Madison's Life Lessons

by Gracen Miller

  Micah’s glacial eyes grew a shade darker and blazed with satisfaction. With one spontaneous act, she’d expressed her awareness of him and she could kick herself for it.

  “Are you ever going to tell me your name?” he asked, his voice having grown whiskey-rough. Such a sensual sound that made her knees wobble and her hands shake.

  “I don’t think I should.” She flattened her palms against her thighs so he wouldn’t notice them shaking and cast a quick glance in Momma’s direction. Momma primped at her reflection in the car’s rearview mirror. She turned back to Micah and executed a one-shoulder shrug. “It sorta feels like if I tell you my name, it’ll somehow invite power over me.” A crazy notion, she knew, but true nonetheless.

  A wide grin showed off his perfect straight teeth and Madison almost lost all thought. His full-blown smile inspired giddiness, like she’d located the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Or as giddy as the schoolgirl she was with a handsome older man turning all his charm on her. Sheesh, he could be lethal to her untutored passions. Madison was unsure how to handle her awkward emotions, and was equally unsure if she read Micah’s behavior wrong.

  “There is power in a name. Certain names hold more power than others.” Micah pushed off the tombstone and she tilted her head back to maintain eye contact. What a novel experience to look up at someone. Made her feel small and in need of protecting. Micah captured a lock of her hair, and caressed it between his fingers before tucking it behind an ear. Madison shivered. “Until you privilege me with your name, I’ll give you a nickname…how does kitten sound?”

  That sounded more like an endearment than a nickname. “I don’t think that’s very appropriate.”

  She knew it wasn’t! If Daddy found out—

  He winked. “You’re fault.” That’s what Daddy would say too. “You won’t trust me with your name and I have to call you something.”

  They didn’t run in the same circles so the plausibility of them bumping into each other again was slim.

  “Are you flirting with me?” Madison almost swallowed her tongue for asking such a bold question.

  Micah stuffed a hand into a jean pocket and stared at her a long time. Sheesh, with his penetrating stare, she felt like he could read every want she tucked away deep in her soul. “You’re a pretty girl, why wouldn’t I flirt with you?”

  Until recently, no one seemed interested in her. Suddenly, everyone gawked at her. Micah gazed at her with emotions she couldn’t identify, but they melted her wariness. She felt safe and significant in his regard, a heady experience when she received nothing but ridicule from her father and disdain—until today—from her mother. She’d felt the same weird notion from him on Christmas morning and it made no more sense now than it did then.

  “You’re too old to flirt with me and I don’t need my ego fed, Mr.—” She sent him a pointed stare.

  “Dominus. Micah Dominus.” He chucked her chin and her pulse spiked. She took a step back, away from his too potent demeanor, as he said, “You know my name. The polite thing is for you to give me yours.”

  Her lips twitched and she bit back the grin. “I don’t think so, Mr. Dominus. My daddy warned me about talking to strangers and you’re a stranger.”

  Micah didn’t object. Instead, he procured a business card from his back pocket and held his hand out, offering it to her. “If you wish to alter my ‘stranger’ status, call or email me anytime. No romantic pressure, just friends.” His concentrated gaze said they’d be ‘just friends’ so long as she desired their relationship to remain platonic. When she didn’t take the card, he cocked a questioning eyebrow at her. “I don’t bite, kitten.”

  The familiarity of his endearment buzzed across her skin and warmed the base of her spine. Madison licked her lips. Indecision warred with good sense. Instinct warned her to walk away now without accepting his offer. Impulse screamed at her to take the card and live on the wild side.

  Finally, she accepted his offer and shivered when her fingertips brushed his. Micah invited no other contact, his expression unreadable as they stared at one another. Madison swallowed hard, wagged his business card at him and said, “I make no promises.”

  He nodded. “Fair enough.”

  “Goodbye, Mr. Dominus.”

  “I’ll see you later, kitten.”

  The idea of seeing him again left her all sorts of nervous. She attempted an eloquent turn, wobbled a little on her high heels, and walked across the cemetery toward her mother’s Mercedes. Senses tingling, she thought he watched her leave. She resisted the compulsion to glance over her shoulder and determine if he did.

