Courage in the Kiss
Read Courage in the Kiss Online
Authors: Elaine White
Hadley has been a member of the Williams household her whole life; she’s practically one of the family. Younger son, Micah, is her best friend who knows all of her secrets … particularly her secret crush for his brother, Maxx. Although Hadley accepts that he doesn’t return the feeling, shock rocks her stable world and threatens to expose her secret. With her world turned upside down, Hadley must make a choice: tell Maxx the truth or move on with her life. No matter what she chooses, the biggest question of her life dangles before her eyes: Can she stick to her moral compass and remain a dreamer, even if that means she’ll be alone? Or will Maxx and his natural charm have her in the palm of his hand, compromising everything she’s ever held dear?
Courage in the Kiss
Simply Sexy Reads
Elaine White
Copyright © 2015 Elaine White
E-book Edition
First Edition
Published by Simply Sexy Reads
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First Simply Sexy Reads Printing 2015
All the characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All work is from the imagination of the author.
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This was it. She was about to do the most terrifying thing in the world – tell Maxx the truth.
After everything they’d been through these last few weeks, after all the struggles, misunderstandings, and the explosion of all they felt for each other, here they were. At a crossroads that could lead to disaster, or the making of them.
She was so far beyond scared that Hadley wasn’t sure there was a word for it. This wasn’t how she’d wanted this to happen, or what she’d had planned for her life. It wasn’t even remotely close to what Maxx wanted for his life.
As much as it broke her heart, Hadley knew she was temporary for Maxx. She’d never been meant as anything else, but now they didn’t have a choice.
This was going to happen, whether they liked it or not. And, God help them, it wasn’t going to be easy.
As she felt the butterflies in her stomach settling down, she let go of the arms and bit her fingernail. She’d never been this nervous in her life, but this had never happened to her before.
If Maxx didn’t take the news well, it would be the end of everything.
Two and A Half Months Earlier
Hadley brushed a stray strand of hair from her face with the back of her hand and stared at her reflection in the large, glass cabinet. She looked a mess.
Looking over her reflection one more time, she tried to make herself at least somewhat presentable. It was no good.
Why was it that every time she tried to look her best, she ended up a mess? But when she wasn’t going anywhere or seeing anyone important, suddenly her hair and make-up appeared flawless.
She’d tied her hair into a ponytail, but even that was failing to keep her mass of brown hair at bay. Even her baggy jumper looked a state.
She turned to leave the corridor, hoping to steal a few minutes of her day to make herself more respectable looking, when she spotted Rowan and Micah heading her way.
“Damn,” she muttered to herself, looking around the hallway. Hadley ducked across to a cabinet that she’d not long finished cleaning, choosing to blend into the background.
She loved Micah, she really did, but he and his best friend were nosy and could read her like a book. She wasn’t in the mood for it, right now.
She grabbed the rag from her front pocket and started cleaning the cabinet. Then she noticed a black mark on the top corner and, although it was unreachable, she still stretched up to try.
“Morning, Hadley,” Micah said, with a smile.
She turned his way and smiled. Well, she hadn’t avoided it, so she may as well accept it. Besides, Micah was harmless. Younger than herself and the son of her employer, Emerson Williams, Micah was sweet and quite charming when he wanted to be. He got that from his brother, she assumed.
She had worked for the Williams family, as a live-in-maid, for around ten years and had practically grown up with the boys. Not that any of them ever treated her like a member of staff; she felt more like part of the family. Just not the way she wanted to be.
Hadley returned the greeting with one of her own. “Hi.”
“Morning, Miss Murray.” Rowan smiled, always so formal with her, despite how long they’d known each other.
“What are you two up to?” she asked, watching them as Micah reached out and held aside her fringe. Something was apparently hilarious, because Rowan was struggling to hold back his laughter. “What is it now?” She sighed, well aware of the mess she was in.
Micah stepped forward and ran his thumb across her forehead. “There,” he said, in satisfaction, as he took a step back. “It was nothing…just a bit of black polish,” he reassured her.
She eyed him carefully, arching her eyebrows with a smile. “I hardly think it was nothing,” she complained. Black polish was notoriously hard to get out of her clothes, and she wasn’t a girly girl who enjoyed shopping. She was about to ask what mischief they were up to, again, when she was caught off guard by a yawn. “Sorry.”
“How long have you been up?” Rowan asked, eyeing up the cleanliness of the corridor.
The walls were lined with paintings and trophy cabinets, all usually covered in dust. But not this morning. She’d scoured every inch, to make sure that every surface shone with cleanliness. “Since three,” she replied, with another yawn.
