Free Slow Burn (A Madaris Family Novel) by Brenda Jackson

that?”
    “Oh, you would be surprised.”
    No, she probably wouldn’t. When it came to a man like Slade, she could just imagine a woman doing just about anything to gain his attention. It was a good thing she wasn’t in the running, because she couldn’t cook worth a damn. She wondered what it would take to attract a man like him. Oh, she knew he was attracted to her, but the way she saw it, attraction to the opposite sex for most men came natural. No biggie. Men had a tendency to always think below the belt anyway.
    “So, who taught you how to cook?” she decided to ask.
    “My great-grandmother, Laverne Madaris. She’s in her late eighties and is still one feisty gal. When you’ve reached a certain age, you begin taking her cooking classes. Vincent will have to enroll in them pretty soon. It wouldn’t surprise me if she has gotten something set up for him this summer.”
    Skye hoped not, especially when she intended to ask Justin and Lorren if Vincent could spend the summer with her in Maine. “Well, your great-grandmother did a wonderful job.”
    “Thank you.”
    “Tell me some more about your family. They sound really interesting.”
    Skye and Slade spent the next half hour finishing their meal and sipping coffee. She liked listening to the sound of his voice when he told her about all the cousins he was close to and admired. He shared fond memories with her about the escapades of his twin, Blade, and his cousin Luke. She could tell from the sound of Slade’s voice that they were close and there was nothing one wouldn’t do for the other.
    After she listened to him, her life seemed so mundane in comparison. She couldn’t mention anything that happened during her lifetime that had been earth-shattering, unless you counted the time she caught the wrong bus home from school and got lost for a few hours. She’d been ten at the time and had gotten tired of waiting for the private car her parents would always send for her and decided to do like the other kids and take the bus. That had been a big mistake. Even Congressman Baines, who’d been her father’s top client at the time, had gotten all involved. All it had taken was a phone call from him to the Augusta Police Department and they had turned the city upside down looking for her. When she’d been found, it had to have been one of the most embarrassing moments of her life.
    “A penny for your thoughts.”
    She glanced up into Slade’s smiling eyes. “Oh, I was just thinking about my one moment of defiance. Happened when I was ten.”
    “Tell me about it.”
    “All right.”
    She told him the story, and telling it to him made her realize just how serious her actions had been at the time. Anything could have happened to her.
    “The congressman must have thought a lot of your father to get involved the way he did.”
    Skye nodded. “My father worked for him for years as his private accountant, and we consider him a close friend of the family.”
    Slade poured another cup of coffee and said, “Congressman Baines’ son is making a name for himself as a very popular and well-liked senator.”
    “Yes. I don’t know Senator Ryan Baines all that well, but I do know he’s very popular with a lot of the voters in Maine.”
    A few moments later and they were finishing up with breakfast. “Now for that riding lesson,” Slade said, leaning back in his chair.
    Skye lifted a brow. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
    “Yes.” He checked his watch. “It shouldn’t take us any time clearing off the table and loading the dishwasher. Then let’s agree to meet back down here in about thirty minutes.”
    Skye smiled. The thought of learning something new appealed to her. “I might as well warn you that I don’t pick up on things easy.”
    Slade leaned in close across the table and whispered, “I’ll be patient.”
    Her heart thudded in her chest and she felt goose bumps form on her arms. How was she supposed to get through a riding lesson with him? It