That Night with You

by Alexandrea Weis

  “I did. I got held up in traffic.” Madison dropped her black purse on the small wooden bench built into the wall next to her.

  “How’s the hottie boss? You two still an item?”

  “Things are good, but….” Madison sunk down on the bench, sighing. “Is it supposed to be this exhausting?”

  Charlie rested her hands on her hips. “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know.” Madison sat back against the wall. “I spend all day at work, working on these damned plans for the Martins. After that I race home, grab some clothes, and head over to Hayden’s. Then at night…well, I haven’t been getting a whole lot of sleep.”

  “Girl,” Charlie clucked, “look at you! A regular slut like me.”

  Madison laughed. “I know relationships are hard work, but this is like another full-time job.”

  Nodding, Charlie turned around. “I know what you mean. That first year with Nelson wore me out. If we hadn’t spent so much time dining out, I might have actually lost weight and not gained it.”

  “At least you get to go out. Hayden and I always stay in. Dinner is usually take out, and even then I never get to finish my meal, if you know what I mean.”

  Charlie’s blue eyes clouded over with concern. “He never takes you out?”

  “He just wants to keep it low-key for now. His ex is trying to go after him for a chunk of his assets, and he doesn’t want to anger her by flaunting our relationship—”

  “Horseshit!” Charlie shouted. “He’s divorced. He can see whomever he wants, and his ex can’t say squat. He knows that.”

  Madison scrambled to come up with something in Hayden’s defense. “You don’t know his ex, Charlie.”

  “No, but I know the law, Madison, and the law says once they are legally divorced he’s free to see other people. Being with you has no bearing whatsoever on his division of assets.”

  “Yes, but it has a bearing on his business. I’m an employee, and if any of his other staff knew—”

  “Aw, come on, Mads…you don’t buy that, do you? The guy never struck me as someone who gave a shit what anyone thinks. He seemed like he always got what he wanted, no matter the consequences.” She paused and eyed her friend thoughtfully. “Do you like being with him?”

  Madison slowly nodded. “Yeah, I really do. I don’t know how to describe it, but when I’m with him I feel…good. He makes me feel safe and protected.”

  “And the sex? Still hot?”

  Madison blushed. “It’s satisfying.”

  Charlie frowned and gathered up the skirt of her dress. “So is this just for the sex, or are you hoping for more?”

  “We haven’t really talked about the future, but he makes me feel like he wants one.”

  “Feel like?” Charlie went back to the mirror. “Start insisting you two go out. A man who is crazy about a woman wants to show her off. If he cares, he won’t treat you like some kind of sex toy.”

  “He’s going to be my date at the wedding, Charlie, so it’s not like we aren’t going out. We just haven’t done it yet. We’re taking time to build a solid foundation.”

  The dubious smirk on Charlie’s lips concerned Madison. “It’s a relationship, not a building, Mads.” She sighed, sounding fed-up with the topic of Hayden Parr. “I guess if he’s stepping up to the plate and being your date for my wedding, he might have some good intentions.”

  Madison stood from the bench, refusing to accept Charlie’s dire warnings about Hayden. “Enough about me and Hayden; today is about you.” She began fluffing up the skirt of the dress. “Are you ready to go out there and face your mother-in-law to be?”

  “Do I have to?” Charlie whined.

  “Play nice, Charlie. Remember, she’s going to be grandmother to your children one day.”

  “Gee, thanks, Mads. Now I really want to call the whole thing off.”

  Madison reached for the handle on the dressing room door. “Just keep thinking of Nelson. You’re doing this for him.”

  Charlie gathered up her short train. “I know, I know.” She headed toward the dressing room door. “If this is the wedding, can you imagine the holidays I’ll have to endure? Thank God for vodka!”

  Holding the door as Charlie paraded out of the dressing room, carrying the yards of shiny white fabric in her hands, Madison grinned. Like most things with Charlie, she knew a lot of the animosity towards her future mother-in-law was more for show than genuine. That Caroline Peevy was having such an influence on the wedding boded well for the two women building a lasting relationship.

