Cadens situationship, p.1
Caden's #Situationship, page 1
Caden’s #Situationship
To Marry a Madden
Sherelle Green
Copyright © 2020 Sherelle Green
This book is a work of fiction. Names, places, incidents and characters are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to business establishments and events is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, no part of this book may be reproduced or copied without written permission of the author Sherelle Green.
Editor: There for You Editing
Cover Design: Sherelle Green
Manufactured and Printed in the United States of America
To my sis, Kelsey, for being a listening ear, my partner-in-crime, and for reminding me why Caden’s story is so special. You talked me off the cliff a few times, lol. Without you, this book wouldn’t exist!
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To my critique partners for encouraging me to just write the shit and supporting me along the way. To my cousin Shenelle and my down south family members for all the inspiration!
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And last, but not least, to my amazing readers! Each of you support this series in ways I never imagined. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!
Dear Reader
Unlike the other Madden brothers, Caden is far from a city boy and is straight country. When I initially decided to write about the Madden family, Caden’s story was the first one I outlined. However, it wasn’t his time yet and I quickly learned that the brothers I’d initially wanted to write about first weren’t ready to have their stories told yet.
In this book, you will also meet Cordelia Sugar Rose and she is unlike any heroine I’ve ever written. Fun fact: She actually appeared in my Bare Sophistication series, but she had a very small role, so readers of that series may not remember her. Over the years, her character has stayed with me, so it was only fitting she get her own book.
The outpouring of love and support for the Madden brothers has truly touched my heart & I hope you enjoy this ride with Caden Madden!
Caden’s #Situationship
Caden Madden is the epitome of a southern gentleman. Polite. Respectable. With an undeniable sexiness and country bred abs that could only be the result of a hard-working rancher. The only thing you can’t rely on this cowboy for is relationship advice. No woman has ever come close to making him want to settle down… until her.
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Cordelia Sugar Rose is as sweet as her name. Or at least she used to be. This southern belle is taking back control of her life. Too bad her improper thoughts are clouding her judgement, encouraging her to throw her morals —and panties— out the window. One naughty kiss and she finds herself in a fiery predicament she never saw coming.
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With both keeping secrets neither is prepared to share, the passionate air is thick with confusion. But, if two people have sex, can they still be friends? Or does seeing each other naked make for a situation too complicated to categorize?
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Epilogue
Would Love To Hear From You!
Single AF
Excerpt: Single AF
Her Undeniable Distraction
Excerpt: Her Undeniable Distraction
About the Author
Also by Sherelle Green
One
CADEN
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Anyone who ever said that fucking in a barn was sexy, had clearly never scratched their ass on hay. The shit was horrible and gave you a rug burn so bad, you’d swear your ass was on fire every time you sat down.
Even though I didn’t mind some pain during sex, I was too damn grown to roll around in straw. And in this case, I wasn’t even sure how I landed myself in my current predicament.
“Your name is Caden, right?” the woman wearing a bit too much perfume uttered as she played with the top buttons on my tucked in, collared shirt.
“Yes, it is.” I placed my hands over hers and gently pushed them away from my shirt. Unfortunately, that only made her bolder as one hand grazed the outside of my jeans, while the other fumbled with my belt buckle.
Using a little more force, I stopped both her hands again and took a step back. “I think you’ve got the wrong idea.”
“Wrong idea? Don’t you want me to help you get naked?” she purred, leaning against the barrel of hay and batting her false eyelashes at me.
“Darlin’, I’m not having sex with you tonight.” Or ever. I left out that last part because I wasn’t trying to hurt her feelings.
“But I’m ready for you.” She slightly slid her tight skirt up her legs and undid the top button of her cardigan. The shit wasn’t sexy, and I could tell that Miss Prom Queen was used to getting what she wanted. She reminded me of Regine off Living Single mixed with a little Whitley from A Different World. High-maintenance, bougie, and far from my type.
I shook my head. “Not happening. I’m only here to take care of the business I have with Mr. Rose. Nothing else.”
“Nothing else,” she repeated. “You’re only here to talk to my boss?”
“If Lance Rose is your boss, then yes.”
“Figures. What do you want with him anyway? I thought you liked me.”
Is she delusional? We just met! “Ma’am, I don’t even know you. What’s your name again?”
She crossed her arms in a pout. “It’s Abigail, and if you didn’t want to have sex with me, why did you throw those hints my way and come out to my boss’ barn?”
