Chapter 19
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
Kyle kept checking the time.
The hands on his Swiss watch were meeting, signaling midnight had arrived. Surely patrons hadn’t kept the restaurant open this late.
Where the hell was Madison?
She knew he had something planned to start at 12:01 a.m. to kick off their weekend. He always did. Besides, today was their official Valentine’s Day, although they’d already hit a new level of romance and sharing today. Her gift had floored him, and she’d loved hers.
As he gazed around the Latin nightclub he’d created—his big gift to her—he found the sultry music too loud for the tension building at the base of his skull. If it hadn’t been for their agreement, he would have texted her or run by the restaurant to pick her up. But no…
He was a man who honored his promises.
Spike gave a delighted bark and raced out of the smoky room, the multicolored light beams and strobe lights turning his golden coat iridescent. Kyle let out a harsh breath.
She was home.
He hoped she would follow the music and the trail of rose petals he’d laid, but when neither she nor Spike appeared, he left the space.
His office door was closed, so she must have put Pierre to bed, as was her practice.
But when he walked toward the kitchen, he found the room empty.
Maybe she’d run upstairs to shower and change?
He heard a bark from far off as he started up the stairs. That had to be it. Spike would be waiting for her outside her bedroom. Wisely, she’d closed the door since an unsupervised Spike turned curious. He was a puppy, after all.
A delighted bark greeted him when he arrived at Madison’s door. Picking Spike up, he knocked before turning the knob, finding it locked.
Hmm…that was new. Maybe she’d locked it out of habit? Tonight must have been busy. Habits kicked back in on those kinds of days. So he and Spike waited.
When he heard her stirring in her room, he knocked again on the door as Spike tried to lurch out of his arms. She didn’t open it immediately, which led to the first stirrings of worry in his belly. Spike gave a high-pitched whine at being ignored.
“Mad?” he called, knocking again. “Your door is locked.”
More silence. Spike barked again, looking up at him with worried brown eyes. Kyle’s chest tightened up. Something was wrong. Even the puppy knew it. “Hey! Can you open the door, please?”
The beat of silence thudded in time with his anxious heart as Spike started whining.
Finally, she cracked the door open. The pungent scent of onions assaulted his nose. Spike tried to lurch out of his arms, but Madison made no move to take him like she usually would. She might not admit it, but she’d fallen in love with the puppy as much as she had Pierre.
While Spike made another lurch toward her, Kyle let his gaze run over her.
He didn’t like what he saw. Her face was stark against her usual black clothing, and her hair was a wet cap against her skull from her shower.
But it was her red-rimmed eyes that had sheer alarm rolling through him.
Had she been crying? And why did she smell like someone had doused her in onions?
He reached for her. “What happened?”
She edged away from his hand and leaned against the doorframe, swallowing thickly. “I know we had our agreement, but I’m hoping you’ll give me a pass this once. I’m not up to tonight. I just want to go to bed.”
Her voice was as stark as the rest of her. “That’s fine. You know it is. But I can tell something is wrong—”
“Kyle, if I talk about it, I’m going to get upset all over again.” Her golden eyes pleaded with him. “Please. I can’t do this right now.”
He told himself she was just tired, but dread coursed through him. “I want to honor that, but right now, I’m finding it a little tough. You’re upset, and we’re best friends.”
“I know we are, but… I can’t do this right now.”
Her voice held a note of desperation. He understood, but he wasn’t sure where they’d be if he let her close the door on him tonight. They’d be taking a step back.
“Can I at least hold you?” he made himself ask.
She shook her head quickly. “I couldn’t take it right now.”
His belly was quivering right alongside an upset Spike. “If the situation were reversed, would you be okay letting me be alone right now?”
Her eyes turned suspiciously bright before she lowered her head against the doorframe. “I don’t want you to see me like this.”
His throat closed. “Like what?”
“Upset. Closed down. I’ve got nothing right now.”
