Slow Burn (A Madaris Family Novel) (8 page)

“So what of it? He’s a Madaris. I’m sure it won’t be the first time a pretty face has caught his attention. But Slade has a history of not letting a pretty face get to him.”

“That might be true,” Justin said, smiling, thinking of the way Slade had kept looking at Skye across the dinner table last night. “But I have a strong feeling she might be the one exception.”

Slade tried studying the sketches he had made a few days
ago and discovered his concentration level was at an all-time low.

Pulling off his sunglasses, he propped them on top of his head and leaned against the side of the house while glancing at the area where the addition would be. There was enough land on Lorren Oaks to build another huge ranch house if Justin wanted to. But what he wanted was a place adjoining his where the woman who’d raised Lorren could live the rest of her life worry free and surrounded by those she considered family.

It would be single-story to accommodate Mama Nora’s arthritis. The elderly woman couldn’t climb stairs like she used to, and it would be roomy enough to have its own kitchen, bath, and sitting area to give her the privacy she needed.

When Justin had approached him about it a few months ago he had been backed up in work. The Madaris Construction Company had projects lined up through next year, and they were constantly sending out bids for more. Currently they had a huge bid in with the city of Houston to build a $10 million mini sports arena that would be used for all of the high schools’ sports activities as well as the annual commencement events. Their major competitor, Collins Construction, was trying to say that he and Blade had an edge in the bidding process because of the Madaris name. But that wasn’t true. It was because of the Madaris name that most companies that solicited their bids seemed to make them work harder to prove their worth. That didn’t bother them because they were confident in their abilities and in the end they always completed a quality product, down to the buyers’ specifications.

Slade heard a sound and turned in the direction of it and saw Skye, strolling down the walkway. Her head was bowed down as if she had a lot on her mind. She hadn’t glanced his way, and with the trees serving as a buffer, chances were she hadn’t seen him. Her hair was still in the ponytail that it had been in earlier when he had given her her first lesson in riding a horse.

He suddenly wondered how it would feel to let her hair loose around her shoulders at his whim, to twine his fingers through the twisted tresses, bury his face in them, before moving his mouth to taste her lips. He shifted slightly when he felt the fierce attraction he’d felt for her since day one. And those kisses they’d shared hadn’t helped matters, not to mention the way her body had a tendency to automatically press tight against his whenever they kissed.

With the bidding war between Madaris and Collins Construction coming up in the next few weeks, he needed to keep his mind focused. At present it was focused all right. Focused right on Skye. At first it had only been his intent to be friendly toward her, mainly because he could tell when she’d first arrived that she was extremely nervous. But somewhere along the line, in a short space of time, his interest had changed. Hell, he’d practically even told her he had his own agenda where she was concerned.

His jaw tightened and the hand holding the clipboard clenched. He’d never been on a mission for a woman before. He dated when it suited him, and when it didn’t he was just as happy staying at home with a cold can of beer and watching whatever sci-fi flick was on the tube. Women had never been a necessity to him like they were to Blade. His brother loved women. In fact, everyone claimed Blade was their cousin Clayton reincarnated, since Clayton, in his pre-Syneda days, had been Houston’s bad boy who went for anything in a skirt. He’d even kept a huge case of condoms in his closet, which he’d proudly passed on to Blade.

Slade shook his head, grinning, thinking of how his brother was putting those damn things to good use. When it came to safe sex Blade knew the score and would never let a pretty face blow his mind.

Like Slade was doing if he didn’t get a grip.

Personally, he didn’t need an involvement in his life right now, and according to Skye, neither did she. So why was it hard to fight the attraction? Why was he making it into such a big deal? And why did he care so much about when something bothered her—like it was evidently doing.

This morning when he’d taken her out on Jessie, she had been in the best of moods, excited about meeting Vincent yesterday and his acceptance of her last night. From the way she was walking now, oblivious to her surroundings, like she had a lot on her mind, Slade wondered what had upset her, and he could tell by the slump in her shoulders that something had.

