What Others are Saying about Love Songs:

“I enjoyed this short story very much. It is sweet and romantic… Even though this story is short the author took the time to make every bit of the plot have weight and value. The attention to detail, like the way Madison ices the cupcakes, makes this story stand out… Love Songs sings, and M.G. Braden has done a fine job with this!”

Carly~Reviewer for Fallen Angel Reviews

“Love Songs is a sweet short story about a second chance to land a childhood crush. The story was good and the writing was clean…”

Ariana Blaine~Reviewer for The Romance Studio

“This is another fine work by Braden that will leave you feeling satisfied. Love songs is a sweet, contemporary short story that will enchant and delight its readers from start to finish.”

Lily~Reviewer for The Long and Short of it

LOVE SONGS

****

PUBLISHED BY:

M.G. Braden

Love Songs - Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2010 by M.G. Braden

Cover Art: Jax Cassidy

Discover other titles by MG Braden at Smashwords.com: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/mgbraden

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

Smashwords Edition License Notes

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Dedication:

Steve - “How do I Live…”

“Love is in the air…”

Madison Hughes quickly tuned the radio to a new station. Love songs suck.

“And I will always love you…”

Why are all the stations playing this hokey crap? She switched it again.

“All by myself. Don’t wanna live…”

Much better. Although…living on her own wasn't so bad. She could do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted.

She sang along as she mixed up the cupcakes she had promised to bake for her niece. Kayla needed them for her preschool’s Valentine’s Day party. It was the least Madison could do since her brother had taken on the role of single parent. Jake couldn’t bake worth a darn and was only slightly better at cooking meals, but he really was the best father to Kayla.

She popped the cupcakes in the oven and set the timer. Here she was feeling sorry for herself when Jake would be spending his first Valentine’s without his wife, Maria. Some sister she was. While she had all her baking stuff out, she decided to make his favourite cake. She would take it over to him when she dropped Kayla off.

Ever since Maria had passed away, just under a year ago, she had been helping Jake out with Kayla, who was only four. Madison picked her up after preschool and took care of her until Jake got home from work. As a baker she worked very early mornings, which enabled her to take care of Kayla in the afternoon.

Kayla knew that Madison made the best cupcakes in all of Maple Meadows. Not that Maple Meadows was so big, but still, it was good to be known as the Cupcake Queen. Her business was called Cupcake Castle and, according to her niece, that apparently made her queen. Soon the moniker became her trademark around town. Still, as happy as she was being the queen of cupcakes, it would be nice to have a king. Making Valentine treats for the entire town was rather depressing when you were single.

The timer on the oven rang. She pulled the cupcakes out and put the cake for her brother into the heated oven in their place. After the cupcakes cooled, she poured chocolate ganache over them and started to decorate each one. They had to be identical, or there would be arguments among the preschoolers. Unable to resist, she took a bite of one of the cupcakes.

Mmm, chocolate. Who needs a man when you have chocolate treats this good?

***

Madison had just settled Kayla in front of her favourite princess video when she heard the door open. Looking at her watch, she thought it odd that Jake was home early. It was only three o’clock. She heard his voice, and then another male voice. I know that voice. Her heart started to beat faster, playing staccato against her rib cage. It can’t be.

She went down the hall into the kitchen. Yep. There he was in all his glory. Cameron Trent. The all-star from high school. He was not only the hottest guy in school, but also the nicest. Everyone liked him. How could you not? He was six feet tall with chocolate brown hair and eyes to match. The biggest grin she had ever seen and a dimple as deep as the Grand Canyon. And he was nice to everyone he met. Even to her. His best friend’s little sister.

She was four years younger than Jake and had adored him. From a small child she'd followed him and his friends around. He had been her hero. She’d been a chubby child, and he had always stood up for her when other kids picked on her. One time, when Jake wasn’t around, Cameron had taken on some boys who were teasing her and being rude. She was so embarrassed she could hardly thank him. Ever since then, she had disappeared every time he was around.

“Here she is. Our cupcake queen.” Jake smiled. He went to the fridge and grabbed a couple of beers.

