Inevitable (39 page)

Don didn’t mention the fact I forgot to call him after my
party so neither did I. I wondered if Lori had told Michelle how
disastrously it e
nded who in turn told Don who then felt too uncomfortable
to ask. I was fine with that. I was just grateful I didn’t have to
think about that night again.

Blaine showed up at a quarter to seven just like he said he
would. My heart danced a quickstep at the sight of him when he
strolled into the coffee house in
formal black slacks and a fitted white
shirt. His hair was damp and ruffled as if he’d just showered and
he had that deliciously arrogant smirk of his plastered across his
face. He looked completely edible… and he knew it. I wondered where
he’d changed because I knew he wouldn’t risk going home and he
didn’t have clothes at mine.

“
I think I’ve just come in my pants,” Don uttered as he
caught sight of Blaine. He didn’t even whisper!

“
Shame. I would’ve helped you with that if you’d asked,” Blaine
teased back with a wink that had Don fanning himself with his
hand.

“
Do you want me to leave you two lovebirds alone a while?” I
interjected.

“
No point now,” Blaine said. “His bubble’s already
popped.”

“
Oh, I could inflate it again in no time for you, baby,” Don
replied.

“
Seriously guys… you two have just gone way beyond creeping
me out. Now Don, how about you stop trying to steal my man and
cover the last five minutes of my shift for me?”

Don laughed.
So did Blaine. Followed of course by Michelle.

“
Sure thing, Mads. Have a great time.” I nodded and smiled
before he added, “give him a good ride from me.”

Batting his
arm, I chuckled and walked into the back to grab my jacket. After
shrugging it on I pulled my phone out of my pocket and noticed a
text from Lori.

Have a great
time 2nite. I know u will! Xxx

My brow
furrowed as I tried to remember telling her about tonight. I hadn’t
I was sure.

How do u know
about tonight? X

She replied
almost immediately.

I’m Blaine’s PA. Did he not mention it? I swear that boy
wud be lost without me!
Xxx

What the hell
was she talking about? Had Blaine been having secret rendezvous
with Lori as well as Trudy?

????

Stop texting
me and go and enjoy yourself! And so u know, I expect details in
the morning ;-) xxx

Suddenly I was
insatiably intrigued and after slipping my phone back into my
pocket I practically ran out front to Blaine’s side.

“
Ready?” Blaine asked.

“
I’ll let you know.”

Blaine

“
I
feel underdressed,” Maddie said, pouting as she eyed up the
outfit Lori had gotten for me.

“
You won’t soon,” I replied as I took the turning to her
street.

“
I don’t know what good you think taking me home will do. I’ve
got nothing fancy there either.”

“
Quit whining and trust me.”

“
I do not whine!” she protested.

“
Sure you do. You’re a girl. Girl’s whine.”

“
Oh my god, you sexist arsehole! I can’t believe you
just-”

“
See? You’re doing it right now.
”

“
Oh…just… piss off.”

“
You piss off.”

I loved the
banter Maddie and I shared. Especially now. To say life was fucked
up was an understatement yet somehow when Maddie was near
everything was right with the world. Everything was… normal.

I was so proud of her and Kara today. I knew all along Kara
would a
ccept
Maddie and vice-versa. They’re more similar than either of them
realise - sweet and selfless. Maybe that’s what drew me towards
Maddie in the first place. Actually screw that – it makes it sound
like I want to fuck my baby sister.

“
There’s a case in the trunk. I’ll wait here for you,” I
said as I put the car in park outside Maddie’s house.
She shot me a look –
glare might actually be more fitting. “Jesus, it’s not a case of
severed limbs, lish. Just take it and hurry up.” I winked at her
and a nervous smile played on her lips.

Yep, still got it.
I loved how much I affected her.

Maddie
scurried round to the back of my car and grabbed the pink case. I
inwardly cursed Lori. With a pink case covered in butterflies and
diamantes Maddie would know instantly I had help pulling off this
evening. Biting her bottom lip with curiosity she walked into the
house.

