“Dad,” I said as I stood,“I will make sure I make a series of posts online so raunchy that she—” I pointed directly at my mother, “—won’t leave the house for months.”
I slipped my hand into Maddox’s.
We turned for the door.
“Sort her out,” I added over my shoulder as we walked out of the room.
“You know,” Maddox said thoughtfully as he opened the front door for me,“if she added more butter to the potatoes—and maybe a little parsley—they wouldn’t be so bad.”
I paused on the threshold and turned my head slowly to look at him.
The man had just watched my family implode and now he was critiquing the side dishes.
“Why don’t you go back and tell her,” I said dryly.
He slipped his hands into his pockets, considering the idea as if it were genuinely tempting.
“Maybe next time,” he replied after a moment.“She seems a little… excited.”
I stepped out into the cold evening air and burst out laughing just as the front door shut firmly behind us.
The sound echoed down the quiet street, the tension from inside the house finally draining out of me.
Maddox watched me with that same maddeningly calm expression, like chaos was simply another form of entertainment.
He was completely nuts.
But honestly?
That might be his best quality.
Chapter 22
Maddox
I was brushing my teeth when I heard her first groan.
It was loud enough to cut through the whirring buzz of my electric toothbrush. I paused mid-motion, foam gathering at the corner of my mouth as I listened.
Another groan filtered through to the bathroom.
Louder this time.
I quickly manoeuvred the toothbrush around my mouth to finish up, moving faster now that curiosity had taken hold.
Stella rarely made noises like that unless she was either extremely pleased with herself… or up to something.
I spat into the sink and rinsed off my brush before switching it off.
The sudden silence made the house feel strangely still.
Oh, I was definitely going to catch her in the act.
I set the toothbrush beside Stella’s on the counter.
Such a small thing, really—but I loved seeing her things in my space. Her hairbrush. Her perfume. The spare toothbrush she had first left here by accident and never taken home again.
Tonight had gone perfectly.
