He didn’t think he’d ever seen such impressive bed-head before. Carter couldn’t stop himself from smiling as he took Maddy in. One whole side of her dark brown hair was scrunched up in wild abandon, the other half flat to her head. Her silky little floral robe, edged in lace, did nothing but highlight her long legs. Her toes were painted orange and black, the big toes little grinning jack o’ lanterns.

Because Halloween was coming up. Cute.

For a moment, he entertained the idea of Maddy in one of those cheesy sexy costumes, but then dismissed the idea. No, she was the type to commit to a costume. She probably planned them out. Had a whole theme. Was all about the details.

He liked that about her. She threw herself into whatever project she had in front of her, full heartedly. The campaign ideas she’d sent him—and the sample photos—had been better than anything his previous social media manager had ever come up with.

“Hi!” she squeaked. “I… must not have turned my alarm on. So sorry. Come on in.”

“Carter had car trouble, so I told him he could tag along,” Nat said, breezing into Maddy’s apartment.

“I’m going to go get dressed,” Maddy said, her gaze skittering toward Carter, and as soon as his eyes met hers, she blushed and looked away. “Make yourself comfortable! Cold brew is in the fridge, Nat.” She disappeared back into her bedroom.

An orange cat meowed, jumping onto the couch next to Carter, looking at him with interest.

“Hey, you must be Peaches.’ He held out his hand for the cat to sniff. Peaches examined him for a moment, and then promptly plopped himself down in Carter’s lap, purring rapidly as Carter petted him.

“He likes you,” Nat observed, sitting down in a wicker chair across from the couch, two glasses full of iced coffee in her hands. She handed one over to Carter. “Maddy’s special brew. Black, with sugar, just like you like it.”

Carter took a sip of the cold drink, the rich coffee and hint of spice he couldn’t recognize filling his sense. “Wow, that’s amazing,” he said.

“This stuff is pretty much the only reason I ever made it to any of my morning classes,” Nat said, holding up her own glass, laced with heavy cream and way too much sugar. She just loved ruining good coffee.

“Maddy saved you, huh?” Carter asked.

“Always,” said Maddy from behind him. She’d thrown her hair up into a messy bun that was almost as cute as the bedhead. “You making friends, Peaches?” She bent over to scratch the cat’s ears, and everything inside Carter just melted when he accidentally got a look down the pink sweater she was wearing.

Fucking hell, he could not think about the swell of Maddy’s breasts straining tight against sky-blue lace. He could not think about peeling that soft sweater off that shoulder it was slipping down and painting her skin with greedy kisses.

He needed to be professional. He needed to be in control.

He needed to pull her into his lap and run his hands up those beautifully thick and strong thighs of hers as she straddled him. The jeans she was wearing, tucked into tall leather riding boots, were so tight they looked painted on.

“He’s not bothering you, is he?” Maddy asked.

“No,” Carter said. “I’m fine.” Right now, Peaches was doing him a favor. He had begun to knead Carter’s leg, which was distracting him enough to gain some kind of control. He felt like he’d never seen a woman before—that’s how visceral the glimpse of blue lace and the idea of kissing Maddy, of exposing that smooth skin of hers inch by inch, of pinning her against his bed as she giggled against his mouth and demanded more—was.

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t ready,” Maddy said. “I was going to get up early and bake cinnamon rolls.”

“I swung by Voodoo Doughnuts and managed to talk my way into a box,” Nat said. “I’ve been dreaming about them since Christmas. They’re in the car.”

“I haven’t had one for two years,” Carter confessed.

“Well, we obviously need to rectify that,” Maddy said, with a grin.

“Let me get your luggage to the car,” Carter offered, picking Peaches up gently and handing him to Maddy. “I’ll meet you two out there.”

He grabbed Maddy’s suitcase, going out the front door and finally, for the first time, breathing free.

He needed to find some semblance of control and stop acting like a Neanderthal, even if Maddy brought out every caveman instinct he had in him.

He carried her suitcase—damn that thing was heavy, what the hell did she have in that thing?—to the car and leaned on the trunk, staring up at the cloudy Portland sky.

Carter should’ve rented a car or called a service when his car didn’t start this morning, but Nat had called to check in and had offered to pick him up. She hadn’t mentioned carpooling with Maddy until Carter was in the car and he couldn’t exactly change his mind then.

He’d told himself that he’d keep his distance this weekend. The retreat wasn’t about him, it was about the team, and everyone bonding and acclimating. He also wanted to take a major step back this weekend and let Nat take over. She already assumed a leadership role in a lot of ways, but now that she was going to take over as CEO, it was time for Carter to fade into the shadows and let her shine.

Then he could get back to his lab. He felt a familiar ache in his stomach at the thought, but now it was accompanied by relief. Because as soon as Olivia was healthy and his parents were finally able to take a breath, it would just be days and days of Carter working on what he wanted with a team he hand-picked. He could finally finish the rechargeable battery he’d been working on. He could also finally expand. It wasn’t that he was discontent with sex toys—he loved his work, and there were always new ways to improve. But he had a few ideas that were much bigger, and the last time he was in Oregon, he’d taken a few meetings with Aiden McGowan, Portland’s green energy titan. They’d talked about collaborating on something in the future, and Carter wanted to take him up on it.

He just needed to get through the next few weeks and the operation and Olivia’s recovery. Then everything would be better.

He heard Maddy’s laughter float through the courtyard, and his stomach clenched. Hell, first, he needed to get through this weekend without doing something stupid like kissing Maddy senseless.

As Maddy and Nat came into to view, he couldn’t help but realize that even the smartest man can be mighty stupid sometimes.