Sundress of Doom
Maddox
Thirty minutes came and went with no sign of Delaney. Normally, I wouldn't have been counting. But today, I was doing a lot of things I wouldn't normally do.
Like right now, I was eyeing the unfinished Monopoly game while imagining what Delaney might've heard from that woman in the elevator.
To me, the woman was a stranger. But judging from her glare, I was no stranger to her.
By now, I knew her type. She had opinions and wouldn't be shy about sharing them.
What I didn't know was how Delaney would respond. The only upside was that by now, I knew Delaney well enough to know she wasn't unreasonable. From what I'd seen so far, she gave everyone a fair shake, even if they didn't deserve it.
The wedding fiasco I had already explained. Sure, I still needed to fill in the gaps, but I'd gotten a decent start.
The favor for a friend was complicated, but not so complicated that she wouldn't understand why I hadn't told her everything right away. I hadn't wanted her to run. Simple as that.
But now, we knew each other better. And once I came clean about why I was here, we might even have a good laugh about how we'd been thrown together by Ryder Vaughn and her sister.
I almost smiled. Funny, it was the kind of story people told their kids – not that I was thinking that far ahead.
I just liked her, that's all.
When another thirty minutes passed with no Delaney, I told myself this meant nothing.
Her delivery might've been delayed. Maybe she'd gotten a phone call. Maybe she'd lost track of time.
Still, when my gaze drifted to the door, I couldn't help but frown. Maybe she wasn't coming back at all.
By the time ninety minutes had passed, I was running out of excuses.
But then, a knock sounded – three quick raps, sharper than last time and twice as loud.
I strode to the door and pulled it open, only to find Delaney glaring up at me, looking like an entirely different person – and not only because she was wearing a different outfit.
A pink sundress.
Huh.
But it wasn't the change of clothes that made me pause.
It was the change in her expression. The dress was bright and cheerful. Her expression was not.
She made no move to come in.
Still, I was so glad to see her that I almost smiled. "You changed your clothes."
"Yeah, I know," she snapped. "But it wasn't because I wanted to." Before I could ask what that meant, she demanded, "And how long were you planning to keep it up?"
It?
Well, if that wasn't a loaded question.
I just looked at her.
Her face blanched, and she blurted out, "And before you say something crude, that's not what I meant."
I said nothing in response. Why? Because I wasn't a dumb-ass, that's why.
She sighed. "You know what? Dive in the gutter if you want. I'm so not going there."
I felt like I was walking on eggshells. Still, I had to say it. "Except you already did."
She glowered up at me. "Are you freaking serious?"
Forget eggshells. This was a minefield. Carefully, I asked, "About what?"
"As if you don't know." She gave a hard scoff. "What, you thought I'd never hear what you did?"
My stomach sank. Shit.
This shouldn't have been a surprise. Hell, I'd suspected it from the moment those elevator doors had slid shut.
But Delaney's reaction? Yeah, it was surprising alright, and not in a good way. Her eyes were flashing with anger, like she was one pitchfork away from leading the mob herself.
Too late for that. If anything, she'd be bringing up the rear.
I crossed my arms. "You were gone what? Ninety minutes?"
"Maybe." Her chin lifted. "But I'm not gonna apologize. I think I've done enough of that already."
I forced a smirk. "So, you got a good earful, huh?" With a casualness I didn't feel, I leaned against the doorframe and said, "Eh, it was only a matter of time."
She stiffened. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I mean it's not my fault if you believe everything you hear."
She looked ready to slap me. "Oh, so I'm just a big sucker, huh?"
Yes. She was. Because whatever the woman had told her, at least half was almost certainly bullshit. "Hey, you said it, not me."
She gave a choked little laugh. "And to think, you let me go on and on about myself like you really cared."
My mouth tightened. "Who says I didn't?"
But Delaney was on a roll. "You sat there and listened to me ramble about my family. My money. My sister." Her voice cracked around the edges. "You were probably laughing at me the whole time."
Her words hit like a punch. "Trust me, I'm not laughing."
"Trust you?" she scoffed. "Are you freaking crazy?"
The way she talked, you'd think I was the one who'd stolen a few grand from her account – and maybe spent it on hookers and blow while I was at it.
As she continued to glare, I recalled all the slack she'd cut everyone else. She'd made a point of looking at all sides before pronouncing judgment. And even then, she'd been way too nice.
But me? I'd been pronounced guilty without a trial.
She shoved a hand through her hair and muttered, "I can't believe I fell for it."
