Alice And The Billionaire's Wonderland (Once Upon A Billionaire Book 3)

by Catelyn Meadows

  They’d had a moment on the carousel when he’d felt as though her guard was down, and then again, after the incident at Coleman’s. She’d bared herself to him as she demanded he take every sign featuring her down. She’d been assertive then. Self-assured. Why didn’t she allow herself to be that way all the time? What happened in her past to make her so timid, so afraid of people?

  More than anything, Maddox wanted Adelie to feel secure around him, to open up to him. To be his friend in addition to his sudden wife. Considering the way those men had treated her at Coleman’s, this was the whole reason Maddox hadn’t kissed her at their wedding. He was nothing like those losers. He wanted to make it clear he would push nothing on her.

  Kirk turned into the airport and pulled up next to a small plane. Adelie rested a hand on the window the way a child would and scooted forward, as though taken by surprise. This couldn’t be her first time seeing an airplane.

  “Have you flown before?” he asked.

  “Never,” she said without looking at him.

  “Then this should be a real treat for you.” It was too bad, in some ways. If she’d never been in a commercial plane, she couldn’t fully appreciate how spacious the jet Duncan’s assistant, Rosabel, had chartered would be.

  Maddox had considered purchasing his own plane, but he didn’t fly all that much, not really. He usually chartered one through a private company, and they’d always been readily available whenever he’d needed it.

  The aircraft, with its pointed nose, sleek, thin wings, and angled tail that had always reminded Maddox of a dorsal fin, remained ready with its side door hanging down and serving as a staircase for their entrance.

  “Is this yours?”

  Her awe over what seemed to him to be simple things put everything in a new light. He’d flown in a jet like this so many times he couldn’t count, but with her, this seemed like the first time. Had the plane always been this small? Had he ever paid this much attention to its smooth design and tiny windows?

  “No, I prefer to charter one when I need it,” he said. “Are you ready?”

  “To see Paris? I’ve always been ready.”

  She exited the car, and Maddox slid out behind her, chuckling at her guileless pronouncement and enjoying the opportunity to stretch. That was one thing about using a smaller jet for a long flight like this. Compared to a commercial flight’s cramped seats, this jet had only a handful, leaving space to roam around. They would have more room to spread out as the hours dragged on.

  The pilot strolled toward the plane, wearing the uniform that bespoke his profession and added a touch of class to his posture. Maddox shook his hand.

  “Hey, there, Anthony,” he greeted.

  “Maddox.” His brows lifted as Adelie approached and joined Maddox’s side. “Looks like you’ve got some company this time.”

  “I do. This is my wife, Adelie.”

  The most becoming shade of pink touched her cheeks. She offered a hand to Anthony.

  “Nice to meet you,” she said.

  “You as well. I didn’t even hear there were wedding bells for you. Congratulations. Paris sounds like a great destination to celebrate.”

  “It is,” Adelie agreed. Behind her, Kirk passed their bags toward a man in a vest who helped load them into a cargo hold beneath the jet.

  “Shall we?” Anthony gestured for Adelie to board first. Lowering her chin, she turned and made the small incline up the ladder and into the plane. Maddox followed and nearly stumbled into the back of her, she’d stopped so suddenly.

  “Oh, wow,” Adelie said with a hand to her chest. The luxurious cabin was spacious, offering two plush, leather chairs beside a leather couch that covered the length of the jet’s right-hand side.

  “Like it?” Maddox said softly into her ear. He took satisfaction in the goosebumps rising on the skin at her neck.

  She turned toward him, close enough for the skin of her cheek to brush his. Startling, she stepped forward. A flush of color climbed into her cheeks again, and she tucked her hair behind her ear and hugged one arm to her side as she looked everywhere but at him.

  “It’s amazing. It feels more like a hotel room or something than an airplane.”

  “I think you’ll really like that,” Maddox said, sizzling at her response to him. If he had only one goal from now on, it would be to make her blush like that again. “It’s nice to travel in something that gives you a little breathing room.”

