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I sighed as I pulled out of the parking lot, completely dreading the evening ahead.
~ooo000ooo~
The door opened and I saw Cassie's eyes grow wide when she saw me there with Madison standing right next to me. But, being the gracious woman she always was, she quickly recovered and put a wide, welcoming smile on her face. I doubted Madison even caught it, and it was only because I knew Cassie so well that I saw the look of near panic in her eyes.
“Oliver,” she said brightly. “Come in, come in. It's freezing out there.”
We stepped into the foyer of the house and Cassie shut the door behind us. I took off my coat and then took Madison’s, hanging them both up on the rack next to the door. I handed Cassie the bottle of wine I'd brought along with me.
“My mother taught me never to show up empty-handed,” I said and grinned at her.
“Your mother was a wise woman well-versed in social graces,” she said.
“She had her moments,” I replied and then motioned to my guest. “Cassie, this is Madison—”
“Oh, yes, the girl from the fire,” she said. “Jimmy's told me a little bit. I hope you're okay.”
“I'm doing much better, thank you,” she said, her voice soft.
Like clouds passing in front of the moon, a look of uncertainty passed across Madison's face. I didn't know if that look was because they were speaking about her behind her back, or because she didn't like being referred to as the girl from the fire.
Could have gone either way, really.
But, just like Cassie had a moment ago, Madison smoothed out her features again in a heartbeat. You'd never know by looking at her that she'd just been upset or rattled by what Cassie had said. She gave Cassie a smile that was warm but still looked a little uncertain.
“I hope it's okay that Oliver brought me, he said—”
Cassie waved her off and laughed. “Just an informal little dinner gathering,” she said. “The more, the merrier.”
Madison smiled and seemed to relax a little bit. Her smile was a little warmer and far less forced than it had been a moment ago.
“Please, let's all go into the dining room,” Cassie said. “It's warmer in there and, more importantly, that's where the food and booze are.”
Madison stepped ahead of us and, as I turned to go, Cassie shot me a look that was somehow simultaneously an expression of amusement and a promise of retribution for thwarting her master plan. I just flashed her a grin in return and allowed her to walk in front of me.
“You're just full of surprises, aren't you?” she said quietly, looking over her shoulder at me.
“I have my moments,” I said with a shrug.
We stepped into the dining room where Jimmy was sitting at the table with a woman I could only assume was Angie. With long, dark hair, green eyes, and porcelain-colored skin, there was no question that she was a beautiful woman. A stunner, honestly. But, in my mind, she didn't quite compare to Madison. Madison had a more wholesome, girl-next-door thing about her, while Angie sort of looked like a shark. Like a woman who could chew you up and spit you out if she wanted to.
When those green eyes of Angie's fell upon us as we stepped into the room, I saw them widen with surprise when she saw Madison. She cut a quick glance to Cassie, who gave her a very subtle shrug of the shoulders, and then over to me. I saw her look me up and down like I was a piece of meat. And judging by the look in her eyes, I could see that she saw me as a piece of meat she'd really like to sink her teeth into.
Normally, I didn't have an issue with being objectified by women. It was part and parcel of being a fireman. Came with the territory and I was used to it, honestly. But I wasn't in the mood for romance and hadn't been in some time. Jimmy knew that. And Cassie knew it too.
And yet, despite that, she'd been working overtime to set me up with one of her friends. Hell, she was trying to set me up with anybody – one time, she even tried to set me up with the cashier at the local grocery store, claiming she thought we could be soul mates.
Cassie's heart was in the right place, but she was seriously barking up the wrong tree. Jimmy was taking a drink of his beer when we came in and he set it down, giving me an amused little smirk and a shake of the head.
“Everybody,” Cassie said, always the gracious host, “this is Madison. Madison, this is my husband Jimmy, who I think you've met briefly. And this is my friend, Andi.”
Andi. Right. Andi, not Angie. Oh well, not like she was going to be in my life long enough for that little miscue to matter anyway.
Jimmy raised his bottle in greeting and Andi looked at Madison, giving her a smile that didn't come anywhere near to reaching her eyes. She was looking at her in much the same way I'd seen lions stare each other down over the corpse of a gazelle on those nature documentaries I sometimes watched.
In other words, Andi was looking at Madison like she was competition.
Little did Andi know the competition was already over. There had never been one, no matter how badly Cassie wanted there to be. And looking at the way Andi was looking at Madison, it made me glad I'd brought her along in the first place. She was the perfect and, apparently, very needed, buffer between Cassie's friend and me.
