He pulls his hand away and leaves it at his side. Madison frowns at him. He mouths “Your mother” as the door opens, and an older Madison is standing in front of him.

  “My, my, Shayne, look how you’ve grown. I haven’t seen you since you were a little thing. Come in, come in. Everyone’s already here.”

  *****

  Dinner with Madison’s family was great. They were standing outside her apartment now, silently staring into the night.

  “You know, you can’t see the stars in Atlanta. I guess I never realized how much I liked it until I got here. It’s nice at night.”

  Madison smiles and nods. “That’s the best part of living out here. We have streetlights and businesses, but there isn’t enough to block out the starlight.” She grabs his hand and leads him around the back of the building. “I want to show you something. I think you’ll love it.”

  As they round the corner, Madison stops and points to the sky. “There’s no light back here. The sky’s darker and you can see everything. I don’t know how many times I’ve fallen asleep lying in the grass.”

  Shayne’s eyes almost bug out of his head. “Princess, I don’t think it’s safe to fall asleep outside of your apartment building at night.” Madison giggles and a jolt of pain appears in Shayne’s chest. He rubs his fist over the spot.

  “There’s no one here who doesn’t know who I am. Who hasn’t watched me grow up and become who I am now. This isn’t the city, Shayne. A lot is different here. Let’s look at the stars. It’ll do you some good to get this experience at least once in your life.”

  Shayne doesn’t argue, following her to the middle of the yard and lying on his back. Madison is right. Without the streetlights out here, everything is clearer. Shayne has never seen anything like it before.

  He doesn’t know how long they lay there staring at the sky. Looking over, Madison’s eyes are closed, and her mouth is hanging open slightly. Time to go. He doesn’t trust what she had said, though, and picks her up.

  She mumbles something unintelligible before cuddling her head underneath his chin. “Time for bed, princess. We’ve got a lot of work to start tomorrow.”

  Shayne takes her to her bed and covers her with the blanket. He checks that everything is locked and heads back to the hotel. He needs sleep tonight if he was going to get this house started and finished before he broke Madison’s heart. Or she broke his.

  Chapter Nine

  Three months later

  Madison sits back, rubbing the ache in her neck. She’s filled with a sense of joy as she looks around the dining room. This place had been a complete mess when they started working on it, and now it was transformed into a magnificent room to have family dinners and parties. She had to stop her thoughts from going in that direction.

  Shayne had been working at his aunt’s house nonstop, right alongside Madison. The easy banter and flirting ignited something low in her stomach, and it was getting harder to ignore. Shayne made remarks that she couldn’t take lightly, but he never acted on them.

  After the morning in her apartment when they had kissed, Shayne always kept a few feet between them. He never got close enough to touch, didn’t whisper things in her ear, and avoided eye contact as much as he could. Madison was getting irritated with him. He continued the constant flirting, even though he knew nothing would ever happen.

  Madison had been drinking more than usual the past few weeks. She hadn’t gone to the bar, though, after the night Shayne had brought her home and stayed the night. She’d spilled her secrets to this man, and all he did was tell her it wasn’t her fault. Madison’s anger simmered under the surface, begging to be set free, but she reined it in and started checking over the walls.

  One more month. One more month until Shayne goes back to Atlanta. The thought echoes through her head, a constant companion over the past few days as time moves faster.

  Panic begins to rise inside her. It was the same panic that consumed her every day since Lacey’s accident. The same panic that told her it was her fault, and that she could never be forgiven. Three months. This panic had been nonexistent since Shayne arrived.

  Madison reminded herself that she had survived without him before. She’d pushed herself through the days for months after the accident. Shayne showing up had changed everything, though. He had made her forget. Their conversations. Their flirting. Their friendship. It had all taken a mind of its own and erased the guilt that threatened to take over. That made all the difference in the world.

  “Hey, princess. There you are.”

  Madison jumps at Shayne’s voice close behind her. Swirling around from being startled, she stumbles right into his chest, all hard muscle and abs, and so handsome he should be illegal.

  “H-Hi.” Madison manages to mutter as she tries to back away. But Shayne doesn’t let her move, crowding her space, their chests pressed together.

  “You know, Madison, I’ve never met anyone like you.”

  His shining green eyes hold hers before tracing down her body. She’s not used to men wanting her. She had always avoided an intimate connection with anyone, but none had made her feel the way Shayne was just by looking at her.

  Throwing caution to the wind, before her intuition changes its mind, she pulls him closer, standing on tip-toes to kiss him. With Shayne’s wide eyes on hers, she moves one hand up through his hair and a growl erupts from his throat.

  A fire starts low in her stomach again, growing hotter when Shayne pushes his tongue past her lips and delves into the depths of her mouth. He begins to back them toward the stairs and she follows slowly. Releasing his hold on her waist, he takes her hand and guides her up the stairs as fast as possible. He goes into the first bedroom he comes to, releasing her hand and going to sit against the headboard.