  And what about you and Hayden? her inner voice taunted. Are you two building a lasting relationship?

  “God, I hope so,” Madison muttered under her breath. “I really hope so.”

  In her short time with Hayden, hope had become her aphrodisiac; because nothing turned her on more than the possibility of a future with the man who had conquered her heart.

  Chapter 17

  The afternoon before the rehearsal dinner, Madison was in her office, checking over the latest specs the engineers had given her for the foundation on the Martins’ Turtle Creek home. She had been rushing for days to finish the plans and line up the necessary drafts for the house to move out of the planning stage and into construction.

  While sitting at her computer, making some last minute adjustments to the main beam along the atrium ceiling, she heard a gentle knocking on her open office door.

  “Yeah,” she hollered, never looking up from her computer screen.

  “Is that any way to talk to the boss?” his silky voice answered right before she heard her office door close.

  Madison spun around in her chair. Despite the hours she had spent in his arms and in his bed, she still got a jolt when she saw him before her. At times it was hard to believe that her Harry had found his way back to her.

  “I was just finishing up the engineering plans on the foundation.” She motioned to the computer screen. “Seems you were right about that center beam in the atrium. The engineers want steel beams and not wood to support the weight.”

  Hayden came up to her desk and leaned over to her computer screen. “That will significantly increase our cost estimates. Do they think we need it throughout the first floor?”

  She peered over at his profile. “Yes. I know, not what we expected, but necessary.”

  When he turned his head, placing his lips within inches of hers, Madison’s toes curled. “Did you tell the Martins yet?” he questioned.

  Madison blushed. How does he do that? “Ah no. Not yet.”

  He knelt beside her chair. “I’ll tell them tonight when we meet with the contractor to go over your plans.”

  “Maybe you should cancel with the Martins and come with me to the rehearsal dinner. Might be more fun.”

  “Wish I could, baby, but I’ve got to settle this deal tonight. Once they have signed with the contractor, I’m going to firm up a deal with Pat on his house. We can get together at my place later to celebrate.” He playfully bobbed his eyebrows up and down.

  She chuckled at his display. “You’re lucky I’m such an understanding girlfriend.”

  He placed his face right in front of hers. “You’re much more, Madison. A girlfriend implies a half-assed relationship bereft of commitment. To me you are simply…mine.”

  “That’s something a sailor tattoos on his ass, Hayden, and not what a woman wants to hear from a man who has been preoccupying her every thought.”

  Dismayed, he stood up. “I preoccupy your every thought?”

  Her eyes dropped to her desk. Perhaps she had said too much. Charlie had always warned her to play hard to get when it came to her emotions, but with Hayden that was impossible.

  As the seconds ticked by, Madison became more apprehensive by his lack of reply and she squirmed in her chair.

  “I was beginning to wonder what I meant to you,” he finally voiced. “That I have become your preoccupation means we’re finally even.”

  She gazed up at him. “Ev
en? I don’t understand.”

  “You have been my preoccupation since I first saw you in that bar. ‘Bout time you started to get a little of your own back at you.”

  “I was your preoccupation? I find that hard to believe.”

  He tilted his head to the side and casually tucked his hand in his trouser pocket, appearing coy. “I’ll admit I’m not the most forthcoming of men with my emotions, but I thought all the time we’ve spent together, giving you access to my home and my life, would have at least let you know how I feel.”

  Madison was confused. Sure he had done those things, but he had never actually mentioned anything about feelings. Didn’t it only count when he actually said something?

  A knock at her office door interrupted them, and Hayden backed away from her chair. The icy look that overtook his features was more than a bit disconcerting to Madison. He always seemed to run hot and cold.

  “Yes,” he called to the door.

  “Sorry, Mr. Parr.” Emma smiled sheepishly as she came into the office. “You told me to come and get you when your two o’clock showed up.”

