Her First (6 page)

After clearing the dishes from the table, they lounged around in the living room on the couch as Madison turned on the television where a movie with Sandra Bullock was playing.

Ethan
took his hand and gently rubbed it against Madison’s face. “You’re beautiful,” he said almost in a whisper.

She stared into his eyes. “You’re not too bad looking yourself.”

He continued to hold her hand as he talked. “Our relationship is far from conventional.”

“To say the least,” she said, turning her attention back to the television.

“Listen, Madison, if I’m going to help you fool your family, some things will have to change.”

“Like what?”
Madison asked with a puzzled look on her face, now looking back up at Ethan.

“Number one, if we’re pretending to be husband and wife, we need to be under one roof.”

She removed her hand. “I vowed not to just live with a man, not unless…”

“I’m not just any man, I’m your husband. Remember?”

“No you’re a man I’m dating. Living together is out of the question.”

Ethan
pulled out his cell phone. “I guess we can call your folks now and tell them the marriage is a hoax.” He pretended to be dialing some numbers.

Madison
grabbed the phone out of his hands. “Maybe we can come up with an alternative solution.”

He held out his hand. “Give me my phone back.”

“Only if you promise not to make that call.”

“Okay.”

She placed the phone back in his hands and said, “Why don’t you move some of your stuff over here? So if someone stops by, they’ll see your clothes or something. It’ll look like you live here.”

“I have a better idea. Pack up some of your things and move over to my place. I have a four bedroom home and it needs a woman’s touch.”

“Why don’t you just do what I asked and we’ll both be happy?”

“Ms.
Allen, you don’t get off that easy. You roped me into your little scheme, so now it’s either my way or deal with it on your own.” Ethan stood up and walked towards the door.

Madison
yelled, “Ethan, wait. Maybe we can work something out.”

“Now that’s more like it.” He turned around with a wide smile on his face.

He walked back to the couch. “Now on to rule number two.”

“You sure have a lot of rules.”

“Only a few.” He removed a box from his pocket. “Instead of the ring you’re wearing, I would like for you to wear this one.”

Madison
’s mouth dropped open when she saw the two-carat pear shaped diamond ring and band. “This is gorgeous but I can’t wear this.”

“Don’t you like it?”
Ethan asked, not sure what to make of her reaction.

Madison
turned her hand in several different directions admiring the ring. “Like it. I love it. But I can’t.”

Ethan
held her hand. “But you will. Rule number three.”

“Not another one.” She stood up.

“Please sit. I promise this is the last one.” Ethan kissed the back of her hand. “We already said we would date exclusively, so this last one shouldn’t be too hard.”

Madison
held her breath. “This must be a doozy.”

“Rule number three.  You have to tell everyone you come in contact with that you’re Mrs.
Campbell. Even if you meet another man you might be interested in.”

“But I-”
Madison couldn’t finish without Ethan interrupting her.

“Take it or leave it.”

“Before I got interrupted, I was going to say, I don’t have any intentions on talking to another man. I can tell you’re going to be a hand full.”

“One last thing.”

“I thought you were finished.”

Ethan
leaned closer to her. “If at any time you feel the need to consummate our relationship, please let me know. I’m ready, willing and able.”

Madison
felt like slapping the smirk off his face.

“I have a feeling I’m getting more than I bargained for.”

“Isn’t this what you wanted? We get to learn more about each other and you get to look good in front of your family.”

Their closeness had
Madison’s hormones jumping through hoops.

Ethan
devoured her mouth and they became one with a kiss. Moans seeped out of her throat. Before realizing it, Ethan was on top of her.  She felt the hardness of his manhood.

She was quickly losing control. She used her free hand to get his attention. “I think we should slow it down.”

Ethan sat up. “I think you’re right. Sorry, I got caught up in the moment, Mrs. Campbell.”

Madison
pulled down her t-shirt. “I did too, Mr. Campbell.”

Ethan
stood up and reached for her hand. He pulled her up and they walked towards the front door.

Ethan
stopped at the door and turned around and looked directly into her eyes. He kissed her one last time before walking through the door.

“By the way, I wasn’t going to call your parents, because I don’t have the number.”