"I came out to the barn because I needed to think, and it was too crowded inside the estate.” I leaned closer to make sure she heard me. “Trust me, I wasn’t hinting at anything. When you kept winking at me, I tried my best to look away, but at one point, I thought you had something in your eye and I have some good eye drops in my pocket.” Her eye started doing that twitchy thing she had done inside of the house, but this time, it was in annoyance at me. She scrunched her forehead as the redness that started at her chest made its way to her face.
“You suck,” she whined. “I can’t believe you thought you could get any of this!” She waved her hands up and down her body as if her fancy, overpriced clothes impressed me.
“You just offered yourself to me a minute ago,” I reminded.
“How dare you!” Her eyes got so big, I almost backed away from her even though she weighed next to nothing. “Consider this rendezvous officially over.”
“Over? When did it start?”
She gasped, then picked up her forgotten glass of red wine and tossed it in my face. I could have moved out the way, but I figured doing so would make her even more upset. Plus, she wanted to save face by feeling like she’d made the last move and I was nothing if not a gentleman.
“Raggedy ass cowboy,” she huffed, as she stormed out of the barn like a category six hurricane, shouting curse words my way as she went back to the estate.
“The story of my life,” I mumbled, adjusting my black cowboy hat as I made my way back to the party I was attending. The top of my white button-up was soaked in red wine, so I took a detour to my black Toyota Tundra truck and changed into the spare shirt I kept in my gym bag for emergencies. Not exactly formal, but hey, it was me: simple.
Taking a deep breath, I glanced at the gravel walkway that led back to the estate. Damn. This is brutal. The last thing I felt like doing tonight was schmoozing with the high-class folks of Dallas, Texas, but I was on a mission and couldn’t leave until I had a chance to talk to Lance Rose, the business tycoon who showed interest in investing in the ideas I had for my business. Granted, at this point, it would be easier to cut my losses, but I never quit at anything.
As I made my way back into the estate, I immediately groaned at the fact that Abigail was already talking to a couple other women who were all shooting daggers my way. It was hard enough forcing myself to be personable and talk about my business without the extra stress that Abigail was clearly out to make sure the women in attendance didn’t want anything to do with me. And from what I heard, the women ran this part of town, so if they didn’t like me, I didn’t stand a chance with their husbands and sons.
“Damn, Caden. Where you been at?”
I glanced away from Abigail in time to see Houston, my best friend and one of my business partners, approach.
“Remember when that woman asked me to talk to her outside?” He nodded. “Well, she wanted to do more than talk. Had me out there in the barn avoiding her advances, when I needed to be in here handling business.”
Houston shook his head. “Shit like that always happens to you.”
“Tell me about it.” And at thirty-four, it was getting old.
“What did you do?” he asked.
“Not her,” I told him. “But she didn’t take the rejection well. Now, she’s over there talking to that group of women, and from the looks I’m getting, she’s telling them her version of the story.”
Houston shrugged. “These Dal
“Her boss might,” I mumbled as Lance Rose approached the woman. It didn’t take long before he was also looking my way with a stern expression on his face.
“Shit,” Houston mumbled. “Maybe you should have just fucked her.”
I shook my head. “Not my style, man. You know that.” Besides the fact that she was a prima donna, I wouldn’t have slept with her even if the situation hadn’t caught me off guard. Women like her didn’t have much substance and were more so worried about their social standing in society rather than doing something that impacted their community. My views made me sound judgmental at times, but I had yet to meet a woman like Abigail to prove me wrong.
“He looks pissed,” Houston pointed out.
“No shit.”
I wasn’t sure what she told him, but the last thing I was expecting when he approached me was for him to extend his hand and tell me, “Thank you for being there for my sister when that man tried to get her to go to the barn with him.”
My eyes widened. Sister? She’s his damn sister? “Ah, what?”
Lance glanced over his shoulder. “Abigail told me that you were there to rescue her when a man who had a little too much to drink approached her. I have security trying to find him now.”
“Um, you’re welcome,” I said, deciding to play along. “Glad I’d been out there to help.”
Houston almost choked on his drink. “That’s Caden. Ever so much the boy scout.”
Lance smiled. “Tonight only attributes to the other great things I’ve heard about you. How about we chat in my office about that expansion we discussed on the phone?”
I briefly glanced to Houston before accepting Lance’s offer. We followed him through the crowd, and not surprisingly, Abigail tapped me on the arm when we neared her.
“You’re welcome,” she whispered.
I glanced down at her and squinted my eyes. “Why did you help me land a meeting with your brother after what happened in the barn?”
Her eyes softened. “Don’t get me wrong, no man has ever turned me down before. But I just broke up with my boyfriend, and after I cooled off, I appreciated the fact that you were a gentleman.”
