Shameless (21 page)

“I don’t have a high school diploma or CPR
and AED certificates,” I snapped.

He shrugged.  “So you get your GED and take
the certification courses.  No biggie.”

“This shit costs money, Roman.”

“I can loan you the money,” he said. 
“Honestly, it’s not that expensive and would be well worth it.  I have lots of
connections with rich doctors who want to pretend they’re bad boys with hard
bodies.  You’re good at training even without the damn certification.  You
could make a killing, Riley.”

He clapped me on the back.  “There isn’t
anything wrong with working construction but you love the training thing –
don’t try and deny it.  Why not make a living from it?”

“Because I can’t, I don’t…”

I trailed off and he grinned at me. 
“Exactly.  You have no reason not to.  Listen, I’ll text you the websites for
the information.  Just look into it, okay?  I really think you should at least
consider it.”

I studied my beer as Roman tapped me on the
shoulder.  “Promise me, Riley.”

“Yes,” I said irritably.  “I’ll look into
it, Roman.”

“Good.  Now, what do you say we try that
spinach dip?”

M
addie

I was just pouring myself a cup of tea when
there was a knock on the door.  Riley was out with Roman and he must have
forgotten his key.  I walked quickly down the hall and opened the door.

“Hey, did you forget your key?”

I trailed off and stared blankly at my
former fiancé.  “Jordan?  What are you doing here?”

“Hey, Madeleine.  Can I come in?”

I studied him carefully.  He had lost
weight, he had dark circles under his eyes, and his thin hair was uncombed.

“You look like shit,” I said bluntly.

“Yeah, I know.  Can I come in?”

“Why?”

“I really need to talk. Please, Madeleine. 
I need to talk to you,” he pleaded.

I sighed before stepping back.  “Come in.”

“Thank you.” 

He followed me down the hall and into the
kitchen.  “Do you want some tea?”

“Sure, that would be great,” he said.

I poured him a cup of tea and sat at the
far end of the table.  “What do you want, Jordan?”

He rubbed at the back of his neck before
taking a sip of the steaming liquid.  “My parents found out that I’m – about
Kurt and me.”

I didn’t reply and he smiled faintly. 
“They cut off my trust fund nearly two months ago.”

“Tough luck,” I said neutrally.

“Yeah,” he sighed.  “I lost my place and
I’ve, uh, I’ve been living with Kurt for the last month.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.  It’s been kind of challenging I
guess you’d say.  Kurt wants me to get a job, says I need to stand on my own
two feet because my parents aren’t going to just get over this, you know?”

I shrugged and he picked at the top of the
table.  “Kurt’s kind of difficult to live with.”

“Is he?  Or are you difficult to live
with?”  I asked.

“You know I’m not.”  He gave me a hurt
look.

“We never lived together, Jordan.  You
always had an excuse for why we couldn’t, remember?  Of course, I didn’t
realize the real reason was because you wanted to keep crossing swords with
Kurt but hey – my bad, right?”

He scowled at me.  “I said I was sorry,
Madeleine.”

I rolled my eyes.  “Yeah.  Why are you
really here?”

He stared nervously at me.  “Okay, this is
going to sound strange but just hear me out.  I want us to get back together.”

My jaw dropped and Jordan’s face turned
bright red when I burst into loud peals of laughter.  I held my stomach and
laughed until tears leaked down my face and I could barely breathe. 

“This isn’t fucking funny, Madeleine,”
Jordan said sharply.

I laughed harder, gasping for air and
rubbing at my stomach as Jordan glared angrily at me.  “Are you finished?”

I held up one finger.  “One…minute,” I
gasped between giggles.  Slowly, I gained control and wiped my cheeks again
before staring at Jordan.

“Jordan, pudding, you’re gay.”

“I know that!”  He snapped.  “But listen –
my parents fucking love you.  They were devastated when you broke off the
engagement.  If you and I get back together, it’ll convince them that I’m not gay
and they’ll give me back my trust fund.  I need that money, Madeleine.  I can’t
get a job, okay?”

I stared at him in silent amazement.  “This
is a joke, right?”

