No hurt feelings. She’d asked everyone’s opinion, but using Chloe was the obvious choice. “She is a professional letter writer. I don’t know why it took me all weekend to think of it.”
“I know why. Because you spent most of the weekend moping over Knox. Who doesn’t deserve it. Who probably spent his weekend up the skirts and down the cleavage of every available bimbo in the District.”
Dragging the toe of her black peep-toes against the carpet, she said, “I thought we agreed to disagree on that?”
“I agreed to wait for proof before kicking him in the ass on your behalf. That doesn’t mean I can’t trash-talk him out of female solidarity.”
Did she have the best friends in the world, or what? It just cemented her rightness in moving to D.C. “Thank you, Annabeth. Truly.”
“I’m proud of you for sending the email, whatever it said. I know it had to be hard.”
“Yeah.” She looked across the spacious leather, wood, and chrome cabin. “But I think karma is rewarding me for it.”
“How? Did you nab a forward-facing seat on the Metro?”
“Better than that.” She kicked off her shoes to send them flying down the immense length of the car. “I’m in a stretch limousine.”
“What? Why?”
Wasn’t that just the biggest question of the week? And it was only Monday. “I don’t know. The driver came into the Library of Congress looking for me. Said he’d been hired to pick me up from work.”
“And you fell for that? Madison, get out of the car. Right now. I’m calling the police.”
Awww. The cynical, hard-edged Annabeth was showing her love by panicking. Madison couldn’t have found a better roommate if she’d searched for weeks instead of moving in with Annabeth after five minutes. “No, it’s on the up and up. I checked.”
“Checked what—to see if there are zip ties and a hacksaw in the trunk?”
“I called the limo company. They verified that he works for them. And that the address where he’s taking me is real. And they sent me a photo of his driver’s license to be sure it matched his face. Geez, you all think I’m super naïve, don’t you?”
There was a long silence on the other end, as if Annabeth were choosing her words very, very carefully. “Not naïve. Trusting. No, make that optimistic. You see the best in people. Even when it might only be a potential for the best.”
“Well, this man is doing his best to deliver me someplace in the lap of luxury. He poured me champagne. There are bowls of nuts and chocolates along the side wall of the compartment. It sure beats the gum that’s usually stuck to the bottom of a Metro seat.”
“Aren’t you wondering what it’s about? Who did it?”
Wow. Annabeth was really playing this up. Because Madison didn’t doubt for a second that she and Summer were behind the luxurious treat. “Why do you think I’m calling you? I kind of assumed you all pitched in to cheer me up.”
“I ate three cartons of ice cream with you this weekend. That’s me pitching in. Springing for a limo? Not in my budget. Not my style either. I wouldn’t put it past Summer, though. And now I’m bitter that I didn’t get invited.”
Huh. The mystery deepened. “I thought you had to work tonight?”
“Not the point.”
“We’re stopping now, so I’ll text you when I figure out what’s going on.”
“Text me in half an hour no matter what. There still might be something hinky going on.” Annabeth hung up without saying goodbye either. It tickled Madison to death.
The door swung open. The driver stuck his head in and handed her a giant bouquet of red roses, tied with a satin ribbon.
“Um, what are these?”
“Just the beginning.” He then proceeded to hand over equally large bouquets of white orchids, orange lilies, multihued wildflowers, and lavender tulips. madison had to lay them on the seats built into the side. She was fairly certain now that Summer was not, in fact, the benefactor behind her limo ride.
Sure enough, Knox got in and sat down—in a twelve-person limo—right next to her. The door shut behind him. He looked as handsome as ever in a cream suit, pale blue shirt, and mauve tie. “Hi.”
It was crazy the way her heart leapt into a full gallop at just the sight of him. Or maybe at just the deep rumble of his voice. “What are you doing here?”
He wrapped on the window with his knuckles. A few moments later, the car started and began cruising again. Only then did he turn to face her. “I’m here to do several things. Will you give me ten minutes? Hear me out? After that, the limo is yours for the night, no strings attached.”
