“I hate that they can still affect me this way.” Madison straightened up and wiped her tears, still within the protection of his arms. “I really do. But man, they just get me where it hurts.”
“You’re too sweet.”
“People at work would disagree.”
“That’s different.”
“I don’t see how.” She took a cleansing breath, staying close to Colton for another moment. His protective warmth was a comfort she wasn’t ready to walk away from.
“Business isn’t personal. There are no emotions in business if you want to get ahead. Clearly you know that. But this is everyday life—of course it affects you.”
She looked up at his handsome face and reveled in his beautiful blue eyes. He moved a strand of hair off her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. “Better?”
She nodded and closed her eyes as he bent over her. His lips pressed against her forehead, then the tip of her nose. Finally, they touched hers. She expected the contact to deepen as passion unfurled in her body, but this time he backed away. “You still came out the victor here. They know you’ve done well and it’ll annoy them. If you shrug it off, you’ll win twofold.”
“I’m glad Sam quit and you were the next option.”
He smiled, increasing the wattage of his handsomeness. “Me too.”
“Let’s get out of here.”
“Are you going to check in?”
She shook her head and directed them past the check-in desk and out the door. No way was she staying in this hotel after the wedding party had literally chased her out of the wedding. She didn’t care if it was cowardly or not. The hotel was a dump, anyway.
The chill welcomed her into the night, wrapping around her and setting her teeth to chattering. Colton shrugged out of his jacket immediately and draped it across her shoulders.
“Thanks,” she said, pulling it tightly around her. “Did you take a class on all the right things to say and do with women?”
“The class of life, yes. Trial and error, with very steep punishments.” He opened the passenger side of his car and handed her in. Once they were both settled in their seats, he continued. “In truth, knowing what to say and do with you is easy. It’s observation and logic. I don’t have to blow smoke. It’s nice.”
“Hmm.” She turned away, looking out the window. “I forgot overnight stuff anyway. I had eight months to prepare for this wedding, and I forgot the present, my overnight bag, and a jacket.”
“Your subconscious was telling you not to go.”
“Clearly.” She smoothed her dress over her legs. “Thank you, by the way. You were my knight in shining armor a moment ago. James would’ve definitely thrown me under the bus, and I would’ve had all that anger directed at me. It would not have been pretty.”
“That’s why I came,” he said softly as the car purred. “Power in numbers.”
“Power in Colton.”
He winked at her, barely visible in the dash lights. “I do what I can. So where to?”
Shivers washed over her. She wondered if she could amend the reservation for his services. She’d love a warm body to cuddle up to. More importantly, she’d love his warm body to cuddle up to.
Ten
“Well, it’s about ten, right?” Madison said, looking away from Colton and out the window. She sounded slightly deflated, which told him she was still dealing with that wedding crap. “I have you until eleven, and half that time will be spent heading home.”
“That didn’t answer my question.”
“Home. Time is about up.”
“Home it is.” They drove in silence for a while, the quiet actually peaceful rather than a black hole of words. He was mostly over trying to fill the void.
“Why do you suppose they thought I was messaging James?” she asked, tendrils of anger woven into her voice. “Do you think they were just trying to get my goat?”
“My guess would be that he messaged with other people and Becky assumed it was you.”
“Because he invited me to the wedding?”
“Becky said she’d heard a lot about you. Maybe he used his story about your collective past to validate why he was spending so much time chatting online. That would be a justifiable reason to talk with someone, even if she didn’t like it. Messaging someone who didn’t have a shared history wouldn’t go over as well. Then there’s the fact that he never saw you, right? So he could say he was chatting with you, but since you never met in person, it would feel mostly harmless.”
“Until I arrived at the wedding.”
“Yes.”
“You know a lot about being shady.” It was almost an accusation.
He flared his fingers on the steering wheel. “I’ve never done any of that, but guys aren’t that complex. They think with their dicks. It’s not hard to figure out the particulars of something like this.”
“Whatever the reason, I’m blocking his ass.”
“Watch yourself, okay? I looked you up before this gig and found your address. He must, too, if he sent an invitation. If you ever get a scare, don’t hesitate to call me. Anytime, night or day, I’ll be available.”
“Thank you, that’s really sweet, but you’re not my personal bodyguard, Colton. You don’t need to put yourself out.”
“It wouldn’t put me out. I’d just be following up on my promise. Which I always do.”
“Always, huh?” she said sarcastically, smiling over at him.
“Always,” he said seriously.
“Despite the end, I had fun tonight.” She clasped her hands on her lap. Though the heater was on and the temperature was warming, she didn’t take off the jacket. He liked that.
“It would’ve been even better if the wedding was halfway decent.”
She held up her hand. “Stop. Just stop. The food!” She groaned. “They actually paid for that. That’s the worst part—they paid for that horrible food to be served to their guests. I would’ve been livid.”
“Okay, so say a man you really liked asked you to marry him, and you lowered yourself to consent”—he paused while she laughed—“what would your ideal wedding be?”