  Life Lesson Ten

  Madison controlled her pace as she walked toward Momma’s car, squelching the urge to bolt. Micah watched her. She felt his stare. Crazy, yeah, but his gaze was that intense. Kind of hypnotic, she wanted to stare into his blue eyes until she either became lost in them or found salvation. More crazy from a normally level-headed girl.

  The business card against her palm prickled her skin, totally opposite of the way the man affected her. He left her all ooey-gooey inside. With Jack she’d been comfortable and at ease. His one-time kiss hadn’t been exciting and she hadn’t been eager to repeat the embrace. But Micah…Dear God just thinking his name left her jittery and unsure. And definitely wondering how his kiss would feel.

  Would she grow breathless like one of the many romance books described? The ones she kept hidden from her daddy under her mattress. Or she might forget herself and go too far, like a bunch of those heroines in those romance books. That wasn’t an option. She had plans to vacate her daddy’s control as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Getting involved with a man wasn’t part of the plan.

  She shook her head and hastily stuffed the card into her black purse. She’d have to find some way to evict Mr. Dominus from her mind because he was way too old for her. To that end she should think of him only as Mr. Dominus and not Micah.

  As Madison rounded the front of the Mercedes, she chanced a peek in his direction. He stood facing her, feet braced slightly apart, with one hand shoved in a pocket. Their eyes connected. A slight smile curved his sensuous mouth and he lifted his hand in a manly gesture of a wave. She pulled the door handle and executed a quick wave back. Before she slid into the passenger seat, he lifted his hand to his ear and mouthed, “Call me.”

  Silent, Momma tapped her fingers against the steering wheel, as Madison settled inside and latched her seatbelt. “Do you know him, Momma?”

  Her mother turned to look out her window. “Yes,” she said and cranked the vehicle. “Micah Dominus, he’s the new hotshot attorney in town. He’s set the city ablaze with his talent in the courtroom. From what I hear, he hasn’t lost a case yet. Why do you ask?”

  Madison shrugged. “No reason. He said he worked for the Moore family and that Jack’s dad was running for Mayor.”

  “Micah Dominus is too cute for his own good, isn’t he?” Momma stared at the man in question.

  How gross! Momma was old and married. She shouldn’t have an opinion about other men. “I guess.”

  Momma chuckled. “He’s got half the town sniffing after him, married and unmarried alike, and you just guess he’s cute?”

  “Momma, I’m fifteen, he’s old, like thirty probably.”

  “I hear he’s fresh out of college. That’s what makes him such a hot commodity. Young, successful, a real brainiac, finished school early. He’s somewhere just shy of mid-twenties.” Momma put the car in drive and waved to Mr. Dominus. “A much more manageable age than ancient thirty, don’t you think?”

  “It’s not like he wants to date me.” Madison rolled her eyes and resisted looking at Micah—Mr. Dominus!—over her shoulder. In his presence, she felt special. Out of his company and in Momma’s, she’d gone back to plain ole’ Madison Wescott.

  “You never know what a man’s thinking.”

  Madison wasn’t sure how to interpret that statement or why she would even want to know what a man was t
hinking. On second thought, it sure would help to know what Mr. Dominus thought about her.

  Silence descended as Momma navigated the vehicle. Why’d she feel so dang different in Micah Dominus’s presence? What about him was so special? Not that his specialness or her curiosity mattered. Her daddy would never allow her to date. Anyone. And especially not an older man, even if he wasn’t thirty yet. Only a man spewing scriptures, with a bible in his hand, would ever be allowed to date her.

  “Momma?”

  “Yes?” Celeste executed a right-hand turn.

  Madison cleared her throat and twisted her fingers together in her lap. “What would you say if I told you he gave me his business card and asked me to call him?”

  “What’s the harm in being his friend, Madison? He doesn’t have many. At least none that like him for him. Everyone wants his friendship because of what they think it’ll do to their status.” Momma made a face of disgust.

