CHAPTER 25
Mila had never seen Maddox unwind that much. He swam around with her and laughed and then they dried off in the sun. They decided to have dinner out there too, so Mila changed into a dress she’d stuffed into her bag and met him on the upper deck again.
Maddox stared out into the waning light as if reflecting on something important. She hoped it wasn’t business-related.
Mila tiptoed closer and grabbed his shoulders. “Boo!”
Maddox only twisted around to see her.
Mila frowned. “You were supposed to jump.”
After acting like he was turning back to the scenery, Maddox swung around and lifted her into the air, holding her there. “I don’t scare easy.”
“Neither do I.” Mila stared down at him, unfazed.
He let go of a small smile, which made his eyes crinkle up around the edges. “You sure don’t.” He set her back on her feet more gently. “At least you were never afraid of me. And I did try.”
“Mmm…” Mila thought back to those early encounters. Maddox thought he was tough stuff. And she supposed she should have been more concerned than she was. “Well, I can’t fault you for not knowing what you were up against.”
He wrapped his arms around her, and Mila let her arms slip around his middle and rested against his shoulder. “Jalen warned me from the start that you wouldn’t be a target,” he told her. “But I thought I knew what I was doing.”
“You were wrong.” Her voice came out muffled.
“I was dead wrong.” He tightened his grip. “But I’m okay with that now.”
“Now?” Mila couldn’t move under his strong arms.
“I think you can guess I wasn’t all right with it at first,” he said.
“Fair enough.” She focused on the gentle swaying of the yacht. “If you were so mad though, why did you kiss me at the wedding?” Mila understood when there was an audience, but at the wedding, there was nobody.
Maddox sighed. “I still thought I might be able to reel you in.”
“And did it work?” Mila could see now that she did have mixed feelings about him then. They were just leaning on the more negative side still.
“You know the answer.” He rested his chin on the top of her head.
She smirked. “I still want to hear you say it.”
After a pause, Maddox said, “I clearly failed. But…” he trailed off.
“But what?” She was curious what else he thought about that night.
He hesitated again. “But I think you started to reel me in.”
Mila lifted her head. She didn’t expect that answer. Maybe her aunt was right after all. “Really?”
Maddox loosened his grip so they could face each other. “It was hard to admit or accept, which is what took me so long. My destiny was always running Great Escape, and my father made it plain not to let anything, or anyone, get in the way of that. Nikki has always said that he felt that way because of the divorce. Or more to the point, because our mother dropped him–and the three of us–and moved on without looking back.”
Mila nodded slowly. That would explain some things. “So…your mother…?” She didn’t want to force him to say more if he didn’t want to, but she was curious what had become of her.
Maddox shrugged. “She might be dead too for all I know. She essentially disappeared once the divorce was final.”
“I’m sorry.” Mila complained plenty about her mother, but at least she was always there.
He shook his head. “It’s fine. Truthfully, I can barely remember what she looked like now. She left when we were kids, and Jalen was too young to remember at all. Nikki is the only one who remembers anything that happened before our mother left.” He dropped his eyes to the deck. “I think Nikki was right that our father changed after that. He wasn’t a bad person but…he was all business.”
Mila placed her hands on his chest. “I’m sure he was trying to protect you from what he experienced.”
“Maybe.” Maddox met her eyes again. “But I’m glad that you came along and…ruined all my life plans.”
Mila wrenched away and made a face. “I thought you were about to say something sweet!”
“Well, I mean it. I wouldn’t change course for just anyone.” He pulled her close again despite her resistance.
“You could have worded it better.” She pouted, which was not her greatest skill.
Maddox laughed lightly. “You’re not exactly indirect, Ms. I Hate Frauds.”
Now, she pouted for real. “That was ages ago.” She sighed dramatically, the way her mother always did. It seemed to work for her, so she might as well try it. “I don’t know why you’re being so mean to me all of the sudden.”
Maddox pressed his lips to her cheek and then whispered in her ear, “I love you, Mila.”
A smile threatened to break through the pout, so she kept her face turned to the side. “I love you too,” she whispered.
Maddox lifted her into the air again and Mila couldn’t contain her smile anymore. After he set her back down, she said, “Seriously, though, it was the kiss at the wedding that started it, right?” She wanted to know if her aunt knew what she was talking about.