Chapter 11
CHAPTER 11
MADISON
J ax carried the bags of gifts, and once we reached the house worry washed over me. Would everyone know what had just happened between us? Just as I was getting to know my father again, would he think I was a tramp? OMG, he would! And it’s just what I deserve for behaving like that. Seems Montana had turned me into a trampy trollop. And what about the psychic? She sent me here to reconcile with my father, not to get down and dirty with Montana’s finest in the barn.
I jumped when Jax whispered in my ear. “I’d better go first. Your cheeks will give us away otherwise.”
I nodded as he went into the living room, and I stood by the front door, out of sight. My mind raced as I focused on inhaling and exhaling. The last thing I needed was to die of a freaking heart attack today. Eastmas would be ruined. I’d miss out on where that orgasmic kiss could go and never have another single SpaghettiO. I peeked at my reflection in the mirror next to the door and saw my cheeks were definitely on fire. Phooey!
I scurried into the powder room next to me, closed the door, and put some cold water on my face,trying to regulate my pulse, which was sky-high.
The thought of Jax and how wrong it was to be involved in any way overtook my brain. He was a man who’d been with a zillion women, I was certain. After all, it was his self-proclaimed superpower, just like Steve. Yeah, that was the answer. All I had to do was conjure the image of stupid Steve, and my attraction to Jax would evaporate into thin air. Poof. Steve. Steve. Steve. Nope, my better judgment was saying ‘Steve,’ but my lady parts were doing cheerleader jumps shouting ‘Jax.’ No can-do, lady parts. Your bits will be on a plane out of here after the wedding. Wait! So that’s his game. Jax knew I was leaving in a few days. I was appealing because I was a short-term guest. He probably hoped he would get his kicks, and then I’d be wheels-up on a plane, just another notch on his saddle.
As far as I could see, I had two options. One, I’d do the smart thing and not let him anywhere near me with his superpower. Or two, I could just say fuck it and get my own kicks. I am woman; hear me roar.
The coloring on my face finally normalized, and I headed to the living room. And by damn, I wanted what was owed me. “What does a girl have to do to get an ugly sweater around here?”
The room broke into laughter as my dad reached into a box and tossed me a sweater. I held out the red and green plaid garment, sporting a sickly-looking cat, wearing a red shirt and bow tie on the front of it, along with little bells around the neckline and waist. I pulled it over my head, and they all cheered my tacky, tacky look. It was kind of amazing.
Over the next few hours, we laughed so much my face hurt. Not only was Daisy a hoot—I mean, even my mother would get a kick out of her—but she served up eggs and turkey bacon for Thanksgiving, prime rib and all the trimmings for our Christmas celebration at lunch, then an Easter egg hunt and cheesecake for Easter. Finally, 4 th of July fireworks and a New Year’s toast with champagne that should have ended with a glass. Instead, we killed three bottles.
Throughout the day, I felt like an awkward sixteen-year-old chick. In the living room, we were all sitting on the sofa and chairs, which made a circle. Whenever I stole a look at Jax, I’d find him staring at me with a knowing grin on his face. Clearly, he liked making me nervous, and all I could think about was the way he forcefully pulled me to him and ravaged me earlier. How could someone so freaking gorgeous possibly be into me?
* * *
I woke up the next morning to the sound of what I swear was a cowbell. One look out the window proved me correct. Jax and Austin were apparently fighting over who got to ring it.
“Okay, how about we all work off the many calories of Eastmas?” Daisy shouted from the hall outside my door.
I looked out the window again and agreed that it was a beautiful day for a walk.
Daisy knocked before poking her head into my bedroom. “How about we go shoot some shit up? The boys are already waiting on us. How about you and me go show ‘em a thing or two.”
Though I’d never shot a gun, I agreed it was a beautiful day to shoot some shit up. Yeah, a sentence I hadn’t used before. But when in Montana.
It turned out that they had a lot of fun toys on the ranch, and before I knew it, we were all driving four-wheelers across pastures towards a forested area at what appeared to be the base of the mountains.
Another thing I had never done was drive a four-wheeler, but apparently, I would learn today. After Daisy showed me how to turn it on and use the pedal and brake, we were off. “Just like driving a car,” she’d said. If I was going to save face, there was no need to point out that most of us city dwellers used cabs and, therefore, didn’t have a license.
As the group took off, I inched my way behind them. The nerves in my tummy were playing ping pong; even the squirrels running around us like lunatics were calmer than me. But after hearing Jax and Austin shout, “Get the lead out, granny,” and “Step on it, Speed Racer” enough times, I decided to put the pedal to the metal and let her rip. It was open land. What was the worst that could happen?