Clearly girls
have a different definition for the term ‘hurry up’ because Maddie
re-emerged almost an hour later.

Holy fuck.

She looked… incredible. Beautiful didn’t seem a good enough
word when she walked towards my car in a knee length purple dress
with a diamante encrusted belt wrapped around her tiny waist and a
deep v cut out the back that slit all the way down to the top of
her perfectly peachy ass.
She looked gorgeous. Utterly, dick twitchingly
stunning. And by the way she looked coyly towards the ground as she
paused beside my car I could tell she had absolutely no
idea.

“
Madam,” I said with an exaggerated arm roll as I opened her
door for her. Hell, I could be chivalrous if I wanted to be. She
cocked a dubious eyebrow at me but didn’t say anything. I held her
hand as she slipped into the passenger seat and then I brought it
up to my lips and kissed it softly before placing it on her knee
and closing the door.

“
You look… amazing,” I said breathlessly as I climbed in the
car next to her.

“
Lori chose this didn’t she?” she said, motioning her hands up
and down her delicious body.

“
Hey, I read Vogue I’ll have you know.” She cocked that
accusatory eyebrow again. “It’s true, I do. Sometimes. If Trudy’s
left it in the bathroom and there’s nothing better to do while I’m
taking a dump.”

She rolled her
eyes and then giggled.

“
Wow, Blaine, you sure know how to set a romantic ambiance,”
she teased.
“So where are we going?”

“
It’s a surprise,” I replied, tapping my finger against my
nose. She let out a frustrated huff sound. She’s so cute when she’s
pissed.

She tried and
failed to tease the answer out of me all the way there. I’d had
this night planned for weeks and I was going to follow it to the
letter. I wanted to make this night the most memorable of her life.
It felt almost as if this was the last chance I would have to do
something wonderful for her. I didn’t know why but it felt like
time was running out. Maybe it was because I was painfully aware
that when I finally returned home I was in for the severest
punishment of my life.

It felt like
the end was approaching and I was powerless to stop it.

I immediately
shook any thoughts of my father away as I pulled up outside The
Crystal.

He. Will. Not.
Take. This. Night. Away. From. Me.

“
What the hell are you doing?” Maddie whispered in my ear as I
handed my car keys over to the valet.

“
He’s gonna p
ark the car, lish, not steal it,” I assured her.

“
Why would he do that?” she asked innocently.

“
Because I’m about to spend a shit load of money in there
and I expect good service.” I knew I sounded like a pretentious
bastard but what the hell. I was showing off. I enjoyed impressing
her. Maddie’s mouth formed an ‘O’ and then it dropped open
completely when she eyed up the building in front of us.

“
We’re going for dinner… in
there?
” she asked disbelievingly. I nodded with a cocky
smile. She immediately started smoothing out her dress with her
palms and then began fiddling with the curls around her face. She
was nervous. She was
hot
when she was nervous. Hell, she was hot all the
time.

“
Stop fidgeting. You look fantastic. You’ll be the most
beautiful woman in there,” I assured her and then entwined my
fingers in hers as I led her towards the restaurant.

When we
reached the softly lit porch we were greeted by a tall, dark-haired
man in a crisp black suit and tie.

“
Reservation for Mr and Mrs Elwood,” I said confidently. It
just kind of spilled unintentionally out of my mouth when I made
the booking. I guess I just wanted to know how the words felt on my
lips. Turns out they feel fucking amazing.

I heard a little gasp escape from the beautiful set
of
plump pink
lips beside me and I chuckled inwardly. I should point out I mean
Maddie’s lips – I didn’t look at the doorman’s lips long enough to
know if they were plump or pink.

“
Don’t look so nervous,” I whispered when I noticed Maddie
biting her bottom lip. “I didn’t have a pastor come marry us while
you were asleep or anything I swear.”

