She tilted her head to the side and a strand of brown hair fell across her cheek. “The high ridge and how it dipped to the creek.” Without thinking, she twirled the loose hair about her finger. “But I think I liked the wooded atmosphere around the creek the best. I want to incorporate that view into the house somehow.”
Hayden’s eyes lingered on her finger, playing in her hair. “Sunroom, family room, or den perhaps?”
She let go of her hair and shook her head. “No, part of the atrium entrance. Where you walk in the front door and immediately see a twenty foot wall of windows that opens on to the creek. With rooms that flow off from there, but at the same time allow an unheeded view of the creek. Like a long corridor with rooms on either side. One side built up on the ridge, the other a flight down and facing the creek.”
Hayden’s eyes expanded from two small orbs of worried apprehension to wide gray marbles filled with wonder. His whole face appeared to change before her, making Madison smile.
“Wow,” he exclaimed with a dip of his head. “Now there’s something I would never have envisioned.” He stared at her with admiration shining in his eyes. “That’s truly a house worthy of the land. So what are you waiting for? Draw that.”
Madison’s body sank into her chair. “I’ve tried, but every time I begin, the dimensions seem too much for the foundation, and then there are the structural components. There will have to be a lot of steel beams used to hold the main rafters in place, especially since it will be built at quite an angle.”
He took her hand. “Just draw it, Madison. Besides, the only part of a building that matters is its foundation. The rest is just for fun. Remember that when you are designing and worry about the logistics later when the engineers come on board. Right now we just need a vision.”
Heat erupted between her legs and tingling exploded in her stomach. His hand felt like fire against her skin. She was overwhelmed by his touch, but at the same time terrified of it. Madison had never reacted like this with a man. Even during that night, she remembered feeling intensely attracted to him, but not like this. Was he her Harry? She had to find out.
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”
“Ask me anything you like.” He let go of her hand, sat back in his leather chair, and crossed his legs again.
She tried to remember the advice Mrs. Leder had given her. “Do you…have you ever…listened to Nina Simone?”
Hayden froze. For several seconds he did not move or even appear to be breathing. Madison was not sure if that was a good thing.
Great. I scared him to death.
Slowly, the inviting smile returned to his lips. “Nina Simone. I haven’t listened to her in years. But yes, I used to love her music.” He furrowed his brow. “Is she some kind of inspiration for your plans?”
Her hope sank to the dark blue carpet below. She had been a fool. If he was her Harry, he did not remember their night together. Hayden Parr had no idea who she was; Madison was convinced of that now. All of her worrying had been for nothing.
“Yeah,” she finally answered, “her music helps me to draw.”
He rose from his chair. “Then I suggest you get to it. The party is tomorrow night, and I think it would be wise to have some kind of rough draft to show the clients.”
She stood up. “Yes, Mr. Parr.”
“Hayden,” he corrected.
The excitement she had felt before fizzled out of her. “Yes, sir,” she mumbled, and quickly turned for the doors.
“Madison,” he called to her as she placed her hand on the doorknob.
When she faced him, her smile had slipped a little and she fought to look as if nothing had changed between them.
“Tell Adam to come and see me when you get back to your office. I want to go over his design before tomorrow night.”
Swallowing back her disappointment, she opened the door. “Of course, Mr. Parr.”
Dashing from his office, she fought to hold her emotions in check until she reached the elevator. Only when the silver doors closed did she let out a long, loud breath between her gritted teeth.
“You’re an idiot, Madison Barnett.” She forcefully wiped her hand over her forehead. “How could a man like that ever want a stupid girl like you?”
***
Madison spent the rest of the afternoon at her computer, diligently developing her design. She refused Adam’s invitation to join him for lunch, and continued working until five o’clock rolled around and the shuffle of the others on their floor drifted in through their open office door.
“I guess that’s it for the day,” Adam remarked as he shut down his computer. “You ready to head out?”
