Mad Love: Madison (4 page)

“I finally served those papers on that stock
broker that you wanted.”

She gestured to the cut. “I take it went
smoothly.”

He shook his head with a grim expression on his
face.

“No?” she asked in surprise. “He gave you
trouble?”

“You better believe it.” He rubbed a finger
against the cut. “He tried to slug me.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “Hubert Davenport did that
to you?”

“That’s the guy. He was six-feet four and a good
two hundred pounds heavier than I am. It took all I could to wrestle him to the
ground, but I eventually got him.”

Setting her elbow on the table, she propped her
head up with her hand and turned toward him. Disbelief coloring her voice, she
said, “How terrible.”

Adopting her pose, he leaned into her, his knees
brushing up against her. “I barely made it out of there with my life.”

“My, Hubert must have had a growth spurt and
added on about two hundred thirty pounds since I last saw him.” Madison furrowed
her brow. “Was it a week ago?”

Ethan smothered a grin as he nodded. “A lot can
happen in a week.”

Madison chuckled. “What really happened?”

“I tripped going down the stairs.” He held up his
hand, his face one of wounded masculine pride. “In my defense, they had just
waxed the stairs and I was chasing the guy at the time, so I was flying down
those stairs pretty fast.” He started to grin, but then moaned in pain as he
gingerly pressed his fingers to the side of his lips.

She winced in sympathy. “Are you hurt anywhere
else?”

“Well, not in any place visible.” His head turned
toward the box of presents. “So what did you get for Christmas?”

“They’re birthday presents. Mainly gift cards,”
she said quickly. The last thing she wanted was to show him the picture frame Becca
had given her. “My office wants to make sure that I’m well hydrated.”

“Birthday? You didn’t tell me today was your
birthday?”

“It’s a state secret.”

He tipped the big box toward her and examined the
cuckoo clock with a frown. “Who gave you this?”

“Keith. Can you believe it? We stopped in that
little antique store that just opened down the street after lunch last week and
I saw this cuckoo clock on the wall. Keith must have heard me tell Becca that I
had wanted one of these since I was a little girl. My grandmother had one.”

“I know.”

She looked at him curiously.

“I had followed you into the store to ask you
something. I didn’t get a chance to talk to you though. I got a call and had to
run out.” He continued to frown at the clock as he tugged at his tie loosening
it a bit.

“What’s wrong?”

He let go of the box and smiled at her. “Nothing.
I’ve been wanting to ask you something for a while.”

“Shoot.”

“Well, I’d rather not do it here. Why don’t we go—”

Madison’s heart skipped a beat in excitement.
“I’d love to go out with you.”

His eyes widened in surprise, giving Madison the
distinct impression asking her out hadn’t been his intention.

She felt her face redden slightly but she pressed
on, as the phrase in for a penny, in for a pound crossed her mind. She had
decided while staring out at the night sky earlier that it was time to make a
move. “How about now? I didn’t really eat much.”

He grinned at her eagerness. “Uh, I have a
feeling I’m going to be working tonight.”

Madison caught sight of Nicole marching their
way. “Looks like your feeling is right on target. Here comes Nicole.”

With a sigh, he glanced over his shoulder before
turning back to Madison. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow night. Say around eight?”

“Eight’s fine,” she whispered as Nicole reached them.

“I’m so glad to see you, Ethan,” Nicole said
pressing her hand to his shoulder. She leaned over and pressed her lips to his
ear. “I have a job for you. I need you to find someone before court Monday.”

Ethan’s eyes locked on Madison’s for a fleeting moment,
as disappointment etched across his face before finally standing, forcing
Nicole to straighten and back up a step.

Nicole smoothed a tendril of white blonde hair
out of her eyes, her diamond ring sparkling under the light. “I normally wouldn’t
ask this late at night but it turns out there’s a witness we didn’t know about.
Clients,” Nicole muttered as she closed her eyes and wearily shook her head.
“He’s known this guy was out there for a month but didn’t think to tell me
about him until a few minutes ago.” She took a moment to wish Madison a happy
birthday before dragging Ethan away.

Madison picked up the rest of her cupcake and
took a bite. She had a mouth full of cake when a heavy, warm hand gently touched
her shoulder. She whipped her head around, her lips coming within inches of
Ethan’s. He pulled back slightly with a lopsided smile. His blue eyes softened
as he ran his thumb against the corner of her mouth. “Happy birthday, Madison.”

Her heart beating fast, she swallowed and watched
as he walked back towards an annoyed Nicole standing a few feet away.

Madison licked her lips. Her eyes widened as her
tongue darted out horrified to find a layer of frosting on the corner of her
mouth.
That’s just great
, she thought, taking a napkin and wiping her
mouth.
Expensive dress. Beautiful hair. Flawless makeup, and a mouth full of
frosting
.

“Well, that didn’t last long,” Becca said
returning to the table.

“Duty calls.”

Becca’s face hardened. “Nicole wasted no time in
stealing him away.”

“Don’t be silly.”

“Bill just texted me. He’s downstairs in the
lobby waiting. Are you going to stick around much longer?”

Madison packed up her gifts and laid them in the
box. “Not on your life,” she said, standing up and following her friend to the
elevator.

Becca shook her head in annoyance as the elevator
doors closed. “You know, this is the third time you two have been happily
getting to know one another outside of office hours, when she suddenly had
something for him to do. Now I’m not into conspiracy theories, but I believe
she’d like nothing more than to have Ethan Parker all to herself.”

