That Night with You (30 page)

“
Including you, eight,” he
eventually disclosed in his deep voice. “However, none were
serious, just flings.”

“
Am I a ‘fling’ or one of
your ‘arrangements’?”

He scratched his head, appearing
uncomfortable with the question. “Madison, you have to understand
that the only woman I’ve had a lasting relationship with was
Ellen.”

“
And look how that ended,”
she quipped, returning her eyes to the plans.

His mouth fell slightly open and his
eyes glowered at her. “Where is this coming from? I thought you
understood about me…about how I am.”

She gazed up at him, biting her lip to
curb her anger. “I did, but maybe I’m changing my mind.”

“
What brought this on? Up
until this morning you were fine with the way things are between
us,” he declared, raising his voice.

“
I was, and then I heard
you tell your attorney that I was just an employee. It made me
think maybe you don’t want to admit we’re together.”

“
You’re being ridiculous.
You know why I’m doing that,” he coolly replied. “We have to be
careful.”

“
Careful? If that’s the
case, then perhaps we should be staying at my place, away from the
prying eyes of your neighbors.”

“
Your place is too small,
and then there is Mrs. Leder to contend with.”

“
Is it always going to be
this way between us? Sneaking around, keeping everything we do a
secret?”

His eyes transformed into two icy
orbs. “You agreed to this, and you’d better start coming to terms
with that. Stop expecting me to shout your name from the rooftops
like some lovesick poet.”

“
I never asked for that,
Hayden. I simply want some respect…as your lover.”

“
Respect? And would telling
everyone we’re sleeping together give you the respect you think you
deserve?” He uttered a malicious chuckle. “I seriously doubt
that.”

She had a point, but obviously was
doing a crummy job of getting it across. “That’s not what I meant.
I guess I would have liked a little acknowledgement. I’m not asking
for any declaration of emotion, but maybe….” Befuddled, she sagged
against his desk, tossing her hand in the air. “Maybe it’s all
happening too fast.”

A few tense moments passed between
them, and then Hayden inched closer to her. Placing his hands
behind his back, he edged his face in front of her. “I’m sorry. I
shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. I think I know what you’re
trying to say, Madison, but you have to understand that, before I
met my ex, I’d never been emotionally involved with any woman. I
never liked complicated relationships, never wanted one. I just
seduced a woman I wanted, and when the desire died, I moved on. In
between dating, I played around…a lot, but having intense feelings
for someone…that had never been me.”

She pondered his confession, not quite
sure of how to take it. “And I guess Ellen changed all of that for
you, didn’t she?”

“
No, she didn’t change
anything.” His voice was touched with bitterness. “I met someone
before her who made me realize that I wanted more with a woman.
Ellen was just a poor substitute for the one I did
want.”

Madison didn’t know what was worse:
suspecting he still had feelings for his ex-wife, or knowing there
was another woman who had forever won his heart. Suddenly,
everything made sense.

“
I think I understand,
Hayden.” She went back to the plans.

“
No, I don’t think you do.”
His arms went about her waist. “Maybe when this mess is over with
Ellen, we could talk about making some changes.”

She cocked an eyebrow to him. “What
kind of changes?”

“
Make this something less
discreet.” His hand settled on her backside. “I could take you to
that cozy pizza place I like, or maybe attend a party…things like
that.”

Inwardly Madison rejoiced, but calmly
told Hayden, “That sounds promising.”

“
Just give me some time.
Okay?” He touched his forehead to hers. “Change is difficult for
me, but I would like to change for you.”

Giddy with the hope, she smiled. “Take
all the time you need, Mr. Parr.”

“
You know how much I like
it when you call me Mr. Parr.”

Her hand crept inside his jacket and
caressed his soft brown shirt. “I know.”

Hayden quickly spun her out of his
arms and spanked her butt. “Any more of that, I’ll have to throw
you over that desk and….” Hayden’s eyes roamed over her figure.
“There’s always the desk at my house. We could test it tonight. I
have a dinner meeting with clients, but you could go over to my
place after work, since you now have my code, and wait for
me.”

“
Maybe I need to go home
and pay bills or something.”

“
I’d prefer you waiting for
me at my place, naked, draped over my desk, and holding those
handcuffs Mrs. Leder gave you. What do you think?”

Madison shifted her focus to the plans
on his desk. “If that is what you desire, then I’m all yours, Mr.
Parr.”

***

It was after lunch when Madison
finished going over the changes to the Martin home with Hayden. She
was rolling up the plans as he reached for his jacket hanging
behind his desk chair.

“
I’ve got to get to a
meeting, but I’ll see you tonight.” He slipped on his jacket. “I
should be there about eight. Don’t forget to pull around back and
park in the garage.”

Madison was about to reply to his
comment when the doors to his office flew open.

Standing in the doorway, a beautiful
brunette in a blue silk Alexander McQueen dress and black stiletto
heels was glaring at Hayden.

“
Hello,
asshole!”

“
God damn it, Ellen, you
can’t come barging in like that,” Hayden loudly
exclaimed.

Ellen. The name immediately
registered with Madison.
So this is his
ex?

Madison immediately recognized her own
slight resemblance to the slender and sensual woman with the
perfectly made-up face, stunning sharp features, and piercing green
eyes. As Ellen stormed in the doors, Madison lingered over the
heavy amount of gold and diamond jewelry covering her neck,
fingers, and wrists. The assertive sway of her hips and her blatant
disregard made it appear as if she were the one in charge at Parr
and Associates. Even the overpowering smell of her perfume
saturating the office, reminded Madison of someone who had no
concern for the welfare of others. From her expensive designer
clothes to her stiletto heels, the ex-Mrs. Parr was the epitome of
a wealthy, beautiful, and very spoiled trophy wife.

