Chapter 23

CHAPTER

TWENTY-THREE

By the time they left the luau, Josh was fuming.

Maddie couldn't really blame him. Between Jared, the UTV incident, and Darla being burned, the retreat had basically been a disaster so far.

She trailed him back to his suite so they could talk privately.

Now she watched as he paced the living area, his hands flying in the air.

"It's like someone is purposefully trying to ruin this event." He practically spit the words out. "Why would anyone do that? Why would anybody hate us that much?"

Maddie licked her lips, trying to be sensitive in her response. But this was the perfect opportunity to find out some information on the people Josh had been investigating. She just needed the right approach.

She kept her voice gentle as she asked, "Didn't you say that there could be a corporate spy here? That you had someone looking into that? Has your guy found any leads?"

Josh stopped pacing and looked at her before slowly nodding. "You're right. Someone could be trying to sabotage this event to make the company look bad. Who wants to make me look bad."

Maddie swallowed before carefully asking, "Did your guy narrow this potential spy down to anyone?"

"Between you and me, yes. They believe a man named Robert Shields might be the one behind this."

Her eyes widened. "Why Robert? Who is he even?"

"He's the new boyfriend of creative director Greta Ericson. Before they dated, he had a brief stint with Apple. He abruptly left the company three years ago. He checks a lot of boxes."

Maddie lowered herself onto the couch as she thought about that news. "What are you going to do about it?"

"The other board members and I are still trying to figure this out. If I can find this spy before the board casts their final vote, then I'll look like a hero. But if I accuse someone without evidence, then I look paranoid and unstable. I can't afford that. I really need to think this over." He raked a hand through his hair.

"I guess you do."

He looked up at her, something changing in his gaze. "And speaking of how I look . . . you need to stop hanging around this new group of people."

Maddie's mouth gaped open. "Excuse me?"

"I know your new friends are probably nice, but they're . . . well, for lack of a better word, they're underlings. It doesn't look good for the fiancée of the future CEO of Benchmark to be hanging around people in their position."

Her mouth fell open wider. "I can't believe you just said that."

Josh reached for her arm, but Maddie pulled away before he could touch her.

He dropped his hand and muttered, "I don't mean it that way."

"Then how do you mean it?"

"I just mean that this retreat is important to me. To my career."

She resisted an eye roll. "You've mentioned that before."

"Madison . . ." He tilted his head.

"I need to be going."

Not waiting for a response, Maddie turned on her heel ready to leave.

Before Maddie reached the door, Josh grabbed her arm and yanked her to a stop.

"I didn't mean it like that." His voice was raised but controlled.

She paused, trying to compose herself before responding. Then she slowly turned. "Then what did you mean? Because what I heard is that the group of people who saved my life isn't good enough for the one and only super important Josh Harding."

"When you say it that way . . ." He sighed and rolled his neck as if trying to crack the tension.

"When I say it that way, you sound like a horrible person."

He lowered his gaze back to meet hers, his voice more mellow now. "I'm sorry, Madison. I'm so tightly wound. There's so much on the line—everything I've worked for. I'm afraid I'll do something wrong and blow it."

Her shoulders softened a little. "That's not an excuse for treating people badly."

He tugged her closer. "I know. And I'm sorry. Your new friends are perfectly nice. Hang out with them as much as you want."

Even though he said the words, she wasn't sure he meant them. Either way, she hadn't planned on changing.

"I know we're still trying to work things out between us," he continued. "And I really do want to make this work. I've been a terrible fiancé lately."

Maddie didn't disagree with him. He had been.

"I'm going to do better," he continued. "I just need to get through this week. It's been so much pressure . . ."

"I imagine it has been." The words were truthful. He had so much stress on him right now.

"Can you be patient with me for just a little while longer?" He gave her those puppy dog eyes that Maddie had first fallen for.

She felt herself softening even more. "I suppose."

He pulled her into his arms. "Thank you. I appreciate that. I appreciate you ."

For a moment, she felt bonded with Josh again. She remembered the good times, the early days when they'd first fallen in love.

That was before she'd seen his other side—a side she wasn't sure she could live with.

Was his crankiness just a phase? Or were the hard times showing his true character?

Maddie wasn't sure.

"You could stay here with me tonight . . ." Josh's voice sounded as smooth as velvet as he ducked his head closer to her, his voice intimate.

Maddie tensed before pulling back, all her nice feelings disappearing. "You and I have talked about this . . ."

Josh tugged her closer. "I know. I just miss you. I love you."

"And if you love me, you'll wait. You know how I feel about this now."

She waited for him to call her a prude again. Was it truly the stress of his father's death and this new position? Or was this a matter of character?

Maddie thought she knew the answer.

"I could just really use some quality time with you now . . ." He pleaded with her.

She knew what quality time equated to. She'd already told him how she felt about that.

She turned back to the door. "I've got to go."

Before he could say anything else, she left.