not complaining.” Kade smiled, taking a sip of his lime-flavored water.
“Me neither,” Quinn quickly agreed. He stuck his tongue in his cheek as he continued to tease Rory. “And I don’t think we’ve been spoiled—we’ve been treated as per our elevated status as hockey gods.”
“That just shows how moronic some women can be,” Rory muttered. She looked up at Mac and narrowed her eyes. “You’re very quiet, McCaskill. Got anything to say?”
Mac dropped a kiss on her forehead and another on her mouth. “Hell no! This is your argument with my friends. But, since I am taking you home and hoping to get lucky, I’ll just agree with everything you say.”
Quinn made the sound of a cracking whip and Kade rolled his eyes before he said, “Wimp.”
“You might wear the trousers but Rory picks them out,” Quinn added and immediately stepped back to lessen the impact of Mac’s big fist smacking his shoulder. “May I point out that before Rory snagged you, you were—”
“No, you absolutely may not.” Wren’s cool voice interrupted their smack talk. “Can you three please act like the responsible, smart businessmen that people—mistakenly I might add—think you are and behave yourselves? The first sponsor has arrived.”
Kade didn’t need Wren’s nod toward the ballroom to tell him Brodie had arrived. He’d felt the prickle of anticipation between his shoulder blades, felt the energy in the room change. He was super aware of her. As he slowly turned, he felt the world fade away.
She hadn’t changed, yet...she had. It had only been six months, but somehow she was a great deal more attractive than he remembered. Her dress hugged a toned body and her long black hair was now a short, feathery cap against her head. What definitely hadn’t changed was her ability to send all his blood rocketing south to a very obvious and inconvenient place.
“Well, well, well...isn’t this interesting?” Mac drawled in Kade’s ear.
“First time I’ve seen our boy gobsmacked, dude,” Quinn added. “Shut your mouth, boyo, you’re drooling.”
Kade ignored his friends. Life had unexpectedly dropped Brodie back into his realm again and he wanted what he’d always wanted every time he’d laid eyes on her: Brodie in his bed, under him, naked and legs around him...eyes begging for him to come on in.
Her perfume reached him before she did and he realized it was the same scent he remembered. It took him straight back to those early-morning runs in the park, to crisp air and the hesitant smile of the black-haired girl who waited for him by the running store and kept up with his fast pace along the seawall. He hadn’t run in the park since the morning he’d heard about Vernon’s death.
And kissed Brodie.
It had been an incredible kiss and the one highlight of a couple of really tough, horrible months. If only he had the memory of taking her to bed, too...
So it turned out he didn’t want long, hot sex with any random woman. He wanted to make love to Brodie. Interesting.
Crazy.
And pretty damn dangerous. He wouldn’t—couldn’t—allow her to know the effect she had on him, how he instantly craved her and the crazy chemical reaction he was experiencing. It wasn’t clever to admit she was the only woman he’d ever encountered who could thoroughly disconcert him, who could wipe every rational thought from his brain.
Okay, he was officially losing it. Maybe it was time, as Wren had suggested, he started acting like the CEO he was supposed to be.
With anyone else, he could do it with his eyes closed. Around Brodie, he might have to put his back into it.
So here goes...
* * *
Brodie held out her hand to Kade and hoped her smile wasn’t as shaky as she felt. “Kade, it’s been a while.”
“Brodie.” Kade took her hand and she held his eyes even though her pulse skittered up her arm and straight to her belly. She met his eyes and felt her heart roll over, as it always did. She knew his eyes were a deep brown but today, against his olive complexion and dark blond hair, they glinted black.
Oh, this wasn’t good. He was a sexy man. They’d kissed but that wasn’t enough of a reason for her hormones to start doing their crazy dance. She looked down at their intertwined hands and could easily remember what his tanned fingers felt like on her back, his wide hand sliding over her butt, his lips on hers...
Dammit, Brodie!
Kade touched her elbow and gestured to his friends. Hot, hot and steamin’. Brodie wanted to fan herself. Quinn Rayne was the ultimate sexy bad boy, Mac McCaskill was even better looking—if that was possible—after falling in love with the attractive woman tucked into his side, and Kade...? Why, with him looking as fantastic as he did, the urge to jump him and do him on the nearest table was nearly overwhelming.
This was the problem with Kade Webb, Brodie reminded herself. He had the ability to turn her from a woman who considered all the angles into a wild child who acted first and regretted later. She hadn’t made an impulsive decision for nearly a decade and yet, around him, that was all she seemed to do! For weeks she’d met him in the park as the sun rose. Then she’d accompanied him home, kissed him senseless and been so tempted to make love to him. Around him, impulsive was her new middle name.
Stewart, start acting like the adult you are!
Immediately!
Pulling herself together, Brodie greeted Kade’s friends, kissed Wren hello and looked, and sounded, like the professional she normally was.
Quinn smiled at her. Whoo boy, it was a potent grin and she could easily imagine girls falling like flies at his feet. That smile should be registered as a weapon of mass destruction, but Brodie caught the wariness in his eyes and the intelligence he hid behind his charm. “So, you’re Brodie.”
“I am.”
“And you’re a matchmaker.”
“I am.” Brodie tipped her head, assessing him. “Would you like me to find you someone?”
She had to smile when Quinn flushed and sent a help-me look at his friends. Since Quinn’s exploits, mostly in love, kept Vancouver entertained on a weekly basis, she knew he had no problem finding a date. Finding a partner was a very different story.
“You know, most of my clients don’t have any problems meeting women and they often date a variety of women.”
Quinn frowned. “So why do they need you?”
“Because they are dating the wrong type of women. They want to be in a relationship,” Brodie patiently explained. “Do you want to be in a relationship, Mr. Rayne?”
She was taking the circuitous route to find out what she desperately wanted to know: would Kade be bidding for her matchmaking services? The thought of matching him to any of Colin’s clients made her stomach roil. Colin’s clients were wonderful women, but Brodie thought the ick factor was a bit too high to match her fantasy man with a flesh-and-bone woman.
She’d
