Mad About Matt (A Red Maple Falls Novel #1) Read online

  “Nobody I can think of,” she said, bending down to pick up a pot from the floor. She placed it in the sink. Even though she kept her store cleaner than a hospital, she wasn’t taking any chances. All of the pots and pans needed to be washed before she could use them again.

  So much for her early night in front of the TV with a glass of chardonnay and her Kindle. It’ll have to wait for another time. Right now, she had a shop to clean and five dozen cupcakes to rebake and refrost.

  “You could be washing away fingerprints,” Matt said as she plunged her hands into the warm water.

  “It’s fine. Probably some stupid kid who has nothing better to do than wreak havoc.”

  The truth was she didn’t want Matt dusting for fingerprints… or any evidence for that matter. If it was somebody from her past, she didn’t want Matt to get involved. He didn’t need to know about that part of her life. It was better to forget about it.

  “I don’t think you’re taking this seriously enough.”

  “And I think your badge is getting to your head.”

  His jaw ticked and, as silly as it was, she found satisfaction in his annoyance.

  “My badge has nothing to do with it. I’m the Sheriff of the town and whether you like it or not it is my duty to protect you and your shop.”

  She knew this, of course, but hearing him say it—declaring that the only reason he was there was because he had to be not because he wanted to be—cut a little deeper than she expected.

  Pushing aside the disappointment that someone could ruin what she’d worked so hard for, she squared her shoulders and glared at Matt with all the irritation she could muster. “Glad to see you care.”

  “I do,” he grunted in heated anger.

  “Because it’s your duty, right?”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  It didn’t matter what he meant. All that mattered was the fact that the clock was ticking and if she didn’t get to work she’d have a very upset birthday boy tomorrow.

  She squirted more soap on the sponge and scrubbed harder at the bowl in her hand.

  “Let me help you,” Matt said, reaching for the sponge she was holding, his fingers grazing her skin and causing a flurry of sparks to ignite along her arm.

  After all this time his touch still set her ablaze. She ignored her burning skin and focused on the water, the bowl, anything to keep from looking at him.

  “Give me the sponge,” he said, his voice low and demanding.

  The only reason he was offering was because he felt bad. She didn’t need his help, and she damn well didn’t need his pity either. She started this bakery from the ground up with little to no help. She could handle a few dishes.

  “I have it. You should go. I’m sure you have speeders to catch and a town to keep safe. I don’t need you cleaning up my mess.”

  He didn’t step away. His hand tightened on the sponge until she let go of it. She looked up, catching those gorgeous eyes of his. Her body betrayed her, a smile playing at the corner of her mouth as she lost herself in his gaze.

  “I’m not asking.” His tone was commanding and insisting, but she knew him. Or at least she once did. Despite everything, he was kind. It was all he knew. He was raised to be a gentleman, a quality so rare in the men she dated since him. She’d almost forgotten what it was like to have a man offer his help without expecting anything in return.

  There was no denying that Matt Hayes was a good man, but he was also a living, breathing reminder of the mistake she made—walking away from him so many years ago. They had been teenagers, but she’d loved him with every fiber of her being.

  Every guy she dated since then had fallen short…not just short, oh no, a football field length short of ever living up to Matt and the connection they’d shared.

  No guy turned her body to liquid heat the way Matt did from only a single look. Or ignited an explosion of fireworks up her arms and straight to her core from a simple touch. And no guy could ever make her feel like she was the most beautiful girl in the world—even after falling in a murky creek—like he did.

  Their summer together was so long ago, yet the memories were burned so vividly in her mind it was as if she could still smell the basil growing on his parents’ farm, feel his hands roaming up and down her body, his lips pressing hungrily against her own as they made out behind the tractor, trying to hide from his three sisters and two brothers.

  Memories—that’s all they were, she reminded herself as she grabbed a rag and started wiping down the counters. Anything so she didn’t have to look at him and get sucked into that intense gaze again.

  “Rub any harder and you might just put a hole in it,” he said a few moments later, snapping her out of her head and back to reality. She looked down at the stainless-steel counter that shined as brightly as polished silver.

  “You sure you’re okay?” His voice like silk wrapped around her in a warm caress.

  She forced a smile, even though she wasn’t feeling very chipper at the moment, and lied. “I’m fine.”

  “‘I’m fine’ as in you are fine? Or ‘I’m fine’ as in ‘I’m not fine but I’m going to say I am so I don’t have to talk about it?’”

  She cocked an eyebrow at him.

  “Remember I have three sisters. I know when I’m being blown off.”

  He shut the water off and turned toward her, resting his backside against the sink. The muscles in his arms pressed firmly against the tan sleeves of his uniform as he crossed them over his chest. She swallowed down the desire the movement stirred inside her.

  She forced her eyes away from his biceps, fully aware that she’d been staring and staring hard. She only hoped she wasn’t slack-jawed and drooling. If she hoped his expression would key her in, she was sadly mistaken. A knowing smirk flitted across his mouth, his eyes twinkling in amusement.

  Refusing to play into his boyish charms, she continued scrubbing the counter. “I’m not blowing you off,” she finally managed.