Wow. She’d missed him so much. When Madison had thought through all the ways she could possibly engineer accidentally running into Knox, having him drop into her limo had never entered her mind. She’d let him stay as long as he wanted. She just wouldn’t let him know—yet—how good it was to be with him again.
Crossing her ankles, she said, “Seeing as how I don’t have a car of my own yet, I’d be stupid to turn down an offer that good.”
“If you keep that mindset, this might all work.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m here to apologize.”
Although she wanted to clap her hands and bounce on the seat in relief, Madison waited. Because saying he was sorry was far from good enough. Knowing what he did wrong was an integral piece of it.
When she didn’t say anything, he huffed out a brusque laugh. “You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you?”
“Why should I?” she shot back.
“You could cut me a little slack, seeing as how I’m new at all—” With one look at her upraised eyebrow, Knox cut himself off. “Let me start over.”
“That’s probably a wise idea.”
“I’m sorry I was an idiot. A stupid, thoughtless idiot. I hurt you, which I promised from the start not to do. I’ve tried so hard to be honest to avoid hurting you. I’d call it a rookie mistake in the game of love, but that might sound like I’m making an excuse, so I won’t.”
He’d used the word love. That was new. And huge. Was it on purpose? Or just a flowery turn of phrase? “Be more specific.”
Knox ran a hand over his crown, down to his neck. Aside from the night he spent in the hospital, she’d never seen him this visibly uncomfortable. Raw. “I never should’ve walked out on you on Tuesday. I didn’t, actually.”
This apology was taking one hell of a wrong turn. If he kept going in this vein, she’d have to agree with Annabeth that Knox didn’t deserve a second chance. Because waking up without him, being forced to search the house for him, had broken her heart. Madison refused to let him sugarcoat the incident.
“Yes, you did. I was there. Alone. In your bed. You never came back.”
Now his fidgety hand moved to rub across his mouth. “That came out wrong. When I stormed out of the house, I wasn’t trying to get away from you. I had to get away from Josh. From the fight I’d just had with Logan. Away from the pressure of all the memories in that house. You were the last thing on my mind. Which, yes, sounds callous. And which is why I said I was thoughtless. I’m so sorry.”
That version she could believe. With a dip of her head, Madison said, “Go on.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t call you that night. Or since. I was in my head. Let me tell you, it was a mess in there. You and Logan and the rest of the ACSs and my company and expectations and decisions and priorities all jumbled together.”
Again, what he intended as an apology was really coming off more as an insult. She deserved better than that. “That’s the thing, Knox. I don’t want to be part of a jumble. I want to be your priority.”
“You are.” Desperation hoarsened his voice. “I swear.”
“But so is Logan. I know you’ve been in turmoil ever since you found out that Logan’s my brother. We can’t ignore that he’s your best friend.” Because if this was really their shot at fixing things, there couldn’t be any holding back. No hoping that thin
gs would eventually, magically change.
He shook his head, slowly. Equally slowly, as if trying not to spook a beaver protecting its dam, Knox reached for her hand. “Madison, you are my absolute best friend now. That’s what I realized in this stupid, self-centered, and self-inflicted time-out I took.”
That was the last thing she’d expected him to say. “You don’t mean that. You have the ACSs.”
“I do. They were the ones who pointed out that it was time I stopped chasing money before everything else. That I’d already bought everything I could ever want, and socked away twice that. But they were wrong. All the money in the world can’t buy me a family, a legacy, or the love of the right woman. I’m trying to fix all three now.”
“How?”
“Griff, Riley, Josh, and Logan are my family, by choice. That’ll never change. I’m hoping I can convince you to fall in love with me. Because I’m positive that you are the right woman. The one I’m choosing to love.”
It was the U-turn she’d hoped he’d take. Madison just had to make sure he hadn’t wandered down that road by accident. Because her heart was already trying to leap out of her chest and into his hands. “What about the woman buffet you planned to gorge on for the rest of your life?”
