The laugh died right out of her and suddenly this wasn’t fun anymore.“I don’t know,” she said seriously, looking down into her glass.
“You don’t know if you have a boyfriend?”
She shrugged and reached for her martini.But John was holding it.She frowned.When did he pick up her glass?With a crooked smile he handed it to her and she drained the rest of it with a shrug.Ken didn’t miraculously appear with another one.“It’s complicated.”
“Ah.One of those.Don’t you hate when they get complicated?”
“Yeah,” she said.“I do.”
Christien stepped out of the private party room and breathed a sigh of relief.One more disaster averted.These bachelorette parties were going to be the death of him—figuratively speaking, of course.
He headed into the crowd and slowly made his way toward the bar and Madelaine.She didn’t normally come down here at night and he was worried something was wrong.She looked tired, beat down.What the hell had Giselle done to her now?Christien had half a mind to follow through with his threat of destroying Lucheux and Giselle’s business with the excuse they were abusing Madelaine, but he wouldn’t.It would be an abuse of his powers and an ace up his sleeve he needed to hold on to.
He pushed through the last of the crowd and stopped.An ice-cold fury swarmed over him and every muscle tensed.
Madelaine was leaning toward a man seated next to her.Their knees were touching, her elbow was resting on the bar, her chin in the palm of her hand.They were deep in conversation, the bastard occasionally taking a sip from a beer bottle as they talked and laughed.
Her eyelids were heavy and her movements sluggish, causing Christien to frown.Surely she wasn’t drunk.She’d said she wanted one glass of wine.
She smiled and touched the man’s knee.He leaned close and said something that made her frown.Christien was beside her before his mind processed his body moving and Madelaine was looking up at him with big brown eyes, slightly unfocused and a little surprised.
“Christien!”
Christien turned to the man, piercing him with a steely-eyed glare that had worked to his advantage in many battles and bar fights.The man slowly placed his beer bottle on the bar and stood.His look was guarded and Christien took some male pride in the fact he was a few inches taller and definitely more muscular.His reaction was ridiculous, of course.
“Is this your complication, Lainie?”
The familiar use of Madelaine’s name had Christien clamping his teeth together so hard he almost bit the inside of his cheek.Complication?What the hell did that mean?And who the hell was this man who knew Madelaine by name?
Madelaine touched Christien’s sleeve.“Christien, this is John.He was keeping me entertained while you worked.”
He just bet he was.Christien grunted an acknowledgment but didn’t offer his hand as manners dictated.Obviously the twenty-first century Madelaine was just as naïve as the fourteenth century.Couldn’t she tell a player when she saw one?Must he keep his eye on her constantly?And where the hell was Ken?
John’s mouth quirked in a knowing smile.“Christien Chevalier, I assume?You didn’t tell me your complication was the owner of the club, Lainie.”
Madelaine shrugged and Christien wanted to punch the man for even uttering her name.What the hell was wrong with him?This wasn’t the fourteenth century.Men were allowed to speak to women these days.
John chuckled and dug into his pocket to lay money on the bar.“Thanks for the conversation, Lainie.”He turned to Christien.“No harm done, man.We were just talking.”He walked away.
Nay.Christienlethim walk away.No use causing a scene in his own club, but he kept an eye on this John as he disappeared into the crowd before turning back to Madelaine.
“I’m a complication?”he asked.
She looked up at him with those big, unfocused eyes and swayed.He caught her by the shoulder before she slithered off the barstool.
“You’re drunk.”
She shook her head, but the movement was slow.“No.”
He called Ken over.“How much has she had?”
Ken held up his fingers, indicating three.
“Three what?”
“Blueberry martinis,” Madelaine said.“They taste like melted Popsicles.”
Ken motioned him over but Christien couldn’t let go of Madelaine or she’d fall, so he leaned over the bar.