“No, it’s not a joke,” Jordan said.  “We
got along fine before, didn’t we?  We can go back to the way we were. 
Obviously it won’t be exactly the same.  I’m gay and I - I want to continue my
relationship with Kurt but I’d be willing to, you know, have sex with you once
or twice a month in return for your help with my parents.  We were pretty good
in bed despite…”

“You liking dick?” I said.

“There’s no need to be rude,” Jordan said. 
“I can’t help who I am.”

He glanced around my small kitchen before
leaning forward.  “I know you’re lonely, Madeleine.  I know you miss me and
there’s a part of me that misses you too.”

“You really have no fucking idea who I am,
do you, Jordan?”  I said.  I stood and dumped my cup of tea down the drain. 
“You honestly think I’m that desperate, that pathetic, that I would take you
back?”

“I’m the best you’re going to get,
Madeleine.  You know that,” Jordan said softly.  He stood and walked toward me,
grasping my wrist in a tight grip.  “Do you really want to spend the rest of
your life alone?  I – I’d be willing to give you a kid or two.  I know you want
kids.”

I shook my wrist free of his grip.  “You’re
not the best I’m going to get and for the record – you suck in bed.  You made
me think it was me but I know now that it wasn’t.  I want you to leave, Jordan,
and God help you if you ever come back.”

He frowned at me.  “You haven’t even
considered it.  Just take a day or two to – “

“She asked you to leave, dickhead.”

Jordan stared in surprise at Riley standing
in the doorway of the kitchen.  “Who the hell are you?”

“The roommate,” Riley said briefly.  “Get
the fuck out of here.”

“You have no right to talk to me like that,
buddy,” Jordan said.

Riley took a step into the room and Jordan
backed away nervously.  I burst into laughter and Jordan glared at me as a
small grin crossed Riley’s face.

“He can’t speak to me like that, Madeleine,”
Jordan said.

I shrugged.  “He lives here.  You don’t.”

“You’re living with this guy?”  Jordan
stared at me in horror.

I nodded.  “And fucking him, sucking his
dick – am I forgetting anything, Riley?”

He grinned at me.  “I particularly enjoy
eating your pussy every day.”

“Definitely can’t forget about that,” I
said cheerfully.

Jordan was still staring at me in horror. 
“What the hell happened to you, Madeleine?”

“I realized I could do better - much better
- than you,” I said before smiling at Riley.  “Now leave, Jordan, and don’t
come back.  Ever.”

“Madeleine – “

“Get out now,” Riley growled, taking
another step toward him.

Jordan cursed under his breath and stalked
from the kitchen.  I waited until I heard the front door slam shut before
smiling faintly at Riley.

“Sorry.”

“For what?”

“I was being pretty crass – not exactly an
attractive quality for a woman, I know - but Jordan made me see red.  Thinking
that I would just take him back and that I was sitting around and pining for
him.”

Riley stalked forward and grabbed me around
the waist.  “Kitten, I have never found you more fucking attractive.”

I laughed.  “I’ll remember that the next
time I worry about being too crude.  How was your beer with Roman?”

“It was good.”  Riley unbuttoned my jeans
and stuck his hand into my pants.  He pressed me against the counter and wedged
his thigh between mine until my legs were spread.  I gasped when I felt his
cold fingers touching my pussy.

“Cold hands,” I complained.

He grinned at me.  “They’ll warm up soon.”

He caressed my clit lightly.  “Roman has a
friend named Mark.”

“Mark the neurosurgeon?”  I gasped as he
tugged on my clit.

“You know him?”

I nodded.  “Well, I know of him.  Roman’s
had a crush on him forever.”

“Roman set me up with him to do some
personal training for eighty bucks an hour.”

“That’s great, Riley.”  I wrapped my hand
around his wrist and forced his hand still.

He shrugged.  “I’m not really a personal
trainer though.”

“I guess not,” I said.  “But you could be. 
Roman says you’re really good at it.”

“He thinks I should get my NASM
certificate,” Riley said casually.

“You should,” I replied. 

He took my hand and kissed the palm of it
before rubbing my clit again.  I rubbed against him.  “Are you going to do it?”

“I’ll think about it,” he said.

