“Tomorrow? So soon?”
Garrett nodded as he approached her desk. “Harry wants me to get rolling on the new office. He came in this morning pretty adamant I get down there as quickly as possible.” He halted at the corner of her desk. “He’s also in a real bad mood. Any idea why?”
Madison returned her eyes to her computer screen. “Maybe he fought with his ex again?”
Garrett snickered. “Not his ex. I was thinking more along the lines of you.”
“You’re mistaken,” she shot back in a dismissive tone.
He shifted his hip on the desk. “I may not know a lot of things that go on inside of Harry’s head, but I do know how he feels about you…how he has always felt.”
Madison sat back in her chair, eyeing the handsome man with the dark, brooding features. “What do you know, Garrett?”
He glanced about the office. “When we were at UT together, I remember a time when he became obsessed with finding a certain undergrad architecture student. I worked in the administration building at the time and tried to help him find her, but instead I found Ellen.” He folded his arms over his wide chest. “I always thought she was the one he wanted…that was until I saw how he was with you. Ellen was a poor substitute for you, wasn’t she, Mary?”
Madison shook her head, smiling. So much for secrets. “How long have you known?” she gently challenged.
“Since the day he saw you in the elevator. He told me he had found Mary. Then, when you began working here…well, I can’t remember the last time I saw him so happy. Now, he’s back to the man I knew before your arrival; grumpy, snapping at everyone, and ornery as hell.” His uncanny eyes patiently explored her face, making Madison shift uncomfortably in her chair. “Do you mind if I ask what happened?”
She stood up, unable to take his piercing gaze any longer. “Nothing to tell. We rekindled an old flame, but it was only a fling.” Madison moved away from her desk and went to the picture window overlooking downtown.
Several seconds of silence ticked by, making her wonder what he was thinking.
“So why are you typing a resignation letter?” Garrett probed as he came alongside her. “Seems a bit much if it was only a fling.”
“It’s better if I leave.”
Garrett laughed, filling the office with an alluring sound. “You may be a great architect in the making, Madison, but you’re a crummy liar.”
She turned to him, frowning. “I’m not lying. I can’t work with him anymore.”
“You can’t work with him because you’re in love with him, just as much as he’s in love with you.”
The comment floored her. “Hayden Parr isn’t the kind of man to fall in love.”
Garrett placed his hands behind his back and his eyes cut into her. “You’re wrong. He may never want to admit it to you, or even to himself, but he is. He’s been in love with you since that first night you two met. You changed him then just as you have changed him now.” He paused and a smile curled his thin lips, adding an uncharacteristic warmth to his features. “And he has changed you, Madison. You’re not the same timid girl who came into this office on that first day. You’ve grown; you’ve become a woman to be reckoned with. I would hate for Parr and Associates to lose such a valuable employee.”
Madison went back to her desk chair. “It’s no use, Garrett. I have to go.”
“Quitting won’t deter him, Madison. Harry won’t give up on you. He’s the most determined man I know.”
Madison took her chair. “I can be pretty determined, too.”
“So I’ve noticed.” Garrett came around her desk. “Any idea where you’ll go after you leave here?”
“I’ve called my former boss at Pellerin, Everly, and Walters. He’s offered me a position in his firm.”
“I guess you’ve got it all figured out then.”
He moved toward the door, and Madison’s eyes followed him across the room. “Good luck in New Orleans, Garrett. I hope you’re happy there.”
Stopping at the door, he turned back around and faced her. “You know, it doesn’t matter whether we call them marriages, relationships, or arrangements; in the end it’s how two people make each other feel that’s important. How did Harry make you feel?” Garrett opened the office door. “Think about it, Madison.”
Sitting back in her chair, Madison mulled over Garret’s question. How Hayden made her feel didn’t matter anymore. That was the past and she needed to refocus her sights on her future, despite the protests of her crumbling heart.
“Life is filled with tough choices,” her mother had always told her. For the first time in her life, Madison was beginning to comprehend how tough those choices really were.
***
After several minutes of pacing in her office, Madison headed to the elevators with the envelope containing her letter of resignation gripped firmly in her hand. She had planned on leaving it with Emma, hoping to avoid a confrontation with Hayden, but when the elevator doors opened, Hayden stood before her.
“We’re going to talk,” he growled, exiting the elevator.
Staring into his eyes, she saw the anger simmering just below the surface. “There’s nothing to say. Here.” She handed him the envelope.
“What’s this?”
“My resignation.”
His eyes scanned the empty waiting area of Parr and Associates. Taking her elbow, he ushered her toward the dark-paneled doors. Practically dragging her along the empty hallway, he reached her office, shoved her inside, and slammed her door closed.
“You’re not leaving, Madison.”
“I can’t stay. We can’t work together anymore.”
“Bullshit. I stayed away all weekend believing you needed time to think. You’ve had time. Now you want to quit, just like that, without discussing it with me.”
“Do you honestly think I could stay? After everything….” She turned away and headed to her desk.
“Everything we had, we still have. Nothing has changed.” He came up to her desk, his eyes blazing. “I know you’re angry about the wedding, and I told you I was sorry. What is it going to take for you to forgive me?”