  “If you say so.”

  “I do.”

  They spent the next hour working side by side in silence until her kitchen was finally back to normal.

  “Let me walk you out,” Matt said, tossing a towel onto the edge of the sink. He had shed his top shirt at one point, and was down to a white undershirt that only managed to accent his hard muscles even more. She swore he did it on purpose after seeing how crossed arms got her all hot and bothered. He scooped up said shirt and pivoted toward her.

  “You go,” she said, tying her hot pink apron with white polka dots and black frilly trim around her waist. “I have five dozen cupcakes I have to make.”

  “Now?” Matt glanced over to the vintage cupcake clock. “It’s after eleven.”

  “And Tommy Kramer will be six years old tomorrow, and he’s expecting five dozen dinosaur themed cupcakes.

  “You still have plenty of cupcakes in the case up front. Tell his parents what happened. I’m sure they’ll understand.”

  “I can’t let him down.”

  “He’s six. He’ll get over it.”

  “Six or sixty-six, he’s still my customer, and I always aim to please. I will accept nothing less.”

  “You’re a good person, Shay.”

  A slight smile lifted at the corner of her mouth. Maybe she was then and now, but it didn’t make up for the in between years when she wasn’t. “Thanks for coming down here. Sorry to have wasted your time.”

  He stepped toward her, his gaze dark and serious. “Any time with you is not wasted.”

  She tried to ignore the butterflies taking flight in her stomach, swirling around in a joyous frenzy. Afraid she was blushing, she let her hair fall forward, creating a curtain to hide behind.

  “I should get started,” Shay said and hurried over to the cabinets, pulling down the sugar and flour. It was late, and she was bone-dead tired, but once she started mixing ingredients, she’d come alive just like she always did.

  Matt slapped his hands down on the counter, startling the ever-living hell out of her.

  “What do you need me to do?” he asked, taking the containers out of her hand and placing them on the counter.

  Her eyebrows pulled down. “What?”

  “We have five dozen cupcakes to make, don’t we?”

  “We?”

  “Did you honestly think I would bail on you?”

  “You’ve already spent so much time here. Don’t you have to get back to the station?”

  “Shift’s over.”

  “You’re the Sheriff. Your shift is never over.”

  “I have my phone on me in case of emergency.”

  “But you’re probably tired. You should go home and get some sleep.”

  “Are you going to stand here all night trying to get rid of me, or are you going to give me something to do?”

  He was always a straight to the point kind of guy—something she’d appreciated. No bullshit, no beating around the bush… It was refreshing.

  She gave him a sassy tilt of her head. “You know how to crack an egg?”

  “I think I can manage.”

  She slid a bowl across the counter to him. “In the fridge, top shelf.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  She might not have been that girl anymore, but right now she was a girl in need, and she would take the help he was willing to give.

  Besides, it was just baking. It’s not like he was going to scoop her up and have his way with her on top of the fondant.

  Chapter 3

  Matt’s back and feet hurt and… come to think of it, so did his hands and ass. He worked out four times a week, hiked on the weekends, and spent many early mornings rowing across the lake behind his log cabin, yet spending four hours bent over a counter making cupcakes, was seriously taki
ng a toll on his body. It was downright pathetic, so he blamed it on lack of sleep.

  He skipped his morning row and headed to Main Street before his shift started. He needed to stop by his sister’s studio and, since he’d be a few doors down, he’d also stop in to check on Shay. He was the Sheriff, and it was the right thing to do after all.

  Matt parked his cruiser in one of the few spots alongside his sister’s building, Serenity Glass Blowing Studios. Kate had been up and running for three years now, and as an older brother he couldn’t be prouder. She had a dream she wanted to make happen by her thirtieth birthday and she didn’t just follow it; she grabbed it by the balls and made the dream a reality.

  At thirty-three, she was the second oldest in the Hayes clan. Growing up they shared a lot of the same friends and were extremely close. It was a different bond than he had with his other siblings. Kate was his go-to whenever he needed advice. He trusted her opinion and respected her as a business woman and a person in general.

  He arched his back, giving it a good stretch before making his way toward the front. Multi-colored glass balls strung up by clear fishing line decorated the big front windows of the studio, and come midmorning when the sun sat just right in the sky, it would illuminate them and cast a rainbow of colors across the small space.

  The sign on the door was flipped to CLOSED, but Matt ignored it. Signs like that didn’t pertain to family. Even if it did, that wouldn’t have stopped him. Just like when they were kids and the girls would put “no boys allowed!!!!” signs on their doors as if that would keep him from entering. His sisters quickly learned it would take more than some angry written sign with too many exclamation points to keep him away.

  Being the oldest, he looked out for his younger sisters and brothers, even if that meant poking his nose where it didn’t belong. He couldn’t help himself. He was born to protect them, care for them, and he would do it whether they wanted him to or not.

  He looked around the front portion of the studio that was set up like a small shop. The shelves along the walls were lined with vases, glasses, and various shaped animal figurines. While handcrafted pedestals made out of refurbished wood—courtesy of Earl, the owner of Red Maple Falls Wood Studios—were placed meticulously throughout and showcased Kate’s larger pieces.