His heart started beating faster as his alarm grew. “Did someone hurt you? On the way home—”
“No, not like that.” She rubbed her forehead into the doorframe as the onion scent turned even more sour. “That I would know how to handle. I’d fight with everything I’ve got. But this… There’s no fighting this.”
Fuck it. He was not letting her step back. He pushed Spike at her, and she took him reflexively. The puppy barked and nuzzled her while he pushed his way in and put his arms around her. “I’m not leaving you alone like this, dammit. I love you. I can’t stand seeing you upset this way.”
She couldn’t shove him away with Spike in her arms, but he could feel how tense her body was. She was so tight she could shatter.
“Dammit, just leave me alone.” She lifted her strained face, her voice breaking. “Spike is getting upset, and it took me forever to settle Pierre down. Please, Kyle. I’ll be able to tell you in the morning.”
He gripped her tighter, Spike yipping and struggling between them. “Tell me now, dammit. Get it out.”
Her gold eyes turned angry, and she lifted her chin. “Fine. We’re not getting the star. Dassault has found a way to screw Nanine over again. Rico told me tonight. I’m not getting my star.”
She might as well have poured cold water over his head. “I can’t believe that. I’ve got A-listers calling right and left. William Silver—”
“None of that matters.” Spike gave a frightened bark, and she ran a soothing hand over his back. “See! I told you I was too upset. Now I’m scaring the puppy.”
“You’re scaring me too.” He cupped her face. “The past is not repeating itself.”
“Yes, it is.” Her desolate eyes raked his face. “Rico heard it from the horse’s mouth. He checked it out before he told me. Nanine’s is still going to be blackballed because of what happened between them over thirty years ago.”
His mind was spinning. “I won’t let him do this again, Mad. There are—”
“Kyle, I know everything works out for you, and that you’re the Golden Boy and all that, but not this time.
” She drilled him with a look, her energy charged with hurt and anger.
“We are not going to win a star, and it doesn’t matter what you do!
This is how it works for people like me—and Nanine.
She made one mistake, one that wasn’t even her fault since that asshole lied to her about leaving his wife, and he got her blackballed.
Kyle, he nearly made sure she never worked in this town. ”
He had to be calm as she continued to rant. They couldn’t both fall into negative thinking. “She did, though,” he insisted, “and she made Nanine’s great.”
“But she never won a star.” She held Spike out to him and stalked away when he settled the trembling puppy against his chest. “Everyone knew why. Now it’s happening again. William Silver even hinted at the past when we spoke table-side.”
“I don’t care what anyone is thinking or saying, Mad.
” He stalked forward, cradling a trembling Spike against his body and putting his hand on her shoulder.
“This time will be different. The praise for Nanine’s has been out of this world.
You will win your star. If we have to fight this asshole, then we will. But don’t give up on me. Please.”
She gripped the bottom of his shirt, anguish filling her gaze.
“Give up? Kyle, I’ll keep cooking, the same as I did today.
Because that’s what I do. But don’t tell me to keep believing we’ll win a star when everything is stacked against us.
This asshole basically runs the culinary system here in France.
He advises presidents. There’s no fighting his influence. ”
He pulled her to his chest, his heart ripping in two. The star had been her dream, and now it felt totally out of reach. No wonder she was so upset. But he was not going to let her dream turn to ashes. No way in hell. “Do you still trust me?”
“You know I do,” she said, her voice hoarse, “but you’re not a miracle worker, Kyle. You’ve never run into a wall like this one. You don’t even recognize it. I do. People like me have been running into this wall forever. Welcome to your new reality.”
He refused to believe that, but he bit his tongue to keep from fighting back. That wasn’t going to help anything. Right now, she was hurting. He was hurting. They needed each other. Tomorrow, he would figure out a plan.
Because he was the Golden Boy, dammit, and this kind of shit didn’t happen on his watch. He would show her. Her faith would be restored, and the happy, hopeful Madison he’d loved seeing emerge would continue to blossom.
“Your new reality is that I love you.” He kissed the top of her wet head fiercely as Spike gave a high-pitched bark. “So does this little guy. We have a surprise for you. Will you come and see?”
