Madison bit her lower lip trying not to laugh out loud at Jake’s wonderful question. He was truly precious.

“It seems quite obvious,” Grandmother Eileen finally said to Sherry, “that you haven’t taught the boy any manners at all, and God knows it hasn’t become easier with Madison close by. But I demand you call your son to order.”

Sherry’s expression hardened.

“Insult me as much as you want,” Madison growled. “Most of it is probably true. But Jake is a well-raised kid, and he’s right. You are a nasty woman.”

“You’re talking nonsense, Madison. Like always.” Pointing at Jake, Grandmother Eileen said, “A good nanny might be able to fix this. With Madison, the nanny did a decent job. The problems started only when she began having a mind of her own.”

“Which nanny do you mean, Grandmother?” Madison asked. “I lost track after a while.” She took a deep breath. “We have Sherry’s friend Rita Mae as our housekeeper. She also looks after Jake.”

“A friend?” Her forehead twitched but didn’t crinkle along with her frown, probably because of a recent Botox job. “And you have one person for both? Madison, is your money running that low already?”

Enough! She’d had enough of her and she would—

As if sensing that Madison was about to explode, Sherry nudged Jake to the side and touched her arm gently. “Honey, didn’t you want to introduce me to Danielle’s parents?”

Madison wanted to let this go. She really did. But something kept her rooted to the spot. The damn old witch thought she could say and do whatever she wanted. Not anymore. She would—

Sherry covered Madison’s lips with her own in a soft touch.

Madison’s eyes fell closed. Everything around her seemed to disappear. God, so soft. The smell of Sherry’s perfume—something with vanilla—flooded her senses. With both hands she pulled Sherry closer and deepened the kiss pushing aside all other thoughts except for how wonderful Sherry tasted and felt in her arms.

She wasn’t sure, but for a second it had sounded as if her grandmother had huffed and marched away on her nasty high heels.

Too quickly, Sherry ended the heavenly kiss and stepped back. Avoiding her gaze, she looked down at Jake.

He was tilting his head as if trying to decide what to make of this. Finally, a huge grin spread across his face.

Danielle winked at Madison. “They are sitting at table seventeen.”

“Um, what?” Madison’s brain seemed to have stopped working when Sherry had kissed her. Why had Sherry kissed her anyway?

She wanted to prevent you from doing something stupid, idiot. Well, Sherry had accomplished her mission, and in the most pleasant of ways. How did Sherry manage to rattle her so much with just a simple kiss? No, that hadn’t felt like a simple kiss at all.