Page 112 of The Renegade Billionaire
“I’ll see you in a few minutes,” I say and step past her so I don’t do what every molecule in my body is screaming at me to do.
“Wait,” she calls after me, but I’m already halfway down the stairs. “Where are you going?”
“You’ll see,” I say without turning back.
Pops is sitting in his recliner in his favorite position—feet up, hands clasped behind his head, wearing a smile that probably matches my own.
And then he starts whistling.
Sage walks out of the kitchen with a slice of pizza that’s bigger than his entire head.
“Hey, Grey wants to talk to you about dinner, he’s upstairs.”
Sage gives me a two-finger salute, crams half the pizza in his mouth, and walks up the stairs.
Teenagers.
“You too, Pops. Grey will be down in a bit to take you out, so you better behave.”
“Pfft. I always do,” he says while rolling his feet back and forth on the footrest. “I’m looking forward to going.”
“I think Grey is too. I’ll see you in a minute.”
He nods, and I go out the front door.
Cian really came through for me today. After we finished pulling wallpaper from the third floor that looked as though it hadn’t been used in a hundred years, he ran out to pick up flowers for me. They should be in my truck.
Opening the driver’s side door, I find them beautifully wrapped and resting on a giant box of extra-small condoms.
There’s no way I’m carrying these into the house, but if I leave them in the truck, Madison might see them, and that’s not going to happen.
Picking them up, I spin in a circle, but the only thing I can find is the mailbox, so I jog over to it and shove them inside.
Do not forget to get them out before Pops does.That’s the last thing I need.
Then, with the flowers in my hand, I walk up the front steps and ring the doorbell.
“Mads, that’s for you.” I hear Pops shout.
When I lean to the left, I find him waving at me through the window with both hands.
He is a loveable menace.
The door swings open, and Madison stands under the glow of the hallway light. I take her in as though it’s the first time seeing her, and maybe it is, because what I see tonight is my future.
She bites her bottom lip and tilts her head as if she’s thinking.
I pull the flowers from behind my back and hand them to her.
“Blue looks stunning on you, sunshine. It is definitely your color.” She’s wearing a cornflower-blue form-fitting sweater dress that she’s paired with ankle boots. Her jewelry is minimal, something so opposite of the women I’ve grown up around, and it makes me want her even more.
The small gold cross she wears highlights the slight dip in the neckline of her dress and matches the gold bracelets that jingle on her left wrist.
“I mean, you really are gorgeous.”
The dimples on each side of her cheeks deepen, and she swings the door wide so I can enter.
Pops stands to the side holding a shotgun, and I about shit my pants.
