None of it stopped her from wanting him, but never, not in a million years, would she chase him now.
The images on her computer screen blended together and she realized she’d gotten lost in her thoughts again.
Cade, her oldest brother, came into the kitchen of their father’s expansive house. It was the general gathering place for them all, and they only used the formal dining room for dinners. As wealthy and influential as her father might be, they were, overall, a casual family.
“What’s wrong now?” Cade asked, taking the seat across from her.
“Nothing.” She was glad her father hadn’t yet joined them, and that Bernard remained busy at the stove.
“Madison.”
As a retired army ranger, Cade had a calm, imperturbable way about him that demanded total honesty. With most people, it worked like a charm.
As his sister, she ignored it and hunkered closer to her laptop.
“I bet she’s mooning over Detective Crosby Albertson.” Reyes, the middle sibling, had the same skill set as Cade, but with an edge of caustic humor that often rubbed people the wrong way.
She shot him a narrow-eyed glare and went back to her PC. Nothing unusual in that. She spent most of her time buried in tech research. Without an active case, much of her focus lately had been on Crosby.
He hadn’t lied about leaving the police. She knew that now. What she didn’t know was why. There had to be a reason other than the lame one he’d made up.
As Madison had told him, curiosity was an issue for her, so of course she’d uncovered his long-standing relationship with Winton.
It seemed the kindly store owner had been a stand-in father to Crosby when he’d needed someone the most.
Lightly, Madison touched her fingertips to the online image of a much-younger version of Crosby that she’d easily uncovered. At fifteen, his clothing was too small, his body too lanky, his hair messy, and there was no smile on his face.
Totally different from the polished, extra-fine specimen he was now. Well, except for the lack of a smile. Crosby was still pretty stingy with those.
What had happened to make him look so solemn? Yes, she knew his dad had passed away the year before, and that his single mother worked in housekeeping for a local hotel. Those details hadn’t been difficult to find.
But weren’t kids usually resilient? Didn’t they rebound when given enough love?
Her heart squeezed at the idea of him suffering a difficult childhood. In many ways, her own had been challenging, too. Losing her mother, and then her father’s single-minded focus on ensuring that she, Reyes and Cade were trained in every manner of defense. Overall, she’d embraced the regimen because it gave her an outlet for her grief and allowed her to spend a portion of each day with her siblings. While it had been a serious undertaking, they’d also shared plenty of laughs.
Maybe because of their upbringing, she and her brothers were uncommonly close. Another benefit was her vast knowledge of weaponry, and as she’d proven in Winton’s store, her ability to stay calm and hold her own in physical encounters. Her instincts had been refined for speed and accuracy, which helped make up for what she lacked in bulk strength.
And none of that had impressed Crosby.
Frowning, she clicked to the photo of Crosby one year later. He stood with Winton at the edge of a grassy bank, holding a large bass and grinning with pride. Tethered to a tree behind him, a wood fishing boat floated on the river with a tackle box and rods filling one end.
Winton had obviously worked wonders.
“Definitely Crosby,” Cade said, scrutinizing her in that consuming way of his. He had the knack of taking in every detail with a single glance.
“What’s that?” Madison asked, forcing her gaze away from the laptop. “Were you speaking to me?” It wasn’t unusual for her to be engrossed in her work, so her brothers shouldn’t think anything of it.
A slight smile told her Cade wasn’t fooled. “What are you working on?”
“Researching Crosby, actually.” Going with the truth might help throw him off the scent.
“Still?” Reyes asked. “By now you probably know the color of his toothbrush.”
She wasn’t that bad—was she? Madison shook her head. “After seeing him at that robbery a few weeks ago, I’ve been curious to know if he resolved the extortion of those small businesses.”
Cade kept staring.
Clearing her throat, she added, “And I wondered why he left active duty policing. That’s all.”
“Uh-huh,” Reyes teased. “You have the hots for him.”
Keeping her temper in check wasn’t easy, but she merely said, “You are so crude.”
Brows up, Reyes asked, “What would you call it?”
Ignoring Reyes, Cade’s gaze grew more intense. “Knowing you, I assume you’ve made your interest known?”
Fat lot of good it had done her. “I like to play hard to get.”
Reyes barked a laugh. “Is that what you were doing? Cuz it looked like the opposite to me. What I don’t get is why Crosby isn’t biting.”
Cade scowled at him. “Did you want him to bite?”
Reyes opened his mouth, then shut it. “Bad choice of words.” He shook his head. Hard. “Damn, now I have an image in my brain.”
To taunt him, Madison leaned closer and asked, “An image of Crosby nibbling on me? Nice. Why don’t you draw me a picture?”
Reyes tapped a fist to his skull as if to dispel the visual. “Stop that or I’ll have to go visit the good detective—”
“Ex-detective.”
“—and have a big brother talk with him—using my fists.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Madison whispered in warning. “I would demolish you.”
“It might not be a bad idea,” Cade said. “At least if we chatted, we could—”
Alarm ripped into Madison. “No.” Even her arrogant brothers couldn’t be that overprotective. They knew she could handle herself, for crying out loud.
“You’re a catch,” Reyes assured her. “He should be jumping for joy.”
As her father joined them at the table, she complained, “Dad,” in the same way she’d been doing since they were toddlers when she wanted him to intervene on her behalf.
“Leave your sister alone,” Parrish announced in the equally familiar tone of voice that silenced everyone. He seated himself just in time for Bernard to set out a hearty meal of breakfast meats, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes and various breads.