She raised her head, and his throat tightened at the desolation in her eyes. All her spark seemed gone. Well, dammit, he wasn’t allowing that either.
“It will only take a minute,” he pressed.
He didn’t like pressuring her, but if he let her go to bed right now, then that bastard Dassault would have won. He would have ripped all hope and goodness from her life.
She finally nodded, rubbing the back of her neck. “Fine. But then I’m going to bed.”
He made sure to hand her Spike since the little guy had his own ways of teasing out Madison’s mushy side. She followed him quietly as he led the way to their little club, but when they reached the doorway, she went completely still.
“Welcome to your own personal Latin night club,” he told her in Spanish, focusing on his accent. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Mad.”
Her lower lip started to tremble before she bit it. “What did you do?”
“I brought Little Havana to you.” He walked over to the bar and turned on the spicy music as the smoke swirled around. Still speaking in Spanish, he said, “This way we can dance any time. We don’t need to go out.”
Her shocked gaze took in the transformed space as Spike scampered up her chest. “You did all this?” she asked, still speaking in English.
“Well, Brooke and Axel helped.” He picked up the mezcal he’d poured for them and extended a glass to her, tapping his own against her drink once she took it. “Salud. You should know I am taking Latin dance lessons as well as Spanish lessons.”
Her face scrunched up. “Kyle—”
“I may never reach your level of fluency,” he continued, “but I’m committed to speaking to you in the language of your heart.”
She blanched, looking as vulnerable as he’d ever seen her. “Oh, Kyle. This is…too much. I mean, it’s a club. In our house. And you learning Spanish? I thought you were only picking up a few lines here and there. That’s going to take—”
“I’d already learned French.” He shot her a smile, hoping to turn her mood around. “Besides, I figure talking to you will help my proficiency.”
She started shaking her head. “How am I supposed to handle this kind of stuff? I’m just a simple girl—”
“You’re my girl, and I’m your guy.” He gestured to her glass.
“Now take a couple deep sips of your drink and shake this crap from tonight off as much as you can. If you’re up to it, I’d like one dance before we head upstairs.
That is, if you’ll allow me to come with you.
I know you wanted to be alone tonight, but this was our first Valentine’s Day together.
I don’t want to let that asshole ruin it.
I thought you might agree with me there, badass that you are. ”
Her chin lifted after their eyes locked. He could see her summon her fight response. That was enough for the moment. She took a few sips of her drink, blew out a breath, firmed her shoulders, and then walked over to the bar to set the glass aside.
“Who bought the neon flamingo? You or Brooke?”
His belly started to settle. They were heading back to firm ground, thank God. “Axel, actually. And those glass palm trees you always laugh about when we walked by them are in the seating area. Did you notice?”
Turning her head, he watched her mouth curve into a hard-fought smile. “Those are the ugliest light fixtures I’ve ever seen. Straight out of Miami. Why they’re being sold in Saint-Germain I’ll never know.”
“Now how about a dance? Would a salsa from your favorite singer, Marc Anthony, work?”
“Can you dance with Spike?”
Her gaze continued to take everything in, from the turquoise banquettes across from the bar to the mirrored wall designed to make the room feel bigger. Later he would see if she wanted to add anything more.
“Might be better if I do.” He crossed and stood in front of her, extending his hand. “I can blame him if my timing gets off.”
She took his hand and squeezed it. “Thank you, Kyle. Sometimes I wonder…what I did to deserve having you in my life.”
His throat tightened up as his fingers curled around hers. “I’m here, and I’m not leaving.”
Her golden eyes turned bright with vulnerability again. “I’m not leaving either. I’m glad you came upstairs after me tonight.”
He traced the sharp angle of her cheekbone. “That’s what partners do. Now, shall we dance?”
She gave a heartbreaking smile and settled her body close to his, swaying to the beat. “I’d love that.”
Their steps weren’t perfect, especially with the puppy bounding between them, but they found their way.