“Would we have to sign the papers?”
“What do you mean?”
“For the marriage, would we have to sign the contract?”
“The license…yeah. That’s what marriage is.”
She shook her head. “Marriage is pledging yourself to someone for life. A contract is a mandate that if something goes wrong, each party gets a percentage of the assets. It’s the rule book for parceling out the couple’s life if they want to terminate the contract.”
“You’re really hung up on the contract part of all this, aren’t you?”
“Yes. It’s a serious buzzkill. I deal with contracts for work constantly. I also deal with people, my company included, trying to find loopholes in said contracts. It’s a dirty business.”
The light bulb clicked on. Now her attitude made a lot more sense. Contracts existed in business, and emotion existed in her personal life. She kept the two separate. She didn’t want the coldness of business bleeding into the warmth of love.
Something about that sentiment made him want to pull the car over and kiss her soundly. To hold on and never let go.
“Okay, then,” he said in a gruff voice, trying to push down the feeling that had welled up and threatened to take over. “Marriage without the license. What would be the ideal wedding?”
A small smile graced her lips. “That just gave me warm fuzzies. No one just goes with my crazy logic.”
“It isn’t crazy logic—it’s how you see the world, which seems reasonable to me.”
“So you say. Hmm.” She drummed her fingers on her knee. “Close friends and family only. I’m talking about people you see all the time. A tight-knit group. Good food, and we’ve just seen why that’s important, an open bar, and killer music. The setting could literally be anywhere. No, wait. It should be in a place where someone else would clean up.”
&n
bsp; “I’d want the setting to be somewhere luxurious. Like renting out a nice restaurant for the night. Or an outdoor area at a tropical resort.”
“That’s big money.”
“It would be a vacation and a party mixed together. The party itself wouldn’t be that bad. Food and drink for a close-knit group?” He frowned, doing numbers in his head based on what he’d have to have. “Flowers aren’t necessary.”
“I agree. I mean, flowers are really the celebration of death, right? They were killed to grace the tables—they just haven’t decomposed yet. That’s a bit grisly for a celebration of love. They belong at funerals more than anything.”
Colton laughed as he navigated off the freeway, fifteen minutes from her house. He eased up on the gas, dropping below the speed limit.
“And party favors aren’t necessary, either,” she said. “How many wine toppers does a person need?”
“I agree. It would be more useful to just scribble on a napkin, Take this napkin as a token of our love.”
“Use it for cleanup after you screw.”
Colton laughed again, the sound booming out in the small space. After he calmed down, she said, “I’d consider signing a contract if kids came along, though.”
“Do you want kids?”
“Yes. I’d be okay with not having kids, too. I don’t have a dying need to further populate the earth, but one or two would be nice if I had the option. You?”
“I want kids. Three is my target number, but I’d settle for however many my woman would give me.”
“Wise.” She chuckled as he turned onto her street, nearly crawling, he was going so slow.
“Why a contract for kids?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Because I’d want some guarantee they’d be taken care of if something happened. I’d want a legal way to go after the father if he tried to screw my babies over.”
The ferocity in her voice, plus her experience in legal matters, told him that she’d be a terrible adversary if someone ever did screw her over in that way.
Without thinking, he reached over and took her hand, entwining his fingers with hers. “Sounds reasonable.”
“Reasonable, or batshit crazy?”
“One and the same where it concerns kids, I think. As it should be.” He pulled into the parking area of her apartment complex. “And your last name?”
“I’d want to keep my own. Again, kids might change things. I think kids would feel safer with some built-in family unity, but I’d keep my name until then. I’ve had this name for twenty-seven years. It’s my identity. I can’t just change my identity for someone. We don’t ask anything like that of men, so why is it still the norm to ask it of women?” She paused for a moment as he parked. “No guy is going to go for all this; I know that. Which is fine. I can’t expect to change a man’s whole way of thinking, just like he can’t expect to change mine. Frank never understood that. He didn’t get that compromise isn’t just about who does what chores.”
She made no move to get out of the car. Neither did he.
“But if you do those things for your kids—getting married to their dad, changing your name—aren’t you perpetuating the cycle?” he asked.
“Yes, but I don’t know another way. If there was another way, one that someone would go for, I’d be all in, trust me.” She picked at the hem on his jacket sleeve. “You think I’m crazy, don’t you? Some deranged freedom-fighter chick who wants to burn bras and pee on…steps or whatever the perception is.”
He chuckled helplessly. “Peeing on steps, yes. I pegged you for the type to do that right away.”
“Although bras can be fiercely uncomfortable.” She patted her breasts. His cock twitched. “Clearly I don’t always wear one.”
“I think it’s women who care about that. Men certainly don’t. I wish more women left their bras at home. It’s sexy.” He threw up his hands in response to her disbelieving look. “I am one hundred percent not trying to make you feel better about your choice. That is a statement of fact. I would rather look at bouncing boobs than trapped boobs, even if the boobs in question are dangling down to a woman’s belly button. Every guy I know would agree with me. Burn the bra, sister. I’m all in. Though I’d have a harder time not staring. That would be the real challenge.”
