14. Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fourteen
Parker
I sat on the bed in Madison’s room and waited for her to gain the courage to leave for her mother’s house. She was a bundle of nerves. I had never seen her so restless before.
This family dinner didn’t worry me. It wasn’t my first rodeo with demanding parents appraising me. I knew the drill. Madison, however, acted like she had never introduced a human being to her family.
Her reaction to this dinner served as a distraction from my own worries. I couldn’t stop thinking about the reconstruction of the gardens and how it would turn out in the end.
“You’re acting like we’re in an actual relationship and you’re afraid your mother won’t like me,” I tried to lighten up the mood a little.
Madison peeked behind the bathroom door. “I’m not afraid she won’t like you. I am afraid she’ll like you too much. ”
“Afraid she might try to steal me from you?”
She just snorted, rolled her eyes and returned to the bathroom, but left the door ajar.
That was the most authentic behavior I had seen from her. A snort and an eye roll. She always behaved like a perfect lady. Like someone programmed her not to have emotions.
“You are impossible to please, aren’t you?” I tried to engage her in a conversation. “Do you want your mother to like me and leave you alone, or do you want her to hate me and try to set you up with someone else?”
No answer.
I used my time to look around the room. All her shoe boxes were neatly arranged in one corner. The doors of the simple armoire gaped, showing elegant dresses hanging inside. All of them were almost the exact same length.
It seemed like she was comfortable here and yet I wondered if I should move her to The Pink Diamond. Was it normal to have all that free, luxurious space and stuff your girlfriend in a small room that was used for storage for a few years? Definitely not.
I didn’t know if Sylvia could somehow find out where Madison spent her nights. Not to mention that she would probably assume her daughter slept in my bed. But why risk getting caught pretending to be together because of something as trivial as the room I kept Madison in?
Coming up with an excuse for moving her in front of the staff would be the hard part, though. I couldn’t let them get suspicious about us.
When Madison finally came out of the bathroom, dressed in a navy blue, knee-length dress, I wondered if she chose it because it matched the color of my suit. The question if she did it on purpose was on the tip of my tongue, but she walked over to the armoire and started returning the other dresses she took with her to the bathroom when I came to pick her up half an hour ago and found her still in her robe.
I cleared my throat. “You look good.”
That was an understatement. She was drop-dead gorgeous with her blond hair falling down her shoulders and back in soft waves. And Worthy of the WOW Katie had uttered the first time she saw Madison.
Aphrodite indeed.
“Thanks,” she replied absentmindedly, not even glancing my way. Not that the compliment was anything special, but she basically had no reaction, and that irritated me. Was she that confident in her appearances or she just didn’t care about my opinion of her one bit?
Walking over to the stack of shoe boxes, she squatted down and started shifting them. She found what she was looking for and took the pair of high heels out of their box. Then she turned to face me, squeezing the shoes in a white knuckle grip.
I laughed. “Relax. It’s just dinner.”
“For you.” She took a deep breath. “Now. Crash course on dealing with my mother. Don’t give too much personal information.” She pointed at me with one of her shoes. “She remembers everything and she will use it against you if presented with the opportunity. But also don’t hold too much back. She will think you have something to hide and will make it her life's mission to find out what that is. Can you handle that?”
“I know how to have meaningless chit chat, Madison.”
She lifted one foot from the carpeted floor, bringing her heel close to her behind, maintaining perfect balance as if she were a statue.
“Do you practice something?” I stood up from the bed and approached her.
“What? Why? ”
She quickly put the other shoe on too and was again almost as tall as me.
“Your balance is admirable. And you have a perfect posture. If you practice something, it seems like information your boyfriend would know,” I justified my curiosity.
“I practiced ballet when I was a kid. Now focus on my mother, please, not my posture.”
I pressed my thumb and forefinger together and dragged them across my mouth as if I was zipping it.
“You go first. I’ll be second.” She pointed at the door.
“Excuse me?”
“Through the lobby. I don’t want to be the jezebel that sleeps with the boss, remember?”
“I wasn’t planning on fucking you in the lobby on our way out,” I smirked. She sent me an unimpressed look, and I rolled my eyes. “Okay. Fine.” I walked out first, cursing her ability to complicate things.
She made me wait for her in the car for fifteen minutes. Once she slid into the passenger seat, she put her seatbelt on and continued instructing me, as if there never was a pause in our conversation about her mother.
“Don’t brag or show off. She hates it when people talk about money and financial status.”
I drove off. “I thought being rich would get me bonus points.”
“It will. She likes rich people, but she doesn’t like it when they talk about how much money they have.”
“Fine. I will look rich, but won’t say anything to confirm that I am.”
“Exactly. Also, no politics. No controversial topics. No ex talk. And you are not allowed to swear in front of her. Tyler does it and it really sets her off. ”
“Am I allowed to breathe?”
“No, no, no. No sarcasm. Tyler uses it and it...”
“It sets her off. Got it.”
Madison’s eyes were on me, but refused to make it easy for her by asking what worried her so much.
“You could still say no,” she said eventually.