“
Who’s that? Another little
bimbo?” Ellen snarled, nodding to Madison.

Hayden’s face was a deep shade of
crimson. “Madison, this is my ex-wife, Ellen Carpenter.”

“
Still Parr, darling. I
don’t plan on ever going back to Carpenter.” Ellen tossed her Louis
Vuitton handbag on his desk, scattering several papers about. “You
screwing this one, too? Does she know what twisted shit you’re
into?”

“
Stop it, Ellen.” Hayden
came alongside of Madison and motioned to the door. “Get started on
those changes and bring me the new plans when you’re
done.”

Madison avoided looking over at his
ex-wife. “Yes, Mr. Parr.”

“
She’s just your type,
Hayden. You always had a thing for green-eyed brunettes.” Ellen
moved in front of Madison, blocking her way. “Sure you aren’t his
newest bimbo…Madison, was it?”

“
Ellen, don’t start
intimidating my staff!” His loud voice made Madison jump. She had
never heard him speak like that to anyone.

“
Staff?” Ellen moved out of
the way just as Madison rushed for the office doors. “Let’s talk
about your staff, you son of a bitch.”

“
Jesus, Ellen,” Hayden
yelled, following Madison to the doors.

“
Where in the hell do you
get off firing Adam like that, you bastard?”

Madison wasn’t even through the
doorway when Hayden slammed the doors closed behind her. The loud
thud that resounded about the hallway made Madison
flinch.

“
Oh shit, are you okay?”
Emma came alongside Madison. “I couldn’t stop her. She just pushed
her way in.”

“
I’m fine,” Madison assured
her.

“
That woman is such a
bitch,” Emma blew out between her pink lips just as more shouting
erupted from Hayden’s office. “Every time she comes here she sets
him off.” Emma waved at the plans in Madison’s hand. “Take a bit of
advice—”

Hayden’s use of a few choice
expletives came through his closed office doors, interrupting
Emma.

Cringing, the buxom secretary turned
back to Madison. “Stay in your office. Trust me, after a few rounds
with his ex, he’s looking for the first person to rip
apart.”

“
Thanks, Emma,” Madison
mumbled, and started toward the elevators.

Pressing the call button, Madison
stewed over the encounter. Ellen was nothing like what she had
expected, and the physical similarities between the two women had
been disturbing. It seemed Hayden had a preference for women who
looked a certain way, making Madison wonder if he was genuinely
interested in her for who she was, or for how she
appeared.

Chapter 15

For the rest of the day,
Madison followed Emma’s advice and stayed in her office, working on
her design. Well, not so much working, but thinking. Meeting Ellen
had bothered her more than she cared to admit, and as she readied
herself to go home, she reconsidered her rendezvous with Hayden.
After his heated confrontation with his ex, and an evening with
clients, she considered if the man might need to be alone. Taking
the elevators to the first floor lobby of the
Renaissance
Tower, Madison decided that it would be
best if she went straight to her apartment instead of heading to
Hayden’s. Perhaps a little time apart would be good for
them.

During the long drive in traffic, she
evaluated her time with Hayden. The man was
intense, sexy, a fantastic lover, and made her feel protected, but
was that it? What about emotion? Would what they had started lead
to anything more permanent? As she dodged in and out of cars on the
I-35, Madison contemplated if giving her his house code was more
out of convenience than caring.

Her
grip
tightened on the steering wheel of her Rogue. “No. He does care
about me. He wants to change for me.”

But
you don’t
know that. Not for sure,
a devilish voice in her head countered.

That was the
crux of what had been bothering her ever since she had laid eyes on
his ex-wife. Did he really care about her, or was she just someone
who suited his tastes for the time being? Sure, he had made her
feel special, but doubts about his intentions lingered. As she
headed down the off ramp, Madison carefully weighed his every word
since the moment they had first laid eyes on each other in the
elevator. When her blue apartment building rose on the horizon, she
was no closer to an answer about her relationship with Hayden. If
anything, she was more confused than ever.

On returning
to her empty apartment and dropping the overnight bag on the floor,
she immediately felt restless. Preoccupying her mind with bills,
unpacking her overnight bag, and sorting through the mail filled in
some time, but as the sun disappeared from her living room window,
Madison found her edginess increasing. She kept checking her cell
phone and waiting to hear from Hayden, wondering what he would say
when he returned to his home and found that she was not
there.

It was almost
seven when she decided to change into her shorts and a T-shirt. “I
can’t sit around here anymore,” she muttered, tying the laces on
her running shoes. “I’ve got to get my mind off him.”

Starting
her
slow, warm-up jog along the darkened streets, she tried to think of
anything but Hayden. After repeated attempts to occupy herself with
current affairs or the latest Hollywood gossip, her thoughts
meandered back to her boss. Kicking her run into high gear, she
gathered it was hopeless; the man was getting to her. Then, as
pictures of him naked next to her in the shower earlier that
morning popped into her head, Madison began to regret not going to
his house. Halfway through her run, she turned for home. Maybe she
could make it to his place before him, so he would never know of
her reservations.

Once inside the glass doors of her building, she opted
to skip the elevator and
ran up the stairs to the fifth floor, invigorated by her desire.
When she pushed her apartment door open, she was stunned by an
unexpected visitor. Hayden was standing in the middle of her living
room with his back to her, taking in the view from her
window.

“
What are you doing here?” she questioned, shutting her door.
“How did you get in?”

He
had left his beige
suit jacket on her sofa
and rolled up the sleeves of his light blue shirt. “Your landlady
heard me knocking on your door,” he replied, never turning from the
window.