CHAPTER 18
Maddox kept trying to create excuses for why he would need Mila on the trip too. But he didn’t need her and Parker. Besides, he knew some distance would be good. Mila was already becoming a distraction and they weren’t in a relationship–or even close–yet.
When he got on the plane to head to New York, he tried not to think back to Mila and what she would be doing.
Or that now she could see Wes all she wanted without hindrance.
He rested his head back and sighed. This would be harder than he wanted.
In New York, he met Danny and Mila’s mother for dinner. It was the sociable, polite thing to do, and it worked in his favor, but he also realized it brought him a little closer to Mila somehow. Even if Mila and her mother weren’t the closest.
“Have you seen Mila again?” her mother asked Maddox innocently.
Maddox suppressed a smile and shook his head in disappointment. “I’m afraid not. Though I’ve heard she’s been hanging out with one of my brother’s friends.” He was curious if that would suit Mila’s mother just as much. And a shot of irritation coursed through him imagining it probably would. Wes was also wealthy and came from an influential family.
“Oh.” She batted her eyelashes in surprise. “Mila’s very tightlipped about what she’s doing out there. Soon, I’m going to go to California myself and find out. But we’ve had so much going on here.”
Maddox smiled placatingly. He was sure nothing she was doing was so important that she couldn’t check on her daughter. But he ignored it. He could guess that Mila would be okay with that.
“She never gives away much,” Maddox said. He thought of that afternoon in the gym. That was the most vulnerable Mila had ever seemed. And it made him want to know more.
He should have played up Mila’s dates with Wes and given them something to talk about. But he didn’t want to. Talking about Wes made him angry.
While Danny disappeared to take a call, Maddox took advantage. “Tell me about Mila,” he said to her mother.
“What would you like to know?”
Maddox hesitated. Before when they’d talked about Mila, Maddox was searching for weaknesses. This time, he wanted to know what she liked. And not because he thought he could break through her walls now but because he just wanted to know.
“What does she want in a man?” he asked.
Her mother blinked at first but recovered quickly. “Well, someone who’s handsome of course.” She looked over at him coyly. “And smart and conversational.”
He wondered why he was bothering. Mila’s mother wouldn’t give him a real answer. She would tell him what he wanted to hear. Technically, he could check those boxes. She only left out “wealthy.”
But he didn’t want flattery. He wanted to know what Mila wanted.
He guessed that her mother didn’t know what her daughter wanted either, so she was playing to Maddox’s vanity, which was savvy. But it wasn’t what he was looking for right now.
“Is there anything more specific?” Maddox ventured anyway. “Mila’s hard to figure out sometimes.”
Her mother’s smile faltered, and he realized he could hurt Mila if her mother thought Maddox didn’t like her. Or if her mother thought Mila was being difficult.
“I mean,” he added, “that I’m interested in your daughter and that I want to make her happy. But it’s hard for me to tell what that means to her.”
Maddox was stunned by his honesty and sincerity. He knew he meant every word through and through. Somehow, it was easier admitting it to her mother than even his own brother.
Mila’s mother immediately brightened again, and the fog blew away. She wiggled up straighter and leaned across the table conspiratorially. “I know Mila can seem indifferent toward romantic gestures, but I don’t believe she’s against them at all.”
“No?” He had trouble picturing that a mere bouquet of roses would make Mila swoon.
Her mother shook her head. “She just values sincerity so much. To tell you the truth, she takes after her father more than me. I think you could do anything–as long as it’s sincere–and Mila will love it. She’s not as picky as she can come across.”
Finally, something real,Maddox thought. Then it hit him. That must be how Mila had felt about him all along, and he felt…embarrassed. If Mila saw him the way he saw her mother, well, he had a lot of work to do.
“Thank you,” he told her and he meant it.
She waved a hand dismissively. “Mila and I have our differences. But she’s my daughter and I want her to have the best.”
That Maddox did believe though he wished Mila had heard it too.
He would need time to think but he realized he was mapping out a course to Mila and there was no turning back.