Madison blushed. “Don’t call me that.”

“Aww, c’mon. I think it must be cool to rule over cupcakes,” drawled Cam. He really did drawl too. It was this lazy, sexy sound that made her want to talk to him forever.

“Hey, Sis. You remember Cam.” He handed Cam one of the bottles, then straddled a kitchen chair backwards.

How could anyone forget? “I think so. You used to go to our high school, didn’t you?” Ha, that ought to show him. He probably thinks the world revolves around him. She knew she wasn’t exactly being fair to him because he really had always been a good guy. Still, maybe ten years out of high school with real women hitting on him had made him arrogant. It could happen.

She saw Jake arch an eyebrow at her. Her brother knew that she was just pretending not to remember Cam, because he had forever been answering her questions about him in high school. She just hoped he didn’t give her away. Uh-huh, big brother. You owe me. She shook her head.

“Yeah. I went to your high school. I think we met a few times.” When he smiled she thought he looked rather like the Cheshire Cat, but his voice gave nothing away. She wasn’t sure whether he was being sarcastic or not.

She cocked her head sideways and tried to x-ray him with her eyes. And why not, he was gorgeous. Who would it hurt if she looked a little more? “Oh, of course. I’m so sorry. It’s been such a long time. What are you up to now?” Madison knew she wasn’t fooling anyone with her little game, but still it made her feel in control, and that’s the way she liked things.

“I’ve come home to take care of my dad’s estate and take over the business. At least for a little while.”

She noticed that he hadn’t sat down until she did. Still the gentleman. Damn, couldn’t he at least be mean? Then, just as quickly as the next thought. What did he just say? Oh, man. I am so lame.

“Oh, Cam. I’m so sorry. I did read about his passing. I didn’t mean to be insensitive.” She was ashamed of herself for playing little head games when the poor guy had just lost his father. All to make her feel like she had the upper hand.

“It’s okay. We hadn’t been close the last few years because he didn’t like my career choice. This came as a complete shock. I just wish we’d been able to talk before...” Cam closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Anyway, I hear you are doing really well these days. Good for you. I may have to get pointers on running a business. I don’t have a clue.” He brought the bottle to his lips and tipped the beer back.

Madison almost groaned. That had to be the sexiest thing ever. Get a grip, girl. It’s not like you haven’t seen a man drink beer before. What are you, a horny teenager?

At twenty-four she was definitely no longer a teenager, but with running her own business and the weird hours she kept, it was hard to have dates, let alone hot dates. Most guys wanted to stay up past nine p.m. and that’s when she needed to be in bed at least six nights a week. She got up at four in the morning to start baking for deliveries and service that started at seven.

“Sure. If I can help out, I’d be glad to.”

“Daddy!” Kayla ran into the room and launched herself at Jake, who pulled her up into his lap. She smiled shyly at Cam. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Cam said. “Who might you be?”

“I’m Princess Kayla.” She answered in her most regal voice.

“Oh, I see. I guess you really must be a princess if you have a queen for an auntie.”

He’s even good with kids. Be still my heart.

***

Cam had been hanging out at Jake’s house all afternoon. He should have gone home hours ago, but he was having a good time relaxing, watching the verbal sparring between siblings and playing with Kayla. When Jake invited him to stay for dinner, he jumped at the chance. He wasn’t often home at night, and it was nice to just hang out.

If truth be told, he was intrigued by Madison. She had really grown up. Wow. The shy little girl he remembered as having a bit of baby fat had grown into a gorgeous, curvy woman who was hot. Not to mention quite sassy. He didn’t think she had ever said more than two words in a row to him when they were younger.

Throughout dinner he had learned a lot of things about the Hughes family and what they’d been up to over the years. He also found out that Madison helped out a lot with Kayla, but that normally dinnertime was just Kayla and daddy. He was hoping she stayed tonight because of him. He’d certainly stayed because of her.

“So, Cam. You were saying earlier about a career choice? What have you been doing?” Madison asked while Jake was putting Kayla to bed.

“I’ve been singing in pubs with my band. Well, it’s more like a trio.” He drained the last of his coffee and set the mug on the table.