Rowan and Micah looked at each other and shared a smile that made her worry. “And why the sudden need to clean?” Micah asked, knowingly. “Wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that Maxx gets back from his business trip today?” he wondered, well aware that she was secretly in love with his brother.
Or rather, not so secretly. Maxx was about the only person on the planet who didn’t know, but that wasn’t much of a surprise, either. Maxx was so proper and had his head screwed on straight; not like Hadley. She was a dreamer and proud of that. Except when she remembered that it was probably the quality that made her invisible to Maxx.
After all, why would he want a dreamer messing up his perfectly ordered world?
“Don’t be stupid.” She laughed it off, trying to avoid the stabbing feeling in her gut that said it was true. She lifted her tub of polish and tucked the cloth back into her jeans. “I’ve got enough to do today, without giving myself extra work to impress him,” she lied. “Your dad’s having another party in a few days, for business clients, so he wants to show off. If I do it now, it shouldn’t need too much done to it later.”
That, at least, was the truth. Emerson was always having business parties and she always spent days, if not weeks, cleaning in preparation for them.
“How come I didn’t know?” Micah asked, his cheerful spirit deflated.
“Because you can’t come,” Hadley reminded him. “It’s a business party and the only reason I’m going is because they need someone to serve the drinks and make the food.” She laughed as she started to walk off. She would never forget that she was in this house to serve; to make tea, cook breakfast, do the washing, dishes and ironing, and clean everything in sight.
It was a good thing she’d been born stubborn and opinionated, or her life would probably be quite boring.
With a smile, Hadley walked along the winding corridors of the mansion and heard a car pull up outside. She stopped to look out the window and bit her lip as Maxx stepped out of his black sports car, greeting his father with a handshake and a warm hug.
She watched him for a few minutes and sighed. He looked impeccable in a dark suit, his short dark hair sitting perfectly in place, with the summer sun surrounding him. But, just once, she’d like to see him take off that tie, remove his suit jacket, and relax for a few minutes. To stop thinking about work, stop worrying about the business, and stop being so damned proper and open his eyes to what was right in front of him.
Her.
Hadley watched him exchange a few words with his father and drifted into a fantasy, imagining an alternative world that would never exist.
She imagined Maxx asking where she was and running inside to see her, to sweep her into his arms and kiss her passionately. That he might tell her he missed her as much as she missed him, every time he went away on business. That the impossible would happen, and he’d tell her how much he loved her. Maybe even that he was finally ready to marry her.
It was such a nice, impossible dream.
She might be a dreamer, but Hadley knew that not all dreams came true. If they did, she wouldn’t be in this house right now. Her parents would never have died in a car crash when she was too young to remember them, and the Williamses would be family friends, rather than the only family she had.
But she couldn’t regret how things had worked out. Emerson had taken her in when she was three, and she’d lived with them ever since. He’d always joked that she would marry one of his sons one day; a sentiment she appreciated, because it meant he wanted her to be an official part of his family. But at the same time, she knew it would never happen. Life just didn’t work that way.
Emerson had two sons: Micah and Maxx. Maxx was the oldest, a year older than Hadley, while Micah was seventeen. Maxx was by far the most attractive, but barely knew she existed as anything other than a maid. And that was what made it so complicated.
But then, life couldn’t be simple, could it? That would make it far too easy and happy for anyone to live their life, without being bored every minute of the day.
Hadley longed for it. A simple, easy life was all she’d wanted for so long that she could barely remember ever wanting anything else. She guessed it all started when she was sixteen. She’d realised that she’d probably always been in love with Maxx, though she’d been too afraid of him to accept it.
That had been five years ago, and she still hadn’t been able to gather the courage to tell him how she felt. Nearly twenty-two now, Maxx was way out of her league and proved that to her nearly every day of her existence. With each passing day, he was becoming more distant and resentful toward her, and she couldn’t stand to be around him, though her feelings were unwavering.
With a warm smile, Hadley snapped out of her daydream and watched Maxx glance up at the window where she stood. She gave him a brief wave of hello and placed a strand of hair behind her ear self-consciously. But Maxx never met her loving gaze, and her greeting went unreciprocated.
Her smile faded as he blanked her and continued into the house. Just like every other time.
That blank, uninterested look never changed. The avoidance, the lack of thought or care that Maxx had for her was about the only thing that remained constant, in this house. She couldn’t even call it refreshing.
All Hadley could do was curse herself for being unable to move on and push her feelings for him aside. It had been five long years and she’d never learned how to hide her feelings; how to move on and find someone else to love. She’d never even considered dating anyone else just to see what it might be like.
