Taking a Chance (18 page)

Austin reached his left hand up and brushed her cheek. She watched his gaze float just above her eye and knew he was focused on the scar. Austin ran his thumb over the scar causing her to have a flashback to the moment it had happened.

She had been running from George when she tripped on the rug and fell, hitting her head on the coffee table. He had lost a lucrative client that day and had decided to take it out on her. It was one of the times when she had really been afraid. Most of the time, the anger would come and go quickly, but there had been a few times she had been more scared not knowing when he would stop. God, when she thought about it now, she couldn’t believe it herself. She had been afraid of her fiancé in her own home. It was not even their home, but hers, and she had not been safe in it. Somehow, just feeling Austin’s thumb on the scar now made her feel safe. She put her hand over his, turned her head and kissed the palm of his hand.

His hand pressed closer to her cheek. When she turned her head back to meet his eyes, she could not read the expression in his eyes.

“Baby,” he hesitated, “how often?”

Maddie considered his question. She didn’t think he really wanted to know, but assumed he was struggling with the information she had shared.

Maddie leaned further into his hand allowing the warmth to comfort her. “I don’t think you really want to know the answer. If you want me to talk about it, I will, but I want you to understand what you’re asking. If I tell you, I’m not going to lie. If you ask a question, I’m going to tell you the truth. Are you really sure you want to know?”

He sat quietly and Maddie watched as he swallowed and then took a deep breath as he closed his eyes.

“No.” He opened his eyes and looked straight into hers. “I just can’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt you. I get these horrible images in my head and can’t stop thinking the worst.”

“I’m here with you now, physically in one piece, so you know it can’t be worst case scenario,” she said as she leaned forward to give him a quick kiss.

“Sorry to interrupt.”

Maddie startled and they both turned to see Lacey standing next to them with a grin.

“Not a problem.”

“I wanted to give you my email and phone number before you left. I would love to hear from you and I hope you’ll be back soon,” she said to Maddie.

“Of course.” Maddie grabbed her business card out of her wallet and handed it to Lacey. “I hope to be back soon. I’m so excited to learn more about the winery. It’s been a long weekend for us, so we are going to get going. Do you have our check?”

“Nope. It was Frank’s treat. He said to make sure you didn’t pay for one bite of food or one sip of wine.” She smiled again.

“Thanks, Lacey. Frank is sweet. I’ll have to send him a thank you gift.”

“Oh, he would love that. Let me know if you want any ideas,” said Lacey. “I’m happy I met you two and I’m even more grateful you are a new friend of Frank. Bless his heart.”

Maddie looked at Lacey inquisitively but didn’t say anything. Austin and Maddie got out of the booth and they each gave her a hug. Maddie and Lacey waved goodbye in unison and laughed. Austin grabbed Maddie’s hand and they made their way out the front door. The car was waiting on the side of the building. The night was quiet and much cooler than it had been earlier. Maddie followed a half step behind Austin as she gazed at the stars in the pitch-black sky.

As they walked up to the car, Austin turned to her. Even with the faint light of the evening Maddie could see the hunger in his gaze. He pushed her against the side of the car and leaned down to kiss her. He pressed the length of his body against her and she moaned at the contact. She tried to pull him even closer, so she could feel the heat of him on every inch of her body. When he finally lifted his head, she was dazed. Blinking herself back to the moment, she smiled shyly.

They were both exhausted from a long day and little sleep the night before and were quiet in the car. Maddie was tucked close under Austin’s arm. Her head was on his chest and she could hear the soft beat of his heart. His breathing had slowed and she assumed he was asleep.

M
addie sighed as she zipped her suitcase. She had been waiting for the last thirty-six hours for over a month—in a sense, for her entire life and she was not looking forward to leaving. The time with Austin had gone too fast. She hated to go back to the real world and their separate lives connected only by phone or electronic communication.

“Can we just stay here forever?”

“Of course, if that’s what you want.” He walked over and wrapped his arms around her.

