Mad Love (Hearts Are Wild): Hearts Are Wild (16 page)

“She’s different to your usual type.” Cassie
moved beside him, checked Bennett.

“Maybe.” Toby didn’t think she was that
different. She was definitely more real. There was no falseness to
her affections. None of the usual fawning behavior he seemed to
inspire in women.

“She’s not awed by you.”

“What?” He turned to his sister.

“Madison isn’t one of those bimbos looking
for a free ride.”

“Is that what you think of the women I’ve
dated?”

Cassie laughed. “I’ve only ever known you to
date one girl, and that was back in high school, the rest you just
fucked.”

“Hey.” He tried to cover Bennett’s little
ears.

“Ha. That boy heard more this morning when I
still
couldn’t get my jeans to do up.”

“It’s been a week. I’m pretty sure you’re not
supposed to fit back into them yet.”

“Sue me for trying.” She reached out for the
baby. “Let me take him. I’m going to put him in the nursery so
Mommy can have some adult time.”

“Stir crazy already?” He handed Bennett to
his sister.

“No. But if I don’t make myself put him down,
I never will. He’s too precious for words.” Cassie cuddled Bennett
close, nuzzled his cheek with her nose.

“He is,” Toby agreed as he watched his sister
loving on her son.

When she walked away, Damian stepped up with
a beer in each hand. “Thought you’d like a drink.”

“Thanks.”

“I like her,” his brother said, tipping his
bottle in Mad’s direction.

“You made that clear outside.”

“Yeah, well, that was a joke, this isn’t.
You’re different with her.”

“How?” He tilted his head and studied
Damian.

“I don’t know. I can’t work out what it is
exactly.” Damian shrugged.

Toby laughed. “Well that’s enlightening.
Thanks.”

Damian grinned. “No worries. Glad I could
help.”

He shook his head. “I think this is the
weirdest conversation we’ve had, big brother, and I’m including the
‘talk’ about safe sex you felt it your duty to give me.”

“Hey, someone had to be sure your pecker
didn’t get you in trouble with all those women.”

“I was twenty. My pecker was well versed in
the ways of women by then.”

Damian laughed. “God, you probably got lucky
before I did.”

“Ah, no, you definitely got lucky first.”

Eyeing him skeptically, Damian mumbled, “You
sound pretty sure about that.”

“Bindi Arnold. You were a week past your
sixteenth birthday.”

Damian choked on his beer. “What?” he
spluttered.

Toby smiled. “The walls in this house are
thin.”

“Jesus Christ.”

Toby laughed. “Yeah, I recall her calling out
for god’s help.”

“Shut up,” Damian growled before walking
away.

***

Madison took the top card and read the
words.

Movie: Magic Mike

Okay. That shouldn’t be too hard. Turning to
the board, she lifted the marker and drew a magician’s hat.

“Hat,” Toby called out.

She kept drawing, adding a rabbit.

“Mad Hatter.”

Glaring at Toby, she pointed to the hat.

“Hat?”

“Oh, I know!” Cassie jumped to her feet.

“You’re not on their team, Cass.” Luc grabbed
his wife’s wrist and pulled her back down beside him.

“But I know what it is,” she whined.

Turning back to the board, Madison added a
wand to the picture. She tilted her head and squinted. They were
quite good renditions, considering she wasn’t all that
artistic.

“Rabbit. Hat. Stick.”

Stick?
Glaring at Toby again, she
decided to try the second part of the movie title. So far he hadn’t
guessed one of her drawings and she’d guess every one of his. And
he couldn’t draw to save his life.

The timer ticked down and while she might
have done all right with objects and the occasional animal, drawing
a man was a completely different—and impossible—achievement.

Standing back, she eyed the stick figure and
burst out laughing.

“Hey, no talking!” Damian called out.

“Is that R2D2?” Toby asked.

“Oh god.” Cassie buried her face in her
hands.

The buzzer sounded.

“It’s Magic Mike, you idiot!” Cassie tossed a
pillow at Toby.

“Really? I don’t see it…”

Madison threw up her hands. “I give up. You
suck.”

Toby arched one eyebrow, and one side of his
mouth kicked up to match. “Oh really?”

