CHAPTER 10
“Can you zip me up?” I turned around expectantly.
Matt was perusing his drawer full of cufflinks and watches but immediately came over as per my request.
“Weren’t you going to wear the other dress?” he asked absent-mindedly as he zipped me up then returned to the drawer.
“Don’t you like this one?” I peered at my reflection in the mirror.
I looked hot.
Classy hot.
The emerald dress was a divine Elie Saab creation, with pockets in the full skirt to fit my cell, face powder and lip gloss.
No need for me to take a cumbersome clutch.
Yay!
“You look lovely.” Matt replied as I ran my hands over the lines of my dress, turning from side to side.
A strange look passed over his face when I swiped my hands down my flat stomach.
When our eyes met in the ceiling to floor mirror there was a poignant moment between us.
I gave him an uncertain smile.
“You look lovely, poppet,” he repeated, turning back to his cufflinks.
“I like it when you wear your hair up.”
“You’re looking quite hot yourself, Mr Bradley.” I teased.
In my stocking clad feet I sauntered over to help him make a choice.
“Those cufflinks will go nicely with that watch.”
Matt snorted at my suggestion and I bumped him with one hip.
He took a few steps to his right and opened another drawer.
I tried to hide my grimace.
It was the place he kept some of my jewellery.
The rest was in a safe somewhere in the house.
I really didn’t want to know where.
“This goes perfectly with your dress.” he decided, holding up an emerald and diamond choker.
“That’s new.” Came my unhappy mumble.
I watched as he came closer and motioned for me to turn around.
Reluctantly I did.
“There are earrings also.” he added mischievously, knowing my discomfort when wearing the pricey bling he kept buying for me.
Matt fixed it around my neck.
“And a bracelet.”
“Matt,” My reproachful tone only made him grin wider.
“You have to stop buying me expensive jewellery. I have so much already, stuff I’ll probably never get a chance to wear.”
He headed back to the drawer and got the matching earrings and bracelet, suggesting under his breath that I could always wear them around the house…
with nothing else on.
I ignored his low comment then chuckled at the thought of George catching me stark naked, blingified but otherwise naked.
That would definitely give him a coronary.
I let Matt fasten the glittering bracelet around my wrist before I put on the earrings.
Damn.
He was right as usual.
The jewellery did go perfectly with my dress.
Sparkling chocolate goddess.
That was my moniker for tonight.
Helen of Troy, eat your heart out.
I could launch ten million ships tonight to your paltry thousand.
Matt resumed picking out his cufflinks and watch.
I observed his reflection in the mirror.
How could he look so good in a tuxedo?
His body was made for clothes.
I glanced at his Testoni’s shoes, out and ready for wearing; they jarred me into getting my own shoes out.
“What time is Dan arriving?” I asked a minute later while slipping on my heels.
“In half an hour, poppet.”
“Matt,” I fiddled with my wedding band for a moment then straightened my shoulders.
“Are we good?”
“In what sense?” he queried distractedly.
I glided over to his side, reaching up with my hand to turn his face towards me.
He gave me a small smile but his eyes skittered away, back to those bloody cufflinks.
He now wore his RW Smith watch, one of three.
I did not need to know how much he spent on those exclusive watches, there was a waiting list to get one.
“Pay attention to me, hon,” I ordered.
When I was certain he was focused on me I continued.
“The past few days we’ve been avoiding-”
“Madison,” he interrupted, a sudden weariness enveloped him as he removed my hand.
“Can we not do this? We’re fine. I’m fine. Let’s just have a good time tonight. Ok?”
“Ok.” I nodded once then plucked out the cufflinks I had chosen before and placed them in the palm of his hand.
I kissed his cheek quickly before leaving him to it.
We were fine .
I harboured secret resentment for that particular word now.
Frigging fine .
If his definition of the word meant going to extreme lengths to not speak about the baby issue from three days ago; then yes, we were fine.
What made it worse was the fact we both made the effort to get home from work at a reasonable hour so we could spend more time together.
The thing I had wanted most was now the thing I dreaded.
There was an underlying awkwardness between us that Matt kept skirting around whenever I attempted to bring the topic up.
“See you downstairs.” I called out from the bedroom door.
His muffled answer could only be one of agreement.
George was loitering in the kitchen when I walked in.
He gave me a once over and nodded his head.
“Stunning?” I prompted.
“Very much so, Mrs Bradley.” he confirmed.
“Would you like a cup of tea?”
I scrunched my face up.
“Coffee, please.”
The doorbell went and George turned away from the counter.
I followed him out the kitchen like a stray puppy.
It was Dan, earlier than expected and wearing a harassed expression.
Uh oh.
“You’re early.” George stated tartly.
His body was blocking my view of Dan so I tried to steal past him to greet Dan.
