Taste of Love (16 page)

Madison paused, not sure what to say. Her mind was battling, both hesitant and excited at the same time. "Can I call you back with an answer?"

"You have until your laundry is done to call me back," he teased, knowing her better than she thought he did.

Madison agreed, and hung up her phone. Her heart pounded as she dialed another phone number.

"Hello?" A tired male voice answered the phone.

"Austin? I need a favor," she said in a small voice. "And if you say yes, I will give you an extra week of vacation that you can use in two weeks."

Austin groaned. He knew what was coming, and as frustrating as it was, the extra week of vacation would be much appreciated.

"Which night do you need off?" He asked.

"Well, see, that's the thing. I sort of need the next six days off," she told him coyly.

There was a long moment of silence. "Huh?"

"I need the next six days off," she said.

Austin sighed. A moment of fear went through her, and then she was struck with some common sense. She was the boss, she owned the restaurant, and he worked for her. It was time for her to pull rank.

"Austin, I really need this time off, and I need you to step in and watch the restaurant while I'm gone," she told him, more confident now.

"Fine," he relented almost immediately. After all, she was the boss. "Are you going to tell me where you're going?"

"Just on a trip to get some much needed relaxation," she told him. "I have to run, finish my laundry, and start packing. I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon and will be back in just under a week. I'll have my cell if you need me."

"Sure, have fun." Austin replied, obviously not meaning the sentiment behind his words. She could tell he was annoyed, but in her excitement, she didn't care. She knew that he would take care of the restaurant like it was his own, and that was all she wanted to know about his feelings at this point.

She opened her phone again and went to the received call list. She hit the call button and the phone dialed the number that was last received.

"I better hear a 'yes' come out of your mouth," Cameron said before even saying hello.

"Just tell me what time I have to be at the airport," Madison said quickly, before she changed her mind.

"The flight is at one o'clock, but make sure you're there early. I don't want a call telling me you missed your flight. I will try to be at the airport in Indy to meet you, but if my manager thinks it isn't safe, I will send him to get you." Cameron was happy, but nervous at the same time.

"Ok, see you tomorrow then."

There was a long moment of silence. Then Cameron whispered, "I can't wait to see you."

"I can't wait to see you either," she admitted. "Until tomorrow..."

She hung up the phone, her stomach already a bundle of nerves. What did this mean for them? What was expected of her? Would she be able to handle his 'other life'? What if things were even worse than they appeared at the backstage party?

But...what if things weren't? What if they could really enjoy their time together?

She knew she wouldn't be sleeping that night, because there was no way her mind would stop asking these questions.

The plane touched down in Indianapolis and Madison listened as the pilot urged them to enjoy their stay. She was impressed. Cameron had flown her out First Class, but then again, she didn't expect less of him. It was just typical Cameron, always thoughtful, or at least typical of the Cameron she knew.

Madison wheeled her carry-on through the gates of the terminal, searching for anyone familiar, or someone holding a sign with her name on it. She walked through the crowd, and suddenly felt a hand on her arm as she moved between two people. Looking up, she saw a complete stranger with shoulder-length blond hair, a backwards trucker hat, and aviator sunglasses. Just as she was about to tell the man to get his grubby hands off her, he leaned in and whispered in her ear.

"Glad you didn't miss the flight, gorgeous."

"Oh my goodness," she blurted, staring at him.

He kissed her cheek and led her downstairs, to the baggage claim area.

He turned back to her on the escalator and put his finger up to his lips, effectively keeping her quiet, to ensure nothing would draw attention to them. They completed the ride in silence, but Madison couldn't help but stare at him. Once they had her other suitcase, they exited the airport to a waiting car.

Safely inside the vehicle with dark tinted windows, he pulled off the sunglasses, hat and wig. He fluffed up his spiked hair, and looked over at Madison.

"You can talk now." He laughed at the awe in her eyes, and the smile on her face.

"I missed you so much, Cameron," she blurted out before her brain could stop her.

"Not as much as I missed you, Madison." He leaned over and hugged her tight, noticing the clear difference in her body. His mother was right, she had lost a lot of weight. Too much, in fact. He slowly backed away from her, and for the first time, he saw how tired she looked.

At that moment, he vowed to make this the best vacation she ever had.

"
S
o what are the plans for today?" Madison asked as they carried her luggage into the hotel and up to the room. Madison looked around as they walked, impressed with the lobby and all of the furnishings in the hotel. It was obviously a five star hotel, the type she wasn't used to staying in. Before her restaurant had become a success, she lived a middle class lifestyle. And now that the money was rolling in from The TigerLily, she hadn't really had time to indulge in any luxuries.

"Well, first we are going to get you settled in your room, and then you have an appointment in the spa while I go do my sound check. When I get back, we have dinner reservations, then I hoped we could walk around Monument Circle for a while and be all touristy," he told her when they stepped into the elevator.