“Gotta admit, brother, she’s right. You guys
are in the lead only because Madison has gotten every one of your
pictures correct,” Adam said after consulting the point sheet.

“She should have gotten a handicap being
paired with you. Not that she needs it.”

Madison smiled at Toby’s sister. “Thank
you.”

“You know if we played girls versus boys,
we’d still kick their asses and there’s more of them than us,”
Cassie added.

“Don’t even think about it, Cassandra Maree,”
Mrs. Moreland called out from the kitchen, where she and Mr.
Moreland were enjoying some quality time with their grandson.

“Ah, c’mon, mom. I gotta get my thrills
somewhere.”

“You are not wiping the floor with those boys
tonight,” Mrs. Moreland replied.

“So you agree we’d win?” Cassie grinned.

“Come and get your boy. He’s hungry
again.”

“My god. That kid is going on the bottle.”
Cassie stood and headed for the kitchen. “I swear it feels like
he’s permanently attached to my boob.”

“At least someone’s getting boob around
here,” Adam muttered.

“He’s not the only one,” Toby murmured, his
hot gaze on Madison.

Fire burst low and deep, heat rushed over her
skin, leaving a prickly trail that had goose bumps popping up and
her breath stuttering. “Toby!” His name exploded from her throat on
a gasp of air.

He grinned.

“At the risk of repeating myself…get a room,”
Damian said as he rose from his spot on the floor. “And on that
note, I’m out of here. Catch you all later.”

“Yeah, we’re gonna head out too.” Toby stood,
held out his hand. “Ready, Mad?”

Ready? Her blood was thrumming, her heart was
pounding and the crotch of her undies was wet. Oh yeah, she was
ready. And thoroughly mortified to be in this condition at his
parents’ house.

“I’ll say goodbye to your parents.” Without
making eye contact with any of the remaining people in the room,
she strode towards the kitchen.

Hopefully by the time she arrived in front of
Toby’s parents, she wouldn’t look like a berry about to burst. And
if not, that they at least didn’t work out that she was thinking
about doing very inappropriate things to their son.

A smile tugged at Toby’s mouth as he pulled
his car in beside Mad’s. Taking a moment, he just sat there staring
at her little compact parked in his driveway. The sight shouldn’t
make him this happy but there was no denying the elation that arced
through him.

This was the first time she’d come over to
his house and used the key he’d given her. Every other visit she’d
perfectly coincided with his arrival, so she wouldn’t have to be in
his house without him. He’d pushed her the last few days and
finally, he’d gotten what he wanted.

He was going to open his front door and come
home to Mad.

Damn, that totally made up for his shitty
day. Pocketing his keys, Toby got out of the car and walked up the
path. Before he reached the door, it opened wide and there she was,
all smiles and happy-to-see-him eyes.

His heart pounded in his chest, his body
tightened from head to toe and a thrum of anticipation shot through
his veins.

“Hi.” Mad’s smile slipped. “What’s
wrong?”

Toby arched an eyebrow. “What makes you think
something’s wrong?”

She reached up and brushed a finger beside
his mouth, then grazed it over the skin at the corner of his left
eye. “Your mouth is drawn and your eyes are crinkled at the edges,
the way they do when you’re concerned or distressed about
something.”

He pulled her into his arms and held her
close. “You know all that about me?”

“Of course,” she murmured against his chest,
her arms circling his waist. “I’m used to studying things,
remember. And lately you’re my favorite subject.”

“Hmm…” The idea of being her favorite
anything pleased him. “We lost. The other team took some dirty
shots, hurt three of our top players doing so, and we won’t know
for a few days how serious those injuries are.”

Mad leaned back in his arms. “Oh, I’m sorry.
The boys must be disappointed.”

“No more so than me.”

“Come inside. I’ll get you a beer and
something to eat.”

“Sounds good.” He dropped a kiss on her
forehead. She smelled of spices and garlic.

“We could cancel tonight if you’re not up to
it,” she offered.

“No.” He turned them and guided her into the
house. “Definitely not. This is another new experience, and you get
the bonus of a moody boyfriend thrown in.”

“Only if you’re sure. I don’t mind.”

“Mad, how much fun have you had getting
everything ready for tonight?”