  “I’m coming, Emma.” Hayden pointed to Madison’s computer. “We’ll need the engineering specs to go over tonight.”

  Madison’s eyes went to the door where Emma was still waiting. “Yes, Mr. Parr.”

  She thought she saw a slight smirk cross his thin lips, but then it was gone. He was always so difficult to read. As Madison considered the curve of his square jaw, his carved cheekbones, and thick brow, she suddenly became aware that there was a great deal about Hayden Parr that she did not know.

  “Looks good, Madison,” Hayden commented. “Bring them by my office before you head out,” he added, and dashed for her office door.

  She listened to his heavy footfalls as he headed along the hallway toward the elevators. He laughed briefly with Emma, but the sound faded. Tucking her chair into her desk, Madison tried to refocus on her design, but that nagging voice in her head would not let up. Instead of working, she began to go over every detail of Hayden: his smile, his laugh, the way he slept, the way he liked his coffee, and even the shampoo he used. All the things she had come to know about him. And as she tallied up his idiosyncrasies, preferences, and dislikes, Madison realized that she did not know a lot about the man…emotionally, anyway. Some people she could read, some she couldn’t, and Hayden Parr was starting to feel a lot like someone who was very good at keeping secrets.

  “It’s time to get to the bottom of Hayden Parr,” she murmured, returning to her plans. “I need to find out where this is going.”

  ***

  When Madison punched the code into the keypad outside of Hayden’s front door, she was fuming. Not only had Charlie grilled her about Hayden’s absence during the rehearsal dinner, she had been seated next to Mrs. Leder, and had put up with even more questions about her relationship with the man.

  “You need to insist he take you out to nice places,” Mrs. Leder had suggested, waving her fork filled with prime rib in front of Madison. “Charlie told me he never takes you out, just keeps you at his house all night, counting ceiling tiles.”

  “It’s not like that, Mrs. L,” Madison had argued, reaching for her glass of wine. “We’re being discreet.”

  Mrs. Leder had shoved the piece of prime rib in her mouth. “And you believe that? He’s just using you for sex. I’ve seen it a million times before, Madison. I knew he was too good-looking for his own good.”

  As the glass door to Hayden’s home popped open, Mrs. Leder’s words repeated in her head. Incensed, Madison shoved her shoulder into the door. Once inside, she had to steady herself against the doorframe. The three glasses of wine she had consumed with her dinner were beginning to hit her. Pushing away from the door, she was about to go in search of Hayden when she remembered she needed to input the code on the other keypad. As she punched in the code, footfalls came from the foyer steps.

  “I wasn’t expecting you home so early, baby.”

  Unsteadily, she whirled around and watched as he descended the stairs. Dressed only in a pair of jeans with his bare, muscular chest gleaming beneath the bright lights in the entrance, Madison was momentarily distracted from her irritation.

  “When did you get back from your meeting?”

  “About an hour ago.” Clearing the bottom step, he moved toward her. “After Pat and Stevie signed the contracts, we discussed the sale of their property.”

  “Did you make an offer?”

  He nodded as he came to a stop before her. “In about a year, nine months if I’m lucky, we’ll close the deal and I will be the new owner of that piece of shit across the street.”

  She patted his chest and wavered slightly. “That’s great, Hayden.”

  He put his arms about her waist, his eyes intently exploring her face. “What is it? Was the rehearsal dinner a disaster?”

  “No, the dinner went fine. Charlie seemed really happy and was even getting along with her future mother-in-law.”

  “That’ll be short lived,” Hayden snorted, and eased the strap of her purse from her shoulder. “Ellen and my mother fought like cats and dogs.”

  “Your mother?” Madison paused. “You never talk about your parents. Where are they?”

  “Three blocks over on Deer Run Road. Why?” He took her purse to the stairs. “And I talk about my parents. I told you about my old man.”

  “I know you took over the company from your father, but that’s about it. You’ve never mentioned your mother.”