I smiled. Southern charm wins again. “His loss,” I told her, right before I tipped my hat and continued to follow her brother. Okay, so maybe I’d misjudged Ms. Abigail, but I still stood by what I believed. Nothing worse than a woman with good looks and little substance.
Three hours later, the party was ending and we’d successfully landed an investor for our new business venture.
“I wasn’t sure tonight was gonna pan out for us,” Houston admitted as we headed to the parking lot. “But I’m glad it did.”
I nodded my head. “Yeah, it paid off big time. Can’t wait to tell Linc and the rest of the gang that we’re initiating the next phase of the business soon.”
Houston nodded in agreement before he reached to his head. “Damn, dawg. I left my hat inside. Let me get it real quick.”
“I’ll be at the truck,” I yelled to Houston who was already jogging back to the estate. As I neared my car, commotion caught me off guard. I glanced to my right to see a woman yelling into her phone, wearing a dress with so much fabric, I wouldn’t have known it was actually a human being if not for her voice.
“You’re going to regret the day you dismissed my idea,” she yelled. “Everything you just said to me is hosh-posh and irrelevant. Just remember that you passed on perfection.” She hung up the phone and started shouting out words I didn’t even understand.
“Rich folk’s problems,” I mumbled, turning back toward the direction of my car.
“Sir, did you have something to say to me?”
I turned at the sound of her voice directed at me. “No, ma’am. I was just making my way to my car.”
“You know, eavesdropping is a crime.”
I laughed. “No it isn’t. And I wasn’t tryin’ to listen.”
“You were,” she said. “You slowed your stride when you neared me and then you stood there for several seconds listening to my very private conversation.”
Is she serious? “If it was private, why were you having it outside in the parking lot?”
Her eyes widened. “Because it was a call I couldn’t ignore, so I had to answer. However, you are missing the point. You shouldn’t have been eavesdropping on information that isn’t yours to hear.”
“You were talking pretty damn loud,” I stated.
She gasped. “How dare you curse around a lady!”
“Wait, what?” I pinched the bridge of my nose because yeah, she was right. I never usually cursed around a woman. “Ma’am, I apologize. It’s just been a long day.”
“Long day or not, I’m sure your mother raised you better than that.” She stomped toward me and it took all my energy not to laugh because princess was wearing a lot of material. There were so many ruffles on her bright pink dress, I didn’t understand how she could walk without tripping.
My eyes ventured to the large white and pink straw hat on her head and the peek of shoes that also seemed to have ruffles on them. Since when do shoes have ruffles?
“I know who you are,” she said. “My cousin, Abigail, told me all about what happened in the barn and how you led her on only to reject her after you kissed.”
“Kissed?” I shook my head. “Ma’am, I think you’re mistaken. I barely know your cousin, let alone kissed her. She came onto me, and I kindly told her I wasn’t interested. We cleared up our misunderstanding, so all is well.”
“All is not well,” she huffed. “How dare you come to this event and lead my cousin on?” She looked me up and down. “And then to come in a plain white T-shirt at that. Do you have any proper training?”
“Training? I’m not a damn dog.” In the back of my mind, I knew my voice was getting higher than I intended it to get, but this woman was working my nerves. Even more than her cousin, Abigail, had.
“And the greasy cowboy says yet another expletive.”
“Greasy! Who you callin’ greasy?” I barely recognized my own voice as I bantered with the patronizing princess. Call me crazy for even entertaining her, but I was offended. I kept myself well-groomed, and granted, I probably needed to shave, but who the hell was she? “What is it with you Dallas folks?” I exclaimed, ready to get the hell outta Texas.
“This isn’t Dallas,” she snapped. “We’re outside of Dallas in a town too rich for your blood, I’m sure.”
Well, damn. “Tell me how you really feel.”
“Why do black men say that?” She raised her hands in the air. “I just told you how I felt.”
“That’s not a black man thing,” I told her. “It’s a popular phrase.”
“That black men say most of all,” she retorted, crossing her arms over her chest in a way that made some of her ruffles block half her face. Thank God for that because it meant whatever she mumbled next was incoherent due to the ruffles.
“You know, since you approached me, you’ve been nothing but rude,” I told her.
“Says the innate man dressed in a white tee, plain jeans, and cowboy hat like he’s at a country barn dance instead of a prestigious charity event.”
And on that note … “Well, I think this is the time we part ways, darlin’.”
"You'll address me as ma'am as you did before," she quirked. "Addressing me the correct way is the only part of this unfortunate meeting that you've done right."
I didn’t even waste my breath on that last comment, and luckily, I saw Houston return, so I tipped my hat to the annoying ray of southern sunshine and met him at my truck.
