Take Two

And she wasn’t going to get the chance.

“I have all of today with her. Believe me, that’s enough.”

Realizing that she couldn’t pretend to fuss in the mirror forever, Maddie sat in the room’s arm chair and tugged on her sneakers. Still unable to meet his eyes, afraid he’d see she was upset, she kept her focus strictly on her shoelaces. “How long have you been pla

“Um, a couple of days. I’m taking her to the fundraiser thing tonight.”

He meant the Evening with Joss Beaumont, a charity event sponsored by the Denver Film Society. Beaumont had decided to wrap early that day and bought tickets for all of the cast and crew. Actually, it had been Bree’s idea, but the director took the credit. Though all of the crew had been invited, the focus would be on the VIPs. Bree had arranged for a red carpet at the theater for their entrances and publicized their attendance, hoping to draw more interest in the event.

Maddie stood but sat back down to redo her shoes when she realized her laces were too tight. Or maybe that was her chest. Everything felt tense and off. “Maybe I should go to Beaumont’s thing after all.”

“I thought you decided last week that you didn’t want to go.” Even Micah’s voice sounded tense. Had he picked up on her vibe?

She heard him moving and she turned to see his backside as he climbed out of the bed. “I don’t want to.” She didn’t. Not with even an ounce of her being. Sit through a night listening to the asshole talk about himself while a room full of people ooo’d and ahh’d? She’d rather shoot herself.

Besides, she hadn’t packed any dresses for Colorado. Bree had overnighted one to her for the event, but it was more formal than she was used to. Though dressing up for Micah had almost changed her mind. He’d never seen her in anything but tanks and jeans and sweats. And naked. He’d definitely seen her naked.

“Then don’t go.” He walked over to where she sat and pulled her up to stand in front of him. Then he ran his hands up and down her arms. “Stay home, take a bath. Enjoy the night off.”

Now that sounded like a good time. Except, not so much without Micah there. And was he trying to keep her away? “Do you not want me to go?”

“I didn’t say that.” He sighed and pulled her into his arms. “It’s just, like you said, why would you go to honor a man you hate?”

“That’s why I wasn’t going to go.” Even as he comforted her, she could feel the truth in her fear. He didn’t want her there. She didn’t like that. She wanted him everywhere with her. That he didn’t feel the same—was that an indication that he didn’t feel the same about where there relationship was going as she did?

She couldn’t think about that now. It was too big. One day at a time. And this day, his mother was coming into town. “But now your mom is going to be there.”

“Why does that change anything?”

Maddie pulled back to study him. Was he really going to pretend that his mother’s visit was insignificant?

He met her eyes then sighed. “Look, I don’t want to go either. But I have to go, because I don’t know, somehow people will give more money if I’m there. And you and I decided no press events so I thought it would be easier to take Lulu. It was either that or go as Heather’s date.”

“No way.” She brushed past him and busied herself with gathering her computer into her bag.

“And that’s why I invited my mother.” His voice changed, as though he suddenly understood. “Does that bother you, Maddie? Did you want me to ask you?”

“No, no that’s not it.” She zipped her bag and spun to face him. “It’s that you didn’t tell me you invited your mother. You’ll be at that all night and I’m going to be on set all morning and then she’s going to be gone. I won’t even have a chance to…”

And then it clicked.

He’d pla

The tightness in her chest increased tenfold, like a boulder was crushing against her. “Oh. I see.”

“Maddie…”

He stepped toward her, but she stepped back. “No, it’s fine.” God, how had she been so stupid? They weren’t committed to each other. Why would he want her to meet his mother? “It’s a big deal. Introducing someone to a parent. I get it. Seriously. I wasn’t thinking. It’s fine.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Totally fine.” Though the tears gathering in her eyes would beg to disagree. She turned back to mess with her bag so he wouldn’t notice.

“Okay.” She heard the resignation in his voice. “I’m jumping in the shower. We have reservations in Denver for di

“Okay.”

She heard the door to the bathroom close and the first tear spilled.

Then at the sound of the door opening again, she swiped quickly at her face.

“Maddie.” He waited until she turned to look at him. He knew she was hiding tears—it read all over his face as he leaned against the doorframe. “I also really want you to know each other.”

The weight in her chest loosened. “You do?”

“Yeah. I do.”

“Then do I get to meet her?”

“I…don’t…know.”

The relief she’d felt a moment before was replaced with bone-deep hurt. Another tear trailed down her face, her voice gruff. “So what do you want me to do? Pretend I don’t know you? Do I need to get another hotel room?”

“No!” He crossed to her and wrapped her in his embrace. “No, I want you with me.”

His arms made her feel better. She could feel in his touch what he couldn’t say—that he was torn, that he didn’t know how to handle the situation any more than she did.

He pressed his lips to her forehead before tilting her chin up so their eyes would meet. “And I don’t want you to pretend anything. I can barely handle restraining myself on set. But my mother…it is big. For me. And I just thought we could maybe take it the way we’ve been taking everything else. See how things go. Maybe we can do breakfast tomorrow.”

“Okay.” She smiled. Surprisingly, a genuine smile. “We’ll see how things go. If breakfast happens, it happens. If not, I won’t take it personally. As long as I still get to sleep here tonight.”

“If you don’t, I’ll come find you and molest you in your sleep.”

“Promise?”

He kissed her deeply. When he broke away he said, “What do you think?”

“I think I need to be going.” She reached her hand around to fondle his ass. “And you need to get in the shower before I’m tempted to be late.”

They lingered a few more minutes in each other’s arms before saying their goodbyes. By the time Maddie stepped out in the hall, she felt better. A lot better. Even though she longed for Micah to be certain about them, as certain as she was becoming, she couldn’t expect him to be there yet. Not after less than three weeks. Not when he was so relationship-phobic to begin with.

She met Fudge in the lobby and together they walked down to the car he’d rented for Micah. He opened the passenger door for her like the gentleman he was, and she wondered if the photographer that she spotted sitting across from the hotel assumed she was hooking up with Micah’s bodyguard. She came and left the hotel more with Fudge than she ever did with Micah. And there were always photographers.

“Sounds like you have a busy day off,” Maddie said as Fudge strapped himself into his seat.

“Day off, my ass. My days off are when Micah’s on set. Days away from set, he turns me into his driver, his errand boy, his personal shopper. So a

“No.” She still had doubts about her decision to stay behind, but she’d made up her mind.

As if the conversation had cued it to go off, her phone buzzed with a text.

I want pics of u in that dress!

Maddie grimaced as she typed her reply to Bree. Not going. Bree was going to be pissed. She’d believed she was doing the crew a favor getting them invites to the shin-dig.