She was dumbstruck by his question. What was it going to take for her to forgive him? Or was backing out of their relationship and leaving her job what she really wanted? Sure she had been thrilled he had chosen her, but in the back of her mind she’d wondered why a man like Hayden Parr desired someone like her.
“Why did you pick me up in that bar? I know you were looking for a one-night stand, and I’m sure any woman in that bar would have done, but why me? What made you want me?”
He tossed up his hand, still holding the letter. “What difference does that make?”
“Tell me, Hayden.”
He went to her desk and dropped the envelope in his hand on her keyboard. “It wasn’t how you looked, it was more about how you acted. Like you needed to be taken care of. I found the quality very attractive.”
“But I didn’t need to be taken care of, and I still don’t. I can take care of myself.”
“I disagree, Madison. I feel you need to be taken care of, and by a man who knows how.” He sat on the edge of her desk. “I want to be that man.”
“Jesus, you just don’t get it, Hayden,” she exclaimed, raising her voice. “You can’t keep me locked away because you want to take care of me or control me. That’s not how relationships work. You were always asking me if I trusted you, but did you trust me? In relationships, you have to trust each other.”
“Then what do I have to do? Take you to fancy parties, dine in nice restaurants? We’ll do all of it. Anything you want.” His lips pressed tightly together, accentuating the irritation in his eyes. “Just reconsider your resignation.”
She slowly walked up to her desk, noting how the anger instantly vanished from his gray eyes only to be quickly replaced by lust. “I have to go. If I stay, I’ll always wonder if I’m getting assignments in this firm because I’m a good architect or because of our arran
gement.”
His lips stretched into a disarming smile. “It’s not an arrangement anymore, Madison. It hasn’t been for quite a while.”
She held up her head, determined to resist his charm. “You’ve always kept me from knowing how you feel, from telling me what you’re thinking. If it were more than an arrangement, Hayden, we would have shared so much more than our bodies.”
He sat on the edge of her desk, staring into her eyes, as if making up his mind. “I’m sorry you feel that way. I had hoped….” He abruptly stood from the desk and adjusted the sleeves of his suit jacket. When he raised his eyes to the office door, his face was like stone. “If you need to go, I won’t stop you.” He strode across the office to the door and stopped, but never faced her. “You can return to your job with Parr and Associates at any time. The door is always open to you.”
After he had left the office, Madison picked up the envelope containing her resignation letter. Fighting back the tears, she began to rub her hand across the envelope, smoothing out the wrinkles Hayden had made. “I have to walk away, because if I don’t do it now, I never will, and I’ll be his forever.”
Chapter 20
Sitting in her cramped office behind her oak desk, Madison tried to think of some way to change the design staring back at her on her computer monitor. The French provincial exterior she was hoping to incorporate into the strip mall she was drawing was going nowhere, and the more she tweaked her plans, the worse it became.
Pushing her high backed chair away from her desk, she made her way to the corner scenic window that overlooked the children’s playground next door. This was the best part of her job at Pellerin, Everly, and Walters: being able to stare out her office window and watch the children running amuck on the grassy playground. There were days, like today, when she itched to join them.
“You keep staring out that window and you’ll never get any work done, Madison.”
When Madison wheeled around, she was greeted by the dull brown eyes and wrinkled countenance of her boss, Curtis Pellerin. No one really knew how old he was, but by the way he shuffled into her office—slightly hunched over with his loose-fitting, brown suit hanging from his bony frame, and with a smattering of white hair on his head—Madison guessed he was well into his seventies.
“Sorry, Mr. Pellerin. The kids just help me think.”
Curtis Pellerin cackled loudly, betraying his frail exterior. “Something I would expect a woman to say. Ever think of having any of your own?” He slowly came up to her side, taking up a position beside her at the window.
Madison wistfully shrugged. “Someday.”
“Well, be careful who you have them with. My daughter married an idiot and now she has three idiot children to show for fifteen years of marriage.” He held up his hand. “Yes, I know. I’m supposed to love the little heathens, but my grandchildren often give me indigestion.” He motioned to her desk. “Show me what you have on that strip mall. The contractor wants to get started soon.”
“Actually, I still have a bit more to do.” She went to her desk and hit the space bar on her keyboard, pulling up the design on her computer screen.
Curtis Pellerin eyed the plans, lifting the thick, wire-rimmed glasses slightly higher on his face. Madison stood by her desk, intently studying his craggy features as he perused the computer screen.
“Perhaps strip malls aren’t your thing,” he reasoned with a half-smile. “I know it’s boring as hell, but it’s what we do here at Pellerin, Everly, and Walters. However, you knew that before when you interned for me, which makes me wonder why you returned to us last month.”
“I told you I wasn’t a good fit with Parr and Associates. Mr. Parr was very kind, but I think my designs weren’t what he was looking for.”
“Uh huh,” the older man said with a slight nod of his head. “So Hayden told me.”
“I’ll get better, Mr. Pellerin. I’m just…a little distracted these days.”
