13
Mandisa inspected the final touches to her makeup. Her face was flawless. She couldn’t very well convince someone to buy her product if she didn’t wear it herself. She looked at her outfit, a fitted black three-piece pantsuit. It was her power suit. It screamed sexy, confident professional who wasn’t to be fucked with. It was absolutely the impression she was attempting to make as the creator and owner of a cosmeticsline.
She grabbed her red pumps and matching clutch to finalize the ensemble, satisfied her appearance would be acceptable for the country club Bullchose.
She was placing the vampire-red lipstick she’d used in her purse when Slade stepped out of his closet wearing a suit that fell somewhere between a tuxedo and a business suit. It was crisp black, and tailored to enhance every manly curve he possessed, Mandisa was entranced by the sight ofhim.
“You’re going?” She managed the two-word question despite the dryness in hermouth.
“Of course I’m going.” He took careful strides across the room until he was standing in front of her. He reached out his hand and lifted her chin carefully with his finger. “I’m sorry for the way I behaved earlier. I was completely out ofline.”
The remorse filling his voice eased some of the tension between them. They’d spent the day in their separate corners, ignoring the problem, pretending it didn’t exist. It hadn’t worked, not for her anyway. Her pride kept her from extending some sort of peace offering, but standing here, with him touching her again, she was more than happy that he wasn’t as stubborn or juvenile asshe.
“You were, but so was I. I shouldn’t have made plans for us without discussing them with you first. Especially since I knew you didn’t want Bull around. I was just trying to do what I thought was best. For me, my business, but also for you,Slade.”
If the strange spark in his bright blue eyes were any indication, he was surprised by her statement. “What made you think this was best for me,Mandisa?”
She pulled his hand from her chin and laced their fingers together. “Slade, it’s obvious to me that there’s something off between you and your dad. I know I haven’t been here long enough to get all the info, but I hope you’ll realize you can trust me with those details soon. I just wanted to give you an opportunity to hang onto something Ican’t.”
“What’sthat?”
Mandisa raised her eyes to his, hoping he would see sincerity resting in them. “A livingparent.”
Slade closed his eyes before pulling her into his embrace. He leaned back slightly to place a soft kiss on the back of herhand.
“Darlin’, that’s sweet of you. Knowing how much you miss your mama, understanding what it feels like to bury a parent myself, I’m flattered you would attempt to do something like this for me. But, Mandisa, Bull isn’t a parent. He has never loved or cared for me. I haven’t lived in his home since my mother died when I was a child. We may share blood, but we are not family. Sitting down to a meal with him will not changethat.”
She raked a careful hand through the hair at his nape, pulling him down for a quick peck. Her heart ached for him. Mandisa and her mother hadn’t seen eye-to-eye on what was feminine. Mandisa’s love of all things science often baffled Sadie King. But there was never a moment in her life that Mandisa questioned whether her mother loved her. Did Mandisa question whether Sadie approved of her choices, whether she was proud of the things Mandisa did? Yes, Mandisa would always question that, but there was no doubt in her mind that Sadie King loved every fiber of Mandisa’sbeing.
“Let’s go eat and see what Bull has to say. After that, we’ll spend the next week cuddled up together, forgetting about the outsideworld.”
He nodded and offered her a sweet smile. “I guess that’s a fair compromise. Let’s get to it,darlin’.”
The sound of his pet name for her, the smooth way it slid across his lips made her tremble. Bull Hamilton be damned, Mandisa wasn’t going to allow anything or anyone to hinder what she and Slade werebuilding.
* * *
Slade walked into the country club with a possessive arm around Mandisa’s waist. He couldn’t care to be concerned by how Bull would react. Slade was done running from this son of a bitch. He was done hiding and hoarding what joy he could and praying Bull wouldn’t come snatch it away fromhim.
He spotted Bull right away, his stomach knotting up with anger as he saw the flawlessly beautiful blonde woman sitting next to his father at a table in thecorner.
“Looks like Bull brought a date. Is it me, or does she seem a bit young for him,Slade?”
Hell, yeah, she was a bit young for the old man—more than thirty years Bull’s junior if Slade rememberedcorrectly.
“She’s not his date,” Slade grumbled as the greeter escorted them to Bull’stable.
“Slade, Dr. Avery, glad you two could make it.” Bull exchanged a quick handshake with Mandisa and motioned for her to take the seat next to him. He then offered a short nod to Slade as a greeting. He pointed to the young woman sitting across from him at the square table, his bright smile gleaming with perversepride.
God, he’s a sickbastard.
“This is my wife, Macy. When I told her you and I were going to talk business, she insisted on coming to meet you,” Bullexplained.
“It’s very nice to meet you,” Mandisa responded. “Please forgive me if I stare, but you seem very familiar to me, Macy. Have we metbefore?”
Slade watched Macy’s pink, glossy lips curve into a smile while her long lashes fanned repeatedly. Slade had seen that exact combination of gestures before, had thought it sweet the first few times he’d witnessed it. In less than a year he’d learned the truth of what that expression meant. It was fake. Used to manipulate and mislead unsuspecting spectators into believing there was a genuine and humble human being behind it. It was the mask Macy used to conceal her venom from her would-bevictims.
“I’m certain you probably recognize me from my work as the Venus Cosmetics spokesmodel. I’ve been the face of Venus for the last tenyears.”
