Page 66 of Season's Schemings
It’s Maddie and Adam. I move closer, listening intently, and my fist involuntarily balls at my side.
If hedaressay even a single thing to hurt her…
“How’s that?” Maddie’s voice is steady. Calm. In total control. I don’t hear a single waver or shake in her voice as she squares up to her ex, and I’m so damn proud of her.
“I wasn’t planning on giving Elizabeth the damn ring!” Adam half yells. “And us breaking up on that stupid baking show forced my hand to propose to her before that episode aired, or I’d look like a total fool!”
“Well, then why did you buy her a ring in the first place?!”
I snicker.You tell him, Maddie.
“I didn’t.” Adam exhales heavily. “It’s a family heirloom. My mom gave it to me a few months before the show filmed to… give to you.”
“And instead, you cheated on me and announced it on freaking television.”
“I wasn’t happy!” Adam thunders. “Elizabeth was there for me when you—”
Maddie cuts him off with a bitter laugh. “When I WHAT? Supported your business ventures? Was a loyal, committed girlfriend? Tried to help you get more of a fanbase by getting us on the show?”
“You never looked at me the way you look at him!” Adam suddenly blurts angrily.
I set the takeout cup of tea on a sideboard and move closer. I can practically hear her eyes roll. “So this isn’t about you and me. It’s about Seb. You jealous or something?”
“I’m just a bit confused as to how you made this happen. How someone likeSebastian Slatercould end up with my sloppy seconds.”
I’ve officially heard enough.
Before I can think about it, I’m bursting through the door and striding over to Adam, who’s leaning against the kitchen counter. My blood pounds in my temples and my chest constricts with rage. So much so that I’m almost forgetting I’m at another family’s cabin for the holidays, and not facing off against some goon on the ice.
I wrap my hands around Adam’s arms and shove him, hard as I can, into the refrigerator, which wobbles as I pin him there. My hands fist in his shirt as I hiss in my most low, vicious voice, “Don’t you ever speak to my wife like that again, understand?”
“I-I-I-understand!” Adam spits out.
But I’m going to need more than his understanding.
“Apologize,” I demand.
“I’m s-sorry, Maddie.”
I turn to look at Maddie for the first time. She’s standing there, hair messy, still in her flannel PJs, and staring at us with her mouth open. The sight of her immediately calms me so that I can see through the red haze.
I release my hold on Adam abruptly, worried that I’m scaring her. He loses his balance and stumbles slightly, and he cowers as he looks between us. “I made a mistake, saying that.”
I press my pointer finger into his chest. “Damn right you made a mistake. Letting this woman get away was the stupidest thing you could’ve ever done. But I guess I should be grateful that you’re such an idiot. Because if you hadn’t screwed up with her, she wouldn’t be with me.”
And with that, I grab Maddie’s hand and march us out of the kitchen, leaving a blubbering Adam in our wake.
The second we’re out of the room, she makes a squeaking noise, and I’m scared of what I’m going to find on her face. Horror? Repulsion? Or worse… fear?
But she’s smiling.
“Oh my gosh, I think he might’ve wet himself. Or worse. You, quite literally, scared the crap out of him!” Maddie trails off into peals of laughter and I want to kiss that pretty mouth right here, right now.
“I was worried I took it a bit far,” I admit sheepishly.
She wraps her hand around my bicep and squeezes. “Well, you were certainly my muscle back there. I was thinking of smacking him upside the head with a frying pan when he started into that, but what you did waswaybetter.”
“Are you… okay?”