He continued to watch her, and then, as if she felt his eyes on her, she slowly lifted her head and turned. Their gazes connected. Locked. For the longest time they stood staring at each other, across a distance of over thirty feet, and then, as if on instinct, he put aside his clipboard and reached out his hand to her.

He watched as she breathed in deeply and took a step. Then she was moving toward him. He watched her come to him and he knew whatever was causing her misery, he wanted to take it away, slay whatever dragons were causing the worry lines on her forehead.

When she got close enough for them to touch, she took his outstretched hand and he tugged her closer. Without wasting any time or thinking twice about what he was doing, he leaned down and touched his lips to hers and began kissing her with a longing he didn’t know he was capable of exemplifying. And from the way she was kissing him back, it seemed she needed the kiss as much as he did. What was there about her that made it so easy to share himself, his feelings, his desires?

He continued to kiss her, slow and deep, building passion like he’d never taken the time to build before with a woman. What he was doing was confusing the hell out of him, and when she wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned in closer, getting more into their kiss, while he felt her soft breasts press against his chest, he was driven by an instinctive urge to devour her mouth completely. Automatically he splayed his hands across her bottom and pulled her closer, her hips flush against his. And he felt her heat, even through the material of his jeans. And then he moved his hands to her hair and did what he’d thought of doing earlier. He let it loose, ran his fingers through the twisted tresses while he continued to kiss her.

Remembering where they both were and what they were doing, he slowly pulled back on the kiss, drawing in a ragged breath while savoring the taste of her. He pulled her closer into his arms and gave her the hug he felt she needed.

“You okay, Skye?” he asked huskily against her ear.

She nodded her head against his chest and mumbled, “Yes, I’m okay.”

He wasn’t convinced. He pulled back a little and took his finger and lifted her chin so their eyes could meet. The smile she tried giving him was weak at best. Something
was
bothering her. She wasn’t okay. But he wouldn’t press the issue. If she wanted him to know what had her upset, she would tell him.

In the meantime…

“Come on,” he said, holding her hand and leading her toward a wooded path.

She straightened her bent shoulders and gazed at him, asking softly, “Where are we going?”

“To take a walk.”

She smiled. “Another walk?”

“Yes. I’ve always discovered when I have a lot on my mind, walking helps.”

She glanced down at the clipboard he had placed on a nearby table. “But I don’t want to take you away from your work.”

A fine tremor settled in the hand holding hers. How could he explain to her that at that moment his work didn’t matter, when his work had always mattered? “Don’t worry about it. Everybody needs to take a break from work every once in a while.”

For the next twenty minutes they walked quietly while he held her hand. To him they seemed like old friends and not two people who had just met yesterday. In retrospect, that in itself made no sense at all. It just felt right.

They came to the end of the path, which connected to a natural stream. Skye thought it was a beautiful parcel of land that Justin and his family used often, as indicated by the picnic tables and benches as well as a tree house in one of the huge oak trees. In fact, there were two tree houses.

Skye glanced up and studied both. Each was situated in a large oak tree, and they were about twenty feet from each other. One had definitely been built for a girl. There were frilly pink curtains in the windows, and instead of having to use your physical skill to climb up the tree, there was something akin to a spiral staircase leading to it. Skye shook her head. She had never seen such a thing before.

Slade followed the direction of her gaze and smiled. “Justin and I built that for Justina for her fourth birthday. Those stairs were my idea. In fact, I designed the entire thing.” He chuckled. “I guess you can say it was my first project as an architect.”

“Wow! That was some playhouse for a four-year-old.”

“Yes, I have to admit it was at the time, but it was designed to grow with her, and from what I understand, she still gets a lot of use out of it. She’s at the age where she likes her privacy, away from her nagging brothers. Although she adores the both of them, they can get on Justina’s last nerve at times, with her being the only girl.”

Not for the first time Skye felt a tinge of envy for anyone who had not been an only child. She used to beg her parents for other children, and they had flatly refused, saying she was all they intended to have. Now she wondered why she had been adopted in the first place. That had never been shared with her. She could only assume that one of her parents could not conceive a child. Then that would explain why they had been so adamant about not giving her a sibling. It wasn’t that they hadn’t wanted to but that they couldn’t.

