mine and MJ’s.” She gave him a pointed look.
No. It couldn’t be.
Still, his stomach tightened in anticipation. Rachael stood and tipped her head toward the shelter beside the tree line where a few golf carts sat. “Why don’t you ride to the landing pad with me?”
His heart lunged forward, but his feet stayed rooted to the patio. Maddie was going to murder him first and ask questions later.
Sam reached out with his foot and pushed the back of MJ’s leg making his knee pop. MJ jolted forward and darted a look back at the two kids who were now laughing like cracked-out monkeys.
Hell, if he stayed here, he’d probably end up getting wrestled into the fountain by his crazy little cousins. “Yeah, I’m coming.”
He followed Rachael across the lawn and slid into the passenger side of the first golf cart. She turned the key and pulled out from under the awning. “What’s going on with you and Maddie?” she asked.
“Nothing.” It might not have been entirely true, but it wasn’t exactly a lie either.
“MJ,” Rachael put a hand on his arm, “Merrick told me you took her engagement ring. Something’s going on.”
“Maddie told him? It’s…” He bounced his knee and tapped his fingertips together. “We used to be together, okay? Now we’re not. That’s it.”
She put her hand back on the wheel to navigate a curve in the path. “So, you’re not a believer in second chances?”
He bobbed his knee up and down. “It’s not about chances anymore.”
“You took her ring for a reason. You want her to come to you. She’s here. What are you going to do?”
MJ pounded his fist on his leg. “Hell, I don’t know. This wasn’t exactly a well thought out plan. I just took it, okay?”
Rachael swerved around a corner, leaning into him. “If you love her, don’t write her off without knowing how she feels.”
He held up his hands. “Don’t start preaching to me about something you know nothing about.”
His thought trailed off as they arrived at the landing sight. The black copter glinted with reflected sunlight, its blades rotating slowly.
Beck and Maddie rounded the side of the helicopter, his hand pushing the top of her head down, protectively. Her wild dark hair blew out around her, and he swore he could see those piercing blue eyes from all the way across the field.
He couldn’t deny the rush of warmth in his chest, the dreamy, gooey feeling flowing through his brain. He was gone over her.
Completely and helplessly gone.
Rachael had hopped out and was waving a hand over her head. He followed suit and stood, straightening his shorts for a distraction.
As they neared, he couldn’t help but stare at Maddie’s long, tan legs and let his mind wander back to when he had them around his waist as he pinned her against the wall in the stairway. He had to close his eyes for a moment and gather his senses before he went totally insane… and hard thinking about it.
“Hi!” Rachael called.
Beck took his hand from the top of Maddie’s head, and they both waved. Her smile faltered for only a second as her eyes locked with MJ’s, and she saw right inside him. He felt her there, just like always.
He was so transparent to her.
She gave Rachael a hug. “Thanks for letting me come and sending Beck to get me.”
“Anytime! You’re welcome here whenever you want to come.”
Beck whacked MJ on the back and leaned in to whisper in his ear. “Lucky for you I’m taken.”
MJ bristled. What was with this guy? Every time he opened his mouth, MJ got the urge to smash his face in.
Maddie took slow, deliberate steps toward MJ, her eyes hard enough to cut glass.
He didn’t know what to do with his hands. He wanted to reach out and pull her to him, but couldn’t, so they just hung like dead fish against his legs.
“Give me my ring so Beck can take me back.”
He leaned in close, drilling his eyes into hers. “Tell me why you left and I’ll give it back.”
Her eyebrow quirked. “Give. It. To. Me. Now.”
He stood straight and smiled. “Those aren’t the magic words.”
Maddie lunged forward and shoved him as hard as she could, which only made him take half a step back. “Give it to me!”
MJ laughed. “We’re not little kids anymore, Mads. You can’t yell and push me around to get what you want.”
She fisted her hands, jabbed them to her hips and MJ swore it sounded like she growled at