Maddie Fortune's Perfect Man

“If anyone knows what’s going to happen with the business after your father retires, it would be you.”

She opened her blue eyes wide, obviously feigning cluelessness, but she wasn’t very good at it.

“I don’t know, Zach. I guess you’ll just have to wait for another Fortunado family announcement.”

She fisted her hands on her hips and the movement showed off her sleek tanned arms beneath her crisp white sleeveless blouse. She had great arms that were toned and feminine. And long, long legs that could drive a man to distraction if he allowed it. Zach wouldn’t allow it. He couldn’t allow it, he thought, forbidding himself to glance down.

It was likely that Maddie would be named her father’s successor. That meant she would go from being the boss’s daughter to being the boss. No matter how alluring he found those long legs, they weren’t worth compromising his job. He’d worked too hard to get to where he was today to risk losing it all.

“Everyone, lunch is ready,” said Barbara. The crowd around her and Kenneth thinned. “Please help yourselves. We have pulled pork, barbecued brisket, and chicken. I hope you brought your appetites. Because there’s plenty of food and I don’t want any leftovers.”

Schuyler and Carlo were the first ones to approach the buffet. Zach and Maddie continued to hang back and let the other guests and Fortunado siblings go first. No matter how many family functions or Sunday lunches like this one that he’d attended, he always tried to err on the side of politeness. He was thirty-two years old and had been in the business since he was eighteen, but at times like this, he still felt out of place. If he thought about it too hard, the fifteen-year-old boy who was on the outside looking in beckoned him farther back into the periphery, where he would feel more comfortable watching than diving into the middle of everything. He’d outgrown his insecurities, of course. He’d like to think he’d gotten as strong as he was to spite them. Because confidence had been a must to succeed in the real estate business. In fact, in this industry, confidence was everything. But being in the Fortunado home like this, he preferred to stand back and watch the family dynamics. Watch and learn. The natural family rhythm fascinated him. Especially families like this that were so different from what he was used to.

“The food doesn’t get any warmer,” said Maddie. “You better get it while it’s hot. Or at least before my cousin Dale goes through the line.”

Maddie nodded toward a tall skinny guy who was still talking to Kenneth.

“He didn’t earn the name the closer because he’s good at sales,” Maddie said. “He eats a lot.”

“The closer, huh?” Zach said. “That sounds formidable.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Maddie motioned for him to join her as she approached the buffet line. He followed. She picked up two plates and offered him one. Her hand brushed his as he accepted it.

“Are you happy at Fortunado, Zach?” she asked.

The non sequitur made him do a mental double take. “Happy?” he repeated. “Of course I’m happy.”

“Good to know.” Her gaze searched his eyes. There was something in them he didn’t understand. Especially when they dipped to his lips for the briefest of seconds. She bit her bottom lip, a hint of color blossoming in her cheeks, before lifting her eyes to hold his gaze again.

There was something understatedly sexy about her and the realization caught him off guard. He could test these mixed signals she was sending—these cracks in her buttoned-up, businesslike armor that kept him guessing, making him wonder if he was reading her right. And he was usually very good at reading people. He prided himself on it.

But these flirty looks of Maddie’s sometimes morphed into stare-downs that became games of chicken to see who would look away first. The accidental brush of hands, and now asking him if he was happy at Fortunado? What was that all about?

“Why?” he asked. “If I was, say, restless, would you be willing to make it worth my while to stay?”

“And how would you propose I make it worth your while?”

She watched him, waiting for his answer as she held out the white china plate for the server to dish up a piece of chicken and a portion of brisket.

He arched a brow, and his gut clenched at the thoughts swirling around his head. He felt as if he were contemplating taking something that didn’t belong to him. Like finding a twenty-dollar bill on the sidewalk—you could stuff it in your pocket and walk away...or you could do the right thing and try to find the owner.

She must’ve read it in his expression.

“You’re full of yourself, McCarter.” He watched her walk to an empty table off to the side, rather than joining her sisters and Carlo at the one in the middle of the patio.

Zach took his plate of barbecue and followed her, claiming the seat next to her. “Full of myself? That wasn’t a very nice thing to say.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re so sensitive.”

“That’s me. I’m just a sensitive kind of guy. Isn’t that what the ladies want? A sensitive guy?”

She cut a piece of chicken off the bone. Raising the fork to her lips, she stopped short of putting the bite into her mouth, a mischievous smile tipping up the corners of her lips.

“Is that what you tell all the ladies?” Maddie asked. “That you’re a sensitive kind of guy?”

Zach flashed his best smile. “Whatever works.”

“Whatever works,” she repeated. “Is that your philosophy?”

“Nope. Sensitivity is my philosophy. How could you forget?” He made a stabbing gesture in the center of his chest. “I thought we’d finally found something in common. You know, you liking sensitive men and me being sensitive.”

She laughed and her cheeks colored. He liked the thought of rattling calm, cool, collected, perfect Madeleine Fortunado. He wanted to get under her skin. Because it was the closest he’d come to ever getting under anything of hers.

* * *

Maddie took a sip of her margarita, willing herself to calm down. She was grateful when Schuyler and Carlo moved from their original spot and joined them.

“What’s wrong?” Schuyler asked Maddie when they sat down. “What did I miss?”

Zach snared Maddie’s gaze and he raised his eyebrow, issuing a challenge for her to explain the conversation.

“Zach will explain.” She turned to him and smiled.

“Whatever works.” He winked at her and her cheeks colored again.

He cleared his throat. “I was just asking Maddie what she did for fun. You know, I’m starting to get the feeling that all she does is work. She doesn’t always work, does she?”

“Pretty much,” Schuyler said.

“There has to be something else,” he said. “I’m curious about what she likes to do for fun.”

Schuyler looked as if she wasn’t buying it. “Oh, really? I know my sister works a lot, but you two get together every Friday night at the Thirsty Ox, don’t you?”

“Of course we do,” Maddie said.

“But that’s still work-related,” Zach qualified.

“And Zach usually brings a date,” Maddie added. “Or he stops by and rushes out to meet a date.”

“I didn’t realize you noticed,” Zach said.

Carlo and Schuyler watched them banter back and forth as if they were the lunchtime entertainment, and Maddie wanted to bolt.

“Even so,” he said. “How is it that I don’t know much about you? What are your interests outside of the office? When you’re not thinking about real estate, what do you think about?”

Maddie felt herself blanch. “That’s a little personal, don’t you think?”