That Night with You (17 page)

She yanked her arm away. “You’ve had
more than me.”

“
I know. That’s why I
texted my driver after I saw your boyfriend into a cab.”

“
Adam is not my
boyfriend.”

“
I’m glad we’ve established
that fact.” He moved closer and let his lips hover right in front
of hers. “Now I’m going to take you home, so I suggest you
cooperate with me, otherwise I will throw you over my shoulder and
carry you to the car.”

The image of him manhandling her made
her mouth go dry. She slowly nodded her head.

He grinned and took her hand.
“Besides, you don’t have a good track record with men in
bars.”

***

In the back of a black Town Car,
Madison settled against her leather seat as their driver maneuvered
the crowded expressway north toward her home. Watching Hayden’s
profile as he frowned at the thick jam of cars ahead, she
considered all she knew about the man.

What he’d done with Adam at the bar
was out of character for the Hayden Parr she had come to know over
the past few days. She had not considered him the jealous type,
especially after what she had learned from his secretary, Emma.
Madison also realized that his possessive actions meant he was just
as bothered by her as she had been by him. Or at least she hoped as
much.

“
Why did you pull that
stunt back there with Adam?” she posed after a long
silence.

“
I told you. I didn’t like
what he was thinking. You need to keep away from him.”

“
I share an office with
him, Hayden. It’s going to be rather hard to keep my
distance.”

His scowl made the lines on his brow
appear deeper. “I’ll arrange for you to get an office of your own
tomorrow.”

“
And what do you think
everyone will say? They will think you’re giving me special
treatment.”

“
You wouldn’t be the only
one.” He slowly released a long breath between his gritted teeth.
“There is something you need to know about Adam. He’s my ex-wife’s
cousin. Ellen asked me to help him out last year when he was
finishing up in college. I agreed to grant him an interview, and
then his father, Ellen’s uncle, got involved, calling me and
pushing me to hire his son. He’s some big attorney from New
Orleans. Ellen is from there, and when our marriage went south, her
family rallied around her. Then, her uncle threatened to cause
problems for Parr and Associates. So I had no choice but to hire
the little shit.” His hands clasped tightly together. “I had hoped
Adam would prove himself, so that when it was revealed he was
Ellen’s cousin, it wouldn’t have mattered. Unfortunately, with his
behavior lately…I don’t know how much longer I can keep
him.”

“
His behavior? Are you
talking about at the party?”

“
You really don’t know, do
you?” He shook his head. “Adam has been going around to the men in
the office bragging about getting you into bed. First, it started
with Emma, but when she confronted him, he turned his attention to
you. That’s why I followed you two to the bar. I knew what he had
in mind.”

“
That doesn’t mean I was
going to sleep with him, Hayden.” She folded her arms and sunk
deeper into her seat. “I can take care of myself. I don’t need you
coming to my rescue.”

“
That’s exactly what you do
need, Madison.” The car pulled behind an eighteen-wheeler that had
slowed to exit the expressway. “You’re still that innocent little
virgin I picked up in that bar. You have no idea what men are
like.”

“
I’m not that girl
anymore.” She raised her voice. “I stopped being that girl after
that night with you.”

“
Let’s talk about that
night, shall we?” His voice rose to match hers. “Why were you out
picking up a stranger in the bar in the first place?”

“
Why do you think I was
there? To get laid, Hayden.”

“
And you chose a stranger
in a bar to lose your virginity to.”

“
Apparently not a stranger
anymore,” she quipped.

“
Do you know what could
have happened to you? For the entire night I sat at the end of the
bar and watched those men coming on to you. I swore if you got up
to leave with any of them, I was going to stop you.”

“
For a man who was so
worried about me, you were sure anxious to get me into
bed.”

“
I was not,” he fumed. “I
was….” His voice trailed off as he glimpsed their driver in the
front seat. Leaning in closer, he demanded, “Just tell me, why did
you go to bed with me that night?”

She sighed, releasing the tension
their conversation had created. “I was nineteen and every girl in
my dorm had done it. They kept asking me what I liked, how I did
it, about my first time and…I guess I wanted to find out what all
the fuss was about.”

“
Peer pressure. You lost
your virginity to a man you had no feelings for because of peer
pressure?”

She turned away from him and stared
out the passenger window, feeling lower than dirt. “Yeah, I know
what that makes me, Hayden.”

The silence that surrounded her was
more painful than his words. Madison’s eyes began to fill with
tears, but she willed them back, not wanting him to see how much he
had hurt her.

“
I’m sorry, Madison. I
shouldn’t be judging you. Why you did it is your business and not
mine. Far be it from me to understand a woman’s
reasoning.”

She sniffled and glanced back at him.
“Why did you take me home that night?”

The question seemed to send a ripple
of discomfort through him. His arms stiffened, his back became
straight as a board, and his face shadowed with aggravation.
Madison instantly regretted her question, but something inside of
her needed to know the answer.

“
You seemed like a nice
girl, and I didn’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

There was something in the way he
spoke that made her doubt his answer. She sensed there was more to
it than he was willing to admit.

“
If you thought I was such
a nice girl, then why did you sleep with me?”

His body relaxed as the car came to a
halt at a red light. “Because a part of me also hoped you weren’t
such a nice girl.”

“
I’m sorry I disappointed
you.”

He chuckled lightly, making Madison
sigh. His laugh was getting to her. “You didn’t disappoint me,
Madison.” The light changed to green and the car moved forward on
to Lovers Lane. “I hope I was the one who didn’t disappoint you.
Your first time should be special, and I just wish I would have
known, that’s all.”

