Free Tempting the Best Man (A Gamble Brothers Novel) (Entangled Brazen) by J. Lynn Page A

tips of his cheeks flushed. “And I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”
    “Don’t,” she said, on her feet before she realized it. In the cramped space, there was very little room between them, and her anger was like a third person crowding them in. “Don’t tell me you shouldn’t have done it.”
    His eyes went wide and then narrowed. “Maddie—”
    “And stop calling me that.” Her hands balled into fists. “I think you’ve made it perfectly clear how unattractive you find me.”
    “Whoa. Wait.” He threw up his hands. “This has nothing to do with that.”
    She huffed. “Yeah, because when you’re attracted to someone, you actually enjoy kissing them and afterward, you don’t act like you kissed Adolf Hitler.”
    His lips twitched as if he were trying not to smile, and he stood, too. “For one thing, that’s not how I acted. And secondly, I don’t want to hear ‘kissing’ and ‘Hitler’ in the same sentence ever again, because now I’m picturing you with that little Hitler mustache.”
    “Shut up.”
    “And that’s not hot—not hot at all.”
    His tone was light, playful even, but now her face was burning, and there was no escaping him. “Whatever.”
    Anger darkened the hue of his eyes, turning them cobalt blue, and the mischievous glimmer was gone. “Talking about this—trying to be a decent guy about the situation—was obviously a mistake.”
    “Just like kissing me was yesterday, right?”
    “Obviously,” he shot back.
    Madison flinched, and for a second, she thought she saw regret flicker in his eyes, but then he looked away. Everything came to a head in an instant. Years of confusion and regret mixed together to form a nasty ball of emotion. She tipped her chin up. “Tell me, do you call your other girlfriends after you make out with them and apologize for your drunken behavior?”
    The muscle in his jaw popped out.
    Undaunted, she took a step forward, getting right in his face. “I bet you don’t. They probably get phone calls that don’t include an apology and flowers instead of being left behind like discarded trash.”
    Anger flared in his eyes. “You’re not discarded trash.”
    “Yeah, I guess I’m just not good enough, then. But hey, be happy, because soon we’ll have our own rooms and won’t have to keep apologizing to each other.” She turned away and walked down the steps to find a damn chest to hide in, because tears were burning her eyes and she knew how jealous she sounded.
    She was making a fool out of herself. Again.
    Madison made it down one step before Chase’s hand caught her arm and whipped her back around. He glowered at her. “You don’t have a freaking clue, do you?”
    She tried to pull her arm free, but he held on. “A clue about what?”
    “It has nothing to do with you being good enough or me being attracted to you. Not at all.”
    “I’m not sure who you’re trying to convince, bud. I think your track record with me speaks for itself.”
    One second she was in the middle of the step and the next her back was against the wall and Chase’s body was flush to hers, meeting in all the right places.
    “Tell me,” he said, voice low and thick. “Does it seem like I’m not attracted to you?”
    Oh, oh yeah, he was definitely attracted to her. The breath went out of her lungs and her mouth felt dry. Every inch of his body pressed against hers, and she could feel his erection, long and thick against her belly. Electricity hummed over her entire body.
    “I’m…I’m starting to get the picture,” she said. “It’s a pretty big picture.”
    Any other day, Chase might have laughed, but not now. He was furious and there was more, but she wasn’t afraid. Fear and Chase’s name were two things that would never go together.
    She tried to swallow, to take a breath, but her eyes met his, and there was nothing but aching intensity in his gaze. And she was drawn in, swept away.
    Maybe she really didn’t have a freaking clue.
    Chase’s warm