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“I will settle for you telling me that you will spend this week with me in this apartment and you will keep me company.”
“For just this week?”
“For this week, in my penthouse. Not going to your apartment,” he adds as if that stipulation would make the deal somehow harder to accept.
“Just be with you…for the week?” I ask him.
“Just be with me,” he answers, and I take a steadying inhale.
“I would stay with you regardless.”
“And I would pay those bills regardless as well. So we can call it even.”
My bottom lip drops slightly and I remind myself that this is real life. That this man I have fallen for is better than any dream. He is more than any picture-perfect catalog man I could have sold my soul to Satan for.
“You know you’re my hero don’t you?” I whisper, my fingers playing with the stem of the glass.
“You don’t know how happy that makes me to hear. Madelyn, I am fairly certain I...”
My shoulders straighten at his hesitation, “You what?”
“That I…have caught feelings for you.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I whisper not because I don’t, but because I don’t believe he’s saying it. Is he says he loves me?
“Yes, you do.” His face has never looked so open. “It was never just sex for me. I don’t care about your rent money. I don’t care about any problem you could ever have with money. I don’t care how much you need, or how much you want.”
He pauses, and my heart beats faster. “What do you care about, then?”
“I care about being with you,” he says. “So be with me. Stay with me. That’s all I want.”
“Do you love me, Graham?” I ask him cautiously, my heart beating wildly.
“I think I’ve loved you since the first moment I saw you, my little temptress.”
The world moves slower as if something perfect has just slipped into place and all I can do is look him in the eyes and tell him the truth. “I love you too.”
GRAHAM
ONE MONTH LATER
Imade sure to book dinner at the same restaurant we went to before. Afterall, last time went wonderfully and I know it impressed my Madelyn. Only this time my friends have reserved a larger table.
We have more two guests this time.
I flew in Maddie’s aunt and cousin, and they stood in the airport lobby and hugged her and cried for almost ten minutes straight. It was the most touching thing I’ve ever seen, although incredibly uncomfortable to be surrounded by three crying women.
It was the least I could do given everything I’ve been told.
It’s easy to see the family resemblance in all their faces. Some of that resemblance is down to relief, I think. From what Maddie explained, they’ve been going through a hard time for years.
It makes my chest ache to see them sitting at the table, eyes bright and smiling, because I never got to do this for my parents. Paying it forward to Maddie’s family is the next best thing. There’s no point in everything I’ve worked for and everything I’ve built if there’s no one to share it with. It’s all I can think as they chat away, sharing stories and telling me all about Madelynas a little girl. The drive is easy, and I imagine the weekend is going to go exactly as I planned.
“We couldn’t get you to bring a date ever and then you bring one and now three,” Brian jokes as we walk in. Hugs are given all around and the four of us sit at the far end of the table.
After introductions, appetizers, and small talk, the conversation turns to us. To Madelyn and me.
Kenzie asks, her eyes shining as she looks at her cousin. “Did you know he was going to fall in love with you when you first kissed him?”