“Okay, I know it’s not going to happen today. Do you think we will ever be able to be together? I mean really together.”

“Mad, I promise at some point we will be together. I love you, so we’ll make it work.”

He reached over with both hands and brushed the hair back from her face. He leaned down to kiss her and then pulled back to look directly into her eyes.

“Okay.” She didn’t bother trying to hide the sadness in her eyes. For good measure, she put out her bottom lip.

He laughed. “I imagine that works on some people, but I’m not as easy as the rest of them.” He teased, but didn’t do a good job of hiding the truth in his eyes. Maddie knew he was struggling as much as her.

They stopped by the winery, so she could say a quick goodbye to Frank and thanks to the family for everything. Maddie had talked to Austin about Frank’s invitation to spend time with him learning all about the winery including the business side. Maddie was seriously considering taking a couple of months away from work to spend time at the winery. Even though she knew they might not be able to hold her job, she needed time away from everything. The last couple of months, well, almost year, had been hard on her and she wanted to take time for herself to continue healing. She hated to be far away, but Ashley was still so young, so Maddie didn’t think she would miss too much.

• • •

T
hey were both flying American and their flights were within thirty minutes of each other. Austin had arranged for a private conference room in the Admiral’s Club lounge, so they could have lunch without anyone interrupting them. By the time they finished eating it was almost boarding time for Maddie’s flight. They gathered their stuff up and headed toward the gate. On their way, two young girls walked up to Austin.

“Hey, Austin. Could we, like, get your autograph?” Both girls giggled.

Maddie looked at the two of them. They couldn’t be more than eighteen. The girl who had spoken had on tight black shorts with an inseam of no more than two inches. She had on a black and white corset top. It was so fitted Maddie could have sworn it was painted on. Her dark hair had professional auburn highlights and was up in a sophisticated do. Her make-up was heavy, but applied flawlessly.

The friend was a petite blonde with her hair down in loose curls. She wore a fitted purple dress and just like her friend, the dress was much too short. The white platform heels she wore added five inches to her height and Maddie was not sure how she could even walk in them. She seemed shy but followed her friend’s lead.

The sight of both of them made Maddie sick. Competing against these young girls was unfair. Both slim without a single flaw, their bodies were as near perfection as she could imagine. They each had larger than average breasts spilling over the top of their outfits.

Austin dropped her hand to sign the autographs. She watched him as he engaged the girls. He did not appear to have any interest in them, but how could she really be sure? He was friendly, but certainly not leading them on in any way. She watched his eyes and they never dropped to scan to the girls’ bodies. As soon as he finished signing the napkins they had shoved at him, the tall dark haired girl turned to Maddie.

“Would you, like, mind taking a picture of us?” She smiled at Maddie, continuing to smack her gum rapidly.

What Maddie wanted to do was throw the phone either to the ground or at the girl. She was not sure which would feel more satisfying. She was not upset with Austin, just mad they were taking away any of her time with him. The time was so precious that even the three-minute interruption made her heart ache. Besides, she did not want to be reminded that young girls would always be hanging around him or worse, on him.

“Sure.” Maddie barely smiled as she took the girl’s iPhone.

In unison, each girl grabbed one of Austin’s arms, leaned in, and had their head within inches of his face. They both flashed a picture perfect smile. Either each girl had been born with perfectly straight, porcelain-white teeth, or each smile had been created by a master dentist. The dark haired girl had actually stopped smacking her gum long enough to smile for the picture.

She grabbed her phone back from Maddie. “Thanks, Austin. You rock,” the girl said as she blew him a kiss and walked away.

Now Maddie decided. She would have thrown the phone at the girl. That would definitely be more satisfying. As soon as they walked away, Austin grabbed Maddie’s hand and started walking toward her gate as if the interaction had never happened. Maddie left it there. The last thing she wanted right now was to talk about all the girls around Austin. It was better if she did not know how often it happened. The less she knew the better. Austin had now pulled his sunglasses out of his shirt pocket to put on and had also turned his baseball hat so the bill was in front.

