Page 84 of False Start

“No,” I answered, cracking my neck. “Paparazzi is crowding the door again.”

As soon as we got back up to our floor, I checked the time on my watch, cursing when I realized we didn’t have more than forty-five minutes to get to the venue. I quickly called Holden, who informed me the stupid bastards with cameras were also crowding the back of the hotel.

“There’s no getting around them,” he explained. “The venue is heavily guarded with security, so they’re only on the perimeter, but the hotel…”

I nodded, thanking him and ending the call before I faced Madelyn.

Fuck,she was breathtaking.

It had been one thing to see her in that frosty blue dress when I’d taken her shopping for it, but it was another thing entirely to see her dressed in it tonight. Her hair was pulled back and pinned in an elegant way that made all my attention go to the long slope of her neck. Her makeup was light, but it accented her brown eyes and full, pink lips.

The blue fabric sparkled like starlight from where it hugged her neck to where it slit at her thigh, the skirt of it shimmering with every step she took.

When I’d touched her last night, the lights had been off in our room. It was pitch black.

I made a vow that when I touched hertonight, I’d savor every inch, not just with my hands, but with my eyes, too.

“We can’t get around them,” I said, and her eyebrows slid together. She didn’t say a word. She hadn’t said much at all since I’d returned from golfing. All her playfulness was gone, and her face was subtly somber, like she was lost in a memory.

I tried not to get anxious about it. We had a wedding to go to, and then I could talk to her after and find out what was on her mind.

“We have two options. One, we can walk out together, and I’ll shield you from them as much as I can.”

She was already shaking her head. “I don’t… I can’t deal with them trying to find out who I am, or digging into me, or…”

Madelyn’s fingers covered her lips, her eyes widening even more.

“Sebastian,” I finished for her — but I wondered if it was her son she was worried about, or her stupid ex-husband.

I wanted to remind her she didn’t need to worry about him, not with me around, but right now wasn’t the time.

“I know, I was thinking the same thing. So, our second option is for me to walk out by myself. I’ll hog the attention, make a big show of things, and you should be able to sneak out the backwithout anyone knowing who you are or where you’re going. I’ll have them pull a car around for you now.”

Madelyn nodded, but my throat was tight as I made the call.

I didn’t want to leave her alone, even for just a short car ride.

“Security is locked at the venue,” I told her, framing her arms in my hands. “I’ll be there as soon as you get through.”

“I will be fine,” she said on a grin. “Stop acting like I’m some helpless damsel.”

“Oh, trust me — I am well aware that you’re the dragon, not the damsel.”

She pinched my side at that, and then I pulled her into me, pressing my lips to her forehead and holding them there on a long exhale.

“Twenty minutes tops,” I promised. “Then, I’ll be stuck to you for the rest of the night.”

“Oh, my God. Will you justgoalready,” she said, pushing me off her.

I smiled, but as my eyes searched hers, I could still see all the evidence that something was off. “You okay?” I asked.

Her expression softened, but she nodded. “I’m okay.”

I didn’t feel the confidence in her answer, but the fact that she wasn’t shutting down told me that there was nothing to worry too much about right now.

She’d talk to me about whatever was going on when she was ready.

And if there was anything I wanted to prove to her now that she was back in my life, it was that I was patient.