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I frowned and ran my hand through the bubbles. The first night I actually felt a connection with Madden. He was giving, very giving and in tune with what I needed. He had taken me by surprise too.
I’d expected to be tied up. I’d as**sumed that was what he liked. His anger didn’t make sense and then the second time, when he did tie my hands; he took. It was all about him. There was no caring about me or my needs.
That’s how it had been with Jenna when I saw them in the office. Which made me even more confused because what exactly was that first night? What had any of it meant to him—or to me? I sank my head under the water and let the warmth seep into my head; easing the pounding that had started the second Madden said we were getting engaged.
When I came back up, Madden was standing next to the tub. I should have been surprised to see him, but after only two days, I knew he was the kind of man who did whatever he wanted. He stared down at me and I watched as his gaze moved down to where my bre**asts were just above the water, the suds doing nothing to cover me.
His eyes got dark and I heard him inhale raggedly. Part of me wished the he would strip down and join me, but he didn’t seem the type to take bubble baths.
“Have you changed your mind yet?” he asked.
Part of me wanted to, could not stop thinking about the money, but the reality was that I couldn’t take the chance. Not with Jacob looking for me. It had only been a week since I left and I knew my ex well enough to know that he would eventually find me if I didn’t disappear soon.
“I haven’t.” For one second, I thought I saw a flash of vulnerability in Madden’s eyes, but then he blinked and the hardness was back. He nodded curtly.
“Very well, I’ll call Jenna and tell her to nix the story. The plane will be ready in an hour. We’ll be leaving then.” He turned and strode from the bathroom and a wash of cold air made me shiver.
As I stood and toweled off, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had somehow let him down. Heaviness sank into my gut and only got worse when I heard Madden’s raised voice from our room. I wrapped the oversized towel around my body and opened the door.
“I told you to wait on that,” he shouted into his phone. “Pull the god damned press release now.” He listened for a few seconds and a vein in his forehead stuck out. “Are you f**king kidding me? So now what?” After a few more seconds, he threw his phone down on the table.
“Bad news?” I asked.
He turned slowly and after running an as**sessing gaze over my half nak**ed body, he looked into my eyes. “Jenna sent the notice into the papers first thing this morning. The Associated Press grabbed it and it’s front-page news already. I didn’t authorize the release, but my people screwed up. It is what it is.”
I thought I saw remorse in his eyes, but my entire body started going from hot to cold. It was on the front page of the Associated Press? Jacob would see it. He’d see me. Tears burned the back of my eyes and I spun away from Madden. One stupid mistake by Jenna and my life was in danger.
And I couldn’t escape the feeling that perhaps Madden had even secretly intended it to go this way. If I accepted, he got the story and if I refused…he still got his precious story.
And he could even claim plausible deniability.
“I want to leave now.” My voice shook. I couldn’t think straight. I ignored all the new clothes that Madden had bought for me and pulled on my jeans and peasant blouse, ignoring the feel of his stare on my nak**ed back. I had to get my car at the motel. Money, I needed the money that Madden had promised. Maybe I’d have time to disappear before Jacob tracked me down.
My heart pounded against my ribs.
If he found me, I was as good as dead. Especially with a story like that taunting him.
“How long will it take to get me my money?” I asked. My hands shook as I carefully folded the towel and set it on the unmade bed.
“Skylar.” I could hear concern in his voice, but I didn’t turn around.
I didn’t want him to see how scared I was. Jacob was my problem and I could deal with it as soon as I had the means to go away. All I needed now was for Madden to stop asking questions and take me back to the motel.
Time was running out and the longer I waited, the easier it was going to be for Jacob to track me down. I inhaled a long breath and looked over my shoulder. I tried to look as uncaring as possible.
“The weekend is over. This...this is over, even though your PR person screwed up. You’re smart, you’ll figure out something to tell the press, but you have to call this off. I don’t want to pretend to be your fiancé. I just want all of this to be finished.”
