moment.”
“My dad always said it takes two to make a relationship work. Or not to work.”
“He’s right about that. I let Cece down. I won’t blame the demise of our marriage entirely on her. But I will hold her responsible for how she’s treated Violet. Our daughter is innocent. She’s just a little girl. Cece might not have wanted to be a mother, but she is a mother.”
“That’s fair.”
“One day, Cece decided we weren’t what she wanted anymore. She didn’t want to settle down. She’d been having an affair and fallen in love with a guy she’d met at the gym. Some model. That was the end. I can’t even say I was upset. We’d been over for a long time before that. The divorce just made it official.”
“And you fought for Violet.”
“I always will.” I nodded. “I’ve stayed in LA hoping that Cece will suddenly change, but I’m just fooling myself and making it harder on Violet. Cece travels. She’s with the same guy. They hop all over the world, posting pictures of her glamorous life paid for by the money she made from giving me custody of Violet.”
Natalie’s eyes softened. “While you post pictures of Violet because she is the glamour in your life.”
“Yes. I posted one yesterday of her blowing bubbles?—”
“In the hot tub. I saw. It was so cute.”
“You looked me up?”
“Absolutely. I stalked your Instagram earlier today. It’s how grown women research handsome men these days. You really should make your account private.”
I chuckled. “So noted.”
“For the record, I think you’re doing the right thing. Moving here. Creating a new life for Violet.”
“Thank you.” I saluted her with my champagne, then drained the rest of my glass.
Natalie did the same, and when she set her flute down, she gave me another one of those dangerous smiles.
“It’s taking all of my willpower not to kiss you, just to see what it would feel like.” The confession came out without any restraint or regret.
“Oh, it would be fantastic.” She leaned in a little closer as she teased. “I’m really good at kissing.”
“Of that, I have no doubt.”
“But...” She shook her head. “I’m still your employee. ”
“I’m contemplating firing you.”
She laughed, the sweet sound ringing through the lobby.
When was the last time I’d just talked to someone this openly? The only people who really knew what had happened with Cece were my parents and brothers. Sharing it with Natalie came as naturally as breathing. She was alluring and real and honest. With her, things seemed... easy.
I could use a little easy in my life.
A strand of hair fell across her cheek. I reached out and tucked it behind her ear, earning a small gasp as my fingertips brushed her skin.
Now that she’d caught my attention, I struggled to look away, even as a flash of red caught the corner of my eye.
Natalie was the most beautiful female I’d ever laid eyes on.
Except for the very pretty and very angry little girl marching our way.