I snorted. "Yeah, me neither." I didn't mean it the way Delaney meant it. What I meant was, if she was kicking me to the curb after hearing a few stories from some rando in the elevator, she wasn't the girl I thought she was.
Did I explain this to her?
Hell, no.
Why give her the satisfaction?
And besides, the role of villain suited me just fine.
She threw up her hands. "And why would you lie about your name? What, you thought I wouldn't find out?"
I hadn't lied. Sure, I hadn't given her my last name, but it wasn't the way she made it sound. "That's quite a reach."
"What?"
"It's not like I told you my name was Bob."
Her voice rose. "Hah! It could be Bob for all I know."
What the hell did that mean? As I stared across the threshold, it suddenly struck me that her cute little sundress was no accident.
She'd actually dressed up for this.
Who does that?
Sure, I'd seen my share of crazy, but not with Delaney. Until now, she'd seemed perfectly sane.
When I replied with nothing but stony silence, she said with a little huff, "So you're not even gonna try to explain?"
Something cold and hard settled in my gut. "Why bother?" I held her gaze. "Looks to me like you already know."
"Seriously?" She stared like I'd just confessed to murder. "That's all you have to say?"
If she looked capable of listening, I might've pointed out that I would've told her plenty if only she hadn't vanished for ninety minutes after saying she'd be right back.
I forced a shrug. "Hey, you're the one who left." Not only had she left. Apparently, she'd spent most of that time listening to someone call me a monster while believing every word.
Her eyes narrowed. "You don't even live here."
No kidding. "Neither do you."
She blinked. "Is that a joke?"
"Sure, but it's still true."
She blinked again, and for the first time, her eyes looked suspiciously bright. In a small voice, she asked, "Was any of it true?"
At the look in her eyes, at the sound of her voice, at the set of her mouth, I felt a crazy urge to gather her close and tell her that the woman was full of shit.
But that ship had already sailed.
Sure, I hadn't told Delaney every little detail about me and Sloane, but I'd told her more than I'd told anyone else. And I would've told her everything if she'd returned with actual questions, not the same accusations I'd been hearing for months.
Okay, so she hadn't made those accusations out loud.
But her emerald eyes were accusing me of plenty, like I'd personally wronged her by leaving a different girl at the altar.
Screw that.
When I said nothing in reply, Delaney asked in a choked little voice, "Should I be worried?"
I didn't get it. "About what?"
"Oh, come on! Nobody likes to be hounded and followed."
What the hell? "So you think I'm gonna hound you?"
"Well, aren't you?"
If she was the same girl I'd played Monopoly with, I might've tried to work it out. But this Delaney? I'd have to be out of my mind.
In a flat voice, I told her, "I'm not the hounding type."
"Fine." Her chin lifted. "How about the stalking type?"
Was she insane? "Wrong again."
"Yeah, right," she scoffed. "At least tell me this. What exactly is the timeline?"
Huh? "The timeline?"
"Yes." She spoke very clearly, enunciating every word. "When will it be over?"
A strange calm settled over me. It was already over. But hey, if she wanted closure, I was just the guy to give it.
I summoned up another smirk. "How about now?" But even as I said it, it felt like a kick in the teeth, because it had ended before it had even begun.
She frowned, looking suddenly confused. "Now? Like…as in it's done? Right now?"
"Yup."
Her eyes filled with something that looked almost like relief. "Good." But then her jaw tightened. "But just so you know, if I see you again, I will be calling the police. Or the FBI. Or somebody."
I stared. What the fuck?
I didn't respond well to threats, especially to threats that were so ridiculous I wasn't sure whether to argue or laugh.
I'd seen more than my share of crazy. And Delaney wasn't the first girl to change her clothes before picking a fight.
By now, I'd seen just about everything.
I gave her a look. "So you're telling me to what? Leave Chicago?" I couldn't contain my sarcasm. "Uh, yeah. That's not gonna happen."
"Seriously? Even though it's over?"
Was she nuts? Hell, if I was forced to leave town every time I pissed someone off, I'd spend half of my time on the road.
I let out a humorless laugh. "But hey, you could always leave."
"Fine." She gave me a stiff smile that didn't even come close to reaching her eyes. "Asshole." And with that, she turned and stomped away, leaving me staring after her.
Silently, I watched her go until she stopped not at the nearest elevator, but at the door to the stairwell. She yanked it open and disappeared quicker than I could say, What the fuck just happened?
I was still staring at the empty space when I suddenly realized something.
Her car.
In all the drama, I'd forgotten to mention it.
Fuck.