today.
Maddie and Colton fell into the lineup of about twenty people waiting to pick up trays and make selections. She did some hasty calculations. At the rate things were moving they’d have only forty-five minutes sequestered at their table. Only a fool would waste these precious moments in line. And her daddy didn’t raise no fool.
“So, Colton,” she began. “How did you end up at Cue?”
A cute, size-four redhead standing two people in front of them turned at the sound of his name. “Colton? Colton Hartley?”
His handsome face lit up in recognition. “Paige?”
Their warm reunion carried them all the way to the tray and silverware pickup.
“It’s great seeing you, Paige,” Colton said as he pocketed the slip of paper she’d handed him with her phone number on it. “I’ll give you a call and we can get together.”
Maddie didn’t allow her heart to sink. After all, a man like Colton Hartley didn’t reach this stage in his gorgeous life without acquiring a few female friends. Just because their greeting seemed a tad overwarm to Maddie didn’t guarantee that Paige meant anything to him.
“So what’s good?” he asked Maddie, the first time he’d spoken to her since her brief introduction to the red-haired interloper.
“Everything.” Maddie had her eye on the warming tray stacked high with crispy chicken-fried steaks. Yum. A glob of mashed potatoes and cream gravy alongside would make the perfect lunch.
Colton looked down the length of the serving island, considering the options before picking up a chef’s salad and plunking it down on his tray.
“Is that all you’re having?” Maddie asked as they inched their way toward the golden chicken-fried steaks and steaming gravy.
“Yeah.” He motioned toward the steaks and delicacies beyond. “If you eat all that heavy stuff for lunch it doesn’t take long before the pounds start adding up.” He patted his rock-hard stomach for emphasis.
Maddie thought about her own not-so-rock-hard stomach and suddenly the chicken-fried steak didn’t look so good. She snatched up a green salad and a paper container of diet dressing instead. She sped by the freshly baked pies before temptation could destroy her fragile newfound willpower.
After paying the cashier for their food, Colton and Maddie paused to scout the crowded room for a table.
“I think I see a table over there,” Maddie said, pointing to the far wall. She squinted to be sure. “Can you see it behind the palm?”
“Lead the way.”
Trays in hand, they forged a path through the occupied tables.
“Hey, Colton, over here.” A preppie-looking guy waved at them from his table some ten yards away.
“Okay with you?” Colton asked, lifting a muscular shoulder in the direction of the caller.
Her heart slipped a few notches. “Sure.”
With Colton now leading, they threaded their way to the table, trays lifted high to keep from bumping into diners. Maddie hung back to allow Colton time to make introductions.
“Good to see you, Colton.” The preppie clapped Colton on the back. “What brings you to our little corner of the world?”
The predominately female group seated around the rectangular table greeted Colton like a visiting celebrity. Or a god. A woman skinny enough to shop in the preteen department patted the empty seat next to hers. “Come sit here.”
While they fussed over Colton, Maddie did the math. One preppie, one accountant type, five skinny hussies and one delectable Colton. Eight bodies. Table for eight.
There wasn’t room for her.
Maddie stood several inconspicuous steps from the table, waiting for Colton to notice her predicament. Once he saw she was still standing he’d insist they drag an extra chair up to the table for her.
She waited.
When one minute had lapsed into two and he still hadn’t looked up from his friends, Maddie knew she’d been forgotten. She couldn’t blame him. Who wouldn’t forget their own name in the midst of all that adulation?
Not wanting to embarrass him or herself, Maddie backed up in retreat. As she slowly moved backward, a stupid smile plastered on her face, Maddie didn’t notice the abandoned chair blocking the aisle. Inching along, her leg caught the chair rung and she knew in that awful moment that to cap off her humiliation, she was going to fall.
“Whoa.” A deep voice rumbled in her ear as strong arms came from behind to steady her.
Her heart seemed to stop. Her stomach did a long, slow slide. It took Maddie a second or two to realize the hideous downward pull of gravity had been broken. She wasn’t going to fall. She’d been saved.
Balance restored, Maddie turned, tray in hand, to thank her rescuer.
Dark eyes, the color of the richest chocolate and tinged with amusement, met hers. “You okay?” he asked.
Chapter Two
“I’m fine, thanks to you.” Obviously shaken by her near fall, the woman’s pleasantly husky voice wobbled. “I’m not usually so clumsy. I guess I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
Dan had seen her slow progress through the crowded room and knew full well why she’d stumbled. She was one-hundred-percent focused on the movie-star guy she’d come in with. As was half the population of the room. “No problem. You want to sit down?” he asked, pointing to the chair that had nearly toppled her. “I’ve got room for you here.”
After an almost imperceptible glance toward the movie star’s table, she turned to Dan and smiled. “Thanks.”
She had a great smile. Full. Warm. Sincere.
And a really great mouth. Full. Warm. Delicious. He knew the camera would love it, though at the moment his thoughts weren’t entirely professional.
Dan eased the tray from her white-knuckled grip and placed it on the table before maneuvering the chair from the aisle. He waited until she sat down before sitting across from her.
“I’m Dan Willis.”
She smiled again. “Maddie Sinclair,” she said, extending her hand to him.
“Nice to meet you, Maddie.” He glanced down at the puny salad on her tray. “Not much lunch.”
She looked at the red plastic bowl half filled with greens and wrinkled her nose. “No.”
He tapped the dessert plate on the edge of his tray. “Tell you what. You eat all your salad and I’ll give you a bite of my pie.”
She grinned. “Deal.”
Dan watched her pour the watery dressing over the lettuce and pick up her
