Two Bar Mitzvahs (No Weddings #3)(19)
Chasing her out into the hall, I wrapped my arms around her, growling low against her neck. “Have I told you lately how much I love you?”
She glanced at the ceiling as we walked along, pretending to think. “Nope. Not since right before lunch.”
“Well, I do. I f*cking love you.”
The ostentatious airs of our surroundings must’ve affected her brain, because she lifted her nose a little into the air, pulling away from me. “Well, I should certainly hope so. I won’t ride just anybody during live musicals.”
I halted abruptly. “Fuck.”
Hannah broke away and turned, staring at me with a sly expression. Damned woman thoroughly enjoyed throwing me off-balance.
My sisters’ voices grew louder as they stepped into the hallway, scattering our naughty vibe into the stale air.
Something pricked at the back of my neck. I couldn’t put a definable reason to the change, but it had nothing to do with losing our moment of fun.
A woman rushed down the hall and entered a far door we hadn’t gone through. Then an older woman followed the first, scanning down a clipboard in her left hand as she stood in the entry to the unseen room. “Maddie, the mayor will be here at four.”
I frowned and stared toward the doorway. It couldn’t be. I shook my head, feeling like a paranoid idiot.
Fate wouldn’t be that twisted.
Hannah clasped my hand, and I stared into her joy-filled eyes.
In my peripheral vision, movement caught my attention, and I glanced back down the hall.
Out of the doorway walked the only “Maddie” I’d ever known: Madison Kensington.
Another coincidence? They were beginning to stack up.
8
Ghost of Valentine’s Past
In the wide hallway, the walls started to close in on me. I blew out the breath I’d been holding. Holy shit. When Madison said she worked at a country club, I should’ve asked which country club. How the f*ck did I miss that detail? Oh, now I remember. Sex addiction. That’s where I’d gotten thrown.
Madison shifted her attention, making eye contact with me, and stopped in her tracks. She held my gaze while speaking with her two companions. A moment later, they rushed down the hall in the opposite direction.
Suspicious, I narrowed my eyes. The situation felt like a showdown at the high-society corral. I’d be f*cked if I made contact and f*cked if I didn’t. Ingrained mistrust for the blonde staring at me, waiting for me to make a move, tanked the high I had from the last few minutes.
“Cade, is everything okay? Who is that?” Hannah put a gentle hand on my back.
Not daring to take Madison out of my sight, I snarled, “That, Maestro, is my ex.”
“Seriously?”
“I had no clue she worked at this country club. I need to find out what’s going on.” And yet, I remained rooted in place, needing to get my bearings.
Actually, maybe our meeting by chance was a good thing. I could get a more defined feel on my suspicions. But I didn’t like being blindsided by her presence. And I sure as shit didn’t like Madison and Hannah under the same roof. Things felt out of control. Volatile.
Hannah stood proudly by my side, resilient. She crossed her arms, chin up, shoulders back, her body loose but confident.
I glanced at my sisters, who remained a few feet away. They faced us with relaxed stances, but their easygoing demeanor was a front. I’d caught the suspicious narrowing of their eyes. I centered my gaze on Kristen. With an imperceptible nod, Kristen signaled me; she had my back.
A smile appeared on Kristen’s face, one I’d seen a thousand times when she geared up to ask our parents for permission to do something she knew they wouldn’t ordinarily approve of. “Hannah, why don’t you join us? Suzanne’s about to show us the salon and spa area.”
Suzanne nodded with a cheerful grin, oblivious to the thickening tension in the hallway. “I can even get each of you complimentary treatments for the morning of the event, if you’d like.”
Hannah glanced up at me. Everything was there in her eyes: pride, worry, confusion, love. I focused on the last. Her love—all that mattered.
Sudden fierceness flared in her eyes, and she leaned in, whispering, “I’m right there with you, Cade. If she’s reformed, fine. But if she’s Selfish Bitch, I will knock her on her ass.”
I barked out an unexpected laugh at the reminder of the mocking nickname. “Thanks, Maestro. Thank you for knowing exactly what I need.” I bent down and brushed my lips across hers. “Go. Find out what kind of spa these mint-julep drinkers run.”
She smiled and turned as I playfully swatted her ass. While I took a steadying breath, she got swallowed up into the protective embraces of my sisters. They all laughed seconds later. Good. I counted on my crew to keep my girl smiling.
After they rounded the corner, I turned around to face Madison again.
She stood there in all her shellacked glory, proud and immovable. In her element, she resembled the old Madison. Confident. Not in any way the vulnerable coffeehouse version.
I strolled down the hall, assessing her as best I could with a fresh perspective. Common sense told me she held an obvious managerial role, but warning sirens blared in my head that her being in the hallway at the exact moment of our tour couldn’t possibly be a coincidence.
I had no illusions about the situation. Lakemont Country Club was clearly her territory, and she was in a position of power with whatever knowledge she held and I didn’t.