She stood with her hand on her hip. “You tricked me.”

He turned around and winked. “No dear, I would never do that.”

She watched him walk to his car.  “Call me later if you feel like it.”

“I’m just going to go back in there and finish watching that movie.  They show the best movies on that channel.”

“What channel is that?” Ethan asked just out of curiosity.

“
Lifetime
,” Madison replied before shutting the door.

Charlotte screamed through the phone. “He did what?”

“I’m not repeating myself. People are beginning to come into the office and I don’t need
Owen or anybody else in my business,” Madison said as she logged onto her computer.

“
Madison, do I need to call a doctor and have you committed?”

“We only have to do it for
a few more months.”

“What if you guys really do work out? What then?”

People walked by Madison’s desk with their morning coffee. “Girl, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. For now, I’m going with the flow.”

“Okay, Ms. Going With the flow. I think you’ve bitten off more than you can chew with those lying teeth of yours.”

Madison skimmed through her email. “You know Char; I don’t know why I even tell you anything. You’re always so negative.”

“Not negative, just realistic.”

“Whatever. Here comes Owen. Let me get off this phone.”

After hanging up with Charlotte, she pretended to be busy.
Owen made a beeline straight towards her.

“Good morning,
Madison.”

She looked up from her computer and smiled. “Good morning,
Owen.”

“Did you have a good evening?”

Madison waved her hand in the air and in her most proper voice said, “Oh I had a lovely evening.”

Owen
ran up and grabbed her hand. “Let me see that rock.”

“You like.”

“Yes, but what happened to your other ring?”

With a smug look on her face, she responded, “He wanted to upgrade.”

Owen wouldn’t let go of her hand. “You have a good man. Don’t mess up.”

“You can let go of my hand now.”

Owen took her hand and placed it on her desk. “You’re a lucky woman,” he said as he walked away.

“Yes, I am.”

Her email indicator beeped to inform her of incoming mail.  It was a message from her boss. 
What does he want?
she thought.  She clicked on it and skimmed through it.

Another meeting?  How many meetings will we have on the same issue? I swear these people up here like to meet just for the sake of having a meeting.

Madison grabbed her pen and pad and headed to her meeting.

***

Ethan watched Joyce as she closed his office door behind her and sat in the chair across from his desk.

“Uh oh. Whenever you shut the door, I know I’m in trouble,” he teased.

“I spoke with Frederick while you were at lunch. He told me to keep an eye on you. I asked him a few questions.”

“I bet you did.”

She sat on the edge of her chair. “All I want to know is when will I get to meet this Madison?”

“Soon. Everybody will meet her real soon.”

“I hope she’s not like Sarah. Sarah was a gold digging-”

“Don’t even go there,”
Ethan interrupted.

“She was and you know it. You were blind to her evilness at first. I don’t believe in voodoo, but I was about to do something to get rid of her.”

Ethan laughed. “She was definitely a character. Madison is nothing like Sarah. They are totally opposite.”

“As long as you’re happy.”

“I am.”

Joyce stood up. “I’ll let you get back to work then. You know I have to keep tabs on you.”

“Between you and Frederick, I’m surprised I have any privacy.”

“You don’t,” Joyce said as she walked out the door.

Ethan was no longer able to concentrate on work. He tried to prepare a presentation, but the only thing he could visualize was Madison sandwiched between him and the couch.

He shifted in his seat at the thought.
I don’t know if I made the right decision about insisting we live under the same roof.  I only wanted to prove how silly her scheme to fool her family was and it might have backfired.

***

“How was your day?” Ethan’s sexy baritone voice vibrated through Madison’s cell phone.

“Busy. I had back to back meetings,”
Madison said as she pulled into her driveway and turned off the ignition.

“When do you want to move your stuff?”

“You don’t waste time do you?” She got out of her car with her laptop and purse. She almost dropped her phone. “Oops.”

“Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“I just got home.”

“Call me on my cell phone when you get settled in and we can discuss your move date.”

“Bye.” She hit the end button on the phone. Her keys fell to the ground. “Darn it.”