“Hi, Dan.” I said brightly.
“Evening, Mrs Bradley-”
“I shall notify Mr Bradley of your arrival. Please wait outside.” George instructed Dan with a haughtiness that made my blood curdle.
I folded my arms as George shut the door, ready to give him my two cents about his brusque treatment of Dan.
“George, what was that about?”
He acted like he had no idea to what I was referring, instead he motioned me forward with a quick wave of hand.
“Meanie.” This was accompanied by a shake of head as I stepped away with the skirt of my dress swishing softly.
As soon as George disappeared in the direction of the stairs I hurried back to the front door and snuck outside.
Dan was sat in the car with his head bent over his phone.
I tapped on the window and he jerked in surprise before the window whirred down.
“Do you want to wait inside the house, Dan?” I asked, shivering in the cold air.
“I was about to have some coffee.”
“No thank you, Mrs Bradley.” he replied quickly then pointed to the open front door.
“You should head back in. It’s cold out here.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, yes,” he gushed.
“Go on in before Mr Bradley catches you out here with no coat on.”
Huh.
So much for my good intentions.
Back into the house I went where I paced impatiently for Matt in the front room.
Forget the coffee.
Tonight would be interesting.
Since our elopement, I had seen Matt’s parents a grand total of two times.
The dinner where we announced our marriage and an awkward Sunday brunch at the Landmark Hotel after we returned from our honeymoon.
Everyone had been civil.
I took full advantage of the champagne brunch, it was the only way to deal with their subtle disapprobation.
Portia had sneakily cornered me in the ladies, reminding me about signing a pre-nuptial, well, post-nuptial now.
She had ignored my silence and informed me the family’s solicitors would be drawing up the papers soon and there was no doubt that my signature would end up on that dotted line.
We had both returned to our waiting men, both taking our seats with fake smiles, both probably hating each other.
And the unspoken tension between Matt’s parents had me on edge.
After brunch I had asked Matt what was up with them, he had shrugged, unable or perhaps unwilling to answer.
“Poppet?” Matt’s voice echoed in the hallway.
“Where are you?”
“In here.” I called, walking over to the open door.
He walked in, glanced around quickly and reached for my arm.
“Where’s your purse? We need to leave.”
I patted one pocket with a smile.
“Everything I need is on me, Matt. This dress is amazing.”
“Yes, well good.” he acknowledged with a distracted air as he hurried me out the room.
“Where’s your coat? You’ll need one, it’s bitterly cold outside tonight. George? George!”
“Yes, Mr Bradley?” George’s voice came serenely from down the hallway.
His body had yet to appear.
“Get my wife’s coat.” Matt ordered then scrunched his face up sheepishly as George appeared with my coat in his arms.
Already thinking ahead it seemed.
I nudged Matt with my elbow before moving towards George.
He held up my coat for me to slip it on.
My eyes narrowed in pointed warning at Matt’s silence.
Begrudgingly he said, “Ah, thank you, George. We’ll be back late tonight so please don’t wait up.”
“Goodnight, George.” I murmured with a small smile.
Five minutes later we were in the car and on our way.
“You seem distracted, Matt.” I placed my hand on his knee, searching his handsome features for some clue of what was happening behind his eyes.
“Not that distracted, poppet.” His lips thinned out.
“Buckle up.”
I did, then returned my hand to his leg.
Matt placed his own hand atop mine, flashing me a quick smile before averting his gaze out the window.
“Where is the party being held?” I already knew the answer to my question.
I just wanted him to talk to me.
“The Ballroom at Claridge’s,” he replied without looking at me.
“I thought I mentioned it before.”
“It must have slipped my mind.” I leaned closer, well, as far as the darned seatbelt would let me.
“Are you looking forward to your day off tomorrow? I am. Maybe we could go out for lunch?”
Matt twisted his head in my direction.
Finally I could see his beautiful grey eyes.
“Day off?” he queried, one eyebrow raised.
“Uh, yes,” I drawled.
“We discussed this last week, Matt. You said-”
Both eyebrows were raised.
“I said depending on what time we got back home tonight, I may go into the office later than usual, not take the whole day off.”
My mouth hung open for a second.
He was just messing around.
He had to be.
I distinctly remember us agreeing to spend the day after his parents’ anniversary together.
“No,” I corrected him.
“You said we would-”
“Poppet,” he cut me off.
Again.
“I remember quite clearly what we discussed and I never agreed to wast- take the day off.”
I blinked a few times.
Did he just stop himself from saying waste ?
And he was wrong, he had agreed to it.
“Oh, okay,” Slowly, I pulled my hand away from under his.
