Page 22 of Playing By His Rules

If Andrea had had sex, then she’d been discrete about those intimate encounters, though Madison wasn’t naïve enough to believe her sister was still a virgin, which was fine. All that really mattered to Madison was that her sister practiced safe sex so she didn’t end up pregnant, and since Andrea had gone on the pill as a teenager for heavy cramping and periods, at least Madison could rest easy about that.

Madison sat across from Andrea and took a sip of her coffee, waiting for the caffeine to slide through her veins and give her that jolt of energy before she took her own shower.

“So . . .” Andrea said, drawing Madison’s gaze back to her sister’s. “Was it . . . what you wanted? And not just because some guy was paying you for the night?”

Andrea’s question was genuinely curious, and Madison didn’t want her to think she’d slept with a man under duress. “Yes, it was one hundred percent my choice.” And she’d do it again with Rick, given the chance. Though she thought that highly unlikely.

“Good.” Andrea grinned, then teased. “You’re kind of glowing, you know. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen you do the walk of shame before.”

“That’s because I never have,” Madison said, her tone wry. It certainly wasn’t something she was proud of.

“Because you’ve always been too busy taking care of me.” Andrea sighed, sounding apologetic.

“I wouldn’t change that for anything, Drea,” she said, and meant it.

They both finished their drinks, and Madison stood to take their empty cups to the sink, already thinking of the nice, long, hot shower she intended to indulge in.

“Are you going back to The Penthouse tonight?” Andrea asked.

Madison turned around. She wasn’t going to lie. “Yes.” Even though she’d been paid well for last night, that money would only stretch so far, and she had a mountain of debt to pay off. Until she secured other employment, thiswasher job.

“And are you going to see your guy?”

She shrugged nonchalantly. “His name is Rick, and I don’t know if he’ll be there, or not, or if he’d even want to see me again.”

Madison had mixed feelings about the possibility of seeing him there with another woman—when she really had absolutely no desire to spend time with some other man. She honestly dreaded going back, her stomach twisting a bit as she remembered last night before she’d literally run into Rick. The awkward conversations, that William guy who’d been such a dick to her. What if he were there again after the threats he’d made? The last thing she wanted was to have to deal with him again.

She shook off the disturbing thought and figured she’d handle the situation if needed, but for now, she had an idea. “What are you doing today?” she asked Andrea. “Anything?”

Her sister made a face. “Other than laundry and cleaning up the apartment? No. Why?”

“I was wondering if you’d like to go to the mall with me a little later,” she said, then indicated the outfit she was wearing. “This is the only nice dress I have, so I need something different for tonight and thought you could help me find something off one of the clearance racks at Nordstroms.”

Andrea nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, that sounds like fun!”

Madison agreed that they could use a little girl time outside of the apartment. “And afterward, we can do lunch at PF Chang’s,” she said of her sister’s favorite restaurant.

Andrea’s eyes initially lit up, then dimmed. “Are you sure we can afford that?”

Madison swallowed back the sudden lump in her throat. Affording it and indulging her sister were two different things, and right now the latter was more important to her after months of counting pennies and strict budgeting. “Yes, I’m sure. I made a nice amount last night so let me spoil you a little bit. Besides, I think we’re both tired of eating cereal, eggs, and grilled cheese sandwiches and we deserve to treat ourselves.”

“Okay, then count me in!”

Chapter 11

As soon as Rick knew that The Penthouse was open for business Sunday evening, he parked himself in a chair in the lobby of Reign, so he had a clear view of everyone entering the hotel. If Madison showed up tonight, there was no fucking way he was letting her back up to the club. Not if he had anything to say about it.

The entire day had dragged on endlessly, which he’d spent between pacing in his suite, trying to concentrate on fine tuning his presentation for Wednesday’s pitch to the board members, and gambling downstairs to distract himself from his inability to contact Madison himself, which only increased his impatience and frustration. No matter what he did, he hadn’t been able to keep thoughts of her out of his head, which resulted in Rick losing a couple grand at the poker table—and that defeat only compounded his irritable mood.

He was usually the one who did the walking away after spending a few hours with a woman, and he’d come to the conclusion that he didn’t like how it felt to be on the receiving end of being stood up.

He’d also decided over the course of the afternoon that if any man was going to buy her affections, it was going to be him, because the thought of another guy so much as touching her made him feel . . . stabby. He wasn’t normally so jealous, or possessive, but he figured there was a first time for everything. He wanted Madison’s smiles, exclusively. Same for her kisses and her orgasms and the air she breathed. He wanted it all. When it came to her, he felt greedy and selfish and fortunately, he was in a position that he could afford her company for the week—while hopefully helping her out of her financial predicament at the same time.Ifshe agreed to the mutually beneficial proposition he had in mind.

He also had the uncharacteristic urge to take care of Madison and spoil the young girl who’d lost her mother, the courageous teenager that raised her sister, and the determined woman who’d lost everything to a father with a gambling addiction and was struggling to find a way to stay afloat. From what he’d learned last night, she seemed to be the one who took care of everyone else in her life . . . but who took care of her? He suspected she put herself last on that list and he wanted to show her what it was like beingfirst.

Madison arrived a short while later, walking into Reign wearing a dark purple, off the shoulder dress that clung to her curves, and to his relief, she wore the pink bracelet around her wrist. The outfit was sophisticated, but sexy—the kind of dress he imagined slowly unwrapping her out of while enjoying all the soft, supple skin he revealed along the way. She looked beautiful, her dark hair falling in soft waves around her shoulders, and when he stood up from his seat and she caught sight of him, her eyes widened in surprise.

“Rick,” she said, her steps slowing as she neared.

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