“Seems to me you’ve been distracted for quite a while now, Madison.” He examined her through the lenses of his thick glasses. “You’re not the same young lady I knew before you went to work for Parr and Associates. You’ve changed.”
“I grew up, Mr. Pellerin.”
“No, that’s not it.” He stood back from her desk, shaking his head. “Since you’ve come back to work for me, you’ve been withdrawn, sullen, and, I dare say, almost teary-eyed.” He waited for her reaction, but she kept her eyes glued to the linoleum floor. “Is there anything you would like to talk about, Madison?”
Her gut twisted into a dozen small knots at the idea of sharing her personal troubles with her boss. It was bad enough she spent her days wandering around in a virtual fog, and her nights longing for Hayden, but to disclose her relationship with Hayden Parr to her current employer would have surely been the death knell for her job.
“I think I’m just adjusting to living alone. I miss my roommate. It’s been kind of lonely without her around,” she offered to the older gentleman, hoping it sounded reassuring.
“Perhaps a new assignment might help snap you out of your doldrums.” He motioned to the computer screen. “A different type of challenge might spark your creative juices. What I have is out of the ordinary for my firm, but I think right up your alley.” He paused and grinned at her. “I was contacted by a client about building a home. He has recently acquired a nice lot of land and wants to build something that will blend in with the woods covering his lot.” Curtis Pellerin arched an eyebrow at her. “Interested?”
A ripple of enthusiasm tempted her belly. “Yes, absolutely, but I don’t have a lot of experience with house construction, Mr. Pellerin. Even less than I have with strip malls.”
He removed a slip of paper from his brown suit jacket pocket. “Not to worry, the client understands and is still willing to take you on.” After he handed her the paper, he checked the stainless Rolex on his right wrist. “You have exactly thirty minutes to meet him at this address.”
Madison’s jaw slackened. “What? You want me to meet the client today? I haven’t seen the lot, let alone—”
Mr. Pellerin waved a gnarled hand at her. “Madison, just go. The rest will work itself out, trust me.”
***
Exactly thirty minutes later, Madison eased her blue Rogue in front of a spacious wooded lot with thick oaks, a few crape myrtle trees, and trails that cut through the high grass and light brush. While gazing at the familiar terrain, she spied the black Land Rover on the opposite side of the street. As she stared at the car, the driver’s side door opened and Hayden stepped out.
It had been over a month since she had seen him. He was wearing a form-fitting dark brown suit that accentuated his toned body, and Madison felt that old flurry of tingles she got whenever he was near come roaring back to life.
“What is this, Hayden?” she demanded, climbing from her car. “Did you put Mr. Pellerin up to this?”
He raised his hands, assuaging her anger. “Before you fly off the handle, let me explain.” He motioned to the property. “After the Martins refused to sell, I bought this lot from them. I figured I could build my new place here, and I need an architect to come up with a design that blends the house with the property. Kind of like the design you came up, but with some changes.”
“What about your house? I thought you didn’t—”
“I’ve settled things with Ellen. I decided I needed a fresh start. Some place new. Some place special.”
Madison folded her arms, trying as hard as hell not to grin. “So, it’s all over with your ex?”
“Yes, it is. After you left, I realized that I needed to get on with my life.”
“I’m glad for you,” she gazed into the lot, “but why am I here?”
He moved closer to her. “Because you drew a house once for this property; a house I fell in love with. I would very much like to hire you as my architect to help me design the home of my dreams. You’re the best I know at making dreams into reality, Madison.”
/> “The best at daydreaming, you mean.” She waved off his attempt at flattery. “You don’t need me. You have an office full of architects who can build your dream home.”
“But none of them are you,” he purred in his deliciously deep voice.
Her resolve wavered, and she shifted uncomfortably on her feet. “Nothing has changed, Hayden. You still want to control me, but I can’t be that way with you anymore.”
“I know. I guess I never acknowledged the confident woman you’ve become until you left me. I realized then I’d been wrong to keep you hidden away from the world. I still saw you as that innocent girl I’d met in the bar, and I thought I was protecting you, but I was really protecting me.” He diverted his attention to the property. “I told you once that there was a woman who changed me, changed everything I wanted in my life. The woman who made me want more than emotionless arrangements.” He sighed, lowering his gaze to the street. “That woman was you. You wanted to know why I picked you up in that bar, and the real reason is from the moment I saw you sitting on that bar stool, I was in awe of you. You were wearing a little blue dress with white flowers and looking so terrified that I….” He shook his head and returned his eyes to her. “I could never admit that to anyone before because I thought there was something wrong with me for feeling that way about a total stranger. The next morning, when you were gone, I knew I had to find you; and when I couldn’t, I married the next woman that came along. But when I did find you again, I was desperate to make sure you never left me. So desperate that I got scared.”
The shock of his confession caused the walls around her heart to give way, and all the feelings she thought she had successfully put behind her came crashing back. “Why are you telling me this now?”
Hayden came right up to her, his eyes pleading with her. “Because I want another chance with you, Madison. A chance to make up for all of my shortcomings. If I promise to change, can you promise to give me that chance?”
“You think hiring me as your architect will fix everything? It’s not that simple, Hayden.”
That Night with You Page 26
