Wanting It All: A Naked Men Novel (19 page)

Josh smirked. “Okay. Fuck, your sister’s hot.”

“See? That’s the seventh time you used it in the past hour, so I barely believe you.” Lara sat down in the empty chair they always saved for Logan. Because they all knew he’d be back sooner or later. Even though they were well into “later” at this point.

Griff rolled up to the table and drummed his fingers on it. “If this is a contractual thing, should we schedule a time when Bob Osner and our lawyer can join in the fun?”

“That’ll be the next step. Today I’m just feeling you out.”

Josh jerked his chin toward the door. “How about you let Lila feel me up instead? Promise I’ll say yes to anything after that.”

“Do you
ever
turn it off?”

“Hey, I’m pulling double duty. With Knox sidelined by an actual relationship, I’ve got to flirt twice as hard.”

Lara goggled at Knox. “An actual relationship, huh? Guess I owe Bob fifty dollars.”

This couldn’t be headed anywhere good. “Why?” Knox asked as he got up to grab a bottle of water from the mini-fridge in the corner.

“We have a bet going. Well, we
had
one going. It’s over now. He was sure that, with all the women you guys would attract doing this show, you’d all be hooked up by the end of the year.”

Riley cocked an eyebrow. “You put money on us?”

“Two bets. One on it not happening within a year, and a side bet as to the order if it did happen. Knox here was my ace in the hole. I was sure he’d never catch the love virus.”

There went the floor, skidding out from beneath him again. Good thing he had a concussion. It was a good cover for him grabbing at the backs of chairs. Knox braced himself on the back of Griff’s, staring daggers at Lara. “Nobody said love. I didn’t say love. She didn’t say love.”

“You turned down my heavy-handed and available sister, didn’t you? My twin sister, which means I’m extremely aware of just how hot Lila is. You’d have to be either castrated or in love to turn her down.”

Ry used his foot to kick Knox’s chair over to him. “As usual, our esteemed producer has picked up on a detail that we all overlooked. You didn’t take a rain check. You just turned her down flat. Because of Madison?”

Yes. But that didn’t equate to love. Just good manners. “I don’t double dip. That’s a douchebag move.” Knox cracked his water and took a gigantic pull.

“So you’ve committed to Madison.” Griffin slapped his thigh. “Knox Davies, you’re a one-woman man.”

“I’m a one-woman-at-a-time man. Let’s not exaggerate the situation. Hell, let’s not talk about it at all.” The podcast was over for the week. No more enforced sharing. “What’s the business we need to discuss? Because I haven’t had alcohol in a week, and there’s a bottle of Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA waiting for me at home to get me back off the concussion wagon.”

Lara pointed her finger at each one of them in turn. “Congratulations, gentlemen. Your show’s a hit.”

“We’ve only been doing it for two months.”

“We knew it was gold after the second week. That’s why we made a push for the publicity shots. And, as expected, they’re a hit, too. You happen to be a ridiculously good-looking group of guys.”

“Well, Logan’s not here,” Knox joked. “His ugly mug brings down the group rating by a few ticks.” Ry reached across to high-five him.

Lara focused on Knox. “I’m pretty sure I know the answer, but I’m asking anyway. Have your blog stats changed since the podcast began?”

“They’ve skyrocketed.” He’d attributed it to the newness of the podcast. Knox assumed the numbers would drop back soon.

“No surprise there. Here’s my proposal—we want to tape you.”

Riley cocked his head to the side. “You already do.”

“I mean on film. We want people to be able to watch you do
Naked Men.
”

Griffin pushed back his chair. Gripped the table edge and half rose out of his seat. “If you say that you want us to strip down for this, we’re done here. Walking out the door. I mean it.”

His
yelling-at-a-cadet
face didn’t seem to phase her. Instead, Lara tossed back her hair and laughed. “There’s good naked and bad naked. Sitting in leather chairs that squeak and make puckery noises every time you move—that’s bad naked. Clothing would definitely be required.”

“Would we have to shave?” Josh asked.

“I doubt we’ll put in any sort of uniform clause. Just tell me what you think.”

He might not be their official team captain anymore, but Griff still spoke for the group. “I think you’re not getting an answer today.”

“That’s better than a straight-out no, so I’ll take it. Think it over. Talk it over. There’s no rush. Except that, there is, because you’re riding one hell of a wave of positive publicity right now. Capitalizing on it would be major. We could get sponsors. That would put more money in your pockets.”

Lara patted Knox on the shoulder as she sashayed to the door. “Glad you’ve got a hard head. It’s too pretty to be permanently dented.”

After the door snicked shut, they all sat in silence for a minute. Then for another minute, and another after that. Nobody seemed to want to go first. Knox, however, really did want that celebratory beer, so he spread his hands, backs on the table. “Well?”