Madison stretched out her back and then shook her head. “No, you go on. I’m going to stay for a while and get a bit more done.”
Adam went to the corner table with the large printer on it. The hum of the printer filled the air as it churned out a hard copy of Adam’s design.
“It’s just a rough sketch, Madison. You don’t have to have it completed.” After glancing over at her drawing, he pulled the large copy of his design from the printer and began rolling it up.
She nodded to his desk. “Is yours almost finished?”
“Not quite, but it is good enough for the Martins.”
“Who are the Martins?”
He sheepishly grinned. “The clients. Mr. Parr told me about them. Old friends of his family…that’s why he is giving us a shot at the plans. He couldn’t afford to piss off a real paying client with two new grads for architects.” Adam went back to his desk. “Anyway, I wouldn’t kill yourself over this, Madison. Mr. Parr is probably going to ignore whatever we come up with and give the project to Garrett.”
“Did he tell you that?”
“He didn’t have to. When you came in after meeting with him, you looked down in the dumps about something. I figured he wasn’t happy with your design.”
“No, he actually seemed rather excited about my design.”
“Could have fooled me.” He slung his blue backpack over his right shoulder, gripping the rolled up paper in his hand. “Are you sure I can’t talk you into leaving? We could go around the corner to Rory’s and grab a beer.”
“No thanks. I’ve got to finish this.” She motioned to her computer screen.
“Suit yourself. If you ever feel the need for a drink, the invitation is always open.” He hurried into the hall.
Relieved to finally be alone, Madison took her chair and shifted her attention to the design on the computer screen. The house was beginning to take shape. As she began to lengthen out the rear porch that she had inserted overlooking the creek, Adam’s words came back to her.
Why was she bothering if all of her efforts were for naught? Sighing as she shaded in a section of the extended porch with her mouse, Madison considered if she should finish the design she had started. Maybe someday, someone would like it.
“Yeah, maybe someday.”
It seemed her life had been an endless string of “maybe somedays.” She had placed so much hope on someday, that the reality of today had been pushed aside. Madison had waited for someone special to someday come and change her life, but that someone had never appeared. Instead of losing her virginity to a man she loved, she had given it to a stranger, and when that stranger turned out to be like every other man she had met, the reality of her life came crashing down around her. There was no someday…only today.
Even the special attention Madison thought she had been receiving from Hayden Parr had been her imagination. Like her silly infatuation with Harry, she had built her relationship with her boss into something it obviously wasn’t. Maybe she had built up Harry to be something he wasn’t as well. As her mind wandered back to that night, Madison tried to find subtle hints or words that would allay her apprehensions, but there was nothing. No sweet endearments whispered in her ear, no gentle caresses or prolonged embrace. It had just been sex…really good sex, but sex all the same.
“It’s time to grow up, Madison,” she voiced, hardening her resolve to put away the past. “It never mattered. It was nothing more than a one-night stand, and no one’s ever found happiness in the arms of a stranger.”
Chapter 6
The poufy gold and white skirt of her long dress was bunched around her hips as she struggled to reach for the release on her seat belt. Sitting in the front seat of Charlie’s blue Honda Accord, Madison waited as a valet came toward the car door outside of the entrance to Turtle Creek Mansion Restaurant.
“Don’t forget your plans,” Charlie said, handing her the cardboard tube containing her computer generated drawing. “Text me when you’re ready to go. I’ll probably still be over at Nelson’s unpacking.” Her eyes swerved back to the pile of boxes she had stacked in her backseat.
“You’re sure you don’t mind picking me up?” Madison finally hit the button on the seat belt release. “I can grab a cab home.”
“No. I’m happy to come back and get you. That way I can leave Nelson to do the unpacking.”
The car door opened and a sharply dressed young man in black pants and a red vest held out his hand to Madison.
“You look great,” Charlie declared. “Go get that hottie boss.”
Madison smiled warmly for her friend, ashamed that she had not told Charlie the truth about Hayden and how he had forgotten all about their one night together.