She laughed and took back her hand. He felt a surge of alarm, not wanting the night to end so soon. The bullies at the wedding had stolen time from them. Time they could have spent dancing. Drinking, if he’d left this car somewhere for the night.
“It makes sense why women would feel iffy about changing their names, I guess,” he said, trying to keep her in the car. He purposely made no movement toward his own door handle. “Women didn’t used to have any rights of their own or any real value outside of domestic life, right? She was her husband’s property, more or less. I would certainly not go for that. I’d kill the bastard.”
She huffed out a laugh. “Well, that would have gone over fantastically.” She shifted. “Did you know that back in the day, a woman had to have her husband’s last name when she birthed a child? It was the way she signaled the child was his. If she didn’t have his last name, the child would be treated like a bastard. Consequently, since a woman couldn’t inherit anything, including her own dowry, she needed to bear a son with the father’s name or she would be destitute. And here we’re pushed into calling a dark period in women’s history tradition. Like, my being able to own property goes against tradition. Or my fighting to get equal pay is clearly against the company’s tradition, and they want to fight me tooth and nail over it, the bastards.
“Anyway.” She looked out the window. “It is what it is. I’m weird. I get that.”
“You’re not weird. You are following your beliefs. I can respect that.”
She gave him a sheepish smile. “That’s because you’re not trying to navigate those beliefs to marry me.”
His heart started to pound and a cold sweat washed over his body. His fingers itched to grab her. Or touch her in some way. To hold her close.
He had no idea where the reaction came from, or why. He didn’t know what to do with it. Half panicked, he froze.
“I will say, though.” She lifted a finger, staring vaguely out the window again. She hadn’t noticed his mini-freak-out. “My friend and her husband fused their names together. They adopted an all-new last name. Both of them changed. So when their kid came along, they were all united.” He saw the corner of her lip creep up the side of her face. “I thought that was incredibly sweet. John is a good guy. I need to find someone who gets me like John gets Gail. Or just adopt a household of pets. That’ll do, too.” She reached for the door handle. “Sorry. I’m rambling. Janie would’ve told me to get over it by now.”
“No, I—” She was out of the car before he could get any more of the words out. And before he could grab his door handle, his jacket was being handed inside.
“Thanks for the great night!” She smiled in at him, leaning over in a way that showed off her cleavage through the slit in her dress. He froze for the second time, mesmerized by the sight of her free, swinging breasts. He had not been lying when he’d said he preferred them that way. “It was great working with you.”
“Wait, Maddie.” He ripped at his door handle as the passenger door slammed shut. By the time he was out, she was striding away.
Eleven
Cursing herself, Madison struck up a fast walk, freezing her ass off. Why couldn’t she just shut her mouth? She always did that. She spouted off about some idea or other that went against the grain and shut down the room. Everyone got uncomfortable, thought she was a lunatic, and hoped she would see her way out.
At least she could now realize when the ejector button was lit up. She’d saved Colton from having to awkwardly get her out of his car.
She scrubbed her fingers through her hair. They caught halfway through because of the massive amounts of hairspray. “Dang it,” she said, ripping her hand free. She patted down her hair to smooth it. If Janie
was at her apartment, she’d wonder if Madison had gotten into a fight. Close enough.
“Maddie!”
Shivers of delight ran through her body. That voice. The intimacy implied by the nickname.
Despite the chill, she slowed.
Colton half jogged to her, his jacket in hand. He glanced at his watch as he approached before flinging the jacket around her shoulders. “What kind of a gentleman would I be if I didn’t walk you to your door?”
“You don’t have to. You probably want to get back to your life.”
He spread out his hands and gave her a severe look. “Did you seriously think that weak excuse would convince me to abandon you?” He held out a finger, his eyes sparkling. “And don’t say it wouldn’t be abandoning you. You don’t know me well, but you know me better than that.”
She sighed and smiled, happily defeated. “Fine.”
“Don’t make it sound like a death sentence or anything.”
“What time is it?”
He checked his watch again, though he probably remembered from the last time. “Twenty till.”
“Ah ha!” She pointed at him. “You felt guilty for leaving early, didn’t you?”
“You got me. I saw my golden opportunity to escape, but conscience got the better of me.” He draped his jacket onto her shoulders again, sealing her in his warmth and smell.
“I knew it.” She bumped against his shoulder.
His hand drifted out and took hers. They threaded their fingers together.
“This is some change from how we started,” he said, his other hand casually tucked into his pocket.
“It’s probably par for the course, right?” she asked, watching another couple ambling toward them. “You go into the trenches with a colleague, and you come out closer.”
“I’m not usually in the trenches so much as a spectator. Or a puppet, I guess. I’m an employee.”
She glanced at his face, trying to read the origin of that dry, almost dismal tone. “Are you getting tired of this line of work?”
Thunder (Big D Escort Service Book 1) Page 10