After Happily Ever Afte- Astrid Ohletz Page 0,84
flowers. A whole houseful.” Her lips curled up.
“That’d go down about as well as last time.” Madeleine laughed.
“Honestly, I never thought I’d ever get back my first dream.”
“And you did. You got the girl, too.”
Elena licked her lips and darted a nervous look at Maddie. “You know, I’ve been thinking. About the proposal you made?” She was pleased how flippant she sounded. She swallowed. Now or never.
“What proposal?”
Elena gave her desk a testing rap.
“Oh!” Madeleine’s eyes widened. “Are you serious? And don’t you dare tease me like last time. That was so cruel promising desk sex and not delivering.”
“About as cruel as you leaving me to attempt a serious conversation with Perry while my thong stared at me from across the room.”
“Okay, that was a little evil of me.”
“So it was on purpose? Distracting me from retrieving it?”
“You deserved it. Torturing me with impossible fantasies.” Madeleine looked unrepentant.
“Hmm.” Elena’s lips twitched. “Perhaps it was a little cruel. I’m prepared to make amends.”
Madeleine’s face lit up. “Are you seriously talking desk sex after all this time?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s something else.” She knocked the desk again, above the drawer. “Open it.”
Madeleine slid open the desk drawer. A velvet box sat inside.
“I promised to ‘table’ something last time,” Elena said. “This counts as a table, does it not?” She held her breath, placed the box between them, and opened it to Madeleine.
She stared at the diamond ring for so long that Elena wondered if she’d made a terrible mistake. Elena had spent an eternity trying to find the right one, even enlisting the services of Perry, who was officially insufferable now. “Don’t you like it?” she asked pensively.
“Are you kidding?” Madeleine’s eyes shone. “I love it. But you know…a beautiful ring like that usually comes with a question.”
“Is that so?”
Madeleine nodded. “Spoiler alert, I’m going to say yes. And then I’m going to kiss you. And then we’re going to have hot fiancée desk sex.”
“Well, now I’m conflicted.” Elena laughed. She held the ring out, and said seriously, “Madeleine Grey, I knew the day we met that you were trouble. How right I was—and how much I needed it. Needed you. I love you. Will you…”
“Yes!” Madeleine slid the ring on and kissed her breathlessly.
“You do realize I didn’t actually ask you anything,” Elena pointed out. Her heart was thundering, her mouth dry, and she couldn’t seem to control her grinning mouth. She’d never felt anything like this before. She was pretty sure it was a sign of true love—or a heart attack.
“Asked and answered.” Madeleine laughed. “Now I’m pretty sure promises were made.” She patted the desk, a gleam in her eye.
“I’m quite sure I didn’t agree to that,” Elena protested, although truthfully, it was the reason she’d proposed in her office: To give Madeleine her fantasy.
Maddie’s T-shirt was already half off her head. “Uh-huh,” came the muffled sound.
With a sigh to hide her mounting excitement, Elena sat back, unbuttoning her silk blouse. She watched appreciatively as Maddie tried to haul her skinny jeans down her legs. “You’re so beautiful,” Elena noted quietly.
Kicking her jeans away, Madeleine grinned. “I love it when you get mushy.”
Elena slid off her blouse and gave an imperious look. “It’s not mush. It’s accuracy. And the truth is you are beautiful.” She lowered her voice. “I love you more than is sane, Madeleine.”
“I love you too.” Madeleine smiled. “And who knew you were so romantic?”
Elena sighed at the frankly preposterous comment and kissed the lie straight off those lips.
If you enjoyed this short story, check out The Brutal Truth by Lee Winter, the novel in which Elena and Maddie met and fell in love.
Partners
by Jae
Austen capped the red marker, stuck it back into her cockatoo penholder, and studied the sketch with a satisfied grin. She couldn’t wait to hear what Dee would think. The candy cane–shaped chew toy had been her partner’s idea, and Austen had improved on it by making it a bird perch with a little bell at one end.
Even three months after establishing their company, she loved how smoothly they worked together.
She jumped up with a little too much vigor, sending her office chair halfway across the small room, and picked up the sketch to take it over to Dee.
As soon as she opened the door, a familiar booming voice reached her.
Back when they had both worked at Kudos Entertainment, shouting from Dee’s office hadn’t been anything out of the ordinary. Her uncle had made her the company’s problem fixer, so she had