Chapter Seven
Madison
Cell phone to his ear, Liam keeps looking at me with apologetic eyes while he talks one of his employees through a wiring problem on a house. Liam is a contractor and this is his first big project, so he doesn’t want it screwed up. I get that, being I don’t want to screw up my job, either, and I sincerely hope I haven’t. I wasn’t exactly polite to Elliot in the hallway.
But talk about shock. I thought I was daydreaming about him again when our eyes met and the total disrespect that meant for Liam had me jerking my gaze away, only to realize Elliot was indeed sitting a few feet away. How am I supposed to concentrate when he’s a huge distraction I don’t need? I’m nervous enough with Liam. I keep thinking he’s going to blurt out, “I know my mom hired you to go on this date so thanks for nothing, bitch.” My mind can be very annoying sometimes.
“Here you go,” the waitress says, dropping off our food. I’m grateful I have something to do. It’s taking Wonder Woman strength not to glance at Elliot and his pretty companion. Is she someone he’s seeing? Is it a first date like mine? Not that it matters. He’s free to do whatever he wants with whomever he wants.
Liam holds up his pointer finger to indicate one more minute. I nod in understanding, but really, I’m…not upset exactly, but not happy, either. The date started off so well; why did he have to get a phone call? He complimented my appearance, listened to me talk rather than monopolize the conversation, and made me laugh. He seems like a good guy.
I slip an ocean trout street taco onto my plate while I look around the lounge. The feel is old Hollywood with dark woods, red leather upholstery, and white tile floor. By accident, my gaze slips to Elliot. Again. Okay, not by accident. I swear he’s been mentally calling my name or something. He blinks at me, so I blink back. It’s the second time we’ve done this. I have no idea what the blinks mean and quickly look away.
But two seconds later, at the exact same time Liam finishes his phone call, Elliot is standing at our table. “Madison? Hey. How are you?”
He’s pretending he just noticed me? I want to punch his smile right off his face. “Hi. I’m good. You?”
“I’m great.” He looks from me to Liam. “Hey, I’m Elliot.” He puts his hand out.
“Liam. Nice to meet you.” They shake. “Do I know you from somewhere?”
“I don’t think so,” Elliot says before turning his attention back to me. “God, it’s been forever. You look amazing.”
Against my will, my cheeks heat. “Thank you.”
The three of us look at one another in uncomfortable silence. “Well, it was nice to see you,” I say. Now move along and stop this ridiculous game.
He threads his fingers through his silky, dark hair. “Yeah, wow, it’s just been so long and who knows when I’ll see you again.”
Tomorrow. You’ll see me at work tomorrow. I stare up at him, wondering if this is some kind of attempt to rescue me. I’d appreciate the assist if I needed it, but I don’t. I put my elbow on the table and try to casually wave him off.
His eyes flit to my hand. “So, I’ll call you some time to catch up. I’ll just go back to my table now and leave you two alone. Have a good night.”
“You, too,” I say.
“Ex-boyfriend?” Liam asks as soon as Elliot steps away.
“Oh no. Nothing like that.” I leave it there. I don’t want to talk about Elliot. It’s bad enough I think about him all the time.
Liam glances over at Elliot sitting too close for my comfort. “He looks familiar. What’s his last name?”
“Sax.”
Recognition dawns on Liam’s face. “I knew I knew the guy. Not personally. I’ve seen him in pictures. He dated my sister a couple years ago.”
“Oh?” I’m dying to know more, but at the same time, I’m trying to leave Elliot out of the conversation this evening.
“He was a real jerk. Broke her heart. Back then I wanted to bash his face in.” He picks up a taco. “You’re friends with him?” He asks this like he’s disgusted. Like by knowing Elliot it somehow makes me less of a person.
I don’t like his judgy tone. What does it matter who I’m friendly with? “I am.”
“That’s a shame.”
“Why is that a shame?”
“I couldn’t date someone who’s friends with that asshole.”
I bristle at his description. “He’s not.”
“An asshole? You sure? What kind of guy leaves his date alone to hit up another girl?”
