Page 133 of Hot & Heavy

Never provoke a woman in public…

It had been three weeks since Maddie had left, and Ian was royally ticked.

At first, he had been worried about her. Maddie was clueless about finding her way around the block, let alone a big city.

Then the devastation had set in. Hurt was too small a word. He had loved her beyond anything he'd ever thought possible, and she'd just sloughed him off like he was nothing to her.

Anger came next. She had a hell of a nerve leaving him without any message other than she was all right.

He deserved a lot more than that. No one had any idea where she was, or if she was indeed all right.

And that time-travel crap! Give me a break!

Well, today was the first day of the rest of his life. He had just met Laura Madison for lunch at a little outdoor cafe in Coronado. She was a nurse at the same hospital where his sister worked. He was in uniform, as she was, since he had to return to the base in an hour or so. She was attractive and smart and wasn't a psycho time-traveler. She also doesn't have breasts that merit a Penthouse gig. Shit. I am not going to think about that. Not, not, not!

They were halfway through their Caesar salads and Laura was telling him about a recent scuba-diving vacation in the Bahamas when Ian glanced to the right, then did a double take. Torpedo time!

There came Maddie sashaying down the street as if she hadn't a care in the world. Her hair hung in one long braid. Sunglasses were on her eyes. And she wore a tight white tanktop tucked into a jeans skirt. At the bottom of her long bare legs were sandals. She was carrying a small shopping bag from a nearby clothing shop.

His heart started beating wildly and a lump formed in his throat. All this time he'd been searching for her, she'd been right here, practically in his own back yard. His sister lived in Coronado. He would bet his left nut that she had something to do with this.

She looks great. Apparently our separation hasn't affected her at all.

He saw the moment she spotted him. She stopped dead in her tracks, took off the sunglasses, then smiled. She actually had the balls to smile. The smile lasted only a nanosecond… till she spotted Laura at his table.

"Uh-oh!"

"What's wrong?" Laura asked, turning in her seat to look at Maddie storming toward them like Attila the Hun.

Before he had a chance to warn Laura, Maddie reached their table. "What are you doing with my husband?"

"Hu… husband?" Laura's eyes darted to him.

He would have said that he wasn't Maddie's husband, not anymore, not ever, but Maddie was on a tear.

"Some women do not have the sense to stay in their own bowers. They must go sniffing around the bed furs of men who are already wed. And you…" She turned to him, her blue eyes flashing like diamonds, "

… you cannot keep your dangly part in your braies even for a short time—"

"Three weeks," he reminded her. Holy shit! I must be as crazy as she is. I feel like smiling… because I've missed her nagging.

She threw her hands in the air. "Three weeks. Three hours. Same thing!"

"Not to me!"

Now she was back to addressing Laura, whose mouth hung open with astonishment. She also kept checking out Maddie's breasts… even women tended to do that. "Men! They are ever fickle, do you not agree? I do not know why I thought Ian was any different. Methinks I will go buy myself a dog. At least they are loyal. And, by the by, Ian, your vein is about to pop."

I even like her commenting on my vein. "Maddie, you're causing a scene," he told her. And, man, was she! Not just because of her tirade, but about three dozen people, mostly men, had their eyes glued on Maddie's breasts. I wonder if she's wearing a bra.

Did she listen to his warning about causing a scene? Hardly. She sat down at an empty seat between him and Laura, linked her fingers together, setting her forearms on the edge of the table, and looked at him with those soulful blue eyes of hers.

"You're angry," she observed with surprise.

"No kidding."

"I told you I was all right."

"Big deal!"