In the distance, I could see they had stopped and were standing next to their four-wheelers, and as I grew closer, it became clear that I couldn’t stop the thing. My foot frantically searched for the brake, missing every time as if my brain was paralyzed—no traumatized—and unable to communicate to my foot to just hit the brake and stop the damn thing like Daisy showed me.
Instead, I hit a massive tree root, flew in the air, and hit the ground off to the side of the four-wheeler. As I heard everyone running toward me, all I could see was my own funeral flashing before my eyes. Zoey would be there live streaming it for our followers like the bitchin’ brave soul that she is. My sweet, sweet mom would be crying into a hanky from the 1950s. My dad, of course, would feel compelled to be there since I died on his land, after all. Goodbye, Dad. I hardly knew ya. It’s possible that Steve would be there, his cojones having finally dropped. Gasp, the psychic would show up, shaking her head and apologizing for giving me the wrong tea.
“Madison. Madison, are you with us?” I opened my eyes to find my dad leaning over me and lightly shaking me by my shoulders.
I shot up to a sitting position, running my hand gingerly about my head, checking for blood. “Of course I’m okay,” I lied. “What kind of wimp do you take me for?”
Jax turned his baseball cap around like a nervous nelly. “Uh, a city girl wimp, that’s what.”
Well, damn it, I am a city girl, so what kind of argument can I put up against that? Oh well, time to save face as much as I can. Taking my dad’s hand, I came to my feet, wobbling about before finally getting my bearings. “See, not a wimp.” I paid careful attention to wiping the dirt off my backside so Jax wouldn’t notice me grimacing in pain.
Daisy pointed ahead. “Do you feel well enough to carry on, honey, or should we get you back to the house?
In the distance, there were some targets and a fence with a wooden crate next to it.
“I can carry on.” My voice was stronger than I felt.
With a reluctant look, my dad walked out, opened the crate, grabbed some soda cans, and set them on the fence while Jax opened the box on the back of his four-wheeler and started pulling out guns.
Jax handed Daisy and me pistols, and I was careful, super mindfulof my terrible fear of taking somebody out.
My dad walked back to me. “Have you handled a gun before?”
“Well, I didn’t actually get to shoot the gun, but I observed a gun safety course in high school so I’m a bit of a novice. Today, however, I say live, love, laugh, and if that doesn’t work, load, aim, and fire.”
He chuckled. “Do we need to go over any safety rules?” he asked.
“If she shoots like she drives, I think we all better run for cover.” Austin’s got jokes.
Daisy walked over and aimed at the soda cans. “Number one safety rule—don’t piss off the woman with the gun.”
I’m pretty sure that rule was a warning to Jax and Austin.
She took aim and hit a few cans, and within a minute, we were all lined up, with a good distance between one another, and started shooting.
Of course, everyone was doing great, but me.
Daisy looked over. “Jax, can you help Madison?”
Jax looked at me. “Sure, but I’m not standing within aiming range of that gun.”
He tucked his pistol in the waist of the back of his jeans, which I’d always thought was sexy as hell when I saw it on TV. I tensed up when he stepped behind me, put his arms around me, and held my hand and gun in his. I knew I held a deadly weapon, but focusing on anything but the feeling of his chest against my back was not happening.
He spoke quietly in my left ear as he moved my hands over. “Relax, you’re so tense.”
“Okay.” No shit I was tense. I had the hottest man I’d ever laid eyes on, all wrapped around me. I was just glad I borrowed some of Daisy’s perfume. Oh, yeah, and I just fell off a four-wheeler and swear I can still see stars.
“Just look straight out to what you want to hit. What are you going for, Madison?”
I knew he was talking about the target, but I was thinking of things I wanted at that moment that were not smart, in any fashion, for a woman who would be flying out of Montana Sunday. Thoughts of him holding me up against a barn as I wrapped my legs around him… I needed to gain control before I ended up shooting someone.
“The Coke can.” My voice squeaked as he readjusted my aim.
“You ready?” I felt his chest vibrate a little against my back as he spoke, while more stars appeared.
“Yes.” I pulled the trigger, and the can went flying.
“You’re perfect.” He was still holding onto my hands but quickly let go of them before stepping back. “I mean, that was a perfect shot.”
I looked over my shoulder at him and couldn’t fight the grin on my face. He appeared embarrassed. Oh yeah, baby, it was about time he was uncomfortable for a change.
We all continued shooting for a while, and it didn’t go unnoticedthat Daisy couldn’t hit a can without yelling, “There you go, bitch!”