Riley shot out of his chair. Started pacing the room. “This is fucking insane. We’re not actors. We’re not B-list celebrities doing a talk show. We don’t know how to look at a camera, or look interesting, for that matter.”

“We know how to look goooood.” Josh drew out the word, then shook his head. “Had to be said.”

“We’ve spent years trying to walk away from fame.”

Knox didn’t dispute that. But he did have the germ of an idea. “As Madison pointed out so damn bluntly at the ballpark, we did walk right into this contract. Knowingly. It was shortsighted of us, but we did it. Remember why?”

“We thought it’d be fun,” Josh said with a shoulder shrug.

Riley stopped the pacing. “We thought it’d give us a broader reach to help people.”

“Exactly. What if we used this opportunity to help people? Take that extra cash they’re going to throw our way and give it to a charity? Or start one? Something personal to us, something that harkens back to the beginning of Naked Men?”

From the dawning awareness on Ry’s face, he got it. His jaw hinged open halfway. Slammed shut. Then, with a slow nod, he said, “To the crash, you mean. Getting seatbelts on buses.”

Maybe a seatbelt would’ve kept Santos from dying. Maybe not. But every year bus crashes were in the news, and people died. It’d be nice to put some time, effort, and cash into fixing that problem. “We talked about it years ago. Back then, we were too young to know how to tackle this. But now we could. With a platform like this, we could make a difference.”

“It’d mean more press,” Griffin warned. “Lots of it.”

Josh sucked in a long breath. Stood, apparently just to jam his hands into his pockets. “We’d need Logan’s buy-in.”

“Of course.” Knox wouldn’t have it any other way. “We can stall them until he gets back. If we want to do it.”

Griffin stood, too. They were back in their loose circle they always somehow formed for serious conversations. Because that’s what they were. A continuous circle. No head, no tail, all equal. “No vote now. We should think about it. Think about the impact on our lives. Weigh that against the impact we could make on others’.”

Knox couldn’t wait to tell Madison.

And what the hell did that mean?

Madison slipped off her shoes. She assumed Knox didn’t want his roommates to know that he’d texted her to come over at nine-thirty on a Tuesday night. That could mean only one of two things: either a booty call, or lingering concussion symptoms. He’d hidden the worst of his ongoing headaches from his friends. Claimed he didn’t want anyone worrying about him. And yet he didn’t mind her fussing over him and holding ice to his head. In fact, he insisted that it helped more than all the aspirin in the world.

The booty call? Well, they didn’t need to know about that either.

So she padded up the wooden stairs of the rectory in bare feet. Listened at the second-floor landing for signs of life, but heard only silence. Same at the third floor. Which boded very well for their getting vocal if it
was
a booty call. She picked up her pace for the last flight. Sunday’s talk with the girls had put butterflies—and doubts, if she was honest with herself—in Madison’s stomach. The dinner with the ACSs that night had been great. Oodles of fun and hilarity. They absolutely accepted her as part of their group.

Would that truly last if Knox broke up with her? Madison wanted to say yes. Heck, she wanted to jump up, a fist in the air, and
shout
yes. But she didn’t know for certain. Not anymore. She’d spent a good portion of the night second-guessing every comment, every touch, every gesture from Knox.

The good news was that everything had seemed normal. He’d been the dictionary definition of an attentive boyfriend—even more so considering he had so little practice at it. There’d been lots of casual touching. Hand-holding. Big, smacking kisses in front of his friends. No sign that his interest was on the wane.

No sex, though. True, the doctors had banned him from it for a week. All strenuous exercise, actually, which had led to a hysterical conversation of Knox informing the doctor that if sex wasn’t strenuous then he wasn’t pulling his weight. Hilarious because the doctor was a woman, easily in her sixties, who nodded briskly and then informed him that with his mindset, even masturbation was off the table.

His checkup had been yesterday. And yet, no booty call last night. No arranged date. Just a few texts over the course of the evening. What did that mean? Wondering that had kept Madison tossing and turning until far too late.

Being furious with herself had awakened Madison far too early. It didn’t matter what other people thought, no matter how well meaning. Madison Abbott was funny and nurturing and pretty darned hot. Any man would be lucky to have her,
especially
Knox. This was her Grand Plan, and she’d stick to it. Period. If Madison didn’t have faith in their relationship, how could she expect Knox to commit to it? That renewed positive, can-do, will-marry attitude had carried her through the day pretty well. This call tonight proved her right.

At the fourth floor, panting just a bit, she knocked on his door.

Knox yelled, “If you’re the beautiful blonde I ordered, come right on in.”

That boded well. Madison turned the glass knob and entered his suite for the first time. It was…stark. Modern. Cold. One black wall. Long black drapes that practically stretched all the way up to the twelve-foot ceiling. A white modular bookcase against the black wall, and a low black sofa that appeared unused next to the oversized black leather recliner. Round white lights that looked like Japanese lanterns were hung at alternating heights. Maybe it worked for a guy who stared at black-and-white code all day long. Madison just wanted to throw some bright red pillows about, maybe a blanket. The multistriped rug in gray, white, and black was the only other speck of comfort in the room.