“Riley – “

He kissed me firmly.  “Can we talk about
this later, Mads?  After watching you verbally destroy your ex-fiancé, I’m so
fucking hot for you I can barely think straight.”

I grinned at him and rubbed his cock
through his jeans.  “Well when you put it that way – take me to the bedroom,
handsome.”

* * *

M
addie

“Riley?  Are you almost ready?”  I stuck my
head into the bedroom.  “We need to leave soon.”

He turned around and my breath caught in my
throat.  He was wearing a charcoal grey suit with a white shirt and he looked
so damn hot, my knees started shaking.

“Oh my God,” I breathed.

He flushed with embarrassment.  “I look
stupid.”

I shook my head.  “You do not look stupid. 
Trust me, Riley, you’re going to have every woman in the room drooling over you.”

I had to touch him and I nearly tripped
over my own feet as I stumbled forward and smoothed my hands across his broad
shoulders.  “You look so good.”

My voice was faint and Riley frowned. 
“Mads?  Are you okay?”

“Fine,” I breathed.  “Just really horny.”

He grinned.  “Maybe we should skip the
dinner.”

I gave him a look of regret.  “You have no
idea how badly I want to say yes but I need to be there.  My boss will give me
hell if I don’t show up.”

He ran his hand over his jaw.  “Should I
have shaved?”

“No.  I like the stubble.”

“You can still see my tattoos.”  He tugged
at the collar of his shirt where his neck tattoos were clearly visible.

“You can see mine too,” I said.  I turned
so he could see the daisy tattoo peeking out from under the strap of my dress.

He leaned down and pushed the strap to the
side before kissing the tattoo.  “Not the same thing, Mads.”

“Sure it is,” I replied.  “Besides,” I
turned to face him, “it doesn’t matter.  Your tattoos are part of who you are
and I like them.”

“I couldn’t get the tie to work,” he said. 
He picked up the scarlet-coloured tie from the top of the dresser.  “I haven’t
worn one since I was a little kid and ma dragged me to church every Sunday.”

“Lucky for you, I am an expert with ties,”
I smiled at him before lifting his collar and sliding the tie around his neck. 
“Hold still.”

He stood patiently as I worked.  When it
was perfect, I folded his collar down, smoothed my hands across his shoulders
again and turned him to face the mirror.

“What do you think?  Is it too tight.”

He shook his head. “No, it feels good.”

“Great, let’s go.”  I started toward the
door and Riley tugged me to a stop.  He pulled me into his embrace.

“You look really pretty, Maddie,” he said
gruffly.

“Thank you, Riley.”

I had put my hair up in a twist and he
caressed the exposed skin on the back of my neck.  I shivered a little and he
cupped my neck and kissed me until I was breathless.

“You have lip gloss all over your mouth
now,” I scolded gently.

“Worth it,” he said before licking his
lips.  “Why does it taste sweet?”

I laughed.  “It’s flavoured.”

“Weird,” he muttered before wiping his
mouth with the back of his hand.  He studied my body in the dark green dress,
his eyes lingering on my exposed cleavage.  “Sure you don’t want to just stay
home, kitten?”

He dipped one rough finger between my
breasts and I shivered all over before stepping away.  “I would love to stay
home but I can’t.  C’mon, we’re going to be late if we don’t leave now.”

* * *

“Don’t be nervous.”  I smiled reassuringly
at Riley as we stood outside of the banquet room of the hotel.

“I’m not,” he muttered.

“You’re going to be just fine,” I said. 
“Just be yourself.”

“That’s the last thing I should be.”

I frowned at him but before I could say
anything, the doors opened and my boss, Justin, stepped into the hallway.

“Maddie, good to see you.”  He pressed a
polite kiss against my cheek.

“Hi, Justin,” I said.  “Sorry, we’re a
little late.”

“Nonsense,” he replied.  “They haven’t even
started serving appetizers yet and half the clients are still missing in
action.  If they don’t show up soon, we’re going to be paying for a hell of an
amount of food to go straight to the garbage.”

I laughed before turning to Riley. 
“Justin, I’d like to introduce you to my very good friend Riley Walker.  Riley,
this is the head partner of my firm, Justin Turner.”