Momentary Lapse Read Free Page B

and straightened her spine.
    â€œNo. I didn’t say. Just like you didn’t say you grew up at the local trailer park.” She tipped her glass of water at him in mock salute. “It was your impeccable manners that gave you away. What?” she taunted, keeping up the roll of verbal punches as Cole’s face grew noticeably darker. In a perverse kind of way, she was having fun being rude. “In case you forgot, I think I mentioned not wanting to talk to you.”
    â€œIsn’t that why you’re here?” Cole dropped all pretense at southern charm. “A rich, solitary woman comes into a hotel bar. Something’s happened.” He drilled her with a measured look. “A break up? Cheating lover?” He gave a satisfied grunt as Madison froze in her seat. “Yes. Something bad enough to send you in here searching to boost your confidence.” He tilted his head toward her glass, half-full of water. “Why else would you still be here, flirting with me and not drinking?”
    â€œFlirting!” Madison forgot her earlier rule and spluttered all over the bar. “I’m not flirting. I’m insulting you.”
    â€œSame thing in my book, darlin’.”
    Madison’s mouth fell open. Her eyes widened. “For your information, I wasn’t taking notice of anyone. Least of all you.”
    â€œNow, we know that’s not true.” Cole laughed that damned sexy laugh again, melting away a healthy dose of Madison’s moral outrage. He nudged the side of her seat so she swung out to face the bar. “Take a look, sweetheart. It’s an all-male revue tonight. And everyone has sure noticed you.”
    Madison didn’t need to look to know most of the men were still glancing her way. It had been like that for as long as she remembered. Men lining up to lavish her with admiration. Usually, she liked their attention and turned every entrance into a show, knowing the interest of hot-blooded males automatically defaulted to her. Even her gay friends appreciated how nicely she was put together. Madison liked to be noticed. She needed the attention because it made her feel good. Made her feel like someone . Special.
    She dropped her eyes. Except that wasn’t the reason she’d turned up tonight.
    Was it? She’d come looking for answers. About Logan.
    Hadn’t she?
    A voice inside her head mocked her denial. Had she really travelled two hours to Baltimore, to the hotel where her ex-fiancé had cheated on her, not to do anything? She could just as easily have stayed at her mother’s. Madison shuddered at the thought.
    And why shouldn’t she get something for all of the heartbreak? No one else gave a damn. Not her mother. Not her stepfather. And certainly not Logan—the man her mother would no doubt force her to reconcile with tomorrow.
    She’d just been asking when it was going to be her turn, and like magic, Cole had appeared. There was no point denying Madison’s attraction to him. Drawn because he was exactly the type of man her mother had always forbidden her to associate with. He might have the name, but he had no stock, no style and no status. He was worth nothing to her.
    Yet tonight, for some inexplicable reason, Cole had become an intriguing enigma.
    Madison lowered her gaze from pale blue eyes that saw too much.
    â€œI need a drink,” she said flatly.
    This time, Cole gestured for the bartender. No surprises when a shot glass appeared in front of her shortly after. She wrinkled her nose, closed her eyes and tipped back the liquid. No hesitation. Then waited for the kick of alcohol to hit. But there was no comforting burn, no gasping for air, no feeling that every swallow slid down her throat like razors. She just felt…numb. Swiveling her glass in her hand, Madison caught a glimpse of her fractured reflection.
    Broken.
    And tomorrow life would rock back into its inevitable rut. With Logan.
    She blinked back