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“This was all Kennedy’s doing.” Madelyn had a sour look on her face. “I was going to wear jeans and a sweater, but apparently I’m not allowed to leave the house looking like I’m homeless–her words, not mine.”
For once I was firmly in Kennedy’s camp and when Madelyn looked down at her shoes I gave Kennedy a surreptitious nod.You did good.
Madelyn had been a beautiful teenager, but as a woman she was a knockout. She clearly had no idea how breathtaking she was, uncomfortable with the way she looked in a dress and heels. I wanted to calm her nerves and my feet carried me across the space to pull her into a hug. It was an excuse to slide my hand into that glorious dark hair of hers and I felt a little shiver of awareness run through her body when my lips touched her ear and I whispered, “You look like a real date, VanBuren.”
I felt the same eagerness run through me, because suddenly I wanted more than anything for it to be a real date. One that involved quiet, intimate conversation and heated glances. There had always been a spark there, a threat or the promise of something more, and I wanted desperately to let it blaze out of control for once. Just once. What a glorious thing that would be.
Madelyn will give as good as she gets.
That thought was sobering enough to make me step back quickly. I could feel Steve’s eyes burning a hole into my back and Kennedy’s grin was wicked. She could see right through me, like an evil sorceress, and I had no doubt she was one hundred percent to blame for all the forced proximity of recent weeks. Not that I was complaining, exactly, but being around Madelyn was like sitting a little too close to a blazing fire: it singed and scorched and made me desperately uncomfortable, even while I wanted to scoot closer, to soak up even more warmth.
“Home by ten-thirty, young lady.” Steve’s voice was firm and my eyes snapped to his in disbelief as he grinned at his sister.
“Fuck off, Twinkles. I’ll get home when I get home and you will not be waiting up or listening or watching the clock.” She exchanged looks with Kennedy and I could guarantee, from the way Kennedy was looking at her husband, that Steve would most definitely not be waiting up.
Madelyn pulled a knee-length coat over her shoulders and fastened a belt over the front, tugging all that long, dark hair from beneath the collar with a grunt. “Last time I let you talk me into this, Kenny,” she warned and Kennedy tilted her head.
“Mmmhmm, we’ll see.” There was a knowing smile on her face. “Adam doesn’t seem to mind it.”
I sure as hell didn’t mind it, but being called out on it made heat rush immediately to my face and I quickly looked away from Madelyn’s searching gaze.
“Have fun, you two,” Kennedy called as I ushered Madelyn out through the entryway and the vestibule and onto the front porch.
“Where to, then?” I asked her after making sure she was comfortably situated and crawling behind the wheel.
“Still Roadhouse,” she answered quietly, and I wondered if the people at the rough-around-the-edges steak joint were ready for the vision that was about to come floating through the doors of that particular establishment.
“Gonna put me to shame, VanBuren?” I asked, shooting an easy grin over my shoulder. I’d teased her about how much she ate when she was a kid and she’d always doubled down, challenging me to a contest. Sometimes I’d even let her win.
“Probably,” she answered easily, clipping her belt and shifting in her seat. It was something I had always liked about her, how easily she teased, because it was gentle. Madelyn didn’t tease to be mean, at least I’d never felt like that was the case. She teased with affection, something sweet and silly and endearing. That was something the rest of her family hadn’t seemed to figure out, because her grams and her mom were downright mean-spirited. Steve could take it too far, as well.
Like everything else in town, it wasn’t all that long a drive to the restaurant and I glanced over at her somewhat uneasily. Walking her into a restaurant predictably filled with men was not going to go well. Dressed in a sweater and jeans, it wouldn’t have gone well, but she looked like she’d just stepped off a runway. Guys were going to lose their minds.
Now don’t get me wrong, I was a confident enough guy. But the thought of men ogling Madelyn–my Madelyn–was enough to make me itchy and uncomfortable and turn the edges of my vision red.
As I’d predicted, heads swiveled Exorcist-style when we walked in. A few knives clattered onto plates and I counted eight slack jaws with a quick perimeter sweep, and it sure as fuck wasn’t because I was pretty.
The hostess offered us a tight smile and snatched two laminated menus, gesturing we should follow her and I leaned in, my fingers under Madelyn’s elbow. “Turned every head in the damn room.” My voice scraped over the words, an irritation starting to burn in my gut.Mine. Back the fuck off because she’s mine, mine, mine. She’s always been.
She wriggled out of her coat and hung it on the hook of the coat tree between our booth and the next, self-consciously smoothing her hands down the sides of the dress. I watched other eyes watching her and had an insane urge to find a way to mark my territory, so I leaned slightly toward her and pretended to wipe a smudge of gloss from beneath her lower lip.
Instant, searing heat. I felt her breath catch when I touched her and it stopped me in my tracks, staring at her with her chin in my hand. I couldn’t let go. It was like I’d been paralyzed where I stood, watching something heated and real happening in her deep brown eyes.
“Can I get you’s something to drink?” The voice was at my elbow and I wanted to punch the person who thought it a good idea to interrupt the moment. It was enough to shake Madelyn from the reverie and she looked over quickly, offering the woman a tense smile. “A lager, please, if you have one on tap.”
“Same.” I didn’t trust my voice when I said it, and without looking at the waitress I slid into the booth across from Madelyn. I was tempted to slide in next to her and scoot up close, maybe slip my arm around her to see what she’d do. The look she’d just given me made me think she might lean in. Might put her hand on my leg and tuck her face into my neck, and that was a beautiful fantasy. One I’d entertained in fits and starts for far too long and I was sure there was no therapist who would tell me that was healthy.
When the waitress returned with our drinks she pulled a pen out of her hair and asked if we were ready to order. Since I’d nibbled like a bird at the food Hailey had tried to feed me earlier in the day, I was pretty hungry. I ordered a steak and potatoes and, to clean things up a little, a salad.
“Same,” Madelyn said sweetly and I couldn’t help but grin at her.Game on, sweetheart.She grinned back because, yeah, that was exactly what she was doing.
She matched me bite for bite, a small smile on her face when she realized how closely I was watching her. She knew I was here for this game, one we’d played since she was a kid.
Conversation was easy with her and we danced around the heavier topics like we were saving them for later. Conversations that had no business taking place during a date, and I was going to maintain that was what was happening, even if she disagreed and told me it was just dinner.
“Wanna see a dessert menu?” The waitress was back and I was pretty sure Madelyn gave her a hairy eyeball.
“Think I’m good,” I said, leaning back just a fraction and I thought I saw Madelyn breathe a sigh of relief.
