One Final Step by Stephanie Doyle

Author:Stephanie Doyle
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-08-19T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“SO ARE YOU going to tell me who that man was with you in the park yesterday?”

Michael turned to her in the darkened theater. He was already halfway through a bag of popcorn and Madeleine was picking out a single peanut M&M at a time to eat when she sprang the question on him.

They had compromised on the movie choice—a re-showing of an old classic. Only two other people were seated on the opposite side of the theater. He could tell it made Madeleine feel more comfortable, almost like having their own private theater. And the other two ticket holders were so far away he knew they wouldn’t be able to overhear their whispered conversation.

Not that Michael had any intention of talking to Madeleine about Nooky. There was no point.

“Someone I knew once. He doesn’t matter.”

“You seemed pretty upset with him.”

“You were spying on me?”

“No. Only…watching.”

“Why?”

She squirmed in her seat a bit and Michael found himself smiling. He would never tire of unsettling the seemingly unflappable Madeleine Kane.

“I don’t know. I thought you were acting strangely. When I leaned in I was hoping you would kiss me. Instead you practically sprinted off. I guess I was lingering for a time while thinking about what that meant. Then I saw you approach the man in the hooded sweatshirt from behind. You looked angry with him.”

Michael didn’t want to believe there was any sprinting involved. However, he would definitely cop to the fact that he didn’t want to be seen kissing Madeleine. Not by Nooky.

“I can’t get you to be seen with me in broad daylight, but you thought kissing me in the park was okay.”

Madeleine huffed a bit. “First, I was disguised. And second, stop making me out like I’m some kind of vampire. I merely avoid any place where we might be seen together, or could possibly have our picture taken together.”

He chuckled at her haughtiness. “True. You were disguised. And I suppose we did sit outside that day at Darnell’s and the sun was out, so we’ll have to rule out the vampire thing. But the truth is I don’t know how I feel about kissing you. Publicly or otherwise, okay.”

She looked at him then, the peanut M&M’s forgotten.

“What do you mean?”

He sighed. He supposed if they were going to do this thing, then he had to be completely up front with her. “I want to see you. I want to spend time with you. That’s a given.”

“But you don’t want to kiss me.”

“Kissing leads to other things. To places I can’t go. I don’t know if I want to put myself through that.”

He could see her scowl as the light from the movie reflected off her face.

“You’re mad,” he said. Not exactly the emotion he expected. He was sort of counting on compassion and understanding and hoping that didn’t come with a side order of pity. Or worse, disappointment in him.

“You’re damn right I’m mad. You’re such a man.”

“What the hell is that supposed to

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