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God, I can’t believe I’m doing this. I swore I wouldn’t let a woman get this close to me, to give anyone a chance to shatter everything I’ve built. There’s no other option, though. I’ve given so many women a full night to make me think they’re worth more than my reputation, but I’ve been happy to leave them smiling and fulfilled when I take them home.
My mom once told me you only need a night to know if you love someone. You can learn to enjoy someone or to work together, but you can’t learn to love. There’s no such thing as love at first sight, but love at first kiss is definitely a real thing.
I didn’t believe her until I met Madison. Scratch that. When I met her, I was intrigued, but the firstrealkiss we had was something that will be burned into my soul until I die. And I don’t mean the wet towel kiss in my office.
She’s dangerous, and tonight will make her even more dangerous. Unlike the rest of the world, she’s never fallen for my charm. Now she’ll know everything too, and at any point, she could get on the internet and spill it to the world.
It’s the only thing I can do, though.You can have anything in the world if you’re willing to sacrifice everything else. Tonight, I’m putting everything at risk.
When Madison walks out of the hotel, she looks like the sun on a clear day, a beacon in the night that outshines everything else. She’s impossible to ignore because everything in my life has slowly begun to revolve around this woman. In less than two weeks, she’s gone from being a clumsy girl who intrigued me to a woman that I can’t get enough of.
“Did you really buy a new car once we got here?” she asks, looking at the Mercedes as the first few drops of rain splatter against the hood. A storm is coming, and it’s the perfect metaphor for what I’m about to do.
I give her a grin as I open the door for her. “It’s a rental.”
She slides into the car and pauses. “Wait. This is the same as the American way. Don’t Europeans drive on the opposite side?”
“Not in Spain,” I say as I close the door and walk around. When I get into the car, I have a hard time not staring at her. We haven’t been alone together in two days, and I’m fiending for her. Tonight won’t be a night devoted to satisfying that kind of craving, but part of me wishes it could be.
She pulls her skirt down a little lower as she notices my stare. “Where are we going that’s so important we’re doing it in the rain?”
I put the car in gear and pull out of the hotel parking garage. “It’s a quick trip. Be patient.”
She huffs, but she’s silent as we turn away from the city onto a coastal highway. I’m not familiar with the road, but I memorized the route. It’s not like I’ll be able to miss our destination on this rocky shoreline.
“Did you fuck Ariana Russo?” she asks out of nowhere.
With no hesitation, I say, “Absolutely not. I spent the required time in the public eye, got my picture taken by enough people to show her on my arm, and then I took her to her hotel. I spent the rest of the night watching your ChitChat videos in my bed.”
She frowns and looks out at the ocean. “It’s a pretty night, even if a storm’s rolling in.”
It’s more than pretty. It’s perfect, as though the world is showing her exactly the way my heart feels. A flash of lightning strikes the water in the distance, and the thunder crashes loud enough that Madison jumps just a little.
I set my jaw as I see the tower I was looking for. It may not be mine, but it’s mine tonight.
The beacon shines out into the storm from the lighthouse, and my heart races. Normally, I’d feel calmer this close to the light shining in the darkness, but not tonight. Tonight, it’s not just me and an old man co-existing silently.
Madison may think she understands me. She may believe that my life is as simple as hers, but I’ve seen both sides, and mine is anything but simple.
I turn down the road toward the lighthouse, and there’s an old car sitting in the tiny parking lot. The lantern keeper’s.
“A lighthouse?” Madison asks as another crash of thunder makes her jump again. The storm is truly on us now, and I give her a grin.
“Yes. I have a thing for lighthouses.” I jump out of the car and run around to her side to open the door, but she’s already climbing out. My coat’s already soaked, and I’ve only been in the rain for seconds.
She giggles a little as the cold rain hits her. I shut the door as soon as she’s out, and we run to the door into the stone tower. Unlike mine, the stairway to the light is inside, and as soon as we’re inside, it’s hard not to laugh.
We both look like someone pushed us into a pool, and puddles are growing under us. “It’s a good thing I didn’t wear makeup. I’d be a mess.”
“Same,” I agree with a grin. “Mascara in the rain is a terrible thing.”
She giggles a little more, and I can’t help but smile. People always smile while I’m talking to them. Everyone but Madison, that is. But when I make her smile, there isn’t another feeling like it.
“Why’d you take me to a lighthouse, Emery?” she asks softly. She’s so serious, and as much as I want to ignore the magnitude of the situation, I can’t. This is important, and it may be the last chance I have to make her understand why I am the way I am. Why I have to do things she hates.
“Come on. I feel like I’m in a dungeon down here. Let’s go see the world from the lantern chamber like a lighthouse should be experienced.”
She frowns, but she doesn’t argue. She trusts me with this, at least. As we climb the stairs that ring the tower, I run my hand along the wall to feel the chipped mortar and ancient stones. This place was built hundreds of years ago to protect the ships from the rocky coastline. It was necessary.