“Wow. I remember you being in choir but didn’t realize you liked to sing that much. Would I have heard of you?”

He grinned at her. “I thought you didn’t remember me that well from school.” As he watched her cheeks go red, he gave her a reprieve. “And no, you probably wouldn’t have heard of us. We just played in pubs across the country. Often they were Irish pubs, as we sing quite a few Celtic songs.”

“Oh, I’d love to hear you some day.”

“Yeah, well, I have to figure out what’s going on with Dad’s business. Not sure when I’ll be singing next.” He suddenly felt weary. Even though he and his dad had been having trouble lately, he had still loved him a lot. He wasn’t ready for Dad to be gone, and he sure as heck wasn’t ready to run a company. Was he?

“I’ve got to get going. I get up pretty early in the morning so...” Madison smiled at him. “You know what? I just realized I probably wouldn’t even be able to make it to one of your gigs. I’m probably in bed before you even start playing. How sad is that?” She stood up.

Cam stood as well and grabbed his keys off the table. “I’ll walk you out to your car. I’ve got to get going too.”

Jake came into the kitchen to say goodbye. Cam shook his hand and then followed Madison out to her car.

The silver Kia Sportage suited her. The wind picked up and blew her red hair across her face, so he reached out and gently pulled it back. It was like touching silk. That surprised him for some reason. Not that he’d though much about it, but if he had to guess, he would have thought red hair would be drier. Yeah, like he'd ever thought about what different colour hair feels like. He must have been more tired than he thought.

“Cam, you okay?” She tugged her hair out of his hand. Her blue eyes appeared to be twinkling up at him.

“Yeah, sorry. Hey...listen...” He shoved his hands in his pockets—they seemed to be moving of their own accord—to keep from reaching out to touch her skin this time. “Did you want to get coffee, or something, tomorrow?”

***

He had asked her for a date. Well, not a date really, just coffee. Or something.

She was still thinking about it as she frosted her third batch of cupcakes for the shop. She'd already finished her special orders. She had groaned when her alarm went off at three thirty this morning—it awoke her from a wonderful dream she was having about Cam. Normally she was eager to start the day. Once it sank in that the sooner she worked through the day the sooner she would see Cam, she was back to her usual perky morning attitude. Even the fact that it was Valentine’s Day couldn’t spoil her mood. When "Endless Love" came on the radio, she didn’t change the station, she sang along.

“My first love...ugh. I hate this song, I can’t do it.” She finally changed the station, just as one of her employees, Marcy, came in the back door of the Cupcake Castle.

“Hey, boss. Were you listening to love songs?” Marcy laughed.

“Of course not. Me?” Marcy had worked at the Castle since the beginning and was a long-time friend. She knew that privately Madison liked to sing anything. But love songs had been on her do-not-sing, do-not-listen to list since a bad breakup a couple of years ago.

“Sounded like it. Must have been hearing things.”

“Yep.” Madison quickly started singing what was on the new station she’d switched to. “Since you been gone...” She laughed as she tried to sing along to the popular Kelly Clarkson song. “See, not even close to a love song. Here’s a clean apron.” She threw one of their custom-designed aprons with the Cupcake Castle logo on it over to Marcy and watched her wrap the ties around her twice before tying it.

“Man, I wish I could do that. Maybe I should stop enjoying my work so much.” Madison looked down at her softly rounded physique. She was very much an hourglass shape, so she was in proportion, just that the proportions were slightly larger than average. At least she was tall.

“Right, Maddy. You are gorgeous. I don’t know why you beat yourself up so much.” Marcy carried a bunch of finished cupcakes over to the display case and began to load them in. “If I could have your height and hair—man, I’d have it made.”

Madison rolled her eyes. “Made for what? You already have a hot hunk of a man who adores you.”

“Yeah, Chad’s okay. But I’m tired of being referred to as tiny. Oh, isn’t she tiny.”

“Well, at least you’re not the 'big' girl.” Madison hated that expression. She tried to be careful about using it around Kayla, who was also tall for her age. Tall, not big. Just then the bells over the door chimed, announcing the arrival of their first customers.

