Authors: Cat Johnson
“
Hey,
sis. Get your pretty self out of bed.” Brad’s voice
sounded much too awake and cheerful for someone who had been out just
as late as she’d been the night before.
“
Why?”
She groaned and snuggled lower under the covers.
“
Because
you’re coming out to dinner with Lys and me tonight and after
growing up in the same house as you, I know exactly how long it takes
you to get ready, that’s why.”
“
Smart
ass.”
“
Runs
in the family. So I’ll pick you up at seven. Okay?” Brad
seemed to be pushing her. Why was that?
“
Why
are we going out to dinner?” She didn’t remember agreeing
to go, but it seemed she was going whether she wanted to or not.
“
Because
Alyssa decided we should get out with other people more and went and
arranged to meet Troy and Amy tonight.”
Great,
two couples and her. Talk about being the fifth wheel. “Thanks
but no, Brad. You four go and enjoy yourselves.”
“
It’s
not just us four. There’s a whole bunch of people coming. You
won’t be the only single one there, I promise. Besides if I
have to go, so do you.”
She
may be a little slow since she had yet to have her morning cup of
coffee, but Maddie’s radar went off immediately. “First
of all, remember that you’re married to Alyssa and have to do
what she says, not me. And second, exactly what other single people
are going to be there?”
“
Maria.
You know her girlfriend Elena is still in London on business, so
she’ll be there all alone.”
“
And
who else?” Maddie smelled a setup and she’d be damned if
she walked into it willingly.
“
I
don’t know, Mads. You know Alyssa. She could have invited
anybody. The damn doorman is probably coming for all I know. So come
on. Say you’ll go. What else have you got to do tonight?”
Maddie
thought of the myriad number of things she could do tonight. Defrost
her freezer, clean the toilet, organize her sock drawer by color…
“Okay, seven o’clock. And don’t be early because
I’m telling you right now I won’t be ready.”
“
Great.
See you then.” Through the phone lines she could practically
hear Brad smiling smugly in triumph.
She
hung up the phone and huffed out a breath. Being single again was
sure a lot of work. Maddie pulled the covers over her head and
decided she needed to conserve her strength for the night ahead.
Chapter 3
Antonio
arrived at the restaurant and found Troy sitting alone in the bar.
“
Hey,
Antonio. You’re early.”
“
Yeah,
the kids went right to bed after Mama fed them. Tina let Esme stay up
to watch the ball drop on TV at midnight last night and Rafe refused
to nap because he was so excited to see me, so they were both
exhausted. And if I stayed around the house any longer, my mother
would have made me eat dinner even though I swore to her I was coming
here to eat with you.”
Troy
laughed. “I love your mother. No one goes hungry in her house.”
Antonio
had to agree. He could swear he’d put on weight living there.
If he didn’t move out soon, he’d develop a gut. “Where’s
Amy?”
“
She
and Maria are checking with the maitre’ de about when the table
will be ready. Now listen, before she gets back I have to tell you
something and I hope you’re not angry at me.” Troy looked
worried. Antonio started to worry a bit himself.
“
What
is it?” Antonio had a feeling he already knew.
“
Brad,
Alyssa, Amy and Maria hatched up a plan to get you and Maddie here
together. They figured if it was in a group situation, there’d
be no pressure and you might hit it off once you got to know each
other.”
Just
as he suspected. A set-up.
“
I’m
still married, Troy.” Antonio tried to remember that himself
and ignore the flutter that the thought of seeing Maddie again caused
inside him.
“
I
get that but let’s say, I don’t know, we’ve
stumbled into an alternate universe. One where you’re single
and Maddie’s single. No exes, no baggage. Would you be
interested in getting to know her better then?”
“
You’ve
been watching too much
Star Trek
.”
“
Just
answer the question.”
“
All
right, yes I’d be interested. As long as in this universe I can
legally tie up and throw in the closet friends who meddle in my
business.”
Eyes
downcast, Troy nodded. “About that. I’ve never been in
this position of having to choose between the woman I love and my
best friend before. Amy made me call to invite you and promise I
wouldn’t tell you about it. I’m sorry. Are you mad?”
“
No.”
Antonio couldn’t stay mad at Troy.
Troy
released a loud breath. “Really? Because I wouldn’t blame
you if you were.”
“
I’m
not mad,” Antonio reassured him. “I understand. I was
married too.”
Troy’s
eyes opened wide and Antonio realized his slip immediately.
“
I
mean, I am.” He sighed and gave in as Troy raised a brow and
waited. “Fine, I’ll admit it. I don’t feel very
married anymore. I mean we’ve been apart almost six months.”
“
So
what are you going to do about it?” Troy asked.
“
Talk
to Tina about an annulment. I tried to today when I picked up the
kids, but she was running out to some sort of New Year’s Day
brunch with her girlfriends. Since she stayed home last night with
the kids while I went to your party, I really couldn’t stop
her.”
“
That’s
not just an excuse to put off talking to her, is it?”
Antonio
glanced at the entrance and noticed Maddie standing in the doorway
and shook his head. “No. No excuses. It’s time to move on
with my life.”
Maddie
stopped dead in the doorway of Xavier’s Restaurant and pointed
at the poster in the entryway. “Bradley Montgomery Morgan. What
the hell did you do?”
