“Do you ever get used to it? Someone wanting you that much?” Maddie asked contemplatively.
“Oh yeah. It’s completely addictive. What woman doesn’t want to know that she’s the center of her man’s world?” Kara responded dreamily. “I went from being alone to being completely ecstatic. I’ll take Simon’s obsession any day compared to a man who doesn’t give a shit. He loves me and his obsession makes me feel safe, protected, wanted. If some of the things he does are a little over the top, I don’t care. It’s actually pretty hot. All that matters is how much we love each other.”
Maddie shuddered, knowing she felt the same way. Sam’s dominant, overprotective attitude was completely hot. She had pretty much felt unwanted her entire life, and Sam’s desperation for her made her totally insane, wanting him in the same unguarded manner. “Maybe that’s what bothers me. I could get addicted to him so easily.”
Kara laughed and winked as she closed her suitcase. “Then get addicted. Wallow in it. I doubt he’s going to stop. Stubbornness is another Hudson trait. Once they decide they want, they don’t stop even after they get it.”
Maddie didn’t tell Kara she had already had a taste of that seductive wanting. “I’m going to miss you.” She hugged Kara tightly. “Have fun.”
Simon and Kara were going on a three week tour of the UK and Europe for their honeymoon, and Maddie was happy for Kara. Her friend hadn’t had a very easy life and Kara deserved the best.
“I’ll call you.” Kara said emphatically as she hugged Maddie back. “I won’t be able to stand this cliffhanger. I’ll need to know what’s happening.”
“I think I’ll have to figure out what’s happening myself before I can tell you anything,” Maddie said laughingly as she released her friend.
Kara put her hands on her hips, shooting Maddie a disapproving look. “At least take him up on funding the clinic. You know you want to.”
Unfortunately, Maddie knew she wanted to take Sam up on the entire deal. She just wasn’t sure her heart would survive it.
*****
“If you want her, marry her.”
Sam stared at his brother, Simon, wishing it were just that easy. “I am marrying her. I already told her that.”
“Uh…did you actually ask her?” Simon inquired uneasily.
“Nope. I told her she was marrying me. She’s had years to find somebody else and she hasn’t. She’s getting me. At least I won’t treat her like shit and I can give her everything she wants. She’ll get over the fact that she hates me…eventually.” I hope.
When Sam had parted from Maddie upstairs, he had come down to the library and spilled everything to Simon, needing a male opinion.
“Shit. At least I asked Kara to marry me. I wasn’t planning on letting her refuse, but at least I did ask,” Simon grumbled, shooting his older brother a troubled stare.
“I told her I wanted her to marry me. Same damn thing,” Sam answered, his voice irritable.
“Uh…not exactly, bro,” Simon answered. “I don’t think Maddie’s the type of woman who wants to be told what to do. She’s kind of like Kara in that way. You have to let Maddie think she’s managing things once in a while.”
“Why?” Sam demanded, shooting his brother a disgusted look. “If I do that, she could bolt. I’m not willing to let her get away this time. She’s marrying me.”
Simon nodded emphatically. “Right. Well, in that case, you don’t have a choice. You’ll just have to make her marry you.”
“Oh, good grief. Am I really hearing my two sons discussing marriage as though they were arranging something in the Stone Age? Samuel Hudson, you are going to court that woman appropriately and then politely ask her to marry you.” Their mother, Helen Hudson, strode into the room, shooting Sam a harsh, admonishing look.
Oh, shit. I hate that look. Makes me feel like a five-year-old.
Sam shot his mother a charming smile, even though he knew it wouldn’t work. Mom had been on to him forever. “We were just discussing possible options, Mom.”
Helen walked over to him and craned her neck to look up into his eyes. Strange, but even though his mother had to look up at him now, that knowing glance still made him want to squirm like a naughty child.
“You treat that woman right or you’ll lose your chance,” she warned him sternly. “I saw the way you were with her today. You need her.”
Sam couldn’t argue with that statement. He definitely needed Maddie. The question was…how to get her where he wanted her.
Simon was sitting behind the desk, his mother’s back to him, and Sam saw him smirking.
“And don’t be sassy, Simon. You married a wonderful woman today. You need to treat her right,” Helen admonished, without even turning around, making Simon sit up in his chair and wipe the smile from his face.
Sam looked at his mother affectionately. The woman really did have eyes in the back of her head.
“I treat Kara like a princess,” Simon objected, slouching back in the office chair.
“You better continue to do it,” his mother answered.
Helen was still dressed for the wedding, looking stunning in a navy blue dress with matching pumps. Her blonde hair was still nicely coiffed and she didn’t look in the least bit wilted from the long day she had put in helping from sunrise until just this moment. Even though Sam had told her to go home, she had stayed to oversee the clean-up.
Wish I would have remembered she was still here. I would have closed the door.
Folding her arms in front of her impatiently, Helen asked sharply, “Did I…or did I not hear you say you were going to make that girl marry you, Samuel?”
Dammit. He was really in trouble if she was calling him Samuel.
“She’s going to marry me,” he told his mother stubbornly.
“She’s educated, she’s smart and she’s beautiful. Stop treating her like you have dominant caveman genes and maybe you’ll succeed. You can’t just club the woman over the head and drag her away to your cave. She deserves your respect,” Helen admonished him.
“I do respect her. I wouldn’t want to marry her if I didn’t,” Sam argued.
“Then treat her well and stop acting like an ass,” Helen retorted. “I’d like to see you as happy as Simon is, Sam,” she finished in a wistful voice. She lifted her palm to cup his cheek. “You both deserve to be happy.”