“Did I make it fast enough to deserve a tip?” she teased, closing the door behind her. Geez, Knox almost blended into the room with his black drawstring shorts and black hoodie. It was the most casual look she’d ever seen him in—if you didn’t count naked as a look.

“I’ll give you a tip. I’ll tip you right over.” Sweeping her into his arms, Knox bent her backward over his knees and kissed her. Didn’t
stop
kissing her until they were both moaning. It was the most sexy they’d gotten in a week. And it was kind of like eating a single potato chip. It didn’t satisfy her craving. Just made her want lots and lots more.

As he stood her back up, Madison gently stroked the side of his head. “Cleared for strenuous exercise, I take it?”

“Yes. But feel free to take pity on my still-weakened state to climb on top later.” Knox turned and pointed at an open door through which she saw a big bed covered in acres of black satin. Of course. It honestly wouldn’t surprise her if he had a mirror mounted over it.

“Duly noted.” She dropped her bag by the black and white marble fireplace and perched on the edge of the sofa. “What do you call this room we’re in right now?”

Knox scratched behind his ear. “Our decorator called it a sitting room. Then we fired that decorator and started from scratch. Now I call it the decompression zone.”

“That wouldn’t happen to be a play on
Star Trek,
would it?”

“A woman who gets my obscure Trekkie references? How did I get so lucky?” Knox kissed her on the top of her head. But he didn’t sit down. Just sort of paced in an infinity shape around the chair, the coffee table that held only a laptop, and back around the sofa.

Maybe his week of enforced rest had caught up to him and he had energy to burn? “You seem all wound up tonight,” she commented.

Abruptly, he pushed his sleeves halfway up his forearms—muscled and covered in dark hair in a way that made her mouth water—and asked, “Did you have dinner?”

“Knox, it’s nine-thirty. Of course I did.”

“Sorry. I’m juggling a lot right now. Lost track of time.” He surged forward to a wet bar in the corner by the bedroom door. “Would you like a drink? Some wine?”

“It’s nine-thirty. On a Tuesday. I’d better not.”

“Right.” He pushed a wineglass back a little on the shelf.

He was acting strange. Squirrely. Not the suave, smooth man who usually took charge so easily. Not that Madison would panic. Not that she’d even pay attention to the tightening in her stomach. Nope. Business as usual. Which meant getting
down
to business.

“I assume, since you can have sex now, that this is a booty call. Did you want to have a quickie to take the pressure off and then go again? Or should I start a slow seduction?” She unbuttoned her top button. Before Madison could move to the next one, Knox leapt forward.

“Jesus, no. Keep your shirt on.” With a clumsy fumble he rebuttoned the top of her pink cotton blouse.

“Okay. But I have to say, I’ve noticed that you’re very much a boob guy. Won’t this be more fun if you at least see my sexy pink bra?”

“Yes. That would be fun. Tonight’s not about fun.”

God. He
was
breaking up with her. Madison clenched her teeth. No way was she going down without a fight. They were too darn right together to toss away after just a month. Was…was this about Lara’s twin? He’d laughed hard when he told her the story. Kissed her soundly and swore that she was better even than living out a twin fantasy. Claimed that her golden brown eyes were enough for him. “Like twin puddles of maple syrup,” he’d said. “Who wouldn’t want to linger over them?”

“See, there’s where you’re wrong. We always manage to have fun together.”

Before Madison could start making her multipoint presentation reminding him of all the fun they’d had, Knox sat down and took both her hands in his. “I need to be serious with you for a few minutes, okay?”

“Um, what if I vote
not
okay?”

His thumb traced the blue vein across the back of her hand. “I found your brother.”

Joy shot through her like a bolt of sunshine. “Logan? He’s okay? Where is he? Does he know about me? How’d you find him?” The second she paused to gulp in a breath, Knox laughed and put a hand over her mouth.

“Whoa. Slow down. He’s in Kazakhstan. Somewhere. Maybe near the border of Turkmenistan? The guy I talked to wasn’t really happy to get into details.”

“But he’s safe?”

“Safer than the people he’s been rescuing from a flood. No, he doesn’t know about you, unless he finally read your email. That’s your secret to share.” He flipped his wrist, checked his watch. “You can tell him any minute now.”

“What do you mean?”

“That’s why I texted you to come over. Yeah, we’ve been trying to get ahold of him, but going through the motions hadn’t worked. Last week you took such good care of me. I figured the best way to repay you would be to connect you with Logan. I spent all of yesterday—and when I say all, I mean straight through to almost dawn. There’s a ten-hour time difference.”