“It’s over,” Knox said flatly. Decisively. “I don’t regret it. You know why? I can unequivocally say that I’ve sampled every other kind of woman—from hair color to height, temperament to career—that’s out there in the world. Riley accused me of not knowing how to stick with a woman. But he’s wrong. You know why none of them stuck?” His hand tightened around hers, almost to the point of pain. “Because I was waiting for you, Madison. A woman who isn’t afraid to call me on being too cocky. A woman who is actually interested in hearing about my scientific leanings. A woman who wants to gobble up everything the world has to offer as greedily as I do.”
It sounded good. Well, it sounded promising. Still not quite there, though. Not yet. “And?”
He blinked. “Did you think I was done? Not by half.” And he flashed that cocky smile at her that absolutely melted her knees. “You want to know why this limo looks like a hothouse exploded? Because I don’t know what your favorite flowers are. I wanted to make the big, romantic gesture, and didn’t know what would float your boat.”
“I like the tulips,” she murmured.
“Good to know. The point is, I want to spend the next fifty years discovering all of that. When I say I want it all? I want to know everything about you. I want to do it all with you. You’re the all in my life. All I need. I love you, Madison.”
There. There it was. She swallowed down the tears threatening to choke her throat. “But what about Logan?”
“He prefers daisies,” Knox deadpanned. “Logan is just going to have to deal. He got bent out of shape because he was worried I’d treat you like crap. Hopefully, once I tell him that I plan to treat you right, he’ll relax. Because he’s my family, too. He has to get over it. I choose you, Madison.”
Could the kissing start now? Could she climb onto his lap and just go to town? No. He said there was more. Madison didn’t want to cut short any of his already epic apology. So in the driest tone she could muster, she said, “That’s quite a change of heart.”
“That’s not the only change. I’m not selling the company.”
There was no holding back the delighted smile lifting her lips. “You took my advice.”
“I listened to you,” he clarified with a shake of his head. “Then I listened to the guys. And I thought about what I truly wanted to accomplish, instead of just what I wanted to earn.”
“What did you come up with?”
“I’m creating an offshoot foundation to mentor young kids. The ACSs gave me my first sense of belonging and teamwork. Lots of science geeks like me won’t ever get the chance to be on a football team and learn those lessons, forge those friendships. So I’m going to convince them to join travel soccer teams. My Grand Plan is to bribe them into joining.”
Madison could barely suppress the smile at his unintentional use of her words. Her Grand Plan was turning out perfectly. She couldn’t wait to see what Knox did with his.
“I got the idea from this really sharp nephew of Lara’s. I can promise them something like a weeklong trip to NASA’s space camp if they stick it out for a whole season. I’m going to give back the lessons I learned. But I’ve got no clue about the nurturing part of it that comes so easily, so naturally to you. I hope that you’ll stick around to help me.”
Which made it the perfect time to share her big news. Licking her lips, Madison said softly, “Logan asked me to come visit him. For three months. On a trip to Turkey, Thailand, and someplace exotic yet to be determined.”
His face blanked. Completely. “Holy shit. You must’ve made some impression on him.”
There was his generous heart shining through again. Letting Madison think that she was the reason Logan changed his mind, rather than due to Knox’s intervention. No wonder she loved this man. “Don’t play coy. I heard about the long-distance ass-kicking you gave him. On my behalf. So…thank you. You know I never wanted to come between you and your friends.”
In a forcibly cheerful tone he asked, “When do you leave?”
“Logan asked me to join him in a week. When I told my mother, she cried, she was so happy for me.” Madison hadn’t cried. His invitation had filled her with too much joy to leave any room for tears.
“Have a great trip.” Then he curled his hand around hers, and kissed the back of it. “I’ll be here waiting when you get back.”
“What?” Madison wished she’d recorded those words. She’d turn them into an alarm to get Annabeth up every morning.
