Just One Room - Chapter 1
In the luxurious above-the-garage apartment on the famous Calcott Manor estate, Madigan Howell flung her arms around Eliot Grantham and pulled her into a tight hug. “It’s so good to see you. I’ve missed you so much!”
Eliot, looking happy and utterly in love, danced on the spot. “I’m so sorry we haven’t spent much time together, Mads, but between you buzzing all over shooting people and me pushing a human into the world, it’s been a bit mad.”
Eliot made her sound like an assassin—a more exciting but messier occupation than her career as a portrait photographer.
“How are Soren and Piper?”
Eliot was happily married, but Madi, after numerous relationships with commitment-phobic men that went nowhere, was happy to live her life solo. These days she was content with imaginary relationships, as fantasy lovers were so much easier to handle than flesh-and-blood ones.
“They’re great,” Eliot replied. “And thank you for agreeing to do a family photo shoot, Mads.”
Being asked to do the family portraits for the Granthams, one of the most famous families on the East Coast, was a coup, but Eliot made it sound like she was doing them a favor and not the other way around. It was so typical of Eliot. Despite being a famous ex-supermodel, she was unbelievably modest and down-to-earth.
Madi looked around, taking in the exquisite apartment. The estate was synonymous with the billionaire matriarch Avangeline Forrester-Grantham, and the Grantham family used the Connecticut property as their bolt-hole.
Madi walked out onto the balcony overlooking the private beach. “It’s quite a place,” she told Eliot.
“It really is,” Eliot agreed. “And in a few days, it’s going to be crowded. When we decided to revive Avangeline’s Spring Ball, we didn’t realize how busy we’d be.”
It was also going to be the social highlight of the year, if not the decade. As a famous ex-model herself, Madi had attended many exclusive parties all over the world, but the Calcott Manor Spring Ball was generating buzz she hadn’t experienced since the wedding of the younger British prince. Along with the portraits, she’d been asked to supply informal photographs of the family and their friends. She couldn’t wait.
Eliot took the handle of her suitcase and wheeled it down the short hallway. Madi followed and her eyebrows rose as she took in the enormous bed covered in white linen, the pale gray walls and the huge, restless seascape on the wall opposite the bed. Was that a Homer?
“It’s a copy,” Eliot told her. “The original, which the family owns, is on loan somewhere. If you’re interested, Peyton will know—she’s in charge of the family’s art.”
She’d met the Granthams at Soren and Eliot’s “we’re married” party. As Eliot’s maid of honor, Madi had been intrinsically involved in the wedding drama.
Madi heard the rumbles of a deep voice, rough male laughter and big feet stepping into the living area of the apartment. She’d flown in from Singapore last night and hadn’t slept much. She looked in the gilt-framed mirror next to the door and saw that her straight, dark brown hair looked tidy enough but her normally olive skin was paler than she liked. Her lipstick had worn off and there were bags under her deep brown eyes. The photo shoot would happen in the morning but there wasn’t much else planned for today other than, according to the itinerary Eliot sent her, lounging around the pool or hanging out on the beach.
Lounging and hanging out she could do.
“El? Where are you guys?”
Madi followed Eliot back into the living area and looked past her friend’s former-professional-swimmer husband to the man who stood behind him, equally big and even bolder.
Rigby Kaye.
Oh…
Oh, crap. He was here. In real life.
Rigby was her make-believe significant other, the man who’d started renting space in her brain after being pointed out to her at Soren and El’s party a year ago. They were never introduced but, somehow, he’d walked into her head, sat his imaginary self down and hadn’t left.
Her first impression, then and now, was that he was gorgeous. The second was that he was dangerous. His eyes, like the deep green on ancient fir forests, met hers and drilled through her, pinning her to the spot. His deep auburn hair, the colour of burnt cherries, was cut short, and his pugnacious jawline was covered by dark brown stubble. There were freckles—such a silly word for such a powerful man—on his too-big nose and across his cheeks. He wasn’t a pretty boy, but that face packed a helluva punch.
And God, his body. Tall, ripped, muscled… She genuinely could not wait to see him wearing just a pair of swimming shorts. Or, maybe, nothing. She’d have tons of new material to fantasize over when she left Calcott Manor in a few days. She really hoped he was as nice IRL as he was in her head. If he wasn’t, she might have to find a new imaginary lover.
Easy enough to do and they were less trouble than the real thing.
Madi felt Eliot’s nails digging into her biceps and she jerked her gaze off Mr. Delicious to look at her friend, taking her time to focus. “Yeah, hi.”
Eliot grinned at her, amused. “Hi.”
Pulling herself together, Madi greeted Soren with a kiss and a quick hug. She had a neutral expression on her face when she looked at Rigby again.
“This is Rigby Kaye, Madi,” Soren said. “He was my agent when I was still competing. He’s now an informal adviser to our foundation and a very good friend.”
Madi managed to say hello, or something close to it. Amused, Soren looked down at the bag at his feet. “I’m just going to show Rig the bedroom, and then we can go over to the house. Jace is making mojitos.”
Eliot widened her eyes. “But, honey, I told Madi she could have the apartment!”
Soren frowned, and Madi thought his look of surprise needed work. A lot of work. “But I told Rigby he could have it.”
Oh, neither of them would win any awards for acting. And, when they were alone, she’d have a strong conversation with her best friend about matchmaking.
“There are two bedrooms, guys,” Madi said, wanting to end the charade. “I’m sure Rigby and I can share the rest of the space. I mean, it’s not like we’re going to be spending a lot of time in the apartment anyway.”
Rigby folded his arms across that broad chest and, judging by his cynical expression, he’d also clocked what their friends were up to. “I’m resolutely single and have too much going on to think about having a relationship. You?”
She grinned at Soren’s disappointed face before replying. “I’ve had too many bad or useless boyfriends to want another,” she replied. Besides, she was happy for men, and him, to inhabit her imaginary world, not her real one. “You’re safe.”
Rigby patted Soren’s back and looked at Eliot, who’d pushed her bottom lip out in a small pout. “Good try, guys,” he said with a devastating smile. “But maybe you need to work at being more subtle, yeah?”