  “Anyone here?” he called out as he pulled the door behind him. The shop area was small, but what most people didn’t realize was there was also a back section of the studio where Kate did all of her work as well as teach classes.

  He found her there rolling a metal rod with flaming bright glass across a flat surface.

  “Hey sis,” he said as he approached so he wouldn’t startle her. He made the mistake of doing that once, causing her to roll the rod a little too hard and sending it sailing out of her hold and across the concrete floor. The vase she had been working on shattered into a million pieces, and he’d never felt so guilty in his life. He apologized a million times and brought her coffee for a week.

  Kate lifted her head, reddish blonde wisps falling free of her ponytail. “Matt! What are you doing here? I wasn’t expecting you.”

  Matt leaned against a table after making sure there was nothing breakable in sight. “A brother can’t stop by to say hi?”

  “Oh, he can, but you usually have a reason.”

  One thing about being so close—Kate could call him out from a mile away no matter how good his poker face was. There was no use dragging this out. He needed answers and Kate would be the only person who might have them. “Have you talked to Shay today?”

  Kate stopped and looked up, her brows pinching. “No, I haven’t. Should I have?”

  “Got a call last night that her alarm was going off. It looks like someone broke in.”

  “Oh my god! I had no idea. I’ve been here since the ass crack of dawn. I must’ve missed the gossip mill. If I knew I would have stopped by this morning on my way in to check on her.” Kate’s head tilted. “Unless you were hoping I didn’t have any information so you could go check on her yourself.”

  Kate and Shay had been close friends ever since that first summer Shay arrived and it was a friendship that had only gotten stronger over the years.

  If anybody in Red Maple Falls knew anything about Shay’s past it would be Kate. Matt hated to go behind Shay’s back in order to find out information, but Shay wasn’t talking, and he didn’t like how defensive she got when he had asked about her past. She was hiding something, and he was going to get to the bottom of it with or without her help.

  “I was planning on stopping by there anyway. Thank you,” he said with extra sarcasm.

  “Then why don’t you tell me why you’re really here.” Kate put down her tools and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not used to you beating around the bush, so get to it already.”

  Matt didn’t believe in bullshit or sugarcoating things. It was a quality he got from his grandfather. But for some reason this wasn’t easy to blurt out. There was something in the back of his head telling him to talk to Shay one more time. If she was in danger, he needed to know. How else would he be able to protect her? He didn’t have time to play games. Not if there were answers that could help him help her.

  “Has Shay ever mentioned anything about New York?”

  “She’s mentioned a lot actually. Anything in particular?”

  “An enemy?”

  “Besides her mother?”

  “I’m serious. Is there someone she might have bad blood with?”

  The soft playful air that surrounded Kate vanished as the smile on her lips flattened into a straight line. “You think the break-in was personal?”

  “Her place was wrecked, but they didn’t take anything. So, to me that says it was someone trying to send a message.”

  Kate’s bluish green eyes widened. “Do you think she’s in danger?”

  “It’s all speculation right now. I wanted to see if there were fingerprints left behind, but she started cleaning and tampering with things before I could. She told me not to worry about it.”

  “But you can’t help yourself.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t want to not look into it and then she winds up hurt. I’d never forgive myself.”

  Kate gave him a knowing look. She didn’t need to say anything. That look said it all. Because you still love her.

  It had been so long since they’d been together, but the love he once had for her still burned like a fresh lit fire. No matter how hard he tried to snuff it out, it just kept coming back. They weren’t teenagers anymore, and so much time had passed, so much had happened, but every time he looked at her, it was like he was eighteen all over again—hopelessly and forever in love with her.

  Most of the time, he despised her for it. She ruined his chances of ever having a family because every time he started something with a girl, thinking that was his chance, he’d remember Shay. Try as he might, he couldn’t create the natural spark that Shay so easily ignited inside of him. When she left, she took the spark with her. How the hell was he ever supposed to be with someone else when a part of him was missing? The part that made everything worthwhile, caused excitement and passion. Drove him crazy with desire and want.

  Sex for him became a means to an end. A need for release and little else. He tried to forget about Shay, let go of what they had because clearly it was something made of fairy tales and only set him up for failure, but he couldn’t. She had infected his heart, staking her claim and ruining his chances at happiness.

  Who knew a sweet girl from New York had that much power.

  “She doesn’t talk about New York,” Kate said. “Not anymore at least. I always assumed something happened. Why else would she come back here after all this time? Especially right after her grandparents left for Florida.”

  “Did she have a boyfriend?” Matt growled despite his attempts to keep his feelings out of his tone. The thought of Shay with another man made his jaw tick, his teeth grind, and every muscle from his neck to his shoulder blades to tense.

  “Of course. It’s not like she was celibate for the past seventeen years. She dated. A few were serious.”

  “Did she ever give you the impression that they…” He couldn’t get the words out. If he had even an inkling of suspicion that a man would hurt Shay in anyway, he’d drive all the way to New York and make them pay for every tear, every ounce of pain she ever felt because of them. Animosity or not, he still cared for the girl.