“I don’t get it. What could you and a guy like that possibly have in common?” Aurora’s incredulous tone pulled me out of my fantasy as she waved her hand at the wedding cake I’d made. “You’re butterflies and rainbows, looking out at the world with rose-colored glasses. You see the good in everyone around you and create sugar-filled masterpieces to commemorate one of the happiest days in a couple’s life. It’s hard to believe that a guy who does tattoos for a living would appreciate that in a woman.”
My spine straightened in anger. “You don’t know anything about him, Aurora. Maddox might use ink instead of sugar, but he creates art, too. It’s just that it’s on people’s bodies, and I know for a fact that there are people with tattoos he’s done that mean a heck of a lot more to them than the cakes I bake do to our customers. Like Griffith”—I used him as my example instead of myself because I definitely wasn’t going to bring up my tattoo in the middle of an argument—“and the heart tattoo Maddox did for him with Belle’s name. You even said how beautiful it was when you saw it. Heck, I think you might’ve even cried a little.”
“Fine, maybe I’m being a bit overly judgmental,” she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and tapping her foot on the floor. “But can you blame me? At least when Belle fell for her rock star, I had the chance to threaten him with bodily harm before things went too far between them. Judging by the dreamy look in your eyes and blush on your cheeks, I’m guessing that ship has already sailed with you.”
“Um. Yeah, you could say that,” I admitted softly.
“Then I’d better meet him soon.” Aurora wagged her finger at me until I nodded in agreement, and then she threw her arms around me for a big hug. “And don’t think for a minute that just because I didn’t get the chance to warn him that I won’t still castrate him with a spoon if he hurts you.”
Thinking about the muscles on my big guy, I knew that wouldn’t stop her if she thought I needed defending. Patting her on the back, I agreed, “I know you will.”
It wasn’t until I got in my car to head to my new home that the seeds of doubt sparked by my sister’s concern started to pop into my brain. I might’ve convinced her to keep an open mind about my relationship with Maddox, but our discussion left a niggling doubt in the back of my mind about how compatible we’d really be together.
Being in charge of the bakery meant lots of early mornings for me, but tattoo parlors were more of a late-night business. Balancing our schedules was definitely going to take some work. The chapel was doing well, but we weren’t as wildly successful as Ink Addiction was. A-list celebrities didn’t come to us to get married like they went to Maddox for ink. At least not yet.
Our lives were quite different, and I wasn’t sure how we’d be able to meet in the middle. The only thing I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt was that I wanted to figure it out. All I could do was hope that Maddox did too, even if my talk with Aurora made me wonder a little about what he saw in me.
As I parked my powder blue Mini Cooper next to Maddox’s black Dodge Challenger in the garage—since he left the door up for me—it reminded me of our differences. Then I walked into the house and saw all of my things mixed in with his, and it was a bit of an eye-opener too. My stuff was pastel and girly, while his was so masculine and dark. We really were opposites who barely knew each other, and now I was living with him. After one day...and we’d had unprotected sex.
My heart started to beat quicker, and my breath came in shallow pants, but then I spotted him standing at the kitchen counter and my panic eased a bit. He had a beer in one hand as he poured me a glass of white wine with the other. His piercing blue eyes darkened with need when his gaze landed on me.
As he set our drinks down on the counter and prowled over to me, I held my hands up in a gesture meant to ward him off. There was something I needed to know before I lost myself in him again. Before he got to close, I asked, “Why me, Maddox?”
10 Maddox
I halted in my tracks and stared at Ariel in confusion. “Excuse me?”
She cocked her head to the side, and her eyes darted away nervously before coming back to my face. “Why do you want me? We’re opposite in every way. I guess I just don’t understand what you see in me that makes you think I’m the right woman for you.”
My eyes narrowed, and I glared at her as anger bubbled to the surface. I quickly closed the remaining distance between us. She watched me warily but didn’t step back when I reached for her. I wrapped my big hands around her biceps and brought her so close that the tips of our toes were touching. I was so much taller than her that she had to drop her head back to look up at me.
It was a power move. I wanted her to understand that I meant what I said and to recognize that while I would always give her anything she desired; I was the one in control. “First of all, Ariel. I don’t think you’re mine, I know it. You’ve been mine since the moment you walked into my shop.” I slid my hands from her arms, up her neck, to cup her face. “As for why