They found two chairs facing the windows by her gate. The sky was cloud-covered, but at least it was not raining. Maddie wouldn’t have minded having her flight delayed today, but she knew that would make Austin’s schedule more difficult. She took a deep breath and turned to face him.

“One of us has to bring it up. How is this going to work? When will we see each other next?” She did not want to sound like she was whining, but she needed to know.

Austin took his sunglasses off, hooked them on his shirt, and flipped his hat back. “I guess there’s no sense beating around the bush.” He laughed, although only half-heartedly. “I know it’s going to be a challenge at first. I made a promise to you and I intend to keep it. This will work.” He lifted her hand and brushed the top of her knuckles with a kiss. “I promise, Mad.”

She melted. Anytime he touched her or even looked at her, she lost control. The look in his eyes told her he intended to make this work. Whether or not they were able to manage was another story.

“So…when?”

“Well, the tour is booked solid for the next few weeks. Near the end of October should work. I will come to you, wherever you are. After that, I would love nothing more than for you to come out by me for Thanksgiving. We left a five-day break in the tour, so we could all go home to spend time with our families this year. I would like you to meet my mom and sister. They would love to spend time with you and, of course, I would too.” He winked.

“Will you come by me and my family for Christmas?”

“Of course. Our tour ends just before Christmas. That means I will have a lot of time to spend with you before we go into the studio full-time to record our next album.”

“Ah, I love the sound of a lot of time.”

They just had to find a way to make it through the next three months.

He leaned forward to kiss her and hesitated when he pulled away. “Why do you have to make this so difficult for me?”

“What do you mean? I haven’t done anything. Just because I don’t like seeing eighteen-year-olds throw themselves at you, that does not make me difficult,” she stammered.

“Maddie, what I mean is you are so freakin’ sexy. All I want is to be able to kiss you whenever I want. And, seriously I have no idea what you’re even talking about.” He looked at her with questioning eyes.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I don’t love the other part of your life. I hate sharing any of my time with you and watching young girls come up to you. Actually, I shouldn’t even stress about the autograph and picture requests. It’s the other requests I should worry about. My God, this is going to suck.” She pulled her hand from his and dropped her face in her hands.

“I think you know me better than that. I sign my name and take pictures with people. It’s for the fans. I can’t ignore it or my career wouldn’t last very long. I don’t intend to do anything else. Ever.”

A flight attendant came on the loudspeaker announcing they would begin boarding in a few minutes. Maddie had been upgraded, so she was able to board first. She debated waiting until the last second, but thought she might not get on the plane the longer she waited. She gathered up her things and got ready to say goodbye. When she stood up, Austin pulled her into his arms and held her for a long time. Afraid to let go, all she wanted to do was cry, but did not want that to be the last image he had of her.

“Austin,” her voice was barely a whisper, “I don’t know if I can do this.”

He loosened his hold and placed his hand on her neck. She naturally tilted her face toward his. He covered her mouth with his and pulled her in tightly as he kissed her.

“You will, baby. You will do this.”

As if the words out of his mouth were enough to make it happen, she accepted it.

“Bye, Austin. Call me when you land. I may be sleeping but call me anyhow, please.”

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Austin reached into his carry-on bag. “I planned on giving you these to wear for the wedding, but I messed that up.” He smiled as he handed her the jewelry box. “Don’t worry, it’s not a ring.”

“Austin, you didn’t have to get me anything.” She opened the box and gasped. “They’re pink. I love them.” She threw her arms around him and kissed him hard.

“I know. It’s as if they were made for you. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a pink diamond.”

“Diamonds? Oh God, I’m afraid to wear them. What if I lose one?”

“They
are
intended for your ears, so I think you’re going to have to wear them.”

She immediately took them out of the box and put a stud in each ear.

“Perfect. They look perfect on you.”

“Thank you, I love them. Don’t worry, I still love you more.”