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“Nice to meet you both,” Madison said.
I pulled out the chair for her across the table from Andi – no need to tempt fate by putting her within arm's reach of Cassie's friend – and Madison took a seat. She looked up and gave me a little smile, a look of surprise on her face, as if a man had never pulled out a chair for her before.
“Drinks?” Cassie chirped.
“Beer, please,” I said.
“I'll take a glass of wine, please,” Madison replied.
“Coming right up,” Cassie said and bustled off to the kitchen.
An awkward silence filled the air around us as we all stared at one another, nobody quite sure what to say. Obviously, I'd been brought there to meet Andi, so showing up with Madison in tow threw a bit of a damper on their love connection. Which, of course, had been my plan all along.
“So,” Jimmy started, clearing his throat. “How are you feeling, Madison? You doing okay?”
She cut an uncertain glance at me, obviously unsure how much Jimmy knew about her situation. Hell, she was probably unsure of how much I knew about her situation – which, truthfully, wasn't much. All I knew was how we found her – tied up and left to burn to death in a building. It wasn't something I wanted to press her on though.
“I— I'm doing okay, thank you,” she said.
“What happened?” Andi asked.
It was my turn to clear my throat. I didn't want to speak out of turn or make Madison uncomfortable, but the way Andi asked, it didn't sound like she was actually concerned. More like she was morbidly curious. Like one of those lookey-loos at the scene of a fire or an accident – somebody fascinated with the blood and gore of it all.
Madison hesitated.
“She was injured,” I said. “On a call we had recently.”
Jimmy looked at me and gave me a small nod, seeming to understand my desire to keep it under wraps. It wasn't ours to talk about.
“Oh?” Andi asked as she took a sip of her wine. “That sounds terrible. I'm sorry to hear that.”
I was hoping she'd leave it at that. But, of course, she wasn't going to make it that easy.
“Injured how?” Andi pressed. “What happened?”
Madison sat up a little taller in her chair and I saw a look of grim determination flash across her features. She obviously recognized the situation she was in and knew that Andi was picking at her, trying to get her flustered.
“I was in a building that was on fire,” Madison said flatly. “Oliver and Jimmy pulled me out of it. They saved my life.”
“To be fair,” Jimmy said, “Ollie did all the heavy lifting—”
“Oh, you think I'm heavy?” Madison asked, a wide grin on her face.
“Yeah, you stepped in it now, buddy,” I said to Jimmy.
“Not what I meant,” he said and laughed. “Not even close to what I meant.”
“So, what did you mean?” Madison pressed.
“I just meant that he carried you out—”
“Because I'm so heavy,” she said. “I'm surprised you boys didn't need to call in a crane or a flatbed truck.”
We all laughed and Jimmy shook his head, his cheeks an unnatural shade of red. I was glad to see Madison loosen up a little bit and have some fun, showing off that personality and wit I found so attractive. The atmosphere in the dining room lifted almost immediately, and a lot of the tension that had saturated the air before dissipated.
Andi, of course, wasn't amused. She nodded, the look on her face knowing. Though, I had no idea what she thought she knew. At least, not until she opened her mouth and spoke again.
“So, is that how you two met?” Andi asked. “When they saved your life?”