  “Can I—can I sit down?”

  Maddox laughed. “Sure, you can. You think I’d make you stand the entire time? Besides, I think we need to be buckled in for takeoff.”

  Adelie didn’t notice him teasing her. Instead, she settled onto the cream leather seat facing the front of the plane. Maddox sank into the one across from her. She immediately buckled her seatbelt and then sat rigidly, again as though unsure how to behave.

  Was she nervous about the flight? Many people got airsick or claustrophobic on planes. Maddox tried to think of something that might put her at ease.

  “I like to leave this time of the day,” he said. “You know, mid-afternoon. That way we fly all night and get some sleep, and then it’s almost evening when we get to France. Easier to deal with jet lag that way.”

  “I never would have thought of that,” Adelie said, her shoulders relaxing just enough. “I’ll have to tell my cousin Ella.”

  “Oh? Is she going to Paris as well?”

  Adelie lifted a shoulder. “I’m not sure about Paris, but she will be heading for her own honeymoon soon.”

  “What a coincidence.” He wondered if she’d chosen Paris because she really wanted to go there or because she hadn’t been able to think of anything else.

  Maddox crossed an ankle onto the opposite knee. “Are you close with your cousin?”

  Again, Adelie’s posture relaxed enough to be visible. “We were close as children,” she said. “We lost touch until a few Christmases ago when she had a bit of a crisis. Her stepmom framed her for stealing office supplies from the company she worked for.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “Nope,” Adelie said. “Just before the whole fallout, she’d also been uninvited for Christmas by the same stepmom, and so our grandma—Grammy Larsen, not Grandma Carroll—got Suzie and me to come help clean Ella’s apartment and make her Christmas lunch.”

  “Sounds like you made her holiday.”

  Adelie smiled at the memory, and Maddox wished he could read her thoughts.

  “Yeah, I think we did. But Ella always did so much for everyone else, she deserved it. Anyway, she’s getting married to the guy who accused her of stealing.”

  Not what he was expecting. Maddox burst out with laughter. “Now that’s a story.”

  The flight passed as he expected, and yet not at all. He and Adelie spent much of the first several hours rapt in one another’s conversation. They talked about his mom, and then the conversation shifted to her parents.

  “You talk about your grandparents a lot,” Maddox said. “What about your mom and dad?”

  Adelie closed in. He was starting to notice the way her eyes shifted, the way she tucked her chin to her chest, whenever there was a topic that made her uncomfortable.

  “They weren’t around much,” she hedged. “They…passed away.”

  “How did they die?” he asked.

  “Car accident.” Her reply was blunt. She didn’t elaborate. He suspected there was more to it, but that she wasn’t ready to divulge anything else.

  His chest ached for the pain in her posture. She confessed her parents had left her and Suzie when they’d both been small, but also the deep love she felt for her grandparents who’d raised her when her parents failed to. They talked about Adelie’s dreams once she was done with nursing school.

  Night soon fell, and Maddox retrieved blankets for himself and Adelie, who was eyeing the couch with deprivation in her sleepy eyes.

  “Please,” he said, helping her settle in. She rolled her back to hi
m and was fast asleep within minutes.

  It took him a little longer to drift off. Though his chair did recline, and he was quite relaxed, he watched her, grateful he’d decided on this. They needed a trip like this together. Something to help ease her mind—and his—after their rushed wedding and the occurrence at the grocery store.

  The plane’s gentle hum was like a lullaby. Before he knew it, Maddox blinked sleep from his eyes and took in the jet’s dimmed cabin. Adelie was crouched near the window, peering out at the incoming destination. He rubbed his eyes and stared at his watch. Had he really slept that long?

  The pilot’s voice came over the intercom. “Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Hatter. We’ll soon be arriving at the Charles de Gaulle International Airport. If you look out to your right, you’ll see the famous Eiffel Tower greeting us as we close in.”