“My mistake. I must have misunderstood.” I turned my head, facing the window as I added, “Although I don’t see how, considering you said ‘oh, poppet, we’re not leaving our bed except for bathroom breaks’.” I could see his reflection in the window at my attempt of imitating his voice.
Matt didn’t look amused.
I thought I had done a good job of it.
“But, you’re probably right, Matt. Perhaps I dreamt that conversation, or maybe it was your doppelganger,” My voice was nearing its top level of sarcasm, just a few more - “Wait, what am I saying? Of course, I’m wrong. I misheard you, silly me.”
An awkward silence ensued.
Poor Dan.
His head remained front but the car accelerated some more.
He probably wanted to get us to our destination as fast as possible.
No one likes being around bickering married couples.
Well, Matt wasn’t bickering, I was.
He just sighed softly as he dismissed my outburst with a pleasant.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, poppet. You’ve been working such long hours, it’s understandable.”
Ok, my jaw was in my lap.
He did not just-
“Ex cuse me?” I huffed, jerking my head around to scowl at him.
“I was being sarcastic. You…you…”
“Insufferable man?” Matt suggested, still in that pleasant voice, as if we were discussing the weather.
“And your imitation of how I speak leaves a lot to be desired. I don’t sound like that.”
“I don’t sound like that.” I repeated.
Juvenile, yes, but damn if Matt didn’t know how to press my buttons.
“You’re being childish.” Matt chastised.
“You’re being childish.” I mimicked.
Oh Lordy!
Was I really doing this?
Really?
But I couldn’t seem to stop myself.
It was like we’d been fighting without actually fighting since the tub drama.
Maybe that’s what we needed.
A big, glorious fight.
“Madison. Stop. Please.” Each word was a tight verbal jab of his annoyance.
Yes.
I repeated those three words also.
My British accent was getting a much needed workout.
No need for elocution lessons, all I had to do was repeat everything my husband said and boom.
Shakespeare theatre here I come.
Dan made a sound.
Almost inaudible, but conveying his discomfort clearly.
Poor Dan.
The noise sounded quite terrified.
Matt shook his head.
“Sometimes I wonder about you.”
“Sometimes I wo-mmph-” My words got swallowed up by his mouth crashing into mine.
Then my brain got short-circuited and my lips had one objective: kiss my knight’s face off.
“Behave.” he warned minutes later when he raised his head.
My mouth ached the sweetest of all aches.
“Make me.” It was supposed to be a cocky challenge, derisive and haughty; instead my words were breathless, almost pleading.
Matt’s gaze travelled over my face then he said, “Dan, put some music on. Something loud.”
The air caught in my throat as seconds later the car filled with the sounds of some classical music.
I spared a second to wonder if Dan had it pre-programmed for Matt’s enjoyment and whether his own musical tastes ran along those lines.
Dan looked as if he could rap.
Matt undid his seatbelt, still staring at me.
The simmering heat pouring from his eyes had me squirming on the upholstery.
He reached over and undid my belt, pulling me closer seconds later.
His deep voice caressed my senses as he bent his lips to my ear and said, “Make you, poppet? Oh, I’ll do that.”
Now it always confused me, the way people like Matt acted around their employees.
The manner in which they acted as if they weren’t actually there.
It was something I thought beyond my abilities.
I was raised to acknowledge anyone in my presence, to be courteous, affable.
To not be a douche…
well, it seemed I was more than capable of it.
When Matt claimed my lips with his, I forgot about everything else except the feel of his mouth moving against mine.
The undeniable fact we were in the backseat of his tinted Bentley with his driver only a purse throw away went out the window.
The moment he pulled me roughly into his arms I could only focus on one thing, and that was bumping pelvises.
A whole lot of bumping.
“Will you behave?” he growled in my ear.
I shook my head, eyelids fluttering closed as his hand began bunching up the skirt of my dress.
Under the voluminous material they crept until his fingers danced over the lace-edged top of my stockings.
“Are you sure about that, poppet?” The thick, husky longing in his voice went straight through me.
If I had to catalogue the best parts of him, it would be…
hands first, no wait; face, hands, voice.
No…
hands, mind, face-
“Ahh,” I groaned desperately when his fingers traced the outside of my panties.
Feather light strokes that made my panties quite wet, my body responded instantaneously.
“Will you behave?” he asked again as his moist tongue circled my inner ear.
Another shake of head from me and I felt his mouth stretch into a smile.
Matt pulled away and leaned forward to get Dan’s attention.
Straightaway the music was silenced.
“Dan,” Matt drawled.
“Will you be so kind as to pull on to that shoulder there?”
My eyes widened as the car slowed down then pulled into the shoulder.
“Do you still smoke, Dan?” Matt asked with a grin.
“I’m trying to cut back, Mr Bradley.” Dan answered.
“I know you’re not too keen on the smell.”