My Friend's Dirty Uncle

My mother scoffed. “I think you can spare one afternoon. I know my grandchildren would be happy to let their uncle have a night off.”

“Mother, it’s very kind of you, but I’m not really looking for anything right now.”

She looked at me with the sad-eyed expression that always made my heart twinge guiltily.

“What’s going to happen when you are ready to settle down but there isn’t anyone left? All the good girls are taken already. Mary isn’t going to wait around forever, you know.”

I tried to keep my expression smooth.

“Mary should marry someone that she loves, and not settle for just anybody. Maybe I’m not right for her,” I said cryptically.

“Nonsense,” my mother said, as a maid dropped a plate of fruit in front of her before fading into the background. “I know what’s best for you. You’re my son.”

“I know what’s best for me. But I’m not what’s best for Mary. Trust me on that.”

“You don’t know that,” my mother shot back, using her knife and fork to cut a single strawberry on her plate. “We’re Maddoxes, Hunter. We always marry the best.”

Part of me wanted to mention how my sister was on her third husband, but my mom had conveniently forgotten. Figures. As Elaine began to drone on and on about wealth and respectability, I continued cutting my omelet and chewing each piece into mush. My mind began to wander to other territory.

Would my family ever accept Dani if she didn’t come from money? Would they accept the curvy brunette based on merit, and not a family name or her social status?

I hoped so because I wanted the girl badly … and nothing was going to stop me.

Chapter Nine

Dani

Summer was almost over and I knew I’d never had such a perfect time. I’d done so many things to branch out of my comfort zone and had made wonderful memories with Justine, as well as become friends with Kristi.

And then there were my stolen moments with Hunter. He made me feel so alive. Before Hunter, I’d wandered aimlessly around with no real goal.

But things were different now. He gave my world color. I could come up with a million cheesy statements, but they all came down to one emotion.

I was madly in love with him and I didn’t know how to stop it. In the beginning, my emotions had been sheer instinct, like the pull of one magnet to another. He’d been irresistible, physically, making me moan and shiver. But somehow it’d developed into something more than that. We laughed and talked together during our stolen moments, our hearts connecting irrefutably. And now, I was worried that I’d never be able to forget the billionaire.

I felt so stupid. When our affair had begun, I thought I could have him and restrain my emotions. I had never had a lover before. Heck, I had never even kissed anyone before him, so I was nothing more than an inexperienced girl making a guess.

But now, it was clear that the idea was foolish. After that first time, I knew I was in trouble. We found ourselves seeking each other’s company at any chance we could get. There were nights where we stayed up talking until the sun rose. I told him about my family – which was a topic that even Justine and I didn’t discuss often – while Hunter confessed his deepest fears. He told me how he was desperately afraid of losing his father’s approval and ruining Maddox Media.

I had never felt closer to someone. Physically and mentally, I felt I knew him better even than I knew myself. Slowly, I started to open my heart to him and before I knew it, the deed was done. I fell head over heels in love with the billionaire. Whenever we said goodbye, all I could think about was the next time we would see each other. And when we were together, I just wanted him to consume me.

Was this true love? The real thing that storybooks preach?

Once, I’d asked Justine to describe love to me. She hadn’t said much, just shooting a weird look my way.

I swallowed nervously and stared up at the night sky, the stars twinkling. Hunter and I had agreed to meet each other on the beach. It was one of our favorite spots because the tourists had already left, and now the white expanse of sand gleamed in the evening light. But a sense of foreboding entered my soul because Hunter had said he “wanted to talk.”

My heart beat unsteadily. About what? Our future? The summer was drawing to a close, and we had no plans for fall. I was off to college, and he had to get back to managing his company. He’d told me that summers are a slow point in the media business, but come September, things would pick up once more.