***

Cam was feeling harassed and annoyed when he arrived at the Cupcake Castle. He had spent the day going over his dad’s business and learning more than he ever wanted to know about promotional items. He knew that his dad had done very well in this line of work and that businesses would pay good money to have their logos put on any number of items, from pens to clothing. It just seemed boring to him. For him there was nothing better than a busy pub full of people listening to his music. That was exciting and vibrant. Daytime working hours were solid and dull.

Now there’s something that’s not dull. He spied Madison working behind the counter. He wasn’t sure how the anonymous little sister of one of his best friends had grown up to be such a hot redhead. Underneath the glare of the fluorescent lights her hair shimmered like liquid fire, with all sorts of gold and red interspersed together. And she had curves that were just a bit dangerous, especially with that apron wrapped around the arc of her waist and dipping down one side of her chest where it pulled as she leaned over.

He noticed she had a smudge of something on her cheek. When he got a little closer, he could see it was chocolate icing. He leaned across the counter, wiped his finger across the smudge and brought it to his lips. “Very tasty. Is everything here that good?”

Madison’s hands flew to her face as she tried to wipe it clean. “Yes, as a matter of fact it is.”

“Great. I’ll have two of your best cupcakes, and the owner, to go.” He leaned against the display case. “I think she’s the tastiest item here anyway.”

“You didn’t just say that?” Laughing, she handed him the cupcakes.

“Yeah, it’s corny, but it still fits.” He ate the first cupcake in two bites. Who knew cupcakes could be so tasty? And here he thought they were just little cakes with icing. The cupcake had a rich, cream-cheese and chocolate chip filling, surrounded by chocolate cake and some kind of chocolate icing. “And I think I’ll need a dozen more of these. They are amazing!”

“Sorry, no can do. I just gave you the last two. Those are our biggest seller. I’m almost ready, just let me go to the back and tell Marcy I’m leaving.”

While he watched her go, he decided that coming home to Maple Meadows might not be as boring as he had originally thought. Then his cell phone rang; he answered. “Oh, crap. I’ll be right there.” He didn’t even think. He ran out the door.

***

Sitting at home, pushing her cold dinner around her plate, Madison thought about this afternoon at the store.

“Okay, Cam, I’m ready to go.” She’d looked around and saw only customers. “Cam?” Maybe he had gone to the men’s room. She had waited a while longer before deciding he must have left. Nice. Well, that goes to show you that even nice guys can be jerks. Or maybe all men are jerks.

That had been around one o’clock, and she still hadn’t heard from him. After that, she had picked Kayla up from preschool, dropped her off at Jake’s, and come home herself.

Valentine’s Day had always been a hard day for her, but after her breakup with her long-time boyfriend, it had become worse. They had broken up on Valentine’s Day. She tried to convince herself it was just a commercial holiday and that it didn’t mean anything to relationships. But it still sucked.

Giving up on her dinner, she decided to see what was on TV. She was flipping the channels when the doorbell rang. She opened it to see Cam holding a guitar and a huge bouquet of flowers.

He handed her the flowers, picked up the guitar and started strumming. “I’m sorry, so sorry....”

Madison rolled her eyes. “You can stop singing. I’m not interested. Oh, here take your flowers too.” She shoved the flowers back at him and tried to close the door.

He put up his hand. “Dad’s business had a fire. I had to leave. I’m sorry. I didn’t have time to wait around to tell you.”

She sighed and swung the door open. “I guess now I have to say I’m sorry. But have you ever heard of a telephone? That was hours ago.”

“It’s okay. We saved most of building. The fire was mainly contained to one room, although there is smoke damage throughout the factory. I had to deal with the fire department, insurance, and who knows what else is left to do—I finally just left. I thought coming here would be better than phoning.”

She reached for the flowers. “I’ll take these back. Thanks.” She turned and walked into the house leaving the door open for him to come in. She might as well show him a bit of feisty. She didn't want him to think she was too forgiving, even if it was for a good reason.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Madison.”

She backed away from where she was arranging the flowers in a vase to find him standing closely behind her. She moved to face him. God, he’s gorgeous. She had trouble breathing. “So, the fire is out?”

