A Moment of Bliss (20 page)

She scuffed her running shoe along the rock, finally dropping her gaze. “And it's not all too much? With running Honeywilde and your family right there, all the time?”

He studied the top of her pink hat, wondering what his life must look like to her. He had a never ending list of responsibilities; so did she. But his was anchored to a single place.

“It's too much all the damn time. The resort is a huge responsibility. There are days I want to run higher into the mountains and hide, try my hand at being the reclusive mountain man Brenda teases me about, but . . .” He shrugged again. “I love it. Running Honeywilde takes effort, and can stress me out, but that doesn't mean I don't want it. When my grandfather was alive, I remember how he thrived on it. He was proud of the inn, but he worked hard. You've seen how I am; that's probably why I love it. I wouldn't know what to do if something was easy.”

Madison glanced up again, no judgment, her gaze open as she took him in. “You're a lucky man, Roark Bradley.”

He turned to her, moving his hands so he held her arms. “Believe me, I know.”

“I'm not talking about m—”

Roark pressed his lips to hers, silencing what she was about to say. He pulled away after a second, making sure this wasn't something she'd object to.

Madison stepped closer, lifting her chin ever so slightly.

He kissed her again, her hands on his waist, then caressing his back. “I've missed you. Even though it's only been a couple of days.”

She buried her face into his shoulder. “I'm sorry.”

He cupped the side of her face, making her look at him. “I don't want to waste the next few days.”

“Me either.” Madison rubbed her cheek against his palm, then tilted her head so his hand slid down her neck.

He brushed his thumb over her pulse, a strong, thumping reminder that she was here with him now, and that's what mattered.

He kissed her again, dragging his tongue over her bottom lip until she leaned into him.

“We have to go back and do actual work today,” she warned. “A lot of it.”

“I know, but I have an idea.”

“Uh-oh.”

“Shhh. You love my ideas.” Rather than stop kissing her, he moved over to her cheek, brushing his lips over the edge of her jaw and slender column of her neck, speaking against her skin. “When we clock out tonight. Meet me in the suite downstairs again. We can make up for lost time.”

“That
is
a good idea.”

He leaned away. “Told you.”

Her eyes sparked with a challenge and a mischievous grin curled her lips again.

Damn, he'd missed that look on her. It'd only been two days, but he'd mourned the loss of it like it was water.

“I have an idea too,” she said.

“Do tell.”

“We're going to race back down the mountain and whoever wins gets to call the shots tonight.”

“You're on,” Roark said, as they both took off. But regardless of who came in first, he'd already won.

S
he woke in her own bed the next morning, too sore for another run. That's what she got for racing Roark all the way back to the inn—she'd won, but only by a hair and she was pretty sure he threw the race—and spending the night with him downstairs, before sneaking back up in the wee hours.

Madison smiled, remembering the way he'd touched her, his hands on her waist, tilting her, lifting her, until the friction was just right and she felt like a starburst exploding across the night.

A shiver ran through her as she sat up, the sensations of the night before still fresh in her body. Just as well there'd be no running this day. She wouldn't make it a mile,
and
the wedding party arrived this afternoon.

They'd rushed to plan, preparing for days, and today they'd begin to execute. She and Roark needed their heads in the game.

Downstairs, a fire already crackled in the stone fireplace, but she couldn't find anyone. At this hour, Roark and Sophie were normally up, bustling around.

That's when Madison heard them: the buzz of many voices, all talking at once, and then total silence. She followed the odd rhythm of conversation to Roark's office. The door was pushed to, but not closed all the way. She eased it open in time for the clamor of conversation to stop once again, as everyone turned to stare at her.

Inside his office, Roark glowered from behind the desk, Sophie lurked near the window, and on the other side of the desk stood Devlin and a man she hadn't met. He was a few years younger, but with the same distinctive dark hair and piercing blue eyes of the other two Bradley boys.

It had to be Trevor.

Beau yipped in excitement, running over to her for a quick lick before circling the guy's legs, all but bouncing up and down.