She ducked her head. “A little bit.”

Toby laughed. “That’s an outright lie. You’ve
Googled recipes and ingredients and spent hours on YouTube glued to
demonstration videos. I
know
you’re excited about tonight.
Plus everyone will kill me if we cancel this late.”

Her smile was blinding. “Okay. And you’re
right. Until this week, I never realized how much I
love
cooking. I mean, I knew I could cook, and enjoyed it, but preparing
a meal for only myself is completely different from organizing and
making one for fourteen people.”

Excitement sparkled in her eyes and she
practically bounced on her toes with suppressed energy. He couldn’t
resist kissing her. She tasted sweet and spicy. There was a hint of
garlic, possibly cream…

“Hmm…you taste good.” Diving back in, Toby
thrust his tongue against hers to find more of the flavors she’d
been sampling while making a meal for his family.

He palmed her ass and brought her to her
toes. Moaning into his mouth, Mad rubbed herself against him. Toby
went from horny to desperate in a heartbeat. It didn’t matter how
many times he had her, the thrill that ran though him whenever he
got his hands on her sliced him to the bone.

“Do we have time for a quickie?” he growled
as he rocked his hard cock into her soft center.

“You’re never satisfied with quick.” She
nibbled along his jaw up to his ear, tugged on the lobe. “We’ve got
thirty minutes until the timer goes off on the oven.”

Toby grinned. “Bet I can get you off in half
that. Twice.”

Mad laughed. “That’s a sucker’s bet. I’m not
taking it.” She pushed out of his arms. “Race you.”

He stood gaping as she darted away from him
and headed for the master bedroom.

This wasn’t the same woman he’d started
seeing four weeks ago. She’d come out of her shell, and the more
she revealed, the more Toby wanted to see.

He’d spent every day of those four weeks
showing her what she’d missed. He grinned when he thought about the
night they’d made out in the back of the movie cinema. The water
fight he’d disguised as washing their cars. Riding the ferry over
to the zoo. Toby had to admit, he’d had as much fun seeing Mad
enthralled with each new adventure as she’d had experiencing
them.

“Hey! I thought you wanted a quickie?” A pair
of Mad’s sexy underwear flew out his bedroom door and fluttered to
the floor not five meters away.

Toby grinned. Oh yeah, definitely not the
same woman.

***

Madison hummed as she arranged the fruit
she’d sliced earlier around the base of the Pavlova she’d made from
scratch. For a first attempt, it didn’t look half bad.

“Can I help with something?” Toby’s mom asked
as she came into the kitchen with a tray of dirty dishes.

“Oh. No.” Madison quickly met her. “Let me
take those.”

“Nonsense. You continue putting that
yummy-looking dessert together. I can load these in the
dishwasher.”

“Toby should—”

“I asked him not to.”

She stared at Mrs. Moreland. “Oh.”

The older woman smiled sweetly but it didn’t
stop Madison’s stomach from summersaulting.

Swallowing through her constricted throat,
Madison asked, “Is this where you tell me I’m not good enough for
your son?”

“What?” Mrs. Moreland put the tray on the
counter and turned to face Madison. “No. Why would you think that?
Never mind. What I have to say is the complete opposite.”

Madison could only stare.

“You are the best thing to ever come into my
son’s life.”

“Mrs.—”

Toby’s mom held up a hand. “First, it’s Lisa.
Second, let me finish before you argue with me. Can you do that for
me?”

Again, Madison remained mute. Just nodded
like a bobble-head doll on a car dashboard.

“Good.” Talking a deep breath, Lisa settled
her gaze on Madison’s. “Tobias has had some amazing things happen
to him. He’s represented the country in his chosen sport and made a
better-than-average living from the same sport. My boy’s been
lucky. And I don’t care what anyone says, the injury that sidelined
him did not end his good fortune.

“He’s thrived teaching. Every one of those
kids he’s guided has been lucky to have him, but he’s also lucky to
have
them
. He’s doing what he was born to do, regardless
of what the sports commentators say about the waste of good talent.
But you? God, I’ve watched him…heard him since he met you. He’s
better than he was. He was always great but for
you
, he’s
amazing.”

“I—”

“You said you’d let me finish,” Lisa said
with a smile.