That Night with You (16 page)

As Adam and Madison meandered across
the dark wood floor to the U-shaped bar with its Tiffany-style
pendant lights and decorative glass racks hanging from above, the
sound of a prerecorded football game blared from a television set
up across the room.

Taking a burgundy leather upholstered
bar stool, Madison soaked in the ambience of the crowded bar. All
around men in suits with loosened ties or women wearing business
attire sipped on drinks, munched on peanuts, and filled the air
with the hum of conversation.

“
Busy place,” Madison
commented as she removed her purse from her shoulder and placed it
over her lap.

“
It’s always busy in here.”
Adam dropped his backpack on the floor by the bar and took a
barstool next to her. “I used to come here a good bit before I
joined up with Parr and Associates. It always stays packed until
after ten at night.”

“
When was this?”

He reached for a bowl of peanuts on
the dark wood bar. “Whenever I came to Dallas to see family. I
would always stop by here for the food.”

“
I thought your family was
in New Orleans.”

“
My parents are there, but
I have aunts and uncles, as well as a few cousins,
here.”

She wrestled her blue pantsuit jacket
from around her shoulders. “So is that why you came to
Dallas?”

“
That and the
job.”

A very attractive bartender with dark
hair and liquid blue eyes came up to them. Wearing a blue T-shirt
that accentuated his toned arms, he sported a deep five o’clock
shadow. “What’ll it be?” he asked in a husky voice.

“
Ah, beer is good for me.
Draft,” she returned.

Adam held up two fingers. “Two
drafts.”

The bartender pulled two tall Weizen
glasses from a rack above Madison’s head and went to the other side
of the bar to the draft tap.

“
I never thought you would
take me up on my offer for drinks,” Adam began.

She tore her attention away from the
bartender’s well-formed ass. “I guess after everything that
happened last weekend with the Martins, I realized we really don’t
know much about each other, and if we’re going to work together we
should be friends.”

Adam leered playfully. “See, you’re
warming up to me. I do that to everyone. Yeah, at first nobody
likes me, but after a while, once they get to know me, I grow on
people.”

Madison was not sure how to respond to
that. “Oh, well, then I guess I’m warming up to you.”

Their bartender returned with their
beers, and after giving the man a friendly smile, Madison eagerly
reached for her drink. She quickly downed a deep sip while Adam
pulled his wallet from inside his suit jacket.

“
I’ll get this.” He flung a
twenty dollar bill on the bar.

Their sexy bartender picked up the
bill and scurried away.

Adam gripped his beer and raised his
glass to Madison. “To working together.”

She tipped her glass against his. “To
working together.”

After Adam had taken a hearty drink
from his beer, he plopped the glass on the bar. “You know, I still
don’t understand why the Martins didn’t go for my design. It would
have looked great in that neighborhood. Been the biggest house on
the block.”

Inwardly sighing, Madison placed her
beer on the bar. “I don’t think they were going for the biggest,
Adam. They wanted something more—”

“
Artsy?” he
injected.

She refrained from commenting, and
instead nodded in agreement.

“
When I was in college, my
designs won awards and my professors said I was one of the best
students they had ever taught. Which makes it inconceivable to me
why the Martins didn’t go for my house. I know everyone has an
opinion, and I’m not knocking your design,” he patted her arm, “but
you have to admit, mine would have totally rocked that
property.”

Beginning to doubt her decision to
join Adam for a drink, Madison reached for her beer.

“
My father always believed
I was going to make it big in this business,” Adam went on. “When I
got on with Parr and Associates, he wasn’t surprised. He was,
however, upset that I got turned down by several local New Orleans
firms.” Adam winked at her. “My old man tried to pull some strings
so I could stay there, but the firms weren’t hiring. So I came to
Dallas. I don’t regret it. I can really make a name for myself
here, and one day I’m going to open my own firm.”

“
I can definitely see
that,” Madison declared with a faint smirk.

“
I’ve got a cousin here who
wants to help set me up in my own place later on down the road. She
helped me get this job. She was the one who encouraged me to come
to Dallas to find work.”

Madison rested her elbow on the bar,
bracing herself for the onslaught of “me talk” she feared she was
about to get from Adam. Just as he was about to open his mouth to
continue, a hand slapped Adam’s shoulder, making the slender man
flinch on his stool. But when the perpetrator of the act emerged
from behind Adam, Madison gasped.

“
Mr. Parr,” Adam croaked,
sounding as surprised as Madison felt.

Madison was undone by the flicker of
anger she saw in Hayden’s small gray eyes.

“
Well, I didn’t expect to
find you two here…together,” he grumbled as his eyes stayed on
her.

Adam stood from his stool. “Yes, we
were having an after work drink to celebrate Madison’s first
professional design.”

“
Really?” Hayden grinned at
Madison. “And you didn’t invite me?”

She knew in that instant he was toying
with her. “We didn’t think our boss would be interested,” she coyly
fired back.

“
Of course I would be
interested, Madison. Why would I want Adam to have all the fun?” He
slapped Adam’s back hard, making him wince slightly.

Madison swiveled around on her stool
and picked up her beer while Adam offered Hayden his barstool.
Hayden greedily took the seat next to her, leaving Adam to head
further down the crowded bar in search of another stool.

Hayden leaned over to her. “Really,
Madison? Him?”

“
It’s just a
drink.”

He scowled at her. “I’ll make sure of
that.”

She didn’t like the edgy tone in his
voice. “What are you going to do?”

Before he could answer, Adam returned
carrying another stool. Placing the barstool next to Hayden,
Madison watched anxiously as Adam reached across for his
beer.

