That Night with You (12 page)

“
I like it,” Stevie Martin
affirmed with a curt nod. “It blends in with the
property.”

Pat Martin returned the plans to the
patio table, frowning. “Ambitious, yes, but isn’t there another
architect coming to show us his ideas?”

Madison’s hopes were instantly
dashed.

“
Yes, Adam Turnbull.”
Hayden glanced back at the dining room doors. “Who should have been
here by now.”

As if on cue, Adam—decked out in a
tuxedo with shiny lapels and a lopsided black bow tie— appeared in
the dining room entrance. His red hair was sleeked back,
accentuating his long face and skinny neck. In his hand was a
cardboard tube, and when he spotted Hayden and Madison by the
fireplace on the patio, his smile broadened, reminding Madison of a
salesman in a used car lot. He took off in a determined stride as
he approached their party. When his smile morphed into his usual
pompous grin, all of Madison’s contempt for her haughty office mate
reignited.

“
Madison, what a lovely
dress,” Adam commented, with all the sincerity of a well-seasoned
politician running for re-election.

“
Hello, Adam. You look very
elegant.” She then took a quick sip of the drink in her hand,
yearning for the bolster of alcohol in her system.

“
Adam,” Hayden waved toward
the Martins, “these are your clients, Pat and Stevie
Martin.”

Adam enthusiastically gripped Pat
Martin’s hand, pumping it up and down. After complimenting Stevie
Martin on everything except her shoes, Adam’s overzealous eyes
returned to Hayden.

“
I’m not sure how much Mr.
Parr has told you about my design.”

“
I haven’t said a thing,
Adam,” Hayden insisted, holding up his hands.

Adam beamed at the Martins, tugging at
the cardboard tube under his arm. “Well, when I viewed your
property and the surrounding homes, I knew I could give you exactly
what you wanted. I got such a wonderful vibe from the land and the
neighborhood, and what I drew reflected the essence of everything I
absorbed there.”

“
Absorbed?” a confused
Stevie Martin asked.

Madison took another badly needed sip
of her cocktail.

“
Absolutely,” Adam went on.
“The Turtle Creek area is so esteemed, so prestigious, and the
homes there are some of the most brilliant representations of
classical architecture. Like this mansion we are in now.” He
dramatically waved his hand about the patio, looking more like a
bad actor in a B movie than an architect. “I wanted to capture the
essence of that in my design for you.” He then pointed to the
perplexed looking Martin couple.

Hayden took a step toward Adam,
rubbing his hand across his chin. “Why don’t we dispense with the
explanations and just show Pat and Stevie the drawing, eh,
Adam?”

“
Ah, sure,” Adam agreed,
appearing a bit befuddled. Opening the top of the cardboard tube
under his arm, Adam approached the black iron table behind
Madison.

She moved to the side, and waited as
he spread his plans out over hers. When her eyes craned over his
shoulders to get a peek at his finished design, she recoiled. The
massive, three-story home had wide colonial windows, Doric columns,
and a triangular pediment over the front entrance. Resembling an
ancient Greek temple with its Greek Revival design, Madison thought
the home appeared nothing at all like what the Martins had wanted.
She shifted her eyes to the middle-aged couple as they eagerly
scanned the plans, the disappointment etched on both of their
faces.

Mike came forward, interested in the
plans on the table. “Jesus,” she gasped.

“
Yes, it’s certainly big,”
Stevie Martin commented.

Adam took it as a compliment and
smiled voraciously. “Yes, I have six bedrooms with bathrooms
upstairs, and a grand-sized kitchen, family, living, and dining
rooms on the first floor.” He gestured to the rooms drawn on the
first floor. “Plus, there is plenty of space for a media
room.”

Pat Martin studied the plans. “What
about blending in with the property? We want it to be natural, like
the land.”

“
Oh, it will.” Adam touched
the drawing, pleading his case. “I have included wide windows on
the rear of the home in the family room, den, dining area, and even
the kitchen. A large deck will come off the back and go down to the
creek.”