“Say no?” I glanced at her for a moment, before I returned my gaze to the road again. “It was my idea, remember?”
“You don’t have to go through with it.”
“For fuck’s sake, Madison. Relax, okay? You are giving me a headache and we haven’t even arrived at your mother’s yet.”
“And now you’re swearing,” she lifted her hands in the air in an uncharacteristic manner, like she was desperate. “I told you not to swear thirty seconds ago.”
“Your mother isn’t here now, is she? I can unleash my full arsenal of profanity and sarcasm. Don’t even get me started on controversial topics like extraterrestrial life and the impending doom of AI domination. Oh, and let’s not forget the juicy details about my exes.”
My speech made Madison shut up for a change, and the drive to her mother’s house was relatively calm. At least for me. She checked her makeup four times and smoothed her hands over the skirt of her dress repeatedly, but when she started to tap her finger on the handle of the passenger door, I couldn’t take it anymore. I reached over, took one of her hands in mine and squeezed it gently, trying to reassure her.
“It’s going to be fine. She will like me just enough to stop setting you up with random dudes, and I won’t set her off.”
Madison said nothing. She yanked her hand from mine, making me laugh.
“You can’t do that in front of your family. They’ll get suspicious.”
“Don’t touch me then,” she hissed .
“Fine,” I gritted my teeth together, trying to hide the unexpected hit on my male ego.
I waited for some kind of apology from her for the rest of the drive, but it never came. She didn’t even spare me a glance before she exited the car when we arrived at her mother’s.
Sylvia greeted us at the door with arms opened wide. I hugged her, as she expected me to do. Madison received the same welcoming, but she was so stiff, Sylvia narrowed her eyes examining her. My fake girlfriend was too self-absorbed to catch it, though. The nervous touching I witnessed in the car was gone. She looked poised and calm. No signs of anxiety. But she was also emotionally disengaged.
“I’m so glad you two made it. Hannah and Tyler won’t be joining us tonight. She’s not feeling very well,” Sylvia said almost apologetically. “But Clem and Lucas are here. And my Mike. Have you met my Mike?”
She turned around, and he was right behind her. We shook hands, and I followed them inside, Madison at my heels.
“Is everything okay with Hannah?” I asked.
Last time I talked with Tyler about the pregnancy, he had told me that everything was fine, but bad things happened fast and unfortunately without you seeing them coming.
“Oh, yes. Pregnancy discomfort. Madison, for example, would never complain about something so mundane as sleepiness, but I guess not everyone is like my Madison.”
I glanced over my shoulder and raised a questioning brow. Madison shrugged.
“Do you want children, Parker?” Sylvia asked.
“Sure,” I said as calmly as I could around the limp in my throat. “Who doesn’t? With the right woman, of course. ”
I peeked over my shoulder again, and this time winked at Madison, knowing damn well that all Sylvia would see was a glance between lovers. Madison shook her head slightly, a barely visible sign for me not to play games with her mother.
We entered the dining room and found Clem, Lucas, and Daphne on the floor, the little one on her stomach, squealing happily at the funny sounds her parents made.
My chest contracted painfully at the sight of them.
“Clementine, we have a guest,” Sylvia sounded outraged. “Could you please show some of your good upbringing? Please.”
Clem waved at us from her spot on the floor. Then her gaze flickered to Madison. “Hi.”
“Hi.” My fake date raised her hand. “Mom? Do you need any help in the kitchen?”
Clem stood up and took Daphne in her arms. “Aren’t you going to say hello to your niece?”
The horror on Madison’s face surprised me. “You know she doesn’t like me.”
“She doesn’t know you. If you play with her once in a while, she won’t cry every time you try to hold her.”
“Can I hold her?” I asked.
“Sure.” Clem extended her hands forward, handing Daphne over to me.
In my periphery I saw Sylvia gesturing, but when I looked at her, she stopped and offered a tight smile.
“I’ll go help in the kitchen,” Clem said and offered a hand to Lucas, who was now lying on the floor, exhaustion visible on his face. “Come with me.”
They all left Madison and me alone with Daphne, who looked at me wide-eyed. “You’re wondering who I am, aren’t you? ”
Daphne grabbed my nose in response. Her chubby cheeks, the scent of baby powder, the weight of her in my arms, brought up a yearning I never let myself acknowledge. Knowing it wasn’t the time to dig into those emotions, I bounced the baby up and down and faced Madison.
“What’s your problem?” I frowned. “I get that you might have issues with your mother and your sister, but with a baby, Madison? Really?”
“I don’t like children and they don’t like me.”
“She’s your niece. You’re supposed to love her, not like her. Not to mention she’s so adorable. You have to be a heartless monster to resist all that cuteness.”
“And what if I’m heartless?” She pointed at herself, then at me. “It’s not like this is real. It’s not like you’re debating if I’m the right woman to bear your children, like you led my mother to believe.”
“You might want to pretend I’m debating and that you’re interested in the outcome if you want this to work for your benefit. Currently, you’re acting like you’re dating me at gunpoint.”