“He wasn’t hitting me up.”
“Right. He just butted his nose into our date.”
Okay, so maybe Elliot’s behavior wasn’t the best tonight, but that doesn’t automatically make him an asshole. I take another bite of my food and think back to last Friday night when he blew me off for Michaela. The sting of his rejection blooms fresh in the pit of my stomach. Doubt creeps into my impression of him. I know him at work. I don’t really know him socially.
Unfortunately, Liam and I can’t find our way back to our carefree, easygoing beginning. It’s just as well. There weren’t any sparks, and I’ve gotten what I need as far as a report for his mom. His manners are respectable.
He pays for our meal, then we walk out of the restaurant together. The air is cold, the ground wet. I breathe in the smell of rain. Liam valet parked while I found a spot around the corner. He doesn’t offer to walk me to my car, but that’s okay. There are plenty of people around. Hollywood on a Thursday night is always busy, even on a winter night.
“Madison.”
I startle and drop my keys inches from my car.
“Sorry,” Elliot says. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“What is wrong with you?” I say, spinning around.
Elliot picks up my keys with a sheepish look on his handsome face. I pluck them out of his hand. “Apparently stalker tendencies I didn’t know I had.”
It’s difficult not to smile. He’s cute when he’s regretful. I’m also secretly flattered. “Now that you know, stop it.”
“After you’re safely in your car, you got it. I’ll never interrupt one of your dates again.”
“Thank you.” A group of people walks by, laughing and talking. The area is well lit under streetlamps, but evening shadows offer Elliot and me a bit of privacy.
“How did it go?” he asks. “I’ve got to say a guy who doesn’t walk a girl to her car is pretty lame.”
“Where’s your date?” I retaliate. I’m not usually so combative, but with Elliot I feel like I can let go a little. Say what’s on my mind without him thinking less of me or finding fault with my words.
“She’s still inside.” He tilts his head in the direction of the restaurant.
“What kind of guy does that?” Now I sound accusatory. I have no idea what has gotten into me.
“You answer my question first.” He smirks. Why is he smirking?
I cross my arms over my chest. “It was fine.”
“Just fine?”
“It would have been a lot better if you hadn’t shown up.”
He shows off all his perfect white teeth “I know I’m better looking, but the guy seemed all right.”
“You’re impossible.”
“You’re beautiful and the guy’s an idiot.”
I’ve blushed more these past few weeks than I have in my entire life. He isn’t supposed to say things like that. “Elliot.”
“What? I’m just speaking as a friend.” His gaze dips to my mouth, making my lips tingle. “As far as Phoebe goes, she’s inside because a couple friends of hers showed up and she wanted to stay to hang out with them. I’ve got to be in the office early so figured I’d call it a night.”
“And check on me.”
“A happy coincidence.”
We both know it’s more than that, but it’s safer not to think that way. We can’t complicate our working relationship any more than it already is. “I should go.” I motion over my shoulder with my keys.
“I am sorry if my interference did more harm than good.”
“Why would it be good?”
He waves away my question. “It doesn’t matter.”
Frustrated that he always seems to want to direct our conversations, I spill what’s been sitting in the back of my mind. “You know how Liam asked if he knew you from somewhere? He remembered where. You dated his sister. You never met in person, but I guess he saw pictures of you with her.”
His thick brows furrow. “What’s his last name?”
“Jacobson. His sister’s name was—”
“Lisbeth,” he says, like the word hurts to say. Huh?
“Liam called you a couple of very unfriendly names and said you broke her heart.”
Elliot’s strong jaw clenches. “And you believed him?” Without warning, giant raindrops spill down from the sky.
“Why wouldn’t I?” I ask.
The rain falls harder. “Get in the car.” Elliot hurries to open my door, jogs around the hood to open the passenger door, and climbs inside.
His dark-blue shirt clings to his shoulders and chest. He runs his hands down his pant legs. You know the saying clothes shouldn’t wear a man. The man should wear the clothes? This applies to Elliot. He’s always impeccably dressed, his slacks and dress shirts fitting him in a classy, sexy way.