  Madison slowly walks toward him, kneeling on the bed now. Placing her hands on his shoulders, she eases herself onto his lap, straddling him.

  Shayne moans, barely audible, and grabs hold of her waist to keep her steady. His mouth finds hers quickly, slowly. Torture.

  Chapter Ten

  Madison is straddling his lap, both hands in his hair, and he’s trying not to lose control. When she stops and sits back, only to pull her shirt up over her head, he groans. Her tits are there, two plumps right in his face, swelling over the black lace of her bra. Dragging the waistband of her shorts away from her body, he sees matching lace panties underneath. So. Fucked. This woman was tying him in knots, and not the kinky kind.

  Shayne couldn’t take her rubbing against him anymore. He springs forward, and Madison’s back hits the mattress. Looming over her, he sees the same desire in her eyes that he knows is in his own. There are many reasons they shouldn’t be doing this, he knows that, but he can’t stop now. He’s too far gone. Curling his fingers into the waistband of her shorts and panties, he wrenches them down her legs and throws them somewhere in the room.

  Kissing the inside of one thigh, then the other, he slowly makes his way to her center, giving her flesh a long lick before pressing his mouth as close as it can get. She drapes her thighs over his shoulders, her head tossing from side to side. Shayne eases back a little, flicking her clit a few times with his tongue.

  “Oh, God. Don’t stop doing that.”

  He pulls back anyways, kissing up her stomach, before easing a finger into her folds, pumping it. Madison’s hands grip the sheets on either side of her.

  Adding a second finger, Shayne flicks his tongue back over her clit. She screams. Loud. She screams his name, and that’s when he gives up trying to hold back. He slowly saunters over her body, his erection skimming the inside of her thighs and brings her mouth to his. Shayne feels her legs hike up onto his hips, and he growls.

  He reaches down and guides himself to her entrance, pushing in deep and collapsing on top of her, cursing into her ear.

  “Damn it, Madison. You’re so fucking tight.”

  He lifts himself up, slowly sliding out and back in. “Feel that, princess? Feel what you do to me?” She’s watching him intensely, the desire written all over her face. The next time he pulls back, he dives back in deeper than the first, and Madison almost bolts off the bed with pleasure, moaning so loud the neighbor’s miles away could probably hear her.

  “Don’t stop moving, Shayne. Please, do not stop.” She’s panting now, eyes hooded and fingers digging into his back.

  “This is all mine while I’m here, Madison. Do you understand?”

  He thrusts deep again, met with a growl and a nod. “All yours. So long as you keep moving.”

  Hearing those words come out of Madison’s sweet little mouth sets something off inside him. He pistons his hips, continuing the onslaught. He runs his fingers down her stomach, finding the bundle of nerves that are wound tight and rubs. He swallows her moans with his kisses. Seeing the emotions shining from every part of her eyes.

  “Mine, Madison.” His voice is shaking. What the fuck was she doing to him?

  A rippling effect takes place as Madison’s orgasm shatters her, and Shayne bites out her name, joining her. He rolls to the side, not placing any weight on her, only to find her intense eyes staring at him.

  Lying beside her, that’s the last thing he sees before drifting off in the afternoon sun.

  *****

  Shayne opens his eyes to nothing but the starlight shining through the windows. Madison’s still asleep in front of him, her hair splayed out on the pillow under her head. A smile breaks across his face as he moves closer and tucks his feet around her legs. He’d intentionally put space between them after they’d met, and here he was, lying in a bed with her. The sharp reminder that he only had a month left before he had to return to the city caused his chest to ache. Madison was his – and he was leaving.

  What the hell was he going to do then? There were still so many secrets inside her head, demons he was sure he wanted to fight for her. Shayne wanted to be the one to pull her out of the guilt she’d placed on herself. He wanted to be the one to get her back on a horse. He wanted, more than anything, to make her happy and get her to stop drinking.

  She hadn’t been into the bar since the night he stayed over. He knew because he’d checked, wanting to know if she got home okay afterward. That didn’t stop him from questioning the store clerk who said Madison bought alcohol every night for the past three months. Every night since he had been around. Was it his fault she was drinking all the time? Or was this something that had been happening before he came along?

  Most of all, though, he could picture himself staying in Westerfield with Madison. Living in his aunt’s house, owning horses and whatever other animals she wanted. They could bring back the hayrides, the pumpkin patch, and provide something for the town again. Shit.

  Shayne couldn’t keep up with the thoughts running through his head. He didn’t know why he cared at all, really. He wasn’t going to stick around after all this was over. He hoped like hell he’d made that clear. He shifted on the bed and decided to do something different today.

  He quietly escaped the bedroom and went in search of his phone. After finding it on the counter in the kitchen, he placed a few calls before going to wake Madison up. Shayne just hoped she wouldn’t shove her boot up his ass for the stunt he was about to pull.

