“Maddie?” I call up the stairs.
When she doesn’t answer, I head up the stairs. I hear her music playing from down the hall and edge her door open when I get there. “Maddie, are you—”
The second I see her, I lose all train of thought.Holy shit.
Maddie stands in front of her floor-length mirror, angled just enough that she can’t see me. It gives me a few seconds to drink her in before she notices that I’m here. My heart thunders in my chest as I trace her curves, thinly veiled with the fabric of the black, floor length dress she and Lucinda chose. The slit in it is so high that I love it as much as I hate it—love, because it gives me easy access and hate, because I know it’ll have the imagination of every man at the party running wild. Her golden curls are pinned back on one side, spilling over her bare shoulder on the other as she fastens a sparkling diamond drop earring. She bows those candy color lips as she gives herself one more look in the mirror and then turns around.
I don’t know how she manages to get even more beautiful than she already is, but somehow she does. She’ll be the envy of every woman there tonight, and the best part about Maddie is that she’ll have no idea.
She flinches a bit when she finally sees me. “Hey! I didn’t realize you were up here.”
“I came to see if you were ready to go, but when I saw you…” I sweep my arm around her waist and take her hand in the other, spinning her back and laying her onto the bed. “I completely forgot why we were leaving.” I nuzzle into her neck.
“Oh, no…” Maddie smirks, playfully pushing me off of her. “You’re the one who said we had to do this. You can’t back out now.”
Groaning, I roll over and lift myself off the bed, and Maddie follows. “That was before I knew you were going to pick a dress that purposely tortures me all night.”
“Mmm.” Maddie presses her lips together. “I distinctly remember asking you to come with me so you could pick it out.”
“You did.” I let out a heavy, dramatic sigh. “This is my fault. I deserve it.”
Maddie giggles, rolling her eyes at me.
“All joking aside, you look like an absolute dream, Maddie. So fucking gorgeous.”
“Thank you.” She blushes, straightening my bowtie. “So do you. I like the all black look.”
When Lucinda dropped off Maddie’s dress, she left a couple options for me as well, and I settled on the black on black on black tuxedo.
“Well, with the way you reacted, it felt like we were going to a funeral, so I decided to dress accordingly.” My hand slides across her ass as I lead her out of the bedroom. There’s a spice to her perfume that fills my lungs, so sweet that I could get drunk off it.
“Very funny,” she quips. “To be fair, I haven’t exactly been in the celebrating mood, but I am tonight.”
I raise my eyebrow. “Really?”
She nods. “You’re right. It is kind of fun to get dressed up and go to a fancy party. Plus, I’m excited to meet some of your friends.”
“I’m excited for you to meet them, too.” I grin, squeezing her hand as we walk to the truck.
The gala is at the Bellagio, and by the time we get there, it’s already crawling with elitists. Maddie seems hesitant, as if shethinks she doesn’t belong here, but I give her hand a reassuring squeeze and lead her inside.
“I’m nervous,” she whispers as we pick up our name plates and head into the dining room.
“You have no reason to be.” I put a rough finger to her chin, forcing her to meet my eyes. “You are the most beautiful person in this entire room. Hell, you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Compassionate, brilliant, and you’re going to make an incredible trauma surgeon one day. You belong here, more than about seventy-five percent of these morons. So stop doubting yourself.”
Maddie blushes, but before she can respond, we’re being rushed by another woman.
“Maddie! I’m so glad to see you! When your name wasn’t listed on our table, I was worried you decided not to come.” The woman throws her arms around Maddie, and I step back.
“Hi Peyton.” Maddie smiles, relaxing and regaining her composure a bit. “It’s good to see you.”
“So what’s the deal? Does Dr. Bauer have you sitting with your dad tonight?”
Her dad? A haunting chill settles in my bones. Maybe I’m going to get that face-to-face meeting sooner than I thought.
“My dad is here?” Clearly, Maddie had no idea about this either and her face turns sheet white.
“Well, I haven’t actually seen him yet, but his name was listed in the program.” Peyton frowns.