  On that, they were in agreement, Madison decided as she peered out the window. Welcome to her small hick, Alabama town, where the favorite pastime was poking one’s nose in someone else’s business. And if they thought your friendship could help their position in town, well, congratulations, you just became their new BFF…until they found someone new.

  Momma went on in her cultured tone, “I heard his parents died recently and the only family he has left is a brother, or brothers. I’m not sure which. But, a man like that is bound to be lonely.”

  Not the response Madison expected to receive, she yanked her head about to stare stunned at Momma. “What would Daddy say?”

  “Why does your daddy have to know?” Momma sent her a sly wink. “Our secret, baby girl, our secret.”

  Life Lesson Eleven

  Madison never made the call to Micah. Mid- or early-twenties made no difference. Too old was too old. Momma agreeing to keep secrets helped none when Daddy discovered her shameless ways. She’d be the one serving pittance on her knees pretending to pray to a god she didn’t like, much less believe in.

  She tossed a quick glance about Nirty’s Tropical Explosion. It was quiet this late September afternoon. A handful of customers besides herself and Jen, a girl she’d taken to tutoring to pass idle time.

  Propping her chin in her hand, she stared out the window. She sipped on the straw to her raspberry-mango smoothie, while waiting on Jen to conjugate a verb from English into French. Daddy hadn’t complained about her tutoring business. He’d seemed pleased by her actions. What a change that was! Even told her he was proud of her for taking the initiative. She’d spent the better part of an hour awaiting the first signs of the apocalypse’s imminence after he spouted that B.S. The signs never came and she figured all was good in the world again.

  She’d had to do something to get out of that house, and away from thoughts of Micah Dominus. After Jack’s funeral, she’d mooned over Micah for months, spending long hours lying in her bed staring at his business card. Pretending he whisked her away from her daddy, all sorts of vivid fantasies where he was her saving knight.

  She should’ve been thinking about Jack Moore and his ill-timed death. Instead, she’d been tracing Micah’s name on the card and staring at her reflection in the vanity mirror practicing her introduction. “Hi, I’m Madison Dominus, it’s so nice to meet you.”

  Whenever she thought about her foolishness, she cringed. Thank God no one could see her.

  The man could be a serial murderer for all she knew. Unlikely, but she still needed to get her girlish sights off him. Until now, she’d thought she was above simple fantasies like this. Worse, she’d fancied she could smell his scent on the high-grade paper. Nonsense, of course, but also evidenced how far she’d fallen for the enigmatic Micah Dominus.

  She’d asked some local folks around town about him. Discovered what Momma said was true. Criminal law was his specialty and he’d never lost a case. She’d tried to be discreet with her inquiries, but obviously not discreet enough when the local librarian, Mrs. Shannon, looked her square in the eye, and said, “Honey, don’t get your hopes up that Micah Dominus will set his cap for ya’. I like ya’, you’re a God fearin’ good girl, sweet and polite, but he likes his women a lot worldlier than you’ll ever be. Be thankful for that, young lady, because a man like him will only bring about trouble.”

  Madison had sputtered how she had no wish for Micah to be interested in her. Judging by Mrs. Shannon’s comeback, the librarian didn’t believe her. “Uh huh,” the woman had said as she peered over the rim of her glasses. “He’s been seen with the likes of Nadia Dubois and Kristen Sanders. You know the name those two women have.” The librarian snorted and Madison feared the woman would spit her disgust. Instead, she said, “Even with a handful of years of maturity, you won’t ever be as worldly as those women. Thank God.”

  A blush spreading up her neck and hitting her cheeks, Madison had extracted herself from the conversation pronto. Her daddy tagged Nadia and Kristen as loose women with no morals. He was bent on saving them, but so far no luck.

  Obsessing over Micah Dominus went down as the worst waste of her time ever. Not just too old for her, he outclassed her too, rubbed elbows with the Mayor and hobnobbed with the State Senator. As a member of the Country Club, that alone garnered him exclusivity into homes the Wescott family didn’t have access to.

  Mrs. Shannon had been right and she was thankful someone had the nerve to speak so boldly. Otherwise, Madison might have made a fool out of herself and made the worst mistake of her life and placed a phone call to Micah Dominus.