“
I don’t understand,”
Stevie Martin voiced, eyeing the plans. “What about the ridge? Is
this going to be built in front of it or on top of it?”

Adam placed his hands behind his back
and rocked cockily on his black, shiny patent leather shoes. “I
think to make the house blend in with the surrounding homes, we
will need to eliminate the ridge, or at least flatten it a bit, so
you can get a great view of the creek.”

Hayden’s eyes turned to Madison, and
for a split second she detected the frustration in them.

“
We want to try and
preserve the beauty of the land, Adam,” Pat Martin pointed out. “By
taking out the ridge we will be compromising the integrity of the
property.”

“
I believe you also have to
be true to the architecture surrounding your home,” Adam debated.
“You will stand out like a sore thumb if you venture too far from
the established designs in Turtle Creek.”

An uncomfortable silence filled the
air, making Madison hide her sly grin by taking a sip from her
drink. It seemed the arrogance Adam had shown her from day one had
spilled over into his approach to architecture. With him more was
better, and the biggest house on the block was obviously the
best.

“
Well,” Pat Martin finally
spoke up, glancing to his wife, “we have a lot to consider, don’t
we, Stevie?”

She smiled encouragingly at Adam. “It
certainly would be the biggest on the block.”

“
You could see it from
space,” Mike ribbed.

“
Okay.” Hayden patted Adam
on the shoulder. “Why don’t you get something to eat while I talk
to Pat and Stevie, all right?”

“
Sure thing, Mr.
Parr.”

Hayden dipped his head to Madison and
nodded toward the dining room doorway, insisting that she join
Adam. She gave him a weak smile, placed her drink on the edge of
the table, and adjusted her purse under her arm.

Adam waited off to the side for her,
and as the two stepped toward the dining room doors, he placed his
hand in the small of her back.

“
I think that went rather
well.”

The alcohol Madison had hurriedly
downed was now urging her to speak her mind. She wanted to tell
Adam what a mistake he had made with the Martins, but decided there
was no point in deflating his overblown ego so early on in the
evening; she would leave it to Hayden to handle Adam. After all, he
was Hayden’s problem and not hers.

Chapter 7

As they entered the dining room,
Madison glanced back at Hayden and the Martins. They were huddled
together, engrossed in their discussion. With her sole objective
for the party accomplished, she wanted to quietly slip out the door
and hurry home. The nervousness of dealing with the Martins
forgotten, she began to feel the annoying little pokes and twinges
of her fitted dress and tissue-stuffed, high-heeled gold shoes.
While she was picturing curling up with a good book in her warm ups
and fuzzy slippers, Adam took her hand.

“
Now we have all night to
get to know each other…outside of the office that is,” he said with
a leering gaze. “You really do look beautiful in that dress,
Madison.”

Uncomfortable with the clamminess of
his hand, she tried to shake it off. “Thank you, Adam.”

He tightened his grip on her. “I know
we didn’t get off to the best start, but I really would like to be
friends, good friends.”

“
We work together, Adam. We
don’t need to be friends.”

He moved closer to her. “I think we
do.”

“
Madison,” a sultry voice
called over her right shoulder.

When she turned, Hayden was standing
behind her. Her body tensed when his eyes peered down at Adam’s
hand in hers. “I need to speak with you.”

Instantly, she let go of Adam’s hand.
“Of course.”

“
Is this about the
designs?” Adam butted in. “Because I have a few more things I would
like to—”

“
No,” Hayden barked,
cutting the young man off, “this is about something else
entirely.”

Seeming relieved, Adam gave a slight
shrug and then nodded. Letting Hayden take her elbow, Madison
allowed him to pull her away. When they went to a corner of the
dining room, Hayden let go of her arm, and his eyes surveyed the
room before he finally spoke.

