“Yes. With animportantclient.” Her gaze is insolent as she regards me.
Couldn’t have been thatimportantif Huxley said he ought to wait, I think as I wait for her to make the next move. This James barging into the office might’ve been a coincidence, but her acting like it’s a huge deal isn’t. She wants to interrupt our date and make me feel as insignificant as possible. It might’ve worked if I hadn’t developed such a thick skin, thanks to Karie and Viv.
Madison’s phone pings. She glances at the screen and frowns a little. The creases vanish from her forehead as she answers. “I’m surprised you called me so quickly. Yes, of course I understand. Nobody would blame you for leaving.” Her eyes slide in my direction, then rest on the diamonds. She nods a few times. “No. I suppose expecting a child you never wanted would make things less tenable. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything. Sure, H. See you soon.”
She ends the call and turns to me with a smug expression. I want to claw her eyes out for talking about my baby like it’s a bothersome burden, but that’s the exact reaction she wants, so I cling to control. When Huxley said he’d talk with her, I thought he’d do so in the morning, when he arrived at the office. Guess he forgot.
She takes my elbow as though to help me up. She smells like the perfume from yesterday.
I pull away from her. The vile scent makes me want to puke in her face. “Nice perfume.”
“It’s my favorite. Huxley’s too.” She couldn’t sound sweeter.
“Is that so?”
“I could send you a bottle…” She looks at me intently, a corner of her mouth curving in a taunt.
Amusement and irritation sweep over me. She thinks she’s so clever, but she’s an amateur compared to the kind of crap Karie and Viv often pulled on me. Her plan is so transparent. Figure out a way to get the scent on Huxley and then wait for the fireworks. Actually, she’s probably curious as to whether I already exploded and when Huxley would become annoyed with me enough to argue and raise his voice. Or maybe she’s curious if he brought me here to smooth my ruffled feathers.
Or… maybe she’s hoping I’ll lose my temper with her right now and make a scene bad enough to embarrass Huxley. All she has to do is keep that I-didn’t-do-anything expression while I verbally berate her.
I maintain my bland façade. “I don’t need a bottle to wear the perfume. The scent rubs off on me when Huxley takes me to bed.”
She flinches, red suffusing her cheeks. “It doesn’t bother you?”
“What? That you want to get fucked by my husband so bad you can’t pretend to be a half-decent assistant around me?”
The red on her face turns ugly. Her jaw tightens, and a war wages across her face briefly as she debates her next move. “He and I could be sharing the scent the same way as you.”
I smother a laugh. If she’d slept with Huxley, she wouldn’t be talking about some perfume. She’d be rhapsodizing about how amazing his piercing feels. “Then why do you look so pinched? A well-fucked woman should be glowing.”
She inhales sharply.
“I’ve tolerated you because my husband says you’re a good assistant. If you want me to continue to tolerate you, you’d do well to stop trying to bait me.”
“He never wanted you. He’ll never like you. The prenup says the baby is his. He’ll take it and leave you with nothing. Just because he can.”
This jab hits home. In the heat of the moment, I signed the contract without checking it thoroughly, infuriated that he was treating me like some gold digger when he was the one who asked me to be his fake fiancée in the first place. But what if there’s something about the baby? I didn’t expect him to want it, since back then he was questioning the paternity.
I school myself to hide my reaction. Madison might not know what’s in the prenup either, just making a wild guess, hoping it hurts. She won’t be getting the satisfaction.
“Nobody crosses him and gets away with it,” she adds. “And you entrapping him into a marriage he never wanted? You’ve crossed the Rubicon.”
“I don’t give a damn if I crossed the damn galaxy. I’m still his wife, and you’re just an assistant with an overblown sense of self-importance.”
She falters.Bet this wasn’t what she expected. She wanted to see me get jealous, pout and stew in insecurity.
“He set up a special trust to pay for my mother’s exorbitant medical bills.” My eyes flick around the jewelry store before I add in a smooth, in-charge voice, “He rented out this entire place just to buy me something pretty for our next evening out as a couple. He wouldn’t have spent a penny if he didn’t care about me, and you know it. So keep your mouth shut and drive me to my office like a good little assistant.”
* * *
Despite getting the best of Madison in our verbal smackdown, the interaction leaves a bad taste. The warm, effervescent sensation from spending part of my lunch break with Huxley is gone, replaced with irritation and annoyance that I was forced into an unacceptable position because of his continued leniency toward his assistant.
How can he not see she’s been panting after him all these years? That she can barely control her hostility toward me now?
It’s even more upsetting after his outrageous jealousy over Adam. My friend wasn’t anywhere near as obnoxious as Madison. Not to mention, after I asked him for space, he’s given it to me.
Now that I think about it, my rebuke to Adam was too harsh. Why should I give up my best friend because of Huxley’s unreasonable feelings, when he can’t respect my being upset with his obnoxious assistant?