The driver turned off, heading toward
her street. “I appreciate that, Hayden, but I have no
regrets.”

His eyes pivoted to his passenger
window. “Well, I certainly do have regrets…quite a few,
actually.”

When the Town Car parked in front of
her blue apartment building, Madison suddenly didn’t want their
conversation to end. She had never been very good at seducing men,
but now she struggled to find some way to get him to come up to her
place.

“
Would you like to come up
and have some coffee?” She tried not to wince, thinking the
invitation too obvious.

He gave her one of his delicious
smiles. “I would love that.”

After Madison had exited the car,
Hayden leaned over and said something that she could not hear to
his driver. As Hayden came up to her side, the black Town Car
pulled away from the curb.

“
Why is he leaving?” she
questioned, pointing to the car.

Hayden escorted her to the glass doors
of her building. “He’s going to get a cup of coffee and will come
back for me later.”

Heading up in the elevator to the
fifth floor, Madison was a complete wreck. Was it a good sign he
sent the driver away, or a bad sign that he was expecting the
driver to return? Or did he send the driver home and tell him not
to come back until morning? Her head was fuzzy with questions. She
was even thinking ahead to the kind of coffee she had in her pantry
and if he would like it.

“
Will your roommate be
joining us?” he inquired as they stepped out of the
elevator.

“
Ah, I doubt it.” She
pulled her door keys from her purse. “Charlie has almost moved out,
except for her bed and some clothes. She still comes here to pick
up mail and stuff, but with the wedding so close she spends all of
her time at her fiancé’s place.”

“
What does Charlie
do?”

“
She’s a law student and a
paralegal at the law firm where her fiancé works. He’s a civil
rights attorney.” They stopped before her door. “Nelson’s a great
guy.”

“
Obviously why your
roommate is marrying him.” Hayden took the keys from her hand and
placed them in the lock on her door.

“
I don’t know, she could
have married an asshole, but then I wouldn’t have agreed to be a
bridesmaid. But I guess I would have to be her bridesmaid even if
he was a jerk. I’m just glad she—”

“
Madison,” he interrupted.
“Why are you so nervous?” He turned the lock and pushed her door
open.

“
I’m not nervous,” she
argued, walking in her doorway.

“
Of course you are. You
talk a lot when you’re nervous.”

He was placing her keys on the table
by the door when she turned to him. “And how would you know
that?”

He shut the door and folded his arms
over his chest. “You did the same thing that night. I couldn’t get
you to shut up until I kissed you.”

Madison set her purse on the table by
the door. “I don’t remember it that way.”

He walked up to her, causing her to
inch toward the kitchen. “How do you remember it?”

“
I don’t
remember…talking.”

“
Well, we did. You told me
you were studying architecture.” He followed her to the kitchen.
“You were having trouble with one of your classes. Intro to
Architectural Design, I think it was.”

She hurried behind the breakfast
counter. “Coffee?”

“
We had coffee that night,
yes.”

She went to the coffeemaker on the
countertop. “No, do you want coffee?”

“
If you’re having some.”
His voice was right behind her.

She spun around to see him standing in
the small kitchen. He was so close, making her momentarily forget
what she was going to do.

“
I take it black,” he
stated, snapping her out of her stupor.

Turning back to the coffeemaker, she
muttered, “I remember.”

“
What else do you
remember?”

Opening the cabinet above her head,
she reached inside. “What difference does it make? What I remember
or what happened.” She slammed a bag of coffee on the counter.
“It’s behind us, Hayden.”

“
I’m not so sure about
that,” he whispered in her ear.

This time she did not turn around to
face him. His hips pressed into her butt, and when his hand skidded
over her right shoulder, gripping her jacket, she trembled. Madison
stood perfectly still as he peeled the jacket off her.

“
What’s changed your mind?”
she softly pleaded. “Today at the office you were so indifferent to
me.”

He threw the jacket on the counter in
front of her. “I wasn’t indifferent. I was trying to keep you from
getting to me, but it didn’t work.” His hands went around both of
her shoulders, slowly turning her to face him. “When I saw you go
off with Adam, I couldn’t take it anymore. I can’t stand to see you
with other men.”

When her eyes met his, any
reservations she had about being with him vanished. Her back
smashed into the countertop as he slowly advanced. Her heart was
beating faster than a hummingbird’s wings as his face moved inch by
inch closer to hers.

His hands reached around her waist.
“Tell me you’ve been thinking of me.”

She arched away from him, not sure if
she was ready for this. “Thinking of you…I don’t
understand.”

He eased into her, pulling her body
against him. “Say you want me, Madison.”

Her eyes darted about his face, trying
to register the moment. “Why?”

Hayden lowered his mouth closer to
hers. “I need to hear that you want me.”

She hesitated—her mind telling her to
not give in—but she caved. “Yes,” she breathed, “I want
you.”

His mouth crashed into hers, sending
shivers down her spine. His kiss was enticing, provocative, and
utterly powerful. When his arms engulfed her, almost squeezing the
air from her lungs, Madison did not care. She wanted to stay like
this with him. Sliding her arms about his neck, she opened her
mouth; letting his tongue trace the tip of hers, encouraging her to
give in to him, promising more to come. Her inhibitions began to
disintegrate and her hands started roaming the contours of his
back, gingerly running over the curve of his muscular
butt.

When her hands squeezed his hard ass,
he laughed and lifted her onto the kitchen counter. His kisses
traveled over the slopes of her neck, nipping her flesh along the
way.