“
I’m sure you already know
the Martins are very interested in your design.” He lowered his
head. “They were very impressed with you. I have to say, so was
I.”

“
Thank you.” Her voice was
barely above a whisper.

“
However, they have some
changes they want to make, quite a few changes actually. I want to
find out if you’re all right with that.”

Madison nodded. “It’s their house.
I’ll do whatever they suggest…as long as it’s structurally
possible.”

“
Good answer.” He slowly
grinned, appearing pleased. “We need to speak more about this
tonight, but not here.” He glanced over at Adam standing by the
buffet tables, taking in their every word. “How did you get here?
Did you drive?”

“
A friend brought me. She’s
going to pick me up later.”

He hesitated, his lips smashing
together in an unflattering scowl. “I’ll take you home. We can talk
in my car.”

Her stomach tangled into a huge knot.
“You really don’t have—”

“
I said I would take you
home.”

The hint of anger in his voice
disturbed her. Great, the last thing she needed to do was piss off
her boss. “All right. Thank you,” she added, hoping to appease
him.

He peered over her shoulder to Adam.
“Anyway, you looked like you needed rescuing.”

She followed his eyes to see Adam
hovering over the buffet tables, inspecting the food and trying to
strike up a conversation with an older couple next to him. The way
his tuxedo hung on his lanky frame reminded Madison of a something
she would see at a prom and not a fancy party. “Adam is harmless,”
she declared, as she swung her eyes back to him.

The first thing that struck her was
how the cut of Hayden’s tuxedo was nothing like Adam’s; he looked
dark and tempting in the precisely pressed fabric. Adam’s high
school attempt at formal men’s fashion only amplified Hayden’s
magnetism.

“
Don’t say anything to him.
I’ll give him the bad news on Monday. I don’t need him causing a
scene or bothering the Martins.”

“
Yes, Mr. Parr.”

Hayden inched closer to her, and the
smell of his musky cologne overtook her senses. “What did I tell
you about that?”

Madison gazed boldly into his eyes.
“This is business…Mr. Parr.”

The scowl on his face twisted into an
intrigued grin. “I can see you’re going to be very difficult to
handle, aren’t you?”

Feeling that tingle of electricity at
the nearness of him gave Madison a rush of courage. “I was being
assertive and not difficult. If I were being difficult, I would
have refused your offer to take me home.”

His grin became a full-on smile. “And
which one are you most often, assertive or difficult?”

She returned his smile. “That would
depend.”

“
On your mood?”

Madison kept him waiting before
finally answering, “No, on the man.”

The laughter of a group of men by the
patio doors distracted him. “Let me see to the Martins, grab your
design, and I will meet you out front. Give me about ten
minutes.”

“
Ten minutes?” Her eyes
took in the half-full dining room. “What about the
party?”

“
I didn’t come here for the
party.” He abruptly headed toward the patio doors. His lean figure
cutting across the room reminded Madison of a hero in a Greek play.
Strong, smart, and with a dash of hubris in his step, he looked
irresistible. As Madison watched his sleek body maneuver through
the light scattering of guests, she felt that white heat rise up
from her gut, obliterating all other thoughts.

Oh, I’m in
trouble.

“
What did he say?” Adam
excitedly asked, coming up to her.

Madison pushed the smoldering desire
that Hayden had awakened back down into her gut. “Nothing. He just
had a question or two about something related to my
design.”

Adam peeked out the patio door. “Does
he have any questions for me? Maybe I should go and ask
him.”

He had taken a step forward when she
held his arm, stopping him. “No, Adam. Mr. Parr only had questions
for me because…I didn’t do as thorough a presentation as you.
That’s all,” she elaborated, amazed by her quick
thinking.

“
I guess you’re right.”
Adam’s attention shifted to Madison and his eyes dropped to her
hand on his sleeve. “Hey, why don’t we get some food, grab a table,
and we can talk?” He placed his hand over hers. “I want to know all
about you…every interesting detail.”