  Adelie released a small squeak. She dashed to the plane’s opposite side. “Oh goodness, there it is,” she said breathily.

  Maddox set his blanket aside and joined her.

  “So it is,” he said in response to the structure’s needlelike shape spearing into the sky. It wasn’t yet dark enough for them to light the structure, but he found he couldn’t wait to see what Adelie’s reaction to the Eiffel Tower’s sparkle would be.

  “Maddox.”

  His name, spoken so tenderly on her lips, gave him pause.

  Slowly, she shifted her gaze to him. “You have no idea what this means to me.”

  A small tingle pinged in his chest. “We’re not even there yet,” he said with a chuckle.

  “How can you say that when the Eiffel Tower is right there in front of you?” She brought her attention back to the window.

  Maddox fought the desire to lead her away from the window and into his arms. What was this pull she had over him?

  ***

  Anthony landed the plane with precision, and soon they were disembarking, retrieving their bags from the accommodating staff, going through customs and security, and finally entering the awaiting car. Adelie’s attention was stolen with every passing sight. Even the streets and countryside were incredible to her.

  In her mind’s eye, she saw Alice peering into her rabbit hole. Curiosity had gotten the better of her; she’d tumbled in, and now Adelie could sympathize more than ever. This was Paris. Her own personal rabbit hole, where she felt as if she were falling slowly and still unable to grasp every new thing around her.

  The car pulled to a stop before an elegant building curved to fit the corner it sat on. Its rooftop was of the typical Parisian style, with its dark roof contrasting the cream-colored brick and featuring a series of awnings. Each subsequent window along the brick was joined with an iron railing similar to what was found at Wonderland.

  Adelie stood as though her feet were on a lazy Susan. She kept turning and rotating, taking in every sight she possibly could as though this would be the last time she had her vision. She took in the hotel’s name on the gold plate beside the door, as well as on a banner projecting from the building’s side, as the driver placed their bags on the sidewalk beside her and Maddox.

  Maddox offered the driver a tip and a “Merci beaucoup,” before turning back to her.

  “We’re staying at an Elir hotel?”

  “Should we have stayed somewhere else?” Maddox picked up their suitcases and led the way inside.

  Light was everywhere she looked. The furniture of the lobby was rounded and elegant, the windows speckled every few feet and offered a view of the street, and lamps dotted the space between each of them as well. Several people stood near the decorative glass tiles that separated the seating area from the check-in desk.

  “You act like you’ve never seen a hotel before,” Maddox whispered to her in the same low tone he’d used when she’d been stopped short at first sight of his jet’s insides. It had the same effect on her now as it had then, drawing shivers down her spine.

  “I haven’t,” Adelie admitted. “At least not one like this.” The only time she’d stayed in a hotel had been at the Motel 6 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, when her parents still had custody of her and Suzie, before her mom had left and before they’d been taken from their father. And that was nothing compared to this.

  “The Elir Paris,” Maddox said. “It is something.”

  “You act like you come here all the time,” Adelie said, walking with him toward the check-in desk.

  “I’ve been here a few times. Once during college, to attend a friend’s wedding. And once with…well, it doesn’t matter.”

  “With whom?”

  “Just some friends,” he said distractedly, pulling out his wallet to show his ID to the woman behind the desk.

  Her stomach fisted. Was he keeping something from her? Why not just tell her who he’d been with? She supposed she had parts of her past she’d rather forget—mostly regarding her parents. Maybe it was one of those instances.

  The woman at the desk handed Maddox a key, and he bid her, “Merci,” before turning to Adelie.

  “Sounds like our room is ready. Come on.”

  “Our—room?” She scurried to keep pace. After a brief elevator ride, the busboy led the way down a decadent hallway, pausing to open door 401 for them.

  Adelie lingered in the hallway, not only distracted by the way he inserted the room key into a nook on the wall to have it power the lights in the room, but by the fact that he brought both her and Maddox’s suitcase into the same space.