  That’s when she’d realized she had to get out of the house to get him off her mind. And here she sat, patiently waiting for Jen to run through her conjugation. Not that there was any hope in the world of Jen figuring it out. All the girl needed was a C to pass her senior year and Madison would make sure she possessed enough knowledge to—

  “OMG!” Jen exclaimed and smacked her pen dramatically on the table. Madison jerked in her seat as Jen said, “Fancy seeing him here.”

  Jen whipped out a mirror and proceeded to primp as Madison glanced over her shoulder expecting to see a number of any popular guys from school. All of them boring in comparison to—

  Micah Dominus!

  OMG was right! He was here. In the flesh. Looking sharp and successful in his crisp navy blue Armani business suit, and oh, goodness, he looked better than she remembered.

  Madison wrenched around in her seat and took a deep breath. She released it slowly, but the action failed to settle her nerves. She gulped her smoothie and suffered a brain freeze. Eyes tearing up, she cast another quick peek in his direction. He was with a group of men who paled in comparison to him. They didn’t even have the same classy style of dress as he did.

  Another deep breath in and out…in and out...if she played it cool, he wouldn’t notice her. Don’t draw attention to yourself, Madison. She turned to face Jen and pretended indifference. Act like he’s no big deal and…who was she kidding? He was a big deal. Even if he didn’t know it, he’d stolen two months from her, pining after him like a pathetic fool.

  Months after Jack’s death and he hadn’t tried to contact her. Not once! If he was interested, surely he’d have tried. He doesn’t even know my name, but he knows Momma and Daddy’s names.

  Momma would’ve said something if Micah asked after her. Daddy would’ve probably said something too as he preached about her immoral nature showing its head again. All that could be chalked up as proof Micah hadn’t shown any interest in her.

  “Let me see how far you’ve gotten on your French so far.” Madison took the opportunity to change the subject.

  “Screw French, Madison.” Jen slapped her hand down on the sheet of paper. “Micah Dominus is much more interesting.” She sighed and her eyes misted with fairytale imaginings. “Don’t you think Micah’s a golden haired, blue-eyed god, Madison? Dreamy looks, awesome voice, and rich.”

  Madison shrugged. “He’s all right.”

  “I think he likes me,” Jen
confessed in a loud whisper. It was obvious she didn’t care about Madison’s opinion. She went on, “He came over the other night to talk business with my parents.”

  Really? How odd. Why’d they need criminal legal help? Jen’s dad was a factory worker at the local carpet plant and her mom was a stay-at-home, plain-Jane. Madison liked Jen’s mom, too bad she couldn’t say the same for Jen.

  “He ate dinner with us and winked at me several times throughout the meal.” Jen sighed dreamily. “He wanted to know if I had a boyfriend. I think he said I was pretty.” She paused and cocked her head. “Um yeah, I think he said I was pretty. No, ya’ know, I know he said I was pretty…or I think he did. Some of it’s a bit hazy because I had a hard time focusing while staring into his eyes, but...” Her voice grew high-pitched as she exclaimed, “What do you think? He’s gotta like me! Right? Of course he does!”

  Madison thought if Jen put as much focus into her French as she did Micah, she’d ace the rest of the year. She also thought Micah sounded like a player. A real ladies man. She hadn’t seen that coming even though she’d been forewarned.

  Proof she was a silly girl with even sillier fantasies, putting stock into a man she knew little to nothing about. And to think she still slept with his business card beneath her pillow. Crumpled after almost half a year of holding and sleeping with the card, she’d ranked it as high as her other prized possessions…her hidden romance books. The truth of his licentious ways rankled. Flirts and playboys had no business taking any space in her thoughts, much less her daydreams. And as soon as she got him, she’d rip up and trash his stupid business card.

  “Look, Jen, your parents are paying me to help you with French, not discuss local socialites posing as upstanding legal defense lawyers. I’ve got my own homework to study.” A little white lie never hurt anyone. Having a photographic memory nullified the need to study. “So what’s it going to be? Study French or you’re on your own for this test?”