I lean back against my seat. He takes up all the space in the small confines of my car, and unfamiliar urges, like climbing onto his lap and rubbing against him, fill my head.
“So, Claire is one of the moms who hired you to spy on her son,” he says, completely toneless.
I turn my head toward him. He’s watching the rain slide down the windshield. “You dated Lisbeth long enough to meet her mom?”
“We were together for about nine months, and I didn’t break her heart, she broke mine.”
“What?”
“She cheated on me with her high school boyfriend. I think they’re still together.”
Rain pitter-patters on the rooftop, the loud taps gaining frequency. I don’t know what to say. I can’t believe Elliot knows what it feels like to be cheated on. My skin prickles with sympathy and shared understanding. Lisbeth is a rotten, horrible person.
He shrugs.
“Why did Liam say what he said then?”
“Because she told everyone I broke up with her so she wouldn’t have to admit the truth. Claire thinks she has perfect children and no way was Lisbeth going to change her mom’s perception. Our close friends knew the truth, but everyone else made me the asshole who dumped her.”
I wonder if he loved her and if they’d still be a couple today if she hadn’t cheated on him. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”
He rolls his head to the side to look at me. “I’m over it. What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Are you over it?”
I drop my gaze. “I think our situations are very different.” I dated Henry for seven years. I was loyal to a fault. Trusted him when I shouldn’t have. Believed in him when he lied right to my face. Loved him when I should have known better. I’m not sure I’ll trust someone fully ever again. But if that’s the case, then I’ll never be over it. A familiar knot anchors itself in the back of my throat. I will never be that gullible again.
Elliot lifts my chin, his touch gentle. “You’re right, and I shouldn’t have asked. Let’s strike it from the record.”
“The record?” A tiny smile plays at the corner of my mouth.
He concentrates his attention there, on my lips, and once again they feel like I’ve eaten something hot and spicy. I can’t help but stare back at how beautifully his top lip lines up against his fuller lower lip. I bet he kisses like an expert—takes charge, doesn’t hold back, and leaves a woman completely satisfied.
“You don’t know this about me yet, but along with my incredible good looks and charming personality, I have a photographic memory.”
“Really? There’s room inside that cocky head of yours?”
“It’s a little crowded sometimes, but nothing I can’t handle.” He trails a finger over my shoulder and down my arm to my elbow. It’s electrifying, even through the soft cotton of my sweater dress. I shiver.
What would happen if I kissed him? Just once. Just inside this car with the rain shrouding us in secrecy. No one knows the two of us are together right now. He’s teaching me so much at work, maybe he could teach me what it feels like to have my mouth possessed. Henry never kissed me like he was starving for a taste.
Handle me, I want to say. Then we can strike that from the record, too.
Instead I whisper, “The rain has stopped,” because deep in my core I’m still the respectable girl who knows right from wrong and never takes a risk.
“I should walk to my car then.”
“You should.”
“Off the record,” he says, something dark and hungry in his eyes. “If things were different, I’d fuck you in the back seat of this car so good you’d still feel it tomorrow.”
My jaw drops at the same time I throb between my legs and my nipples tighten.
“Good night, Madison.” He hops out of the car without waiting for me to respond. I watch him through the droplets trickling down the windows, my body more turned on than it’s ever been before. I can’t believe he said that to me. Worse, I like his dirty mouth and my body’s response to his announcement. I close my eyes and imagine him lifting my dress, tearing my panties off, and thrusting inside me. The sound of a car honking breaks the spell. Thank you, Hollywood traffic. Thoughts like that are dangerous and foolish.
…
The next morning the first thing I do when I get to the office is write him another note.
Mr. Sax,
You really should consider hiring a personal shopper if you want to maintain a professional image. The pants and shirts you wear are basic and ill fitting. Compared to other businessmen I’ve worked for, I’d call them cheap. Just a suggestion, since it seems image is important to you.
Sincerely,
Miss Hastings
For the rest of the day, he barely spares me a glance.