Definitely Trevor.

Madison eased her hand up in greeting. She should back out of the room quickly and let everyone pretend her sudden appearance was only their imagination. If this was truly the prodigal son, returned from his adventures abroad, she shouldn't have any part of it.

Roark wasn't secretive about his feelings on the situation with Trevor. Add to that the events scheduled to kick off today and the sour looks currently marring everyone's faces, this was clearly not a cheerful reunion.

“Might as well come on in and join the party.” The sarcasm dripped from Devlin's words as he waved her in. “I'm sure we can squeeze two or three more in here. No reason to miss out on all the fun—”

“Don't do that,” Roark said, interrupting his brother. “Don't make light of this and don't try to drag her into it. It's got nothing to do with her.” His voice was level, but the tone steely and strong.

“The hell it doesn't.”

“It doesn't. Madison is at Honeywilde for business. She's not a part of our personal issues,” Roark argued, shooting her an apologetic look. He knew how uncomfortable this would be for her.

“Oh, okay. Right,” Devlin said, but his petulant tone meant Roark was the furthest thing from right.

“She doesn't need to be involved in our family drama.” Roark tried another point of argument, this time with a little more volume behind it.

And he was right. Really, she didn't need to be in the middle of this. She wasn't big on drama and family wasn't her forte, but for some reason, Roark insisting she wanted nothing to do with them or their personal lives, made her skin prickle in defense.

As twisted as it was—and she knew it was really freaking twisted—she didn't want to be left out of whatever the Bradleys had going on. She knew who Trevor was, and because she knew how Roark felt about things with his brother, a part of her wanted to be here.

Hell if she could explain it, but rather than wanting to hide, she wanted to know what was going on.

Devlin jabbed his thumb over his shoulder toward her. “Her big wedding is the reason you're trying to kick our brother out.”

“What?” Madison stepped fully into the office. “You don't have to—”

Roark shook his head. “Devlin is being overdramatic.” He turned toward his middle brother, placing the tip of his finger on his desk blotter. “I am not kicking Trevor out. I'm saying, of all the times he could show back up, now isn't ideal. He took off without any consideration for us, he shows up here without a word of notice, and his return has thrown you all into an uproar. He can't treat this place like a hotel.”

“It
is
a hotel.” Devlin raised his voice. “We live in a hotel.”

“Hey!” Sophie pointed at him. “ No yelling. You know the rules.”

“Thanks,” Roark muttered off to the side.

“Don't thank me. I agree with Dev. I'm as ticked as anyone that Trev left and we haven't heard a peep from him, but this is our home. He's here, his room is unoccupied—hell, the whole floor he lives on is unoccupied. He stays.”

Roark's gaze caught with Madison's. That floor had been a
little
occupied.

Trevor finally spoke up. “I'm right here. You guys keep talking about me like I'm not here, but I am. It's not a big deal. Seriously. I can crash with a friend till Monday. Keep the peace and all that.”

“No. That's bullshit.” Devlin turned around, looking at Madison.

What was she supposed to say? She knew what Trevor meant to Roark. What they all meant, but here was the lost baby brother, for the love of god. Roark bellyached about him, but the deep groove in his brow and the clench of his jaw meant he was doing this because, for some reason, he thought he had to.

If he thought it was best for his family and Honeywilde that Trevor not be here right now, he was wrong.

“Dev, it's okay. Not worth arguing over.” Trevor shrugged, as casually as if he was deciding on what to order for dinner. “I have people I can visit for a few days. Whatever.” He shrugged again, his gestures so much like Roark's.

More so than Devlin, Trevor looked like a younger Roark. A very tan, relaxed version of Roark, and even though he said
whatever
, the guy looked like someone had just kicked Beau. Madison had to speak up.

“It's not going to bother me or disrupt the wedding if he's here.” She attempted a casual tone, even though it suddenly mattered very much that he stay and that Roark stop looking so miserable. “As long as it's not a distraction for all of you, I'm certainly not opposed to him coming home.” At least Trevor had a home, so, by god, he ought to be back in it.