Voices interrupted us. The others were coming back from the kitchen and just as I was turning to face them, Madison placed her hand on my elbow, so I stopped mid-turn. She leaned in so close I could practically feel her lips on the shell of my ear. “I want it to work.”
I knew she meant the charade, the lie, but her hot breath on my ear, the scent of her perfume and the closeness of her body made me drop my gaze down to her mouth, imagining what it would be like to taste her.
“How is our princess doing over there?” Mike’s voice boomed over the others.
“A little cranky, but I will soften her up.” I tore my gaze from Madison’s face. “Daphne, on the other hand, is an absolute delight. ”
Everyone laughed at my joke and I could swear I heard a brief snicker coming from my date, too.
Half an hour later we sat at the table, eating, when we heard the front door open, then slam shut. A moment later, Tyler entered the dining room.
Clem’s face lit up when she saw her brother. She stood up to give him a hug. “Hannah?” She peeked behind his back.
“She stayed home. But I couldn’t miss this dinner.” He glanced at Madison with a grin, then nodded at me. I stood up and shook his hand.
“You could have come on time then,” Sylvia scolded. “It’s rude to interrupt people while they’re eating.”
“Nice to see you too, mother,” Tyler offered her an exaggerated sunny smile. Then he approached Lucas, who was holding Daphne, kissed his niece’s forehead, and sat down next to Clem, right across from Madison.
“Hey there, monster Maddie. You brought a boy home,” he said and shook his head. “Huge mistake.”
Did everyone in this family have a bone to pick with Madison? Knowing her, it wasn’t exactly a surprise, but what had I gotten myself into?
The smile on Tyler’s face suggested he wanted to make Madison squirm, and I wanted to... I wasn’t sure what I wanted, but I knew I didn’t like how the evening was unfolding.
The woman sitting next to me took his teasing as a pro. She flashed her brother a smile nowhere near genuine, but she didn’t seem bothered by his attempts to rile her up.
“I brought a boy home. Where is your fiancée? Did she finally figure out she could do better with literally any other guy in a thousand-mile radius? ”
“Not yet. Let’s hope she stays in the dark.” Tyler reached over to Clem’s plate, took a baby carrot, and tossed it in his mouth.
“For God’s sake, Tyler. Fix yourself a plate.”
“Yes, Mom.” He stood up and went to the kitchen.
When he returned with a glass and a plate, Sylvia started a conversation with him, probably trying to control what came out of his mouth. “How is Hannah doing? If she feels that bad, maybe you two should take advantage of Madison being back home and ask her to organize your wedding.”
I was close enough to Madison to hear her sharp inhale. I glanced at her. She was looking down at her dish, but I was pretty sure she was holding her breath, waiting for Tyler’s response.
“Yeah. Because she did such a good job with Clem’s wedding.”
“She is a professional. Hannah is not,” Sylvia ignored the topic of Clementine’s wedding disaster that almost happened because of... Well, Madison and me.
“I’m afraid I need Madison way too much at The Gem,” I intervened and accompanied my statement by wrapping my hand around the back of Madison’s neck and rubbing my thumb over her smooth skin. A shudder went through her body. She tried to suppress it, but I felt it. Then I felt the goosebumps rising on her skin.
“I bet you need her.” Tyler wiggled his brows. We all knew what he was implying.
“Tyler,” Sylvia warned him.
I removed my hand from Madison and played the part of the presentable boyfriend by complimenting Sylvia’s cooking. She started babbling on and on about the preparations. Then she found a way to link the topic to Madison.
“Everything else Madison agreed to learn and excelled at. Just not cooking.” That explained her demand to include the room service in her contract. “She speaks perfect French. Did she tell you that? She had a private teacher.”
I shook my head, acutely aware that everyone was silent, listening to the conversation Sylvia and I were having. “I didn’t know that.”
“Four years. Three times a week. Did she tell you about the ballet?”
“Yes. That she did.”
“Such a waste. I still haven’t fully forgiven her for quitting. She practiced for eleven years. She started when she was five. That’s where her perfect posture comes from.”
Everyone shoved food into their mouths silently, while Sylvia presented her daughter to me like a pricey horse I was supposed to buy. I started to get really annoyed.
“Then one day when she was sixteen, she came home and told me she wanted to quit. To become a cheerleader. Can you imagine my horror? Of course, it was all related to a boy.”
The accusation in her tone was obvious, but I laughed it off. “Isn’t that something we all go through? Fall in love with someone and start doing things we never even thought of before we met them.”
Madison stiffened beside me. Then I felt her eyes on my profile as I looked at Sylvia, who seemed to not know how to react. Because of the content of my statement, or simply the fact that I contradicted her, I didn’t know, but she just blinked for a few seconds, then agreed reluctantly. “I suppose.”
A satisfied smile spread across my face, and Madison kicked me under the table. I shot her a disbelieving look. She just sat there silently taking shit from her brother and her mother like a freakin robot without an ounce of emotional response, and she had the nerve to kick me when I tried to defend her.
The entire thing just rubbed me the wrong way, so I addressed her mother again. “Tell me, Sylvia. Do you believe in aliens?”