Page 58 of Honey Bun
She opened hers and read the dress label. “It’s a sequin-and-crystal pink-and-silver ball gown.”
I showed her my tuxedo. “I didn’t send for this either.”
She checked her phone and raised an eyebrow. “Also, there is a limo downstairs with your name on it.”
Date night had been upgraded. And it was probably my mother’s doing. Cyrus must have told her Maddie and I were going out.
I walked around my desk, holding the box. “Shall we change and go find out together?”
She hugged her dress. “You’re not lying? I said I’d go out, but we don’t need… fancy.”
I caressed her cheek. “I’d never lie to you, Maddie. It was probably my mother who set this up.”
Her eyes went as wide as saucers. “Why would she…?”
I hadn’t wanted to pressure her, and that was partly why I was okay with going anywhere she wanted so as not to trigger her. I whispered, “My mother, father, and brothers all think of you as family.”
She sucked on her lip again. I wasn’t sure what she would say. Then she said, “Give me ten minutes.”
I changed in the private bathroom attached to my office. She’d bounced out before I could offer her the room. I fixed my tie and walked out. As I waited in the office hall, she stepped out of the side room, the dress floating at her feet and hugging her waist. It reminded me how perfect her breasts were. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.
“You look gorgeous.”
She twirled. “Thank you. I feel pretty like this.”
I offered my arm so we could head out. “You’re more than that. Let’s find out what they planned.”
The elevator ride was fast, as most people had left for the weekend. As we approached the limo driver, he handed me an envelope.
“What’s this?” I read the first part of the itinerary and showed Maddie how my mother’s signature was at the bottom.
The driver held our door open. I waited for Maddie to get in, then I followed her. “Our dinner starts on the helicopter for an aerial view of the city.”
She settled in. We fit together easily. “My daughter talked about the helicopter ride with your mom, and I was slightly jealous. It sounded fun.”
We rode through the traffic with ease, and she curled her fingers in mine. This was good. It was more than I’d planned already. The limo stopped at the helicopter pad, and the smell of steaks sizzled in the air as the helicopter finished loading in the back.
I waited at the door for Maddie. “Come.”
We headed into the helicopter, and the roar of the blades blasted in our ears until all the doors were closed. My phone beeped with a message from my mother. I opened it and read what she’d planned for the entire night.
Once we were level and the noise was lower, a waiter served the champagne. When we were alone, Maddie said, “The city is truly magical up here.”
Her smile was as bright as the buildings. I swallowed. “It’s not the lights of the city that catch my eye.”
She pressed her hands to her heart. “Me? All of this feels too good to last.”
I put my phone down, and she scooted closer. “Where are we heading?”
The plan was dinner in the clouds and then more food and a spa service, though I told her the most important parts first. “Dinner and a one-night hotel reservation at Glenmere, a country home that is now a hotel. It once housed Gilded Age royal visits.”
She stilled and her lips thinned. “What about Aurora?”
Fair enough.I’d thought we would just get pizza and a beer. I showed her the message. “She’s to stay with my mother unless you want to head home early and pick her up.”
The helicopter headed over the bay, where there were fewer lights except those in the skyline. She handed me my phone back and then held up her glass to clink. “No. I’ll stay. This was sweet of them, and we’re talking, so it’s a win-win for both of us.”
I hoped so. Flying in the air was just the beginning for us.
