I’d noticed the faint but persistent brushing of his palm or fingers over my exposed shoulders and arm, but refused to think anything of it.
When Maddox’s charcoal Porsche slid to an effortless stop at a red-light, he’d gazed at me from across the central console, his face illuminated red as a candy apple. His hands rest comfortably on the wheel, but his eyes lingered on me.
What was going on in that handsome head of his? What was he thinking?
The blue of his eyes was so deep and stormy, it was impossible to discern his thoughts. His expression, carefully cultivated into stoicism by the celebrity world and his overbearing lineage, could have been carved from stone.
But there was something, a softness perhaps, that curved his lips when he gazed at me.
“Where are we going?” I asked quietly, breaking the heavy stillness that filled the vehicle.
My hands curled tight together in my lap, thumbnail pricking against my fingers with nervousness. I watched the trees fly by, a green and shadowy blur, until the highway blended onto a busy, long street.
“Here.” He responds lightly, jerking his chin towards a huge restaurant at the end of the street.
It was only then I realized that we weren’t on a busy street, we were in a line.
“All these people want to go there?” I gasp, leaning forward slightly, the silk of my dress cascading like a ribbon around me.
He nods, his dark hair falling in his face as he expertly wove his quick moving car through the line. Abruptly, with a forceful turn that sent me plastered up against his shoulder in what I suspected was a purposeful maneuver, he jerked the wheel to the side and slid the car into park.
A young man, small and stout and baby faced, tapped on the glass and gave a slight wave as Maddox slipped from behind the steering wheel and tossed the stranger the keys.
The tiny man opened my door, helping me out. The streetlamps around us glowed like fireflies, lighting a path all the way to the looming white brick restaurant across the street.
“Ava, this is Elliot.” Maddox announces cheerfully as Elliot stuck out a shy hand, his cheeks blooming pink.
“It’s uh, it’s nice to meet you, Miss Ava.” He sputtered softly.
He was so very much the opposite of Maddox. The billionaire, all brawny muscles and mountainous height, made Elliot look like a little schoolgirl beside him. Elliot shifted his feet, eyes turning downcast.
What a pair they made.
“Please,” I insist hastily, “Just Ava.”
“Okay… just Ava.” Elliot simpers with a faint smile, an unexpected attempt at humor before his glassy brown eyes shot back to his employer, “I’ll park the car. You two have a nice evening.”
“With my parents/” Maddox groans quietly, shaking his head, “You can be most assured there will be no good evening had.”
“You’re supposed to be making me feel more comfortable.” I shoot back, arching an eyebrow as Elliot skips around to climb into the front seat of Maddox’s Porsche, “Instead you’re only making me more nervous!”
Maddox grins at me, hair in his eyes. The streetlights illuminate his head with a halo I know he most certainly does not deserve.
“If I’d told you how awful they are, it would’ve been hell getting you here. Don’t you agree?”
Before I can give him a swift kick in the knee and jump in the car to escape with Elliot, Maddox reaches out to wrap a warm hand around my elbow, pulling me in close against him. Just being in his shadow is enough for me to lose my breath, my lungs turning into bricks of concrete.
“Now, remember,” He whispers in my ear, his hands gliding down my biceps with a practiced, slow grace that made me tremble, “We’re in love. We’re getting married. You’re happy to be here with me.”
“I’m happy to be here with you.” I echo back before I can clamp my lips closed.
His eyes glitter amusedly in the dark like sapphires, making my knees weak.
Then he steps to the side, letting me drape one of my arms through his as he leads me up the long sidewalk towards the restaurant. The moon hangs above it, so clear and big that I could almost count the marks of craters long past. Jovial music made from trumpets and a sax and, oddly enough, a harp, echo from within the restaurant as the doors swing open for us. Waiters bustle to and from across the golden carpet, the walls lit romantically dim with candled sconces.
It’s beautiful and intimidating. Just like Maddox.
“This way.” He whispers in my ear, his breath warm on my earlobe.