  Chapter Eleven

  Madison wakes with a grumble. Shayne is standing over her, a smile on his face, and a mug in his hand.

  “Morning, princess. I brought you coffee.”

  She sits up and allows him to hand it to her. She lets her eyes adjust to the minimal lightning in the room, and her eyes zeroed in on the window.

  “Why are you waking me up before dawn?”

  Shayne’s smile only grows larger and Madison is curious as to why he’s in such a good mood. It could have something to do with the mind-blowing sex yesterday. She wipes the thought from her mind before things get out of hand.

  “We’ve got a long drive ahead of us, and we need to get going if we’re going to make it before noon. Come on, princess. Up you go,” he laughs when she relaxes her entire body as he tries to stand her on her feet.

  “Shayne, my mind hasn’t even registered that I’m awake. I haven’t woken up this early in months. Well, since… never mind. Let me finish this coffee.”

  He snatches the mug from her hand, keeping it out of her reach. “No time for that. You need to get dressed. I have a surprise for you.”

  Madison eyes him warily. Shayne was acting unusual for someone who made it obvious he was only a one-time thing. Besides, the ever-approaching deadline was only getting closer, so it wasn’t like they could continue this once he was gone.

  She climbs from the bed, snatching the mug back, and searches for her clothes. After they were in place, he escorts her to his car and starts their journey. She has no idea where he’s taking her. As each minute passes, she becomes more anxious, fidgeting in her seat.

  A gentle hand on her thigh causes her to tense. “Princess, whatever is going through your head, it needs to stop. You haven’t stopped shifting for twenty minutes, and I can’t torture you anymore. I booked us to ride horses today, at some farm a couple miles north of Westerfield.”

  He watches her cautiously out of the corner of his eye. She can see him but doesn’t acknowledge him. Panic starts rising in her chest, suffocating her.

  Madison hadn’t got back on a horse after Lacey’s death. She couldn’t bring herself to do it. She knew Shayne wanted to help her get past this, he’d made it known more than once in the three months that he’d been there, but she wasn’t sure how to respond to this.

  Unexpectedly, excitement washes over her. Riding horses, raising them, and learning all things that went along with them had been a part of her life for as long as she could remember. Her parents had raised them with horses, taught them to clean their stalls, and showed them the ropes when it came time to ride themselves. It was more than her childhood, it was her life.

  Madison shoots Shayne a smile and his grin comes back full-force. She could do this. She might not have ever done it without a push, but that’s what Shayne was good at. He pushed until her back was against the wall, and she had to go with the plan.

  “How are you going to hold up, city boy? Have you ever been on a horse before?” Madison eyes him curiously, watching the smile shift into a frown. The hand that had been on her thigh lifts to rub the back of his neck, and he keeps his eyes on the road.

  “I… uh, I thought I’d just watch you ride for a while.”

  She laughs hysterically, doubling over in her seat. Shayne watches, probably wondering if she’s lost her mind. But he was too funny, and it just proves to Madison once again that he wasn’t cut out for this life. That’s why he’s leaving in a month.

  Fuck.

  She stops the laughter and pats his hand that rests between them. “That’s not how this works, city boy, and you know it. If I’m getting on a horse, so are you.”

  The fear she sees in Shayne’s eyes is unexpected. He was always confident. Cocky. Mainly full of himself, but she always manages to knock him down a few pegs before his ego grows any bigger.

  “Don’t look so scared. That’s what I’m here for.”

  He still doesn’t look convinced. Madison needed to take his mind from the near future, even if it was his idea, and she knew exactly how to do it.

  She trails her hand up his thigh, stopping short of the erection that’s pushing against the fabric. She continues until Shayne’s breathing is erratic.

  “Princess, if you don’t stop doing that, we’re not going to make it to the farm. I’m going to pull over on one of these roads and pull you into my lap.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Shayne watches as she contemplates what he said. He had no quarrels in pulling off to the side of the road for a quickie. The thought causes a groan to escape his throat. Madison quirks a brow at him before her smile is back. That smile causes a tightness in his chest that he isn’t familiar with, and he refuses to think about it too hard. He knows if he did, he wouldn’t like what he found.

  He’s a goner. So. Fucked.

  The last thing Shayne expects to come out of her mouth is the seductive question she throws his way.

  “Is that a promise, city boy?”

  “Watch it, princess,” he growls. There was a turn up ahead. He could see it and presses on the gas a little harder. He whips the car onto the hidden pathway and unbuckles his seatbelt. Madison already has hers undone and just stares at him.

  He reaches over, grabbing her hips and lifting her across the car onto his lap. She straddles him, instantly rubbing against the already rock-hard erection he’s sporting. He was pathetic. He hadn’t been this hard for any woman since high school.

  Shayne pulls her face toward him, nibbling on her bottom lip. “Princess, what the fuck are you doing to me?”

 

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