Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 96850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
“That’s okay. Really.”
“Is that the marriage license?” he asked, nodding at the paper in her hands.
“Oh.” She seemed to have forgotten she was holding it. “Yes.”
“Can I see it?”
Eve pressed her lips together and handed it to him, both of them standing in the midmorning hum of traffic as he read their names on the page together. The document giving him permission to become Eve’s husband. She couldn’t know the impact it was having on him, the knowledge that she’d taken the time to apply for the document, carried it with her. All to marry him. Could he tell her without sounding ridiculous?
“Thank you,” he said, finally. “For . . . taking care of that.”
“You’re the one doing me a favor, Mad. You realize that, right?”
She didn’t get it. He’d make sure she did. In time.
“I brought you something,” he said.
A long pause ensued. “You did? Like, a gift?”
“Yes.”
Her chest dipped. “But I didn’t get you anything. I didn’t know we were doing that.”
“Stop. I don’t need a thing.” He folded the marriage license carefully, tucking it into the inner pocket of his suit jacket. Then he reached down and took her by the wrist. “Come on. It’s in my truck.”
Eve allowed him to pull her along, the little wisps of hair around her face fluttering in the spring breeze. “Can’t you wait until I have something to give you too?”
“No.”
She gaped. “Why not?”
Madden didn’t know how to explain, so he didn’t. Instead, he opened the second cab of his truck and took out the gold eight-by-ten frame he’d propped up in the footwell. He started to explain, but he didn’t have the words untangled yet, so he simply handed her the framed sketch and watched.
Watching Eve. His favorite pastime.
“It’s me.”
He nodded.
“I’ve seen this before . . .” She traced a fingertip over the image, which depicted Eve sitting on a tree swing in a party dress, smiling. Not just any smile, though; it was somehow mischievous and loving, all at once. It was, in his opinion, the perfect smile. “I’ve seen this picture in one of Skylar’s photo albums before, but I never knew where it came from.” She looked up at Madden. “You took this picture?”
“Aye.” The back of his neck felt warmer than usual. “I found someone online who takes a photograph and turns it into a sketch. It was going to be a Christmas gift last year, but ah . . . I don’t know, the timing didn’t work out.” She’d been avoiding him, as usual, but he wasn’t unwise enough to point that out on their wedding day. “But after what you said about people and their preconceived notions about you, I got to thinking maybe I’d give it to you now. That’s how I see you. A little guarded, a lot full of life. Protective of the people you’re looking at, but not willing to let them know too often, because the secret would get out, wouldn’t it? That you’re tough as fuck, but you’re sweet and soft too. That’s how they would see you if they were smart enough to look. That’s all.”
“That’s all,” she echoed, dully, blinking up at him with an emotion he couldn’t name. Or maybe couldn’t let himself hope for. “Madden, I-I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything, love.” He huffed a low laugh. “I take that back. You could tell me you like it.”
Eve looked up at him for so long, he started to wonder if he’d asked for too much. “If my apartment was on fire, it’s the first thing I would grab on the way out.” She swallowed twice, a light sheen in her eyes. “Besides the kids. I guess,” she said on a wobbly laugh.
Pride and relief rocked Madden back on his heels. “Right, then.” On second thought, “If we could avoid any mention of your apartment catching fire from now on, I would appreciate it, Eve.”
More blinking. “I’ll just go put this in my car.”
“Grand.”
A moment later, Madden watched Eve place the framed sketch in her trunk and when she straightened again, he was standing in such a position that her back met his chest and she gasped, the sound scraping right down his belly. The braid that ran all the way to the small of her back was too much of a temptation not to wrap it around his fist and tug until her face was tilted toward the sky. “It might not be tonight, Eve,” he said, biting her neck, firm but gentle. “But there will be a proper wedding night.”
She hummed, gave a jerky nod. “Yup. This is messy, all right.”
Madden pressed a smile into her temple, slowly releasing her braid and taking her hand, twining their fingers together. “Shall we go make it worse?”
Or better, depending on who you asked.