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)
“It’s fine.” The car moved upward at a rapid pace, but she couldn’t tell if it was the elevation or the way Madden watched her that caused her stomach to feel weightless. “I’m just always picturing what it would be like to bring you back here, and now . . . here you are.”
Eve held her breath, then exhaled. “Bet you didn’t picture yourself with only one arm.”
“No, I did not,” he said, chuckling and sounding kind of . . . nervous. “I haven’t done much with the apartment yet. I don’t know, it feels odd to settle in when the city doesn’t feel . . .”
“Like home?” The elevator door opened and Madden gestured for Eve to precede him, which she did, her pulse leaping when he settled his left hand on her hip, squeezing to nudge her down the left corridor. “Where feels like home? Cumberland?”
“Definitely more like home than Manhattan, but it’s my aunt’s home. That’s how I’ve always thought of it. Florida felt temporary too.” He produced his keys, unlocking the black door with a gold G above the peephole. “I’ve no nostalgia for Ireland, as hard as I’ve tried to recall the good parts of it, because there are some. A lot, actually.” He paused. “I’m not sure where I’m meant to put roots down.”
They stood in front of the door, making no move to open it, even though it was unlocked. “Cumberland is starting to feel less and less like home to me, lately,” Eve said quietly, as if imparting a terrible secret. “It feels like a betrayal to say that and I don’t know why. It’s a town that’s never wanted me back.”
She could hear Madden’s hand flex into a fist, an audible squeeze of tendons, and she reached over and covered it with her own. He said, “You’re wanted here. With me.”
“I know.” Maybe it was the sudden, intense need to lighten the mood after his hospital trip or maybe she genuinely felt a little giddy, a whole night in front of her in this strange land called Manhattan. So far from real life and all her responsibilities, the moment seemed like a dream. “Let’s play house tonight.”
Madden did a double take, but his expression warmed. “Go on.”
She’d set a record today for blushing and now she was breaking it. “This is home for the night. We both belong here. We’ve put down roots and . . .”
“We’re husband and wife, home after a long day, dying to put on pajamas and relax.” He raised an eyebrow. “It’s not that far-fetched if you think about it.”
“I guess it’s not.”
Madden nodded at the handle. “Shall we, love?”
It was a visceral thing, shedding the Teflon she wore as a second skin. Was it being outside Cumberland’s borders that made it possible? Or being with Madden? Or . . . both? “We shall,” she said, her smile unfettered as she pushed open the door. And gasped. “Oh, Madden. The view.” Eve walked inside, dropping her purse on the closest surface, coming to a stop in front of the glass door that opened onto a small rectangular balcony. “I’m completely turned around. Is that New Jersey or Brooklyn?”
“New Jersey,” he said behind her, the dead bolt sliding into place.
“I mean . . .” She fluffed her hair. “Obviously, I already knew that, because this is my home and I’m here every day.”
“I already love this game.”
Eve crossed back through the functionally decorated living room toward Madden, framing his face in her hands. “You didn’t get to shower after your game, honey. Do you want to take one now?”
His chest dipped so low, she thought it was caving in. “I know I must smell like death, I just don’t want to miss a second of you being here.”
“But I’m always here,” she said, feigning confusion.
“Right.” He tilted her chin up in his left hand. “You look like you could use a good wash yourself.”
Eve gasped.
Madden winked at her.
“Is my husband trying to get me into the shower?”
“Aye,” he rasped, his breath shallowing.
Reaching back, she lowered the zipper of her sundress, bringing it down until the material started to slip, past her hips and onto the floor, leaving her in a black strapless bra and matching high-waisted panties. More than anything in this world, she wanted to get completely naked in front of him, but that wasn’t possible.
She’d have to make it work in a way that kept her secret hidden.
“Who am I to disappoint Bad Madden?” she said, taking his hand and leading him to the bathroom.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
God almighty, he loved her like this.
This was the Eve he’d long suspected she hid under the cool, controlled surface and what a fucking privilege that she’d chosen to take off her mask for him. If he’d done something, anything to make her feel safe enough to lay down her armor, he’d consider it a life well spent.