“I think there’s still some burning.” He was looking at her intently, and she wasn’t sure if they were talking about the fire at his dad’s anymore.

“That’s not good.” Yes. Definitely having trouble breathing. He had inched even closer to her.

“It’s good. Some fires are very good.” As his head lowered to hers, she tilted hers up slightly and met his kiss head on. She felt his arms go around her, and then his hands were on her butt, urging her closer to him. Her hands went up into the thick of his hair to pull his mouth even harder to hers.

I think I’m going to die. Kissing Cam is way better than dreaming about kissing Cam. They kissed passionately for a few minutes before she decided she needed to gain a modicum of control.

She slid around him, grabbed a bottle of wine and two glasses. “Do you want to go sit in the living room? Have some wine?” Before he could reply, she practically leapt in to the other room and sat on the couch. She needed to get some air and to think rationally. It really wasn’t like her to let things get out of control. Control was her middle name.

Cam followed, grabbing his guitar from where he had leaned it against the wall, and sat down beside her. “I brought this 'cause you said you’d like to hear me play sometime. I thought I could do a private gig.”

Was he talking? She wasn’t sure she heard anything after he sat down next to her. The smell of his cologne. The memory of his arms around her, the feel of his chest against hers. And those lips… Oh, those lips rock. With unsteady hands, she poured the red wine into the glasses and picked hers up.

“Private gig? Sounds naughty.” She took a fairly large, and definitely unladylike, sip of her wine.

“Play your cards right...” He wiggled his eyebrows at her, looking a bit lecherous.

“Well, it’s almost my bedtime so you’d better deal, cowboy?” Holy crap, where am I coming up with this stuff? It’s been a long time, and he’s hot. Who cares, girl? Go for it.

He laughed. “You sure grew up, Madison Hughes.”

Then he started to strum the guitar and sing.

She sat back and listened as he sang a variety of songs. His deep, melodic voice lulled her. She watched his fingers on the guitar and wondered how they would feel in her hair, on her skin. The groan actually escaped her lips before she could hold it back this time.

He stopped playing. “Don’t like that song?”

She just shook her head. She was slightly light-headed and she realized she’d probably had a few too many glasses of wine. Throwing caution to the wind, she leaned over and kissed him. She had known this man for a long time, yet not really known him. It was time to change that. As he put his guitar down and pulled her closer, she glanced at the clock. Ten o’clock. Past her bedtime. Tonight she didn’t care if she slept at all. Happy Valentine’s Day to me.

***

“Hey, babe.” Cam called in through the doorway.

“Back here.” Madison was in her room, changing after work. She was going to help Cam go through some of his promotional ideas. He’d been home for a couple of weeks and they’d spent a lot of time together. She had even bought some marketing items for Cupcake Castle through his company. He had admitted to her that he was starting to like the work and was finding there were ways to be creative with it. It wasn’t quite how he felt when he sang, but soon he was going to start a regular weekend gig at one of the local pubs. He had decided to stick around for a while. She had been thrilled to hear that.

She had just pulled her top on when he came in the room.

“Mmm. Maybe we should stay in.” He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a long, slow kiss.

She pushed against his chest. “Come on. I’m starving, and we have to go over these ideas so you can present them tomorrow. It could be a really big account.”

“I know, you’re right.” He tugged on her hand, leading her into the living room. “First, I want you to hear a song I’ve been practicing for the gig this weekend. I picked it for you.”

She sat down and waited for him to get set up. Listening to him sing brought her thrills every time. She liked to think that every song he sang was for her, but this was the first time he had said so.

Wow. She listened more intently, “...love you, like nobody’s loved you...”

For most of her life she had hated love songs. Now, for the very first time, she thought she might be starring in one of her own.

“...win your trust making memories of us.” He finished playing. “Well?”

She shifted over to where he was sitting, removed the guitar and straddled his lap. “You were right. We should stay in.” She lowered her head, gently bit his lower lip, and then kissed him. “Let’s start making those memories.”

Love songs rock.

###

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Love Songs