CALHOUN'S POV
Like under a doctor's knife.
So, I'm stuck with either staying in the dark or wearing these darned light filtering lenses when I can't avoid bright light.
Which makes nosy and mouthy little women like Madison Russo have an opinion. I huff. Remembering the 'Harvard' comment still pisses me off, even after three months.
If she's annoyed by the color of my glasses, she'll likely flip when she finds out she will have to get used to being in the dark around me. Not to mention…
Hold your horses. There's nothing to get used to. She might be friends with Ella, who is like a sister to me, but Madison is never going to be part of my life or social circle, not if I have anything to say about it.
I doubt she would mind, considering she all but almost dumped her champagne on my head.
I find it hard to believe that soft spoken Ella and smart mouthed Madison are friends.
Madison's name had come up a few times in conversation over the past year, and I'd imagined a nice woman with a shy, sweet disposition. Certainly not a prickly, smirking, smartass hacker with an Irish accent and biker chick vibes.
The moment she walked into the rehearsal dinner, strutting into the hall like a queen, not even knowing who she was, I was gripped by a sudden desire to talk to her, to know her.
Which is the opposite of who I am.
I hardly socialize or look to expand my social circle beyond my tight knit family and friends, and I don't date.
Because relationships are messy.
I like to keep my affairs tightly controlled, predictable, and mess free. Not only does my sanity depend on it, but also because unraveling is not something I can afford to do, given the sort of clients I work with off the radar.
It turned out I needn't have bothered trying to get to know her since she seemed to dislike me on sight, and it had proven an impossible feat to get through to her with the snarkiness that she wore like armor.
After the awkward introduction which left Madison storming off, Ella said she thought my comment about Harvard was a low blow because Madison was actually a high school dropout.
Twice. And she also dropped out of college.
Now, that floored me. Just how unconventional can one little, sweet looking woman be?
And with all her big talk about getting laid, I know for a fact that she ended up sleeping alone through the whole trip, including that first night she spent in Brooke's room.
I wonder why she'd rather have me believe she'd hooked up with a random guy.
Putting my hands on her at that wedding reception felt like I'd been plugged into a live socket. Her body talked to me in a way she would never allow her mouth to.
I'd heard her soft pants and the moan she tried to suppress, and I'd relished her unexpected reaction to my touch.
Until she became terrified.
Of what?
Me?
But then, she'd opened her sassy mouth, and my hesitation had evaporated in a cloud of annoyance.
We met again last week at my friend Xavier's and her friend Brooke's wedding. Their wedding was a small affair, unlike Alex's big Cancun ceremony. No bridesmaids or groomsmen and, thankfully, no bouquets or garters.
Actually, 'met' isn't the right word since Madison barely looked my way and didn't say a word to me throughout.
Which was just as well. As beautiful as she is, that tongue of hers can slice a man to ribbons.
Unless he's wearing armor, too.
She'd attended with some guy I assumed she must be dating, going by his attentiveness to her and the adoration in his eyes.
Well, good luck to him. Some men like them prickly. Like succulent, enticing… cacti.
I doubt there were any feelings on Madison's part for her date. She seemed bored with him and more interested in chatting with her friends.
Why that made me inordinately pleased is not something I care to explore.
Something else I don't want to reflect on is how much I think about her, considering she's the polar opposite of the women I'm usually attracted to.
I've never had any inclination to question my taste in women. Much to my brother Grant's irritation, I can't help my preference for tall, easy going, curvy blondes.
These days however, all I seem to be able to think about is that sassy mouth with perfect pillowy lips, eyes the color of dark chocolate, and those silky smooth thighs.
But most of the time, my mind is busy trying to work out the contradiction that is Madison Russo.
I shake off thoughts of her, annoyed at myself for losing myself in them again, and run faster, enjoying the smooth glide of the treadmill.
I deliberately shift my thoughts to mentally ticking off all the hundred million things that still need doing to get Dreadlite, our latest product, ready for launch.
I continue for another half hour until the treadmill screen lights up with an incoming call. It's Jordan. I connect the call to my wireless earbuds.
"Hey, man," I huff, slowing into a jog.
"Calhoun, still at the office? I called your home phone, and you didn't pick up."
I usually leave my personal phone at home. "Yeah, I'm just about finishing."
"Hey, you're working too late, man. Since Grant left for Vegas, you hardly go home on time anymore."
Grant is my baby brother, and Jordan is right. I love him to pieces and would do anything for him.
Before he left for Vegas, he lived on my estate. If Grant was at home right now, there's no way I'd still be here at this time. Because the little shit always found a reason to drag me back. I stopped bothering to work late when he was around.
My dad also lives on my estate, but we can go days without seeing each other because of my work hours. He lives with Ingrid, his girlfriend of five years and the first woman he's had a long term relationship with since my mother walked out on us twenty-two years ago.
I was eight, Grant only four.
No, it's not just Grant's absence that's making me work late. For all his concerns, Jordan is the main reason my workload is becoming unmanageable.
"I know, it's just crunch time on Dreadlite. It'll pass." I say.
"How are we doing with our deadlines, anyway?"
Great that you ask."Things are looking tidy from my end. That question is for you and Mike."
"I know. I'm moving at a slug's pace man. It's been horrendous with the morning sickness. Ella is something else now; she's…so fucking…" he pauses, and I hear a voice in the background. "...sweet. And lovely."
"Ella just entered the room, didn't she?"
"You bet."It's Calhoun,I hear him say. "She says hi."
"Say hi back. So, what's next week looking like? Mike's checked in already, and he'll finish the negotiation this Friday."
"Yeah, next week is impossible. I have to be in Seattle for a meeting."
A grunt of frustration is my only response. I can't understand how or why he juggles his time between two companies.
Jordan doubles as the CEO of his family business, Apex Energy, something he'd sworn never to do when we started Acecraft. But with Ella coming back into his life, he had no choice but to stage a hostile takeover of the business in order to protect Ella from his powerful, scheming father.
What Jordan refuses to acknowledge is that he can't function effectively in both roles.