When she got inside she dropped her keys and purse on the couch. After washing up and changing into a jogging suit, she made herself a turkey sandwich.

She sat down at the kitchen table. 
I didn’t think he was really serious about us living together,
she thought. 
I was just playing along with him
. The doorbell rang before she could take the first bite.

“This better not be
Ethan,” she shouted.

Madison opened the door without looking through the peephole. She was shocked to see her sisters, Pam and Adrienne, standing there.

Pam was the first to speak. “Do you always open the door without looking to see who’s on the other side?”

“I thought y’all were somebody else,” Madison replied as she hugged her sisters as they each walked through the doorway.

Adrienne walked towards the living room and said, “Obviously.”

After closing the door, Madison followed them to the living room. “Why are y’all here?”

Adrienne and Pam exchanged glances. Pam asked, “When do we need an invitation?”

Adrienne added, “Oh, I forgot, since she married her invisible husband.”

“He’s not invisible anymore. You’ve seen him with your own two eyes. Remember?”
Madison reminded her sister.

“Ummm, hmmm,” Adrienne moaned.

“Whatever. You normally call and I was eating.”

“Don’t let us stop you,” Adrienne said.

“Sis, we were only concerned,” Pam said as she rolled her eyes at Adrienne. “No one in the family has heard from you since our Sunday dinner.”

“Let’s continue this conversation in the kitchen,”
Madison said as she led her sisters into the kitchen.  “Would you ladies like a sandwich?”

They both responded, “No.”

Madison grabbed a Sprite from the refrigerator then sat down and took a few bites out of her sandwich as her sisters sat watching her.

Adrienne cleared her throat a couple of times, stood up, and said, “I’ll be back. I need to use the bathroom.”

After she left the room, Pam started talking. “What’s going on, Madison?”

She took a sip of her Sprite. “Nothing at all. I’ve been working late.”

“Are you sure? Adrienne insists that something isn’t right with your relationship.”

“Adrienne needs to mind her own business.”

“Did I hear my name?” Adrienne asked as she took a seat.

Madison
took the last bite of her sandwich. “That was quick.”

“It was a false alarm.”

Pam intervened. “I was telling her our concerns about her relationship.”

“And I was telling Pam, y’all need to stay out of my business,”
Madison said.

Adrienne stood up. “If everything was fine, you wouldn’t be on the defensive.”

“Sit down, Adrienne. I’m with Madison, you need to chill.”

Adrienne frowned, but sat down.
Madison felt bad about lying to them. After seeing how they acted, she knew it was too late to tell them the truth.

“Look,
Ethan and I are fine. I’m missing him. He’s hardly ever here.”

Pam got up and took a Sprite out of the refrigerator. “Do y’all want one?”

Adrienne responded, “Sure.”

Madison
held her can up.

Pam passed a drink to Adrienne. “
Madison, Gerald said Ethan has a four bedroom house in Plano,” Pam came out and said.

“How does he know that?”
Madison said, feeling a knot form in the pit of her stomach.

Between sips, Adrienne added, “You know Gerald thinks he’s Inspector Gadget.”

Madison remained quiet. She felt her world crashing in on her.

Pam continued, “When will we be invited over for dinner?”

She wanted to crawl under the table. “I’ll have to check with Ethan. He’s in and out of town, so it’ll have to be a weekend he’s here.”

Adrienne stood up and threw her can in the trash. “We all want to get to know our new brother-in-law; so the sooner, the better.”

Madison was losing her patience. “It’ll be soon. I’ll call him tonight and then let everyone know.”

Pam looked at her watch. “It’s getting late and I have to drop off
Adrienne off at the other end of town.”

They all stood up. They hugged each other.
Madison walked them to the front door. Adrienne lagged behind.

“Pam, I’ll meet you at the car,” Adrienne said as she turned around and faced
Madison. “Why isn’t any of his stuff in your bedroom?”

Madison
was livid. “Why were you going through my stuff?”

“I wasn’t. I only wanted to see your reaction.”  She turned and headed out the door.  “Bye Sis.”

Madison didn’t respond.  She could only imagine what was going through Adrienne’s mind.

I need to do something quick,
Madison thought,
that sister of mine is relentless.