Oh, I know I will.
Maggie caught Chad staring at her with frank curiosity and swallowed hard.
‘Do you want me to help you get this display together?’ His soft, sympathetic words made her want to throw herself into his arms.
Don’t be stupid. Maggie nodded, biting back tears. ‘I’ll ice the last half a dozen and then we’ll start.’ She stepped back to her table and tried in vain to ignore Chad’s quiet breathing behind her, so close she could’ve reached back and touched him. Five minutes and she was finished. ‘All done.’ She turned to face him, plastering on a tight smile.
‘What’s the plan, or isn’t there one?’ His mischievous question made Maggie laugh, unable to resist his easy good humour.
‘Why would you think I don’t have one?’
Chad raised one black straight brow.
‘I did have a very detailed plan,’ she explained, ‘but it needs to be adjusted now.’
‘So I’d guessed and don’t bother suggesting I leave you to it either. You’re not throwing me back to the sharks at the Reject Table without being by my side to protect me.’
Maggie tossed her hands up in the air. She’d never met such a persistent man. They must breed them stubborn in Tennessee. And flat out gorgeous. Even a red lacy apron couldn’t hide Chad Robertson’s easy, graceful masculinity. She’d never met a man before who could make her laugh, think and want to run her hands all over him in equal measure. Maggie was rapidly losing the battle against giving in to him.
‘I came across a couple of round mirrors when I was digging out all the glasses earlier. Do you think you could do something with them?’
‘Another great idea, Sherlock.’
He dragged his piercing gaze shamelessly down over her and Maggie’s body lit up like a Christmas tree. ‘You sure don’t resemble any Holmes I’ve ever seen.’ His smooth drawl slid over her and made her want to listen to him forever.Forever? You’re losing your marbles. The effect of rescuing her best ever wedding cake from culinary manslaughter must have affected her brain.
* * *
Chad wasn’t being fair to either of them, but couldn’t stop himself. Did she realise the effect she was having on him? Somehow he doubted it. Maggie seemed transparent and he suspected that what you saw was what you got. He found that beyond sexy.
‘Mirrors?’
He mentally shook himself. ‘Yeah, sure.’ Chad strode away before he could behave even more stupidly.Not possible, bro. Josh’s laconic voice ran through his head. A pang of loneliness ran through him for his older brother. When he returned toNashville maybe he’d reach out to Josh and if the friendly gesture was thrown back in his face at least he’d have tried.
He hadn’t wanted to make this trip to Cornwall, but his grandmother insisted and he wasn’t brave enough to refuse Rose Ann Robertson. She was too old to travel and his parents had the family’s guitar business to take care of so he was dispatched to represent the Robertson side of Peter Carlisle’s family. Chad hadn’t been able to use the excuse of not being able to take time off work because his grandmother knew he’d wrapped up his latest contract negotiation and been urged by the firm to use the increasing number of vacation days owed to him. He’d made the foolish mistake of asking why Josh wasn’t being sent instead and received one of his grandmother’s withering glances. Her blunt reply was that Josh “doesn’t own a suit”, although they both knew there was far more to it than the lack of appropriate clothes.
Now here he was scrabbling around in the storeroom of a small hotel in the wilds of Cornwall searching for mirrors to make a woman happy. Go figure.
Chad lifted down the mirror he’d spotted earlier and discovered two others on the next shelf. Holding them carefully he returned to the kitchen. ‘There you go,’ he declared, instantly rewarded by another of Maggie’s glorious smiles.
‘Perfect.’
Yeah, you’re pretty perfect too.
‘We’ll have to assemble it out there.’ Maggie sighed. ‘I’ll go and move the table into position then you can bring the largest mirror out first.’ She grinned. ‘You might want to take off the apron before you venture very far.’
He put on a forlorn expression and lifted up the lace ruffle around the hem in pretend admiration. ‘I’ve become quite fond of this.’
‘If you’re good I’ll let you keep it as a souvenir of your first, and I’m guessing last, foray into the catering world.’
There were so many replies he could make on a number of different levels but Chad contented himself with a broad smile. That did the trick because she laughed again and he enjoyed her unfettered pleasure in the moment. He untied the bow, slipped the apron up over his head and shook his hair back into place.
* * *
Maggie’s heart flipped. She itched to run her fingers through Chad’s thick black hair, cut perfectly and gleaming under the florescent lights. If she hadn’t restrained her own mass of brown wavy hair in a tight bun this morning it’d be all over the place and already random strands were making a frizzy halo around her face. Before she could make even more of a fool of herself she stalked out of the kitchen, leaving Chad with a bemused expression.
She made her way quietly along behind the guest tables to the back corner of the room and shook out the cloth she was carrying to spread over the circular table. Made of cream-coloured antique lace it had belonged to Fiona’s grandmother. Maggie smoothed out the top and made sure it was hanging evenly all around the bottom. Standing back up she caught Emily staring at her from across the room where she was refilling wineglasses. For a second she thought she saw a touch of sadness in her sister’s eyes and wondered what was behind it.
‘Here we go.’ Chad’s deep voice over her shoulder made Maggie jump. ‘Careful. We don’t need to add emergency room stitches to the list of today’s disasters.’