Slowly, she made her way along to the staircase and continued downstairs. Reaching the double doors at the other side of the hallway, she crossed to the living room to see if there were any more chores to be done.
She could hear Maxx and Emerson laughing together, before she even opened the door. They were probably laughing at her. Her feelings weren’t exactly a secret, and that look she’d let Maxx see...what had she been thinking? Why couldn’t she just pretend that he meant nothing to her, the way she so clearly meant nothing to him?
With a nod, Hadley made her decision. That was what she’d do from then on. She’d try to pretend that she’d moved on. She’d try to push all thought of Maxx aside and ignore him—the way he so expertly ignored her.
Still, she couldn’t help but wonder why she put herself through the daily wringer of seeing him. Sure, he went away on business a lot, so it wasn’t really
every
day she saw him. But each time she set eyes on him, he found a new way to hurt her.
Why couldn’t she just leave?
Hadley had thought about it, a few times. But then Micah or Emerson said something about how she was like family or the old ‘
what would I do without you
’ and she’d second guessed herself again.
It must be so amusing for Maxx, to know how deeply he was adored and have her waiting on him hand and foot. If Emerson knew, he would love it. He would probably already be planning the wedding; not that Maxx would ever allow that.
Was that all she was to them, when it all came down to it? Was she a game, a pawn for them to move around the board, controlling her actions and reactions, until she wasn’t herself anymore?
“You’re being dramatic,” Hadley whispered to herself in derision. No matter what Maxx was, Emerson was better than that.
She sighed as she pushed open the sliding door and entered. The laughing stopped as the two men turned to look at her.
“Morning, Hadley. I thought you’d be on your way to the market.” Emerson smiled warmly at her.
She never returned his smile; only moved over to the cupboard against the back wall and opened the double doors. Crouching in front of them, she slid the tin of polish to the back and pulled out a large box, sliding it onto the floor.
“I’ve already been to the market,” she explained, as she rummaged through the paint bottles inside. Satisfied that she had everything she needed, she stood and lifted the box, using her foot to shut the cupboard doors.
“I thought the market didn’t open until ten,” Emerson commented with a confused frown. He glanced toward the mantel clock, only for his frown to deepen. “It’s only nine o’clock,” he reminded her, with a slight warning.
She smiled; he was worried about her. He really was a gem. Having him in her life just about made up for the way Maxx treated her. Just about. “Yes, well…there’s an early morning market as well. Conway told me about it, before he left,” she replied, as she made her way to the door.
Conway was her best friend, but he’d recently moved to Italy with his long term girlfriend, Abelie, to take up a promotion at the advertising firm he worked for. It was a shame to have so much distance between them, but phone calls and e-mails kept her happy.
“Who’s Conway?” Maxx asked, a hint of disapproval in his voice.
“He’s Hadley’s mystery man,” Emerson answered, teasingly.
“He’s no mystery. You’ve met him before.” She smiled mischievously, aware of the jealousy in Maxx’s stare. That, at least, wasn’t her imagination. “So have you, Maxx. Remember? He took me to Paris for my eighteenth birthday,” she added, her smile growing at the memory.
“I remember. I didn’t like him.” Maxx turned away with the awkward confession.
Hadley shook her head, as she set the box on the coffee table and pulled a notepad from her pocket. “While I’m here, I may as well ask what you want for your party,” she said, crossing to Emerson.
For the next few minutes, he gave her a list of dishes he hoped she could make, as Maxx watched her. It was bloody unnerving, the way he kept his gaze trained on her yet still managed to exude a frosty attitude.
She quietly wrote short notes, as she thought through the ingredients in her head. “If I can’t make them, I’ll ask Donilla. Conway’s mum is a great cook,” she added, thinking out loud.
“But, will you be able to get the ingredients in time to cook them?” Emerson asked, as Hadley covered her mouth with her hand and yawned.
“I’m sorry,” she apologised with a smile. “Yes, I can get them. I’ll just have to do another three o’clock run to the market.” Hadley sighed as she placed the notepad in her back pocket and turned to the door. She yawned again before lifting the box, and struggled with the sliding door.
Maxx got up to help, but she only glared at him and turned her back to the door. She wished he’d stop doing that. Why did he help, and stare, and talk in that jealous voice, if he felt nothing for her?
Refusing to play the game, Hadley lifted her foot and wedged the heel of her boot into the catch at the bottom, sliding the door open. “I put them in yesterday…” she explained, relieved that she’d managed to keep her cool around him, for once.
“Other people will soon be obsolete from your life, if you keep thinking up ways to shut them out,” Maxx commented nonchalantly.
Hadley slid the door shut in his face.