“
Um,
it was Alyssa’s idea.” Brad thrust Alyssa in front of him
to take the fire Maddie was sure was shooting out of her eyes.
“
Some
husband you are.” Alyssa twisted to frown at Brad behind her.
“
Lys,
she used my middle name. That means she’s really mad.”
Brad shrugged. “Sorry.”
“
Bradley,
you know none of this was my idea. Inviting Antonio was Maria and
Amy’s idea and the choice of the restaurant and the reason you
chose it was
your
idea.” Alyssa stood her ground with
arms crossed.
One
word stood out in the whole exchange between husband and wife and
caught Maddie’s attention immediately. “Antonio?”
Didn’t
this surprise just keep getting bigger and bigger. She was about to
lay into them both about fixing her up without her knowledge in her
best courtroom voice when the looks on their faces told her she
better turn around.
She
did and saw Antonio standing awkwardly behind her.
“
Uh,
Maddie. Could we step outside and talk for a minute?”
With
one final glare at her brother, she nodded and let Antonio lead her
out.
Antonio
shoved his hands in the front pockets of his pants and hunched his
shoulders against the cold. “It seems that my friends and your
relatives have set us up. I just wanted you to know that I knew
nothing about it and if you want to leave, I totally understand.”
He
scuffed the toe of his boot on the ground. Damn if he didn’t
look cute as hell acting so nervous around her. Cute and very hot in
his white button down shirt and tie.
“
Do
you want to leave?” she asked, hoping not.
Somehow
over the last day she’d opened up to the idea of maybe starting
to date again. When a guy was this good-looking and so polite, how
could she not think about it?
Too
bad he was still in the midst of the marriage break-up thing. She
wasn’t sure she wanted to be his rebound relationship or worse,
watch him go back to his wife after they’d been together.
Although right now she was starting to think that some hot, mindless
sex with Antonio might not be so bad. One night with him would
probably hold her over for another year. Then she wouldn’t have
to be out there dating. She could just live on what she was sure
would be some pretty vivid memories they could make together.
“
No,
I don’t want to leave. I mean we’re here to help Troy and
Amy celebrate and there’s no reason we can’t be friends…”
“
Sure.
Friends.” Maddie swallowed her disappointment and forced a
smile as her plans for hot meaningless sex went down the drain.
“Let’s go on in.”
“
Great.”
Antonio treated her to one of his brilliant smiles that made her
warm inside. He led her in by the arm. As he opened the door for her,
he pointed to the poster in the entrance. “Look, there’s
a band here tonight. That should be fun.”
“
Yeah,”
she agreed half-heartedly. He had no idea.
The
maitre’ de came to get them and when they finally all got
seated at a long table against one wall, Troy leaned over to Antonio.
“Everything all right?”
“
Fine.”
Antonio sure as hell wasn’t going to elaborate. Every eye at
the table seemed trained on him and Maddie. In addition, his meddling
friends had managed to seat Maddie right next to him. He supposed he
was dealing with matchmaking masterminds here, so nothing should
surprise him anymore.
The
food finally arrived and gave everyone something to do with their
mouths besides make small talk. Since it was a family style
restaurant, the meal came on giant platters that everyone picked
from. Antonio felt like he was back at his mother’s table. With
the table laden with dishes and his belly rapidly filling, he even
managed to relax a bit.
Over
dinner Brad, Alyssa and Maria told them all about how they met. There
was plenty of discussion, not to mention laughing at the descriptions
of Brad ghostwriting the sex scenes in Maria’s romance novel.
That story was only topped by Troy’s tale about Amy taking him
to a gay bar to rescue Henri when he locked himself in the bathroom
there.
Antonio
smiled when he saw Maddie laugh so hard she had to dab at her eyes
with her napkin.
“
Please,
no more. I can’t take it.” She rose from her chair. “I
have to go to the ladies’ room and see what damage I’ve
done to my mascara.”
Like
clockwork Amy and Alyssa rose in unison and they all went off
together, leaving Brad, Troy, Antonio and Maria at the table.
Maria
looked around at the men surrounding her, then pushed her chair back.
“I guess I’m supposed to go too.”
She
winked at them on her way to the back of the restaurant. Laughing,
Antonio pushed his own chair back from the table in an attempt to
relieve the pressure overeating had caused. He considered unbuttoning
his pants, but restrained himself. He wasn’t at home he had to
remember, but he was feeling more comfortable than he thought
possible amid this strange gathering of people.
“
This
was actually fun. I was a little worried,” Brad admitted.
Troy
laughed. “You’re not the only one.”
“
You’re
both lucky Maddie is cool with this whole thing and didn’t get
mad at all of you.” Antonio frowned at the two. They shouldn’t
get away with their interfering so easily just because things had
worked out so far.
Brad
was watching the band set up the last of their equipment on the small
stage in the corner. “Yeah, but there’s still time for
her to get mad. The night’s not over yet.”
Antonio
didn’t have a chance to ask what Brad meant, because he was too
busy watching her.
She’d
come out of the restroom and received hugs from all three members of
the band before they pulled her up on stage with them. In spite of
her obvious protests, one guy thrust a microphone into her hand as
the keyboard player began speaking into his own mike.
“
Good
evening, everyone. We are Once Blue. We’ll be your
entertainment tonight. We’re very happy to welcome an old
friend of ours as guest vocalist for our first number. Please put
your hands together and welcome Maddie Morgan.”