“
Beer?” Hayden commented,
pointing to his glass. “No, we have to really celebrate.” He
motioned to the good-looking bartender standing close by. “Steve,
get us a round of shots. Tequila. Patron, if you’ve got
it.”

“
Sure thing, Mr. Parr,”
Steve with the dreamy eyes called back.

“
You know him?” Madison
murmured to Hayden.

“
Why? Do you want a
date?”

“
Would you be jealous if I
did?”

He gazed into her eyes, making that
desire he always stirred within her come shooting to the surface.
“Yes, I would.”

His words hit her like a tidal surge
crashing into a rocky shore. She had thought he didn’t want her as
a girlfriend, and that there was no possibility of anything between
them. Yet, in an instant, everything changed.

“
Well, Mr. Parr,” Adam
broke in, “what brings you here?”

Hayden spun around to Adam. “I was
going to head home and saw you two strolling over here. So I
thought I would join you. You don’t mind, do you, Adam?”

“
No, hell no.” Adam grinned
happily. “This is great. It gives me and Madison a chance to get to
know our boss. Find out what kind of guy you are.”

Madison cringed and reached for her
beer, quickly downing half the glass in one gulp. When Steve
returned, carrying three shot glasses in his hand, she considered
Hayden’s intentions. Was he out to get all of them drunk, or just
her? She didn’t think him the kind of man to take advantage of an
inebriated woman, but at this point she would take him any way she
could get him.

Steve retrieved a bottle of Patron
tequila from beneath the bar and slowly poured the clear liquid
into each of the shot glasses.

“
Ah, I’m not a big tequila
drinker,” Adam confessed.

The comment made Hayden smile. “After
tonight you will be, Adam. I guarantee it.”

Steve placed each shot glass before
them, and stood waiting for them to drink as he held the bottle of
Patron in his hand.

Hayden reached for his glass first,
and motioned for Adam to join him. When his eyes shifted to
Madison, she reluctantly picked up her drink and quickly slurped
down the bitter-tasting alcohol. Adam and Hayden drank together,
grimacing when they slapped their glasses on the bar.

“
Another,” Hayden ordered,
waving to Steve to refill Adam’s glass.

“
Oh, I don’t know,” Adam
whined.

“
Nonsense, we have to do
two,” Hayden insisted. However, when Steve went to refill Madison’s
glass, Hayden placed his hand over it. “None for her. Just me and
Adam.”

She angled closer to him. “What are
you doing?”

He ignored her and smiled
encouragingly for Adam. “This is just between the boys,
Madison.”

Steve topped off their shot glasses,
and both men tossed back the contents in one swallow. After
slamming their glasses on the bar, Adam wretched and wavered on his
stool. When Hayden pointed to Adam’s glass, urging Steve to fill it
yet again, Madison scowled.

“
Last one,” Hayden
affirmed.

“
You’re not drinking,” Adam
stated, pointing to Hayden’s empty shot glass.

“
I’m done,” he admitted.
“This one’s all about you, Adam.”

“
Oh, no. Not another one,”
Adam protested.

Hayden pushed the full shot glass
closer to him. “You can’t wimp out on me now, Adam.”

Rising to the challenge, Adam took the
glass in his hand.

Madison watched in disgust as Adam
drained the glass and banged it on the bar in a show of triumph.
Hayden applauded, making Adam blush with pride.

It did not take long after finishing
the tequila shots for Adam to sway on his stool. The one shot
Madison had downed had made her feel tipsy, so she was sure Adam
was in much worse shape.

“
I think it’s time we get
you home,” Hayden suggested to him.

“
We just got here.” Adam
waved an unsteady hand about the bar. “The night is still
young.”

Hayden stood from his stool. “Come
with me.”

Adam picked up his backpack from the
floor, and with great difficulty slung it over his right shoulder.
The two men then headed toward the entrance. Figuring their evening
had come to an end, Madison put on her jacket while Steve cleared
the shot glasses from the bar.

“
What do we owe you,
Steve?”

The handsome man smiled. “Not a thing.
Mr. Parr has an account with us. I’ll put it on his
tab.”

As the bartender went to another group
of customers waiting across from her, she picked up her
purse.

“
Where are you going?”
Hayden questioned, coming up to her.

She looked behind him. “Where’s
Adam?”

“
In a cab on his way home,”
he told her.

“
How did you get a cab so
quickly?”

“
I called one the moment I
saw you two walk in here.”

Her mouth fell open. “You planned
this! You got him drunk intentionally to what…humiliate
him?”

Hayden took her arm. “I did it to get
him away from you.”

“
What are you doing?” She
tried to jerk away, but Hayden kept a firm grip on her arm as he
pulled her toward the door.

“
It’s time to go,” he
growled.

When they were finally outside on the
street, he released her arm. There were still some people milling
about, but the bustling activity she had always seen on the
downtown streets during the day was gone. The sun was setting and
red streaks colored the evening sky. Glancing over at Hayden as he
adjusted his suit jacket, she wasn’t sure if she should hit him or
thank him for rescuing her from Adam.

“
You didn’t need to get me
away from Adam. I told you before, he’s harmless.”

“
Harmless? Did you see the
way he looked at you?” Hayden’s eyes bore into her. “I’m a man. I
know that look.”

“
What look?”

“
He has plans for you, and
I’m not about to stand by and let that little weasel….” He wiped
his hand over his face. “Forget it. Just don’t spend any more time
with him.” He motioned ahead to their office building. “I’ll take
you home.”

Pissed off, she started down the
sidewalk, determined to ignore him. “I’ll drive home.”

He came up behind her and grasped her
arm. “You’ve been drinking and I cannot let you drive.”