“This”—he waved his hand at the seat full of flowers—“isn’t just some over-the-top gesture. I love you, Madison. I thought those words would never come out of me, but I want to say them over and over and over to you, just to make you smile. I’ll wait for you as long as it takes. Wait for you to come back. Wait for you to forgive me. Wait for you to fall in love with me.”
Knox offering to wait was the most romantic gesture he could’ve made. And he probably didn’t even realize it. “You don’t have to bother with waiting for any of it. I’m not going. I already forgive you. And I fell in love with you two weeks ago.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed once, twice, as his eyes widened. “You love me?”
“Of course I do. I started falling from the first time you kissed me.”
“Let’s take a second to reminisce, in that case.” He hauled her onto his lap and kissed her. Kissed her exactly as he had that first day. A slow tease to open her lips, and then enough tongue to let her know just how interested he really was. Which appeared to be pretty darn interested. The heat they were giving off would fog up the windows any second.
Then he moved his hands to her shoulders and pushed her back a little. “What do you mean, you’re not going?”
“I choose you, Knox. I can’t run off to globe-trot with another man when the one I love is here. I emailed Logan right before you got in the limo. I turned down his offer. I told him that I needed to stay here and fight for you. Figure out a way to make you love me every bit as much as I love you.”
Laughter crinkled the corners of the blue eyes she wanted to stare into for the rest of her life. “I’d love to see his face when he reads that.”
“It’s probably best that you are four thousand miles away when he does.”
“Good point.” Knox skimmed his hand through her hair in the automatic and tender gesture that thrilled her every single time he did it. “I’ll take you globe-trotting, Madison. I’ll take you anywhere. Everywhere.”
“I’m good right here, for now. My job, my friends, the man I love, all in one place.”
The car slowed. Stopped. “I know you told me you’re not impressed by my throwing money around, but this is one time I think you won’t object.”
Madison slid off his lap to look out the window. Silver
letters on a gray marble wall spelled out TIFFANY & CO. When she turned back around, Knox was on one knee on the floor of the limo. With a robin’s egg blue box in his hands.
“I waited so long to get serious with a woman because nobody else was worth the effort. I’ve made a habit of wanting the best in my life, and you’re it for me. I love you. I love who I am when I’m with you. I love how happy you make me. I love that you make me a better man.” He flipped open the box. A huge yellow diamond solitaire, surrounded by a ring of white diamonds, glittered in the filtered sunlight. “You brighten my life like a ray of light. I hope you’ll remember that every time you look down at this ring.”
Holey moley, it was huge. Almost as huge as the gesture itself. To think that this self-proclaimed playboy wanted to give up everyone else for her! One hand on her heart, she asked, “If you have a ring, why did you bring me to Tiffany’s?”
His beautiful blue eyes narrowed dangerously. “Men are dogs. Now that you’re mine, I want you to wear this ring all the time so they don’t get any ideas. We’re going to march in there and get it sized. Because I don’t know that about you yet either.”
“That’s okay. You know the things that matter.” There was plenty Madison didn’t know about Knox. But wasn’t that just part of the fun?
“Shit. I forgot the important part. I really need to get in more practice with this romance stuff.” Knox shook his head. Scowled at the floor adorably. Then he looked back at her, as open and naked in his expression as she’d ever seen him. “Madison Abbott, will you marry me?”
Some women might play coy. Might hold back as punishment for the torturous last few days he’d put her through. Or to, indeed, make him practice the romance. Madison, however, wouldn’t bother wasting a single second of their lifetime of happiness on pettiness or gamesmanship. Love was all that mattered.
Heart in her throat, she said simply, “Yes.”
He held the diamond and white gold circle just past the tip of her finger. “If you don’t like this ring, we’ll exchange it for something else.”
Laughter burbled in her throat. Only Knox would offer to swap out a three-carat diamond for something better. “Something else wouldn’t mean nearly as much as what this diamond represents. You thought of this, Knox. Nothing could make me happier.”
Wanting It All: A Naked Men Novel Page 26
