Page 54 of Sweet Madness

Yes, she is captivating in ways I hadn’t fully understood until now—until I realize just how sweet and wondrous this girl is. She even manages to sprinkle her magic all around this fort.

As the minutes and hours pass, I keep my gaze on her while she eats everything she set up for us, from cherry red candies to chocolate-covered strawberries, all the while staring at the screen.

And when she thinks I’m paying attention to the animated movie, she sneaks glances at me. I feel her warm gaze heating up my skin more than the hot summer sun.

You’re nothing like I’d imagined, princess. Nothing like the trash headlines made it seem.

But then her fake smiles and sad eyes flash through my mind, reminding me that there’s so much more I and the world don’t know about this girl. Perhaps the world doesn’t care to meet her heart, but as I lay back and watch her, her eyes twinkling with light that matches the stars outside, I know that I would do anything to find the secrets she holds close to her kind heart.

I need to… for some unknown reason. I can’t explain the feeling she stirs in me. All I know is that I no longer feel so damn cold and my home is no longer depressing as fuck.

She did that.

And as I watch her profile, her gaze fixed on the screen, I feel a thousand emotions at once after years of shutting myself down. Without thinking it through, I blurt out the first thought that comes to mind. “Are you happy, Ella?”

A moment of silence passes as I feel my chest pounding like a storm.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

My heart beats so hard, I swear I can hear it. Can she?

Ella slowly turns her pretty face away from the screen and stares at me.

Deep, soulful eyes meet brown.

I look at her eyes, then her small button nose, plump pink lips, taking all of her in before our eyes meet once again.

“I am now, Shaw.” Ella whispers with a small and shy smile on her face that steals my breath like it does every time she smiles at me.

And as I look at Ella, her eyes sparkling with happiness and her laughter filling the air, I know this moment will remain in my memory long after her sweetness is gone and no longer transforming this lonely ranch into what it hasn’t been in so long: a safe haven. A home. “Because of you…” her soft whispered words hit me deep in my tattered soul.

“Ella…” I whisper, feeling vulnerable and out of my element. How is it that a tiny little thing like her can make me feel like a tongue-tied schoolboy?

“You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted you to know that. You and this place make me very happy. I’m the happiest I’ve been in a really long time.” She whispers, sounding so sad that it makes the organ in my chest, that was barely pumping blood before she crash-landed into my life, now beat wildly whenever she’s around. The traitorous fuck.

I clear my throat and ask, “Weren’t you happy before?”

Her blue eyes fall to her hands, which rest on her lap holding the popcorn bowl. “It’s complicated and a long story.” The sadness lacing her tone makes my throat clog up.

What’s the matter, princess? I wonder, needing to know all that troubles her so I can annihilate it.

I know it is wrong of me, yet I still can’t find it within me to stop. I want her to smile like she does with me all the damn time. So even though I shouldn’t get involved in a client’s life like that when I only plan on being temporary, I open my mouth and say, “I’ve got time.”

And I do. I want to know what makes her happy. What makes her sad? I want to know… her.

All that hurts and what makes her.

I want to know the heiress behind the perfect smile.

We look into each other’s eyes until a heavy sigh escapes her, breaking the gentle spell she has me under. Her blue eyes, usually bright with laughter, now hold a hint of vulnerability. There is a weight in her voice as she speaks, the words coming out softly. “I—I don’t want you to think I’m spoiled or ungrateful,” she murmurs, her gaze searching my face for a reaction or understanding.

I shake my head gently, wanting her to know that even though I’ve been a giant fuck to her before, I see beyond the glam and glitz of the life she was born into and the fame she was forced into. Yes, she’s a multibillion heiress and yes, she has many eyes on her, yet right now, here with me, she’s just Ella. The kind, brilliant, and beautiful girl who has slowly but surely gotten beneath my skin—into my soul. “Never,” I reply sincerely, my voice rough yet reassuring. “I don’t think that of you. You’re neither a brat nor spoiled.”

“You did before.” Those blue eyes that undo me pierce my soul as she looks up at me. A curl falls free of the loose bun onto her rosy cheek. My fingers have a mind of their own as I twirl the curl and then put it behind her ear. At the same time, Ella’s breath hitches as if she, too, feels this maddening feeling that’s taking hold of my senses with every second I spend inside this fort with her. “I was wrong,” I say, feeling fucking ashamed of casting judgment without knowing what lies beneath. I’m just like all the rest. “You’re the farthest thing from spoiled,” I tell her truthfully. Her shoulders relax slightly at my words, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips. How long has it been since someone saw beyond the surface?