  Shrugging, he placed her purse on the bottom step. “Nothing to say. She’s a housewife, active at her local church, and has put up with my father’s bullshit for thirty-six years.”

  “What’s she like, your mother?”

  He came back to her side. “Why? You’ve met Mike; she’s a lot like our mother, except for the obnoxious personality. Mom is more easygoing than my sister. Don’t worry, you’ll find that out when you meet her.”

  “You want me to meet your parents?”

  “Yes, of course I do.”

  “When?” she demanded in a harsh tone.

  He stood before her, his eyes drawn together in a perplexed scowl. “What’s wrong?”

  She held up her head, appearing confident, but on the inside she was swimming in self-doubt. “I guess I’m starting to wonder if I’m the kind of girl you bring home to Mom, or just the kind of girl you sleep with and get rid of.”

  “‘Get rid of’?” His booming voice echoed about the foyer. “What are you talking about? I don’t want to get rid of you.”

  “That’s not the impression…forget it.” She was about to stumble past him when he clasped her arm.

  “What happened at the rehearsal dinner? You were fine when we talked in my office earlier this evening. And now you come back from that dinner…drunk and upset.”

  She shirked off his hand and went to the stairs. “I’m going back to my apartment,” she proclaimed after collecting her purse.

  “You’re not driving home.” He took her elbow and urged her up the stairs. “We’re going to go upstairs and you’re—”

  She pushed him away and halted on the first step. “If we go upstairs, we’ll just have sex, like we do every night. You are just out to screw me.”

  “‘Screw you’?” He gripped her arm. “We’re going to have a little chat.” He took her purse and pitched it to the bottom step before pulling her toward the archway that led to his den.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Kitchen. I think you could do with some coffee while we have that chat.”

  When they reached the kitchen, Hayden seated her at the glass breakfast table. She hadn’t wanted to admit it before, but she was more than a little tipsy. In retrospect, driving to Hayden’s had been a stupid idea, but her anger had fueled her stupidity.

  “Charlie sends her regards.” Madison smirked at him. “She asked me a lot of questions about where you were tonight.”

  “Is she the one who told you I was just
out to screw you?”

  She shook her head, feeling the wine sloshing about in her system. “That was Mrs. Leder.”

  “Mrs. Leder. Yes, she would be the expert on men.” He went to the chair next to her. “What did she say?”

  Madison drooped forward in her seat. “Does it matter?”

  He lifted her chin, raising her eyes to him. “Mrs. Leder is a silly old woman who I think enjoys putting her nose into other people’s business. What did she tell you?”

  The way his eyes were burning into her, Madison figured it would be best to disclose everything. “That you were out to screw me and then dump me.”

  He dropped his hand. “And you believe that?”

  She put her elbows on the table and then hung her head in her hands. “I don’t know what to believe.”

  “Come on.” He scooped her up in his arms. “I’m taking you to bed.”

  “Taking me to bed to have sex with me, you mean.”

  He carried her out of the kitchen. “I’m taking you to bed because you’re drunk.”

  “I am not drunk.”

  He climbed the back stairs that rose from the den to the second floor. “You’re drunk, angry, and lashing out at me. If I don’t put you to bed, we will both say things we’re going to regret in the morning.”

  “You can’t just put me to bed like I’m a child, Hayden.”

  “Well, you’re acting like one.” He turned the corner upstairs, heading down the short hall to his bedroom.

  “Why, because I’m beginning to wonder if I’m just your sex toy and not your…girlfriend?” she replied, raising her voice.

  He stopped at the bedroom door and deposited her on the thick Berber carpet. “Did Mrs. Leder say that?”

  “No, Charlie. She thinks you’re using me for sex, too.”

  He hesitated for a moment, and when he wiped his face with his hand, his expression calmed. “Madison, you need to stop listening to your friends. I know they have good intentions, but they don’t know mine.”

  “What are your intentions, Hayden?”

  “Are you sure you want to discuss this when you’re drunk?”