“Ready to head back?”

Slade’s words intruded on her thoughts. “Yes, and you’re right; walking helps clear a lot off your mind.”

“I hope you’re not worried about Vincent. I think last night proved he wants you to be a part of his life.”

Skye smiled. “No, that’s not it.”

“Oh.”

Feeling she probably owed him an explanation, especially since he’d taken so much time with her today, she said, “I talked to my parents, and I just can’t figure them out at times. I know they were upset about me coming here, but I would think since I’ve told them how receptive both the Madarises and Vincent are, they would be happy for me.”

“But you think they aren’t?”

“Yes, I more than got that feeling after talking to them a short while ago.”

Slade tried looking at it from her parents’ point of view and said, “Don’t be so hard on them, Skye. Maybe they’re afraid they will lose you. They’d had you all your life, and now you’re embarking on another life that doesn’t include them.”

“But it can include them, Slade, if they let it. They have no reason to think my finding Vincent will mean my not wanting them anymore. I think they would understand, considering I’m just meeting Vincent, that quite naturally I’d want to spend time with him, and get to know him. That has nothing to do with how I feel about them. They are my parents and I love them.”

She didn’t add that at times through the years they had been hard to love, especially her mom. Whenever she would do something not in keeping with her mother’s wishes, she would get the silent treatment until she would bend to Edith Barclay’s will. Her decision to marry Wayne had been one of those times. Skye could now admit she never loved him and had only agreed to marry him to satisfy her parents.

“Well, take it from someone who knows, parents can be a real trip sometimes, but when push comes to shove, they have our best interests at heart and we wouldn’t trade them for the world.”

A part of Skye knew what Slade said was true. Although the Barclays hadn’t been the warmest and most loving of parents, she believed they loved her in their own way. And as far as having her best interests at heart, she assumed that was the reason they’d been adamant about her marrying Wayne. Where she was from, some parents still practiced the art of arranging marriages for their kids, especially if they thought it would be a good match financially.

“Skye?”

“Yes?”

Instead of answering her, Slade blew out a deep breath and then rubbed his hand down his face. “You know what’s happening between us is crazy, don’t you?”

Her eyes darted nervously from Slade to the tree house’s staircase. She thought of pretending as if she didn’t know what he was talking about. But she did know. “Yes, and I thought we had decided it wouldn’t work. At least for me it won’t.”

“Then why do you let me keep kissing you?”

Now that was a good question, one she didn’t have an answer for. The only one she had, which she wouldn’t dare share with him, was that she enjoyed his kisses. Almost too much.

“Skye?”

She returned her gaze to his and decided to be truthful…a little bit. “I feel comfortable with you, Slade. I have from the first. And maybe it’s wrong to let you take such liberties, but…”

“But what?” He leaned against the trunk of a smaller oak tree and she watched as his lips tipped into a sexy smile. “Go ahead and tell me. But what?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I hope you don’t think bad things about me because I have let you kiss me a few times.”

Three times, to be exact,
he thought. And yes, he was counting and dying to take the fourth. “No, I don’t think that way at all. Friends can kiss.”

But would they do so with the same intensity?
Skye couldn’t help asking herself. “So, that could be a good reason. The reason I let you kiss me is because we’re friends.”

“Kissing friends?”

She studied the look in his eyes. She could see blatant desire in them and knew the truth had nothing to do with friendship, but she wasn’t ready for either of them to admit it. “Yes, kissing friends. That’s a lot safer than being kissing cousins, don’t you think?”

He smiled. “Umm, now that’s a thought. Since you’re Vincent’s sister and I consider him my cousin, does that mean you’re my cousin as well?” His gaze then dropped to her mouth.

She’d seen the movement of his gaze, and his focus on her lips sent a spiraling sensation through her midsection. “Technically, we aren’t cousins. Biologically, we aren’t, either. But if you want to think of me as your cousin, I don’t have a problem with it.”