He guides me easily, his hand sliding free of my grasp only to press into the small of my back before I can even pout.
Another pair of doors swings open before us and suddenly shut again, silencing the happy music and wiping the smile from my face.
The pair before us is as eagle eyed as they are indifferent. The woman, blue eyed just like Maddox, sips from an overflowing champagne flute, her eyes narrowing on me. The man at her side yawns and shifts in his chair, inspecting a half eaten biscuit on his plate.
“Mother, Father. This is my fiancée.” Maddox announces, his fingers curling around my hip as he gestures towards the beautiful people still seated before us, “Ava, this Richard and Tatiana Dodge.”
Richard clambers to his feet though his wife remains sitting and glaring. He brushes crumbs from the too tight front of his suit, clearing his throat as he outstretches a hand.
“Pleasure.” He mutters simply, giving me a slight once over before settling back in his seat and lightly elbowing Tatiana.
The woman doesn’t respond, nude hued lips pursed so tight that they almost vanished across her face.
“Ah. The, uh, pleasure is all mine.” I stammer, feeling very much like Elliot right now.
If only I could have summoned a bit more strength and confidence in my voice, maybe they wouldn’t be looking at me like I completely didn’t belong at their table – which, to be fair, I probably didn’t.
Had the poor little guy ever met Maddox’s parents? He must’ve fainted. There was no way he’d stared right into Tatiana’s beady blue eyes and been able to breathe.
“So.” Tatiana began abruptly, her sharp voice like nails on chalkboard. My spine went rigid, shoulders pulling back. Even though whatever she planned on saying could’ve been completely banal and insipid, it still wouldn’t sent fear right to my heart, “You two are really getting married?”
She looked at me just like the deliveryman had, unimpressed and skeptical.
I guess the dress wasn’t enough to fool her into thinking I was worth anything.
Then again, I’d never gotten a chance to do anything nice with my hair or put on any makeup. Not that I would have known what to do with either of them.
Maddox, sensing my nerves, wraps an arm around my shoulder, pulling my chair so that I was closer to him. I sank into his side just slightly, refusing to shrink too much underneath Tatiana’s bitter stare.
“We are.” I nod, wrapping a firm hand around Maddox’s stony thigh and exchanging a quick glance with him.
Tatiana takes a long, pensive sip from her wine, eyes still narrowed and dangerous on me. She’s picking me apart, I can practically feel her claws rifling through my entire being, shredding my soul.
She doesn’t like me. It’s clear even in the way she drinks her wine.
I doubted she’d like anyone that Maddox brought to her though. She was the type of woman who found joy in very little.
“And what do you do?” Richard asks blandly, struggling to pretend to pay attention. Though it’s this rotund man’s decree that Maddox marry, he doesn’t seem the least bit interested in who I am.
Perhaps a marriage is enough to satisfy him.
“I run a café.” I shrug, glancing up gratefully as a waiter comes over with wine for both Maddox and myself.
I’d never been too much of a drinker, but damn did I need a tall glass right now.
“A café?” Tatiana chirps with shrieking laughter, one judgmental hand pressing to her heaving breast, “As in a quaint little place with those tiny coffee cups? Oh dear. Mercy me. A café owner as a Dodge.”
She looks to her husband, expecting him to agree, but he’s too busy cramming yet another biscuit in his mouth. The large, empty basket sits on top of his plate, crumbs everywhere.
“Darling, how retched for you.” She clears her throat and narrows irritated eyes on me, “Having to work in such a place.”
I try not to bristle at her condescending tone, choosing instead to take another sip of my wine.
“I actually love the place, my mother owned it before me.”
Maddox strokes my shoulder, his fingers warm and comforting and I lean a bit further into his side.
“The place is quite entrancing, Mother.” He interrupts, giving her a warning look, “It’s part of what makes Ava so special to me.”
Though I know the words are meaningless. Though I know I am not special to the billionaire. Though I know this is an act and we are here to fool his parents.
I can’t stop the quickened patter of my heart.
This is going to be harder than I thought.