Page 56 of Recipe for Temptation (Madewood Brothers 4)

She nodded. “I really need to know if we won.”

The official winner wouldn’t be announced until dinner. Tomorrow. He needed to do something that would take her mind off it. Something fun to pass the time.

He leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Why don’t we go back to your room, and I can practice my dirty talk?”

She looked up, desire dancing in her gaze.

He was on top of the world right now. And nothing, not even if they came in last place, was going to ruin that.

“I am your willing guinea pig.” She turned and wrapped her arms around his body, then rested her chin on his chest.

For the next twenty-four hours, he had Penn all to himself. And heaven help him, there was nowhere else he’d rather be.

Chapter Thirteen

Penn spent the next twenty-four hours with Cole in her room.

Room service sated their hunger, and Cole’s hard cock satisfied her other hunger—the one that needed him desperately. The hunger she didn’t think would ever be sated.

Yesterday, he’d given her the best opportunity she’d ever had of winning the Foster Cup. He had sacrificed his own work, his life at home, to be here for her. As if he really loved her.

But that was impossible. Cole Murphy wasn’t the falling-in-love type. And tomorrow, when they packed up and left Hawaii, she would have to face reality and fall back into their familiar rhythm of friends and coworkers. She didn’t have the luxury of screwing up her job. If she’d learned anything on this trip, it was that she needed to keep the people and spaces that allowed her to be herself close. She never thought she’d find a job where she’d have a hand in helping hundreds of people every year and be appreciated for her candor, enthusiasm, and occasional lack of propriety. But her job with the Madewood family was just that—a space where she could be herself.

But she wouldn’t worry about that now. They still had one more night in paradise.

An hour before the award dinner, they showered and dressed in casual clothes. They planned to go to the beach after dinner to find a secluded spot and… Well, they’d just continue what they had been doing in their room.

Cole left ahead of her for dinner. He was too nervous, wearing a path in the floor from his pacing. So, she asked him to save them seats.

Just as she walked out of her hotel room, her phone buzzed in her purse. When she glanced at the screen, Sterling’s face smiled back at her.

She swiped the screen and answered her call, but didn’t even get in a greeting.

“I’ve been texting you all day!” Sterling’s voice was a few octaves higher than usual.

“Sorry.” She really wasn’t. Ignoring Sterling’s texts meant she was preoccupied with Cole. “I’ve been…busy.”

Sterling made a playfully disgusted noise. “I don’t want to know.”

“How do you even know what I’m referring to?” Penn switched the phone to her opposite hand, then pressed the button to call the elevator.

“I know you.” Sterling had a weird tone to her voice, and it was way too serious for her liking. “Which is why you need to hear what I have to say before it’s too late.”

“Too late for what?” The elevator dinged. “You’re being really cryptic.”

“I overheard a conversation between Jack and Neil. They were discussing the vacant spot on the board.”

With one foot inside the elevator, Penn froze. And waited.

Why had her best friend decided this was the best moment to go mute?

“And…?” she squealed into the phone, stepping back, narrowly missing the elevator doors crushing her.

“I might have heard your name come up as a replacement.”

Her stomach flipped. “Get out!” she yelled. Leaning against the wall, she rested her head against it. “Are you sure? Me? Were there other names?” So many questions ran through her brain.

“I didn’t hear them mention anyone else, but I don’t know. They could have had other discussions.”

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