When we finally had our fill of shooting shit up, Daisy insisted I hop on the back of her machine, and I held on for dear life as we followed the guys back to the house.
A short while later we were sitting at the table while Daisy ate the last bite of her cheesecake.
“Madison, Helena and Clara from the bridal boutique said if we can stop by real quick today, they’ll have plenty of time to make any alterations to your dress before Saturday. They have some lovely bridesmaid dresses in my colors you can pick from for you and Zoey. Isn’t that the best news ever?”
“It absolutely is, and for sure better than world peace.” Austin laughed at his own joke, prompting Daisy to slap his shoulder.
“Why don’t we change into whatever we’re wearing to dinner now, and we’ll head over in a few minutes? We can all meet up for dinner at Bridgeman’s later.” She pulled my dad to his feet and hugged him. “Jim, you and the boys need to stop by the bridal boutique this afternoon as well to make sure they have the tuxedos perfect.”
“Okay, sounds good. We’ll check on things around here and head over later.”
* * *
We arrived at the bridal boutique, where I chose a long, fitted gown that I knew Zoey would like. It’d be easy for the altering, as Zoey and I were about the same size. Well, except for boobs. Yeah, Zoey was a good cup size larger than me. Figures.
While I waited for Helena and Daisy, I looked through the racks of wedding gowns.
“Hey Helena, can I try one of these bad boys on?” I held up a dress.
“Of course, have fun.”
Before I knew it, I was on the little podium in front of the large mirror. I always thought I had an okay figure, but the dress made me look frickin’ awesome. It had a drop waist, was strapless and fitted. It was snug in the waist and sucked in everything in all the right places. It was white with a little bling, and the back had a “V” that showed a nice amount of skin.
Daisy walked over, clapping her hands like a cheerleader, with her familiar excitement. “Madison, you look amazing!” She sat in a chair wearing a smile. “Holy crap, I need to sit and take this in.”
She stared at me, shaking her head in delight. I normally don’t like to be stared at, but it was okay because I looked stunning and knew it. Amazing looking bust: check. Ass of a goddess: check. Stomach flat enough for body shots: check.
I spun around and checked out the back of the dress. When I looked into the mirror again, I saw Jax standing in the back of the room with his hands in his pockets. My dad and Austin were at the counter behind him. I felt weak in the knees watching his eyes travel slowly down my body; it was erotic somehow.
My dad turned around and walked over. “Did someone forget to tell me something?”
Daisy stood and walked to him. “We’re playing dress up.”
“You look beautiful, Madison.”
“Thank you. Well, I should probably get out of this.”
“No.” All eyes went to Jax. “I mean, doesn’t she need a veil thing?”
“You are right!” Daisy walked over and took a veil from a display on the wall and placed it on my head.
I looked in the mirror, not at myself, but at Jax. He was still watching me, with an unfamiliar look on his face that brought butterflies the size of hawks to my stomach.
“Okay, I’m going to change, and I’ll meet everyone outside.”
“Daisy, I’m going to grab the tuxes. Do you need to see them?” My dad was smart to have her check them out before leaving. I’d hate to see gun-toting Daisy in bridezilla mode.
Everyone headed towards the counter, and I took one last peek at my reflection before doing a model walk back to the fitting room. I went inside and pulled the door closed. A moment later, the door flew open and Jax entered, like he owned the place, and pulled the door shut behind him, sending panic pumping through my arteries.
“Hi.” I didn’t know what to say as his eyes traveled my body before his arm snaked around my waist and pulled me against his chest. His mouth captured mine so slowly it was as if we were savoring something we’d been starving for. His tongue and taste were casting visions in my mind of him ripping me out of the beautiful wedding gown and closing any distance between us. I arched against him and a low growl went from his mouth to mine which seemed to bring us both back to the present,
After pulling away, he stood for a second more before running his thumb across my lower lip and disappearing out the door. I wasn’t even sure what that was, but I stood, a trembling mess, for a good two minutes. Whoa.
Once at dinner I met some of Daisy’s cousins, but all I kept thinking about was Jax and his kisses. How he felt pressed against me, taking control of everything. My stomach dipped to the floor when the memory of his whiskers sliding down my neck ran circles through my mind again and again.
Daisy skipped over behind me. “Austin and Jax are going to run you over to the bar across the street for some fun, okay? You’ve hung out with us old fogies long enough.”
A short time later, we arrived at a bar, with pumping music and wall-to-wall people. The dance floor was hopping while the cocktails were flowing.
“I love this place!” I squealed, making Austin laugh.
Austin shouted over the music. “So, the city gal likes the Tipsy Pig Bar?
“Absofrickinlutely.”