Trailing after her, Madison glanced over her shoulder. Mitch had his hand on Chase’s shoulder and they both were laughing. A heartbeat passed, and Chase looked up, his eyes meeting hers.
Madison looked away and nearly ran straight into Chandler. Bigger and brawnier than all the Gamble brothers, he was easily the most intimidating. All three brothers shared the same strong features and extraordinary blue eyes, but Chandler was larger than the other two by a good three inches.
“Careful, squirt,” he said, easing past her. “Don’t want to run over one of the bridesmaids.”
Squirt? “Thanks, Godzilla.”
Then he had the gall to ruffle her hair like she was twelve.
She swung on him, missing by a mile, which was impressive considering how bulky he was.
Chandler laughed as he joined Mitch and his brother. So far, she hadn’t spied the middle brother. Chad was a notorious prankster and no one was safe when he was around.
Megan Daniels sat beside Madison’s father in the large, domed room, and it was hard to believe that her mom was approaching her fifty-sixth birthday. There wasn’t a single gray hair in the mass of her auburn waves.
“Sit, honey.” She patted the seat next to her. “I saved you some cheesecake.”
Without being told twice, Madison took her place and dug in, listening to the flow of conversation around her as everyone else settled back around the long tables. Every once in a while, a cousin twice removed would appear and then some of Lissa’s family. Her parents seemed nice and got along with Madison’s.
Mr. Grant, Lissa’s father, even smiled when Madison’s dad launched into the next wave of generators that could keep a 1,200-square-foot bunker running.
Her mother rolled her eyes. “You know your father likes to talk shop.”
Yeah, but most people’s shoptalk didn’t revolve around an apocalypse.
With everyone occupied, she swiped the last two cookies off a platter and practically swallowed them whole. If this was considered “brunch”, Madison thought she might just have a new favourite meal.
“It was really nice of Chase to volunteer to pick you up, honey.” Her mom’s eyes twinkled. “He wasn’t even here for ten minutes, but he left right away to get you.”
Madison almost choked on the cookie. “Yeah, really nice of him.”
Her mom leaned in and lowered her voice. “You know, he’s still single.”
Clearing her throat, she was thankful Chase was nowhere near the table. “Good for him.”
“And you used to have the biggest crush on him. It was so cute.”
Madison’s mouth dropped open to deny it, but Mrs. Grant responded before she could say a word. “A crush on who?”
“Chase.” Her mother nodded sagely toward the front of the room. “She followed Mitch and him around like a—”
“Mom,” Madison groaned, wanting to hide under the table. “I did not follow them around like a puppy.”
Her mother just smiled.
“That is so sweet,” Mrs. Grant said, her gaze traveling up to where Chase and the rest of the men stood. “And he seems like a lovely young man. Mitch was telling us how he owns several nightclubs in the city.”
Mom launched into a detailed account of Chase’s successes, which were quite impressive. Within the last seven years, he’d started several profitable upscale bars, easily placing him as one of the most eligible bachelors in the District.
But her mother had glossed over Chase’s well-known playboy social life. Madison hadn’t been to any of his clubs since she was twenty-one, since that disastrous night when alcohol and several years of crushing on a guy came to an utterly humiliating head.
After taking a sip of water, she excused herself to check on her room reservation and strolled between the tables and out into the wide foyer on her way to the reservation desk. Once outside the breakfast area though, she realized she had company.
Chase fell into step beside her, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. He was a good head and then some taller than her, and she always felt like a dwarf standing next to him.
She arched a brow at him, totally trying to play it cool even though her heart was pounding walking this close to him. “Following me?”
“Thought I’d change up the pattern.”
“Ha. Ha.”
He flashed a grin. “Actually, I was going to pick up my cabin key.”
“So am I.” Belle Vineyards had several cabins nestled across their estate, and they had reserved most of them for those attending the wedding scheduled for Saturday. She bit her lip, realizing she hadn’t thanked him yet. “Thank you for coming and getting me. You didn’t have to.”
Chase shrugged but said nothing. They wound their way through the elegantly designed hallways with exposed log walls and eventually arrived at the front desk.
An older man behind the counter with a nametag reading Bob smiled at them. “How can I help you?”
Chase leaned against the desk. “We’re here to pick up our room keys.”
“Oh, for the wedding?” His hands paused over the keyboard, ready to fly. “Congratulations.”
Madison choked back a laugh. “We aren’t. I mean, there’s no need for congratulations. He and I aren’t like that. We aren’t—”
“What she’s trying to say is that we’re not the bride and groom,” Chase replied evenly, smirking. God forbid anyone thought that. Geez. “We’re with the bridal party.”