"The spa?" Madison asked.

"Yup, I signed you up for the full package, facial, massage, some sort of mud bath thing - the works," he answered, watching the numbers slide by as they rode to the top floor. He pulled a keycard from his back pocket and slid it into the lock, opening the door with a quick flick of his wrist.

Standing in the hallway, Madison looked around and saw that the only door was the one to the room Cameron was opening. She followed him into the room, and saw a giant sitting room with doors that led to separate bedrooms and bathrooms. "Cameron, this is huge!"

He laughed. "Well, I am so tired of sleeping in cramped spaces on the tour bus, so I decided to get the penthouse and treat us both. You're giving me an excuse to sleep in nice hotels while you're visiting, rather than having us both suffer on the bus."

He led her over to a large room. "This is my room, just in case you get scared, or horny." She laughed and smacked his arm when he wiggled his eyebrows at her. Snickering, he walked a bit further and opened another door. "This is your room."

Madison entered the room and looked around. It was elegantly decorated with cream, gold, and hints of maroon throughout. Cameron set her large suitcase on the bed, and turned to leave. "Your bathroom is through that door over there." He pointed to a large door to his left. "That's the closet if you need it, but we'll only be here until tomorrow. Um, there's food and drinks in the kitchenette, help yourself to whatever you want. Oh, and your appointment is in forty-five minutes, so do whatever you need to, but be downstairs in the spa by then. I will be back shortly after you finish being pampered, and our dinner reservations are at eight o'clock."

He ran through the list while Madison tried to take it all in.

She put her carry-on bag down and followed him to the door of the penthouse. "Cameron, wait!" He stopped rushing to leave, and turned to see what she wanted. Once he had stopped, she stood awkwardly, not quite sure what to say. She walked to him slowly and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. "Thank you."

Cameron nodded, not really knowing what to say, without screwing up the moment they were sharing. He returned Madison's kiss on her cheek, and walked out the door.

After two hours of absolute bliss in the spa, Madison returned to the room, using the keycard that Cameron had left for her on her night stand. She collapsed onto her bed, feeling quite relaxed, and drifted off to sleep.

Cameron came back to the room an hour later, and stood at her door watching her sleep. He was so torn on whether he should let her sleep, or wake her up to get ready for dinner. What he really wanted to do was crawl into bed with her right then and there, and see where it led.

Instead, he quietly crept into her room and sank down on the bed next to her. He placed a kiss on Madison's forehead, waking her from her nap.

A slow smile spread across her face. She stretched her arms over her head, groaning softly. Cameron watched her and felt a stirring in his pants as she stretched. Her innocence had an erotic effect on him, which felt surprising, considering the kind of women he was surrounded by on a daily basis.

"Good evening, Sleeping Beauty. Do you want to sleep some more? I can cancel our reservations and just order room service later."

A grumble from Madison's stomach told him the answer. They both laughed when they heard it. "I am definitely ready for food. What kind of place are we going to?" she asked, getting up and opening her suitcase.

"Dress nice, but comfortably, so that we can stroll around later," he told her. "Can you be ready in twenty minutes?"

"Without a doubt. But can you, pretty boy? Looks like that spiky hair is pretty high maintenance," she joked with him. He flipped her off as he left the room to get ready himself, leaving her laughing as she gathered her clothes.

Twenty minutes later, Cameron finally emerged from his room. He was surprised to see Madison sitting on the couch, flipping through a magazine. "It's about time," she joked, not looking up from the periodical. Finally, she tossed it onto the coffee table and turned to look at Cameron.

Her breath hitched as she took in his appearance. His steel blue shirt was open to reveal a black t-shirt underneath, the sleeves rolled up just a bit. Looking down, she admired the black pants and black Doc Martens. She eyed him appreciatively, knowing all that black was for her.

At the same time, Cameron was scoping out Madison. Usually she wore black, but tonight she wore an interesting shade of camel, and it looked great on her. Her knee high leather boots matched the camel leather blazer she wore. A tight white tank top was tucked into her denim mini skirt. Cameron needed to keep his libido in check. He wasn't sure what Madison wanted from him, and he wasn't about to scare her away.

Cameron cleared his throat. "Are you ready?"

"Oh yeah, I'm starving!" She walked over to him, and hooked her arm into his. "Let's go taste the town."

Cameron laughed as he escorted her to the elevator and down to the car. He had never seen Madison so carefree and jovial; except when she was drunk, of course, and there wasn't much he remembered about that night.

Dinner went well, but Cameron kept insisting that though it was a well-known restaurant in Indy, it had nothing on The TigerLily. That made Madison blush, even as she protested that the food was delicious. Deep down though, she kept thinking about what would make each dish taste better.