  “Have a good evening,” he said in a decidedly French accent that kinked inside her stomach, before tipping his hat and leaving her alone with her husband.

  Several ticks passed as realization dawned. He hadn’t guided her to a separate room because there wasn’t one. Maddox had booked only one room for them. For their honeymoon. The thought heightened every one of her senses and she suddenly felt too warm.

  They were married. They should share a room, right?

  Tucking his wallet into his back jeans pocket, he turned. With the door closed behind her, and the open living area behind him, the space between them shrunk. Maddox seemed to catch on to her surprise as evidenced by the slight jump in the muscle of his jaw.

  “I hope this is okay.” He gestured to the ornate but comfortable room. “Duncan’s assistant didn’t know our marriage was anything but impulsive ecstasy, so she booked a single room. I can get another one if you’d like.”

  Adelie’s throat closed. Sharing a room with Maddox. It wouldn’t be what others thought it was, and not only that, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to be apart from him in a foreign city. Closer brought more comfort. At least, that was what she told herself.

  “No, this is fine.”

  “The suite setup here is great. We can each have our own area. I’ll just camp out on the pullout couch.” He gestured to the ornament behind him, bedecked with silver pillows. “You can have the bedroom.”

  “No—I can take the couch.”

  Bemused, Maddox crossed the few steps toward her and touched a finger to her elbow. “Mrs. Hatter, take the bedroom. It’s okay.”

  Adelie attempted to wet her lips. He’d never called her that before.

  “Are you tired? Maybe we can grab some dinner, though I do have to warn you, it won’t be quick. The French don’t do fast food the way we do in America. At least not where I prefer to eat. They like their courses, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll enjoy every bite.”

  She was too exhilarated to feel tired. She’d flown on a jet and was in France. France! This was a dream come true. Now to eat their food? She’d never had French cuisine.

  “Sure, I’d love to grab some dinner.”

  “Perfect. I’ll make sure the restaurant is open.”

  Adelie took a minute to freshen up, changed her clothes, and met Maddox outside the bathroom door.

  “I’m just finishing up,” he said, bending to rinse his mouth after brushing his teeth.

  She peered around, taking in the light switches and electric plugs. It didn’t
seem that much different from home and yet was completely new, from their placement on the wall to their shapes.

  “Come on in,” he said.

  Feeling strange about sharing a sink with him, she shuffled in, hoping to skirt past him before he finished. Mid-stride, Maddox turned for his towel hanging on the rack near the mirror and brushed against her.

  “Cramped quarters,” he said.

  “I don’t mind.” Momentarily mesmerized by the field of green in his eyes, she hurried to clarify. “I had to share a bathroom with Suzie until we got the plumbing fixed.”

  Though something told her this was going to be a lot different than sharing with her sister.

  Smirking, and keeping his eyes on hers, Maddox reached for the towel once more. The smell of his cologne wafted to her. Her entire body stiffened. This was the closest to him she’d ever been. Even at their wedding there had been a good two feet between them. And though he’d stood beside her as she’d ridden the peacock on the carousel, they’d been out in the open air. This was a confined pocket of the universe, a place where neither of them seemed all that eager to move from.

  Adelie managed to find her voice. “This has happened more and more since I met you.”

  “What has?”

  “The feeling that I’ve changed size,” she said. “When you look at me that way, I feel like—”

  He lowered the towel. “What do you feel?”

  Words dangled from the tip of her tongue. She wanted to tell him he gave her courage, he made her bold and adventurous, and she envisioned herself as the kind of woman she’d always wanted to be, the one who wasn’t afraid to take risks, to put herself out there, to speak to someone new or assert herself the way she knew she’d like to.

  As a nurse, bedside manner was important. She knew she needed to have a little more confidence and be able to talk to complete strangers. Inwardly, she hadn’t changed from the shy dormouse she’d always been, but with him, she felt like she could be more

  For some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to admit as much.