“
Right this way, sir,” the doorman said after he’d finished
running his finger down a list of names on the slim plinth in front
of him.

Another
sharply dressed man took over from the doorman with the maybe or
maybe not pink lips and we followed him across the deep-red carpet
and into the vast dining area. Maddie gaped up at the ceiling
looking completely awestruck as she seemed to study each chandelier
above us.

I’d reserved a small table at the back of the room to give
us some semblance of privacy. When we reached the polished mahogany
table
which
was subtly lit with flickering candles in crystal holders, the man
escorting us leaned forward to pull out Maddie’s chair but I cut in
and did it first whilst irrationally screaming ‘back the fuck off,
jackass’ in my mind. She sat down with the same amused expression
she had when I opened the car door for her and I winked.

Once I’d sat
down our waitress – a busty blonde whose buttons were hanging on
for dear life across her chest - brought us two leather-bound menus
and asked what drinks we would like.

“
We’ll take a bottle of Bollinger,” I said casually, knowing
damn well she would never think to question my age. It costs you
ten bucks a minute just to breathe the air in this place – not your
average high school senior’s hang out.

“
Coming right up,” Blondie said with a fake smile.

Maddie looked
at me all wide eyed and… shocked?

“
What? I’ve flicked through Trudy’s copy of Fifty Shades… I
know how to treat a girl!” I am totally not ashamed to admit that I
wanted to see what all the hype was about. Personally I just didn’t
get it. I’d rather watch the action played out on screen in some
shitty German porno than read about it. It seemed that Christian
guy only ever drank Bollinger. Hell, I think he even had it on his
cornflakes. “You read it?” I asked curiously. I swear my dick was
having an epileptic fit under the table at the thought of Maddie
lying in bed reading that shit at night.

Maddie giggled
and rolled those big brown eyes at me.

“
Are we seriously going to spend our first proper date talking
about Fifty Shades Of Grey?” I was taken aback a little. This
really was our first ‘proper’ date. My heart sank when I couldn’t
seem to shake the feeling that it could be our last.

“
Don’t worry if you’ve not read it. I can
show
you all that happens
in it later.” I winked suggestively at her, desperately trying to
dismiss the dread looming in my stomach.

“
Are you ready to order?” Blondie interrupted before Maddie
could reply. I’d been too busy trying to make Maddie blush to even
look at my menu.

“
Not yet. We need a few extra minutes,” I uttered, never
taking my eyes off Maddie. I guessed that could be seen as rude but
I didn’t care. I couldn’t stop looking at her. I wanted to remember
every expression portrayed on that beautiful face tonight forever –
however long that may be.

I continued to
stare at Maddie as she glanced down at her menu, biting her lip
with a perplexed expression on her face.

“
What’s a
hors d'oeuvre?” she
whispered – pronouncing it ‘horse duvet’ whilst scanning the room
around us as if to make sure no one was around to hear.

“
It’s like a starter before
the actual starter,” I clarified with a soft chuckle.

“
Oh,” she mumbled
nervously, her cheeks blushing furiously. Those cute little cheeks
of hers seemed oblivious to all the talk of kinky sex books but
throw an unfamiliar French word at her and bam, they’re on
fire!

“
You decided?” I asked. She
huffed and snapped her menu closed.

“
I can’t even read the damn
thing let alone know what they all mean,” she muttered sulkily,
pouting her lips like a spoilt child.

“
How about I choose for
you?”

Petulantly, she shrugged her shoulders.

“
Trust me?” I
said.

“
No.”

I laughed because I knew she did. She just
liked to argue with me.

I took the liberty of ordering the same for
both of us, using the knowledge of fancy food I had gained from
years of growing up with a father who wouldn’t eat at a place that
charged less than two-hundred dollars for his spoonful of Osetra
Caviar. I also made the bold, and possibly wicked, decision to
order everything I knew would make Maddie want to gag.