Madison didn’t disagree but opted to stay silent
as they stopped on sixth floor and stepped out into the lobby of their firm’s
office suite.

They passed the front desk and continued to their
offices with Becca doing most of the talking. “Nicole took one look at him
after our last detective left town and decided he was going to be our go to
guy. She barely looked at his resume. Do you want to know why?”

Madison opened the door to her office and
retrieved her coat and purse “I’m bursting with curiosity,” she yelled out to
her friend in the office next to hers.

“Because she was far too busy looking at him.”

“Wouldn’t you?”

“There’s a difference,” Becca said stepping into
the hallway. “I’m a happily married woman. She is not. Mark my words; she is
going to do everything she can to keep you two away from each other.”

“Well, she’s going to have a difficult time doing
that from Aspen,” Madison said belting her cherry red wool coat at the waist. “She’s
going on vacation. She won’t be back until New Year.”

“I thought she had that trial on Tuesday.”

“Settled this afternoon,” Madison said, picking
up the box of presents and following Becca back to the elevator. “I heard her
tell Keith that she was leaving after her court hearing Monday morning.”

“Interesting.”

“Ethan and I are going out tomorrow night.”

Becca lifted her hands heavenward. “About time.”

“I didn’t have a chance to ask him where we’re
going. I guess I’ll call him sometime tomorrow.”

“I want details. Call me.” Becca pulled her cell
phone out of her pocket and smiled down at the screen as they walked into the
elevator. “Bill wants to know what’s taking me so long,” she said as she began
typing out a message. “I’m telling him it will be another hour.”

“That’s sweet. Is this how you keep the spark in
your marriage?” Madison asked in amusement as she punched the button for the
lobby.

“After fifteen years of marriage, I need to
create my own excitement.” She scowled. “No, you are not going to get ice
cream. It’s almost midnight,” she said out loud as she texted. “He’s probably
already out the door.” As soon as the elevator doors opened on the first floor,
Becca bounded out of the elevator towards the lobby.

Madison laughed as she caught sight of Bill out
the lobby windows heading across the street. “Merry Christmas, Becca.”

Becca waved back as she bolted through the doors.

Still laughing, Madison pushed the button for the
garage.

A hand reached out just as the doors closed.

Keith pushed at the doors and stepped inside.

Madison was taken back at his expression.
His lips were pulled tight around his mouth and
he played with his tie nervously. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just tired.” He looked down at the
cardboard box in her hands. “Going home?”

She nodded.

“So am I. The party’s practically over with
anyway,” he said as he followed her to her car. He stopped and stared down at
her tire as she opened her door and set the box of presents down onto the
passenger seat. “Your tire is flat.”

“What?” She walked around to the back of the car
where he was standing. She groaned. “You’ve got to be kidding me. This is the
second time this month.”

“If you’d like,” he said, “I could give you a
ride.”

She smiled in relief. “Thanks, Keith, I’d really
appreciate it. I don’t mind changing tires, but I absolutely would hate to do
it in an evening gown and heels.”

“No problem. I have to run back to my office for
my coat. I’ll meet you back here in five minutes.”

“Sounds good,” she said leaning against her
trunk. With nothing to do but wait, she pulled out her phone and started going
through her messages, only looking up when she heard the sound of an engine
approaching.

She glanced at the far end of the garage where a
beat up dark blue sedan turned the corner and began to drive slowly down the
lane towards her.

She returned to her phone. A minute or more went
by in silence before she felt the hairs on the back of her arm start to rise.
She glanced up.

The car was still there.

Probably one of the guests from upstairs waiting
for someone. She tried to return to her phone but an unsettling thought struck
her. What if it was Paul Harris? She hadn’t ever considered him threatening
before, but you never know when someone might suddenly snap.

She glanced back at the sedan, narrowing her eyes
in an attempt to see through the dirty windshield. A figure sat behind the
wheel of the car, his or her face hidden behind a scarf. A baseball cap was
pulled down low over their forehead. She watched as the person drummed their
fingers against the steering wheel.

Feeling uneasy, she started walking towards the
elevators, glancing behind her every so often as the sedan began to follow her
slowly. When she reached the elevator, she turned back toward the sedan,
shielding her eyes as the car’s headlights practically blinded her.

The car slowed to a stop only a few feet away.

Her heart beating fast, Madison glanced toward
the exit. She was just about to make a run for it when the car made a right
turn toward the exit.

Madison sagged in relief as the car disappeared
from view.

It was nothing
, she thought to herself as she returned to
her car. Amused at her own over the top reaction, a small chuckle escaped her
lips as a feeling of relief swept over her. She unlocked her car and slid into
the front seat, deciding to wait inside the relatively safe confines of her car
for Keith.

Ten minutes later, he dashed out of the elevator.
“I’m so sorry,” he said slightly out of breath when he reached her. “Nicole
needed my help with something.”

“No problem,” she said as she retrieved her
presents. She bit her lip as she tried gracefully to slide into the passenger
seat of Keith’s flashy sports car. Balancing the box on her knees, she clutched
at the slit of her dress, which was now revealing quite a bit of her upper thigh,
far more than she had intended. She glanced at Keith who didn’t seem to notice
and tried to relax, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t seem to
forget about that blue sedan and the person behind the wheel.

They drove to her apartment building a couple of
blocks away in a sort of awkward silence.

“Fancy,” Keith said as he pulled up to the five-story
brick building. “I tried to get a place here when I moved to the area, but it
was a little out of my pay range. That’ll change soon enough.”

Unsure of what to say to that, Madison thanked
him once again for the present before wishing him a merry Christmas.