Cinderella's Last Stand
Автор
Michelle Lindo-Rice
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Chapter One
Boundaries. Boundaries. Boundaries. Life was all about boundaries.
Madison “Maddie” Henry told herself this even as she lay in a king-size bed next to Axel Harrington, voted the world’s sexiest man for 2022. She turned on her side to see his cognac eyes on hers, her dark skin a stark contrast against his caramel tones. His pearly whites widened into that smile that had made him a heartthrob and hot bae for millions of women.
Except Maddie. She was way beyond the enamored phase. Axel was too self-absorbed for her tastes. Though he was a generous employer. As the action hero’s personal assistant, she had received many exquisite gifts—including a personal car and jewelry. Earrings were his trinkets of choice. Maddie had about five pairs—remnants of returned gifts from previous girlfriends over the past three years. She had given a couple to her best friend, Keri Pittman, and regifted the pearls to her mother. Thankfully, her collection had stagnated since he’d been dating Natasha LaRue the past eleven months. They had met on the set of The Mantis and had been almost inseparable since. Of his many arm candies, Maddie had to admit, Natasha appeared to be the sweetest—and the most determined to snag Axel and put an end to his bachelor status.
Maddie had tried to warn the other woman not to invest her hopes in Axel. He was too into himself to appreciate any woman, but Natasha, though kind, wouldn’t take Maddie’s advice. Natasha didn’t believe in getting too close with the help. Maddie knew if she did get Axel to commit to a deeper relationship, Natasha would get rid of her. For some reason, the other woman was rattled by her presence, butting in whenever Axel asked for Maddie’s opinion or input.
Axel touched her cheek. “I told you the best way to experience this bed was to get in it. Let me know if you want one.” He flipped onto his back and folded his arms behind his head.
Maddie did the same, fighting her slight unease at being so close to Axel, breathing in the scent of his Perry Ellis cologne. “I don’t need one. It’s not like I have my own place here. And, it wouldn’t fit in my room at your penthouse.”
Due to the nature of her job, she often stayed with Axel at his New York or Los Angeles residences since she was expected to be on twenty-four-hour call. But the last five months, he had gotten...needy. It was like he needed her advice on everything.
Take this bed, for example. Axel had insisted she help him pick out a new mattress. That wasn’t in her job description. Maddie had been hired to set his schedules and other things of that nature, not determine the softness of his bed. Yet, here she was in a department store in New York City, stretched out next to him, her curls splayed across the mattress, doing just that while trying to ignore the curious fans.
“It would if you took one of the bigger rooms,” Axel pressed. “Or I could buy you a loft or something here in the Big A.”
“No, I’m good. I told you, I don’t need you to buy me anything—or rather, give me your credit card to purchase my gifts. My condo back home in Love Creek is all I can handle. My auntie Dawn left that property for me, and that’s the only reason I hold on to it. I’m barely there as it is, as much traveling as I do. Thankfully, my bestie Keri agreed to live with me since she’s a flight attendant and my condo is less than twenty miles from the airport.”
To use her mother’s words, Maddie should have already moved on from being Axel’s assistant to bigger and better. And Maddie would already be there if she had allowed Faran—her mother went by the single moniker—to use her connections to get her a director’s assistant position. But she hadn’t wanted to achieve anything because of her supermodel mom. Maddie wanted to get there based on her own merit, which was why she kept her parentage to herself. No one knew.
Not Axel, not Keri—no one. And Maddie preferred it that way. For the first time, Maddie hadn’t had to endure comments about her plain features or be compared to her mother’s smooth perfection. The ruse was easy to keep up, since Faran spent most of her time in France. Maddie also didn’t have to see Faran’s exquisite face twist at her unruly curls, her fuller figure, her plump lips, before her mother emitted a sad sigh. It was like the incomparable Faran couldn’t imagine how she had managed to produce an offspring who was so...ordinary.
Those had been her mother’s words to a friend on the phone when she thought Maddie was out of earshot. The only two things Maddie had inherited from her mother, which Faran approved of, were her dark, flawless skin, and her eyes. But there was no denying she was the offspring of her Jamaican father, Paul Henry, much to Faran’s chagrin. Faran had dressed Maddie in the most expensive designer garb, as if that would compensate for Maddie’s underwhelming presence