McCallum Quintuplets Read Online Free PDF

the collar of his shirt, still looking at his reflection as he thought over Maddie’s words, his flip reply, the rather shattered look that had passed over her features before she’d smiled, laughed rather hollowly.
    Was that when everything had changed?
    Probably.
    Maddie was his best pal, his good buddy—his other half, when he got right down to it. There was nothing they didn’t know about each other, nothing they couldn’t share—not their pains, their joys, their highs, their lows. Theirs was the friendship of a lifetime, the sort only a few were blessed to have and one he knew had to be fed, nurtured, in order to endure.
    Except he’d been taking advantage of Maddie. Oh, not intentionally, but he’d been monopolizing her time all these years while keeping his social life in full swing.
    Was that his fault? If Maddie didn’t date very often, didn’t actively look for dates—was that his fault?
    Did he keep her that busy? Sure, they saw each other every day, sometimes sharing breakfast in her apartment, sometimes meeting near the hospital for lunch. Madeline cooked dinner for them at least four nights a week.
    And on Friday and Saturday nights Ian went out on dates…and Maddie stayed home to read medical journals.
    â€œYou’ve been getting all the perks here, bucko,” Ian told himself as he ran a comb through his dark hair. “You don’t just count on Maddie hanging around, waiting for you to show up in her life—you expect her to be there. And that’s not fair.”
    Maddie should be married. Ian knew that. She should have a gang of kids, definitely. But if she stayed with him, let him be the platonic man in her life, she’d never find a romantic man for her life. Maybe Maddie didn’t see that, but he did. Now. The damn dirty shame was that he hadn’t seen it for fifteen long years.
    â€œYeah, but don’t tell her that tonight,” he warned himself as he went to the closet and pulled out his sport jacket, slid his arms into it as he headed out of the bedroom. “Happy birthday, Maddie. Go away, find a life.” He shook his head. “Oh, yeah, that would do it. That one would nail down that Prince of the Year award for sure.”
    But what else was he to do? What Maddie wanted, what Maddie needed, he couldn’t give her. They were friends, not lovers. Hadn’t they tried that back in college? It hadn’t worked then and it wouldn’t work now. They knew each other too well to change their comfortable friendship into something so much more complicated.
    Besides, if he tried to kiss her, tried to do anything at all, she’d probably laugh at him, just the way she’d done the one time he had tried to kiss her in something other than a brotherly way.
    What was it she’d said to him at the time? Oh, yeah. Something really nice. “What, are you nuts, Russell? I’m not even blond.”
    â€œSee?” Ian said to the ceramic dalmatian Maddie had bought him for Christmas, the one that stood sentinel in front of his gas fireplace in the living room. “That’s how she sees me, Spot. Playboy of the western world. Not that I haven’t done my best to live up to that reputation. But man, Spot, I’m getting tired. Dancing all night, ruining my new sneakers with romantic walks in the rain, fielding veiled questions about how many kids I’d like to have. Who needs the hassle? I’m just getting too old for this. Right, Spot?”
    Spot just sat there, that sort of sickly half smile on his face that had gotten him marked down to half price and won the heart of Maddie, who believed the underdog should be able to catch a break from time to time. So she’d brought Spot home, given him to Ian, saying he shouldn’t worry, she’d feed the mutt if he’d walk him.
    Ian smiled, shook his head again. What an idiotic present. He wouldn’t take Spot’s weight in diamonds