Every Bradley in the room turned to look at her. Madison arched an eyebrow, waiting.

“See?” Sophie opened her hand toward Madison. “Reasonable. Trevor could even be another set of hands for the weekend. We could use his help setting up chairs, and definitely in the kitchen.”

Roark studied his sister. She looked at each of her brothers in turn. “And I'm sure we can all be grown-ups and deal with our drama later. Right?” The cutting edge in her gaze meant they all had better agree with her, and quickly.

“Of course we can.” Roark crossed his arms. “It's not that. I don't want there to be
any
issues this weekend. Everything is set to go. Nothing, and no one, is allowed to screw it up.”

Dev nodded, running a hand through his hair. Way too long on top to be considered professional, it flopped over as soon as he was done touching it, a strand falling in his face. “We get it, Roark. No trouble, no commotion.”

“Good.” Grabbing his phone, Roark stood and came from behind his desk, arms out in the international sign for
everyone get the hell out of my office
.

As everyone began to vacate the premises, Sophie moved close to Madison.

“Thank you,” she said.

“For what?”

Sophie looked back and forth between Roark and Trevor, as Trevor stepped right into Roark's outstretched arms and hugged him.

Sophie nudged her. “I think you know why. It's nice not being the only peacekeeper around here.”

But she wasn't a peacekeeper. She stared back at Sophie, unsure of how to take the compliment.

As Sophie walked away, Trevor squeezed Roark, and Madison couldn't look away from the expression on Roark's face.

Roark gripped his brother's shoulder. “You could've died in some damn jungle and how would we know?”

Trevor laughed, patting him on the back as he let go. “I wasn't going to die in a jungle.”

He walked past Madison and gave her a grin, the width and shape of which was disarmingly similar to Roark's. “Sorry I didn't get to introduce myself, but I heard all about the famous event specialist extraordinaire.”

“Go.” Roark turned his brother toward the door with both hands on his shoulders. “Unpack and settle in before I change my mind.”

But she'd noticed Roark had never actually said Trevor couldn't stay. He'd merely argued for reasons why the situation wouldn't be ideal, and then accepted that his staying was going to happen anyway. The Bradley family had had an entire debate and argument over what seemed to be a foregone conclusion, that of course Trevor was going to stay in his home.

Madison shook her head. Maybe someday she'd understand the way this family worked.

The thought froze the smile on her face.

There would be no someday. She hadn't freaking moved in with the Bradleys to live, she was here for a job. In a matter of days, she'd be gone. She couldn't keep trying to understand how the Bradleys operated, why Devlin was often so quietly unsettled, or how Sophie had mastered the art of saying about half a dozen things with a single look. No biscuits and honey every day, and no more Roark.

After Sunday there'd be no more of his steady presence and humor, his straightforward take on life that she completely understood. She would no longer get to stretch out beneath him or rise above him as they wrung climaxes from each other with the kind of dogged determination only they could appreciate.

She'd always known their arrangement was temporary, but the time frame suddenly felt too short. What if they could keep it temporary, but make it . . . temporarily longer?

“You okay?” Roark turned to her as his brother left the office.

“Yeah.” She blinked. “Yeah, I'm okay. Just going over this afternoon in my head.” All she could do was hope she was a marginally better liar than the other day, because she wasn't even in the same zip code as okay. She needed some time to come up with a different plan. If she suggested she come up some weekend, would that be too much like a commitment? Like long-distance dating?

She didn't do long distance. Hell, she didn't usually
do
anything.

He tapped at his phone, looking over his list. “Big day today. It's finally here.”

Finally here. That meant no time for her to think, no days left for her to come up with a brilliant plan. Today she had to kick into full-time event supervision mode.

“Want to grab some coffee really quick?” Roark asked.

A nod was all she managed. No more sipping black coffee with Roark either, stealing his because it tasted better, and knowing he'd let her, because that's how he was.

She dragged her feet on the way to the coffee trolley. The wedding of her career was finally here, and all she wanted to do was put it off.