“Thanks, Charlie,” she uttered, before stepping from the car.
Clutching her small gold purse and the round cardboard tube with her design, Madison stopped before the grand entrance to the restaurant and glanced up at the impressive Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek.
Built over a century earlier by a cotton baron, the stately home was designed as a High Renaissance Italian villa, complete with heavy decorative white moldings above the grand domed entrance and long arched windows. Short, protruding balconies on the second and third floors were wrapped in heavy white iron railings. The patio leading to the doorway was covered with red brick inlaid in an arched pattern, resembling waves on the water. A white canopy covered the walkway to the main entrance, while all about the greenery had been strewn with white tea lights. As she neared the doorway, with its white triangular pediment rising majestically above, Madison sucked in a nervous breath and smoothed out the front of her gold and white gown.
“Here we go.”
At the oversized wooden doors, an attendant dressed in a black tuxedo politely smiled and waved her inside. The stately mansion had long ago been converted into a fashionable hotel, and as Madison entered the warmly decorated lobby with its modern custom artwork, she reveled in the estate’s original magnificence of hand-carved fireplaces, marble floors, and stained-glass windows. To the right of the lobby was a narrow hallway with a stand announcing that the Mansion Restaurant was closed for a private party. Following a line of well-dressed guests down the hallway, Madison made her way toward the elegant leaded glass doors that opened into the restaurant.
Passing through the doors, she was enticed by the murmur of voices and greeted by a warmly lit bar. With deep honey-colored paneled walls and burnt sienna leather furniture surrounding black tables, the cozy room oozed elegance. A wall of niched alcoves behind the dark-stained bar offered a glimpse of the alcoholic brands offered. At the far end of the room, a selection of dark beige and amber plush sofas stood on a black, white, and gold-tiled floor across from a stately hearth encased in a high taupe marble mantle. About the room, the formally attired guests sipped on tall martini glasses filled with a red concoction. Before Madison could even begin to wonder what the drink was made of, a waiter decked in all black approached her side.
“Cranberry martini, miss? It’s the signature drink for the party.” He held out a silver tray filled with the specialty drinks before her.
Rearranging the awkward cardboard tube and purse under her left arm, Madison reached for a glass. “Thank you.”
The waiter disappeared behind her and Madison raised the edge of the wide-rimmed glass to her lips. First the tartness of the cranberry tickled her taste buds, and next the pungent rush of alcohol hit her.
“They’ll have to carry me out of here if I drink this.”
Casually stepping to the side, she put the strong drink on an empty table in the corner of the room, pretended to adjust her gold clutch purse under her arm, repositioned her tube, and then she slinked away.
Leaving the bar, she made her way to the main dining room. Dark, carved panels of rich wood decorated the walls, but the centerpiece of the room was not the impressive walnut and white marble inlaid mantle with its depiction of the old cotton baron’s family crest, it was the wall of stained glass windows boasting the crests of the relatives of the influential family that had built the massive mansion. Along one side of the room a white linen buffet service waited, while chefs wearing high white hats stood at the ready to serve the guests. The dining room tables were covered in white linen, set with glistening white china and shiny silver stemware, and in the center sat an arrangement of bright red carnations. More vases of red carnations were scattered about the room, and decorated the buffet tables. An open pair of leaded glass doors allowed the cool night breeze into the room from an adjoining patio.
Eager to check out the contents in the selection of silver chaffing dishes, Madison slowly sauntered past the buffet tables and her stomach rumbled in protest. Nervous about the entire evening, she had skipped lunch, fearing that food would have only added to the distress pervading her already queasy stomach.
At the entrance to the patio, she savored the feel of the nippy fall breeze on her hot skin. Then, a familiar laugh made her breath catch in her throat.