“You shouldn’t be pulling an all-nighter with your concussion.”

“I’m a big boy. And there’s a Starbucks on the bottom floor of my office building. Anyway, I set up a SAT call. The reception might not be stellar, but you’ll be able to talk to him. They should be calling here soon.”

Madison did some quick math. “At seven-thirty their time? In the morning? Isn’t that early?”

“Only way to be sure to find him, apparently, is to grab him before he heads off for the day. Logan’s not a morning person, so he might be grumpy. He doesn’t really talk a lot either. I mean, he can. He’s just not as chatty as, say, Josh.”

“I feel like you’re trying to warn me about something.”

“No. He’s my best friend. Greatest guy you’ll ever meet. Just that…meeting over a SAT phone might be weird. Hard. Less than optimal.”

Nothing about being kept apart from him for twenty-four years was
optimal.
Madison had very low expectations. Simply talking to him would be the best present ever. “It doesn’t matter. I can’t wait. He’s my brother. I’m finally going to meet my brother!”

Knox stood, crossed to the giant mirror over the fireplace, and touched it. The reflection of the room disappeared, replaced by a computer screen. On it was a photo of Logan and Knox with their arms slung around each other’s neck. Grinning like fools and dripping wet.

“Since you won’t be able to see him, I thought you might want to look at a picture, at least. While you’re talking. To have a focus. This was right after our first cliff dive in Mexico. Which was probably as scary and exhilarating as you feel right now.”

Madison hungrily drank in the brown hair, brown eyes so like her own. “This is amazing.”

“I’ll say hello first, and then pass the phone to you. When you’re done, just come get me in the bedroom.”

“Oh, stay. Please? I want you to stay with me. After all, what could be private between your girlfriend and your best friend?”

“Good. ’Cause I would’ve had my ear pressed up against the door.”

“Liar. You totally have some listening gadget, Tech-Boy. Some microchip pen you would’ve strategically left on the table that beams the sound directly to an earpiece.”

“How’d you know?” As they laughed, the phone rang. Knox set it on the table. He grabbed Madison’s hand, threaded his fingers through hers, and hit speaker.

“Hey, Logan. It’s Knox.”

“Your name’s gonna be dead meat. You had the fucking police come pick me up? What kind of pussy move is that?”

The police?
mouthed Madison. When Knox promised to bend over backward to track Logan down, she had never, ever envisioned an armed guard dragging him to a phone. It made her wonder how much money Knox had forked over in bribes to get this call to happen.

“Drop a postcard once in a while, douche bag, and I wouldn’t have had to.”

There was a crackle of static, and then a deep laugh boomed over the line. “God, I’ve missed you. Are all the guys there?”

“Just me this time. The rest of them got tired of waiting for you to come home. They’re busy turning your room into a sauna/steam room/plunge pool deal. Listen hard and you might be able to hear the hammering of the cedar planks into the walls.”

“I’m all for it if it comes with a towel girl in a bikini. Blond, brunette…I’m not picky.”

He certainly sounded like the other ACSs. Gregarious. Funny. Madison liked Logan already.

Knox looked over and raised his eyebrows in an
Are you ready?
motion. When she nodded, he said, “That’s the thing, Logan—I’ve got a blonde sitting next to me right now.”

“You’re such a dog, Knox. Is she even dressed?”

“Uh, yeah. This is awkward as hell, but this woman’s been wanting to meet you for a while, so…Logan Marsh, meet Madison Abbott.”

Madison stared right into the dark eyes—much darker than hers—of her brother on the giant screen. “Hi, Logan.”

“Hey.”

If Knox had warned her about his plan for the evening, she would’ve written out bullet points to get through this. Practiced it, just like she’d practiced her thesis defense in grad school. Was she really supposed to wing a moment this important? “I don’t suppose you recognize my name? From an email I sent you a few weeks ago?”

“No email. No phone either. I went through three before I gave up replacing them here.”

“Oh.” It would’ve been easier had he read it. But this way, she got the excitement of telling him about their connection. “Well, the short version of the email is that your dad’s been keeping a secret for years. Twenty-four years, to be exact. I’m the secret. I’m your half-sister.”

The response came swifter than she expected.

“Bullshit.”

Okay, surprise was natural. When her mom called with the news, Madison hadn’t exactly just accepted it, no questions asked. Of course, she’d been hungering for a sibling her entire life. That had made her probably more willing to accept the insta-family than Logan might be.

“No, it’s true. I promise. Your father came looking for me back in May, for the very first time. Admitted that he’d never told either one of us about the other. I’ve never had a brother before.”

Silence. Silence so much that there was nothing to concentrate on but the thudding of her heart.

“Knox, you still there?” Logan finally asked.

“Yeah.”

“This isn’t something I can just take at face value. So do you believe this story? Or is it a money grab? Is there any proof?”