Standing by an outdoor fireplace of orange stucco and dressed in a fitted black tuxedo was Hayden Parr. In the pale light of the dozens of cast iron lanterns that were strewn about, his gray eyes appeared magically aglow. His rugged features were accentuated by the dancing shadows of light, making his strongly carved chin and sharp cheekbones even more luscious. In his hand was an old-fashioned glass of dark yellow liquid that matched the dark yellow furniture spread about the patio. He was talking to a beautiful brunette with stunning cheekbones, catlike brown eyes, and a lean figure, not unlike his. Draped in a black and white satin gown that gathered at the waist and collected on her right shoulder, she looked every inch the woman Madison knew she could never be: sophisticated, stunning, and irresistible to men. As she chatted with Hayden, she affectionately placed her smooth white hand on the sleeve of his black tuxedo jacket.
The well of jealousy that overtook Madison was unexpected; she wanted to scratch the woman’s eyes out. Feeling the desire drain from her body, Madison was about to turn away when Hayden’s eyes found her. Suddenly, she felt naked beneath his gaze. He seemed to drink in every inch of her, and without hesitation she knew what he was thinking. Any woman worth her weight knew that look when she saw it in a man. It was primal; it was instinctual, and utterly carnal.
Putting his drink down on a nearby table, Hayden abandoned the woman at his side and came up to Madison. “You look absolutely wonderful,” he purred in a voice akin to black velvet.
The rush of heat to her cheeks only compounded the tingling in her belly. “Thank you, Mr. Parr.”
He grinned, looking sexy as hell. “None of that Mr. Parr stuff tonight. We’re out of the office and this is a party. Call me Hayden.” He took her arm. “Come, there’s someone I want you to meet.”
He escorted her across the patio to the woman waiting in front of the large fireplace. As she came closer, Madison noticed the way she watched her, smiling with appreciation rather than malice.
“Mike, this is the young architect I was telling you about, Madison Barnett,” Hayden proclaimed as he came to a stop next to the beautiful brunette. He turned to Madison. “I would like you to meet my sister, Michaela Chaplin. Everyone calls her Mike.”
Mike held out a sleek hand clad in a wide diamond tennis bracelet and an assortment of dia
mond rings. “Madison, great to meet you. Harry has been singing your praises to everyone who will listen.”
Hayden frowned. “My sister exaggerates, as usual.”
Mike laughed and slapped her brother teasingly on the arm. “He never praises his architects, but you he has simply gone on and on about.” She smiled, a mischievous smile that hinted at the playful demeanor beneath the exquisite alabaster face. “You see, Harry is one of those bosses that believes praise needs to be earned.” Her brown eyes swept over Madison’s face. “And you have definitely earned it.”
Hayden reached for the tube beneath her arm. “Is this your design?”
“Yes, I finished it this morning.”
As he unscrewed the red plastic top from the tube, he said, “Working after hours. I like that.”
Mike shook her head. “Must you talk shop so soon? The poor girl doesn’t even have a drink, Harry.”
Hayden glanced over to Madison’s hands. “We can remedy that.” He waved to a passing waiter. “Bring us three cranberry martinis.”
Madison was about to protest, but then thought better of it. She would just have to pretend to drink.
Hayden went to a black iron table next to them and began to spread out the long sheet of paper with her computer drawing. His eyes studied the paper for several moments, making Madison itch with nervousness.
Stay calm. Just stay calm, Mads.
“This is very good, Madison,” he finally admitted in a hushed tone. “Very good.”
When he looked up at her, the fire in his eyes was so intense Madison thought she would be utterly consumed.
He tore his eyes away from her and glanced about the small crowd braving the chilly night air on the patio. “Let’s go and find Stevie and Pat. Show them what you’ve got.”
“Stevie and Pat?” Madison inquired.
“The Martins. They are the clients and hosts of this party.”
“It’s their fifth wedding anniversary,” Mike explained. “The third marriage for each,” she reported with a wistful roll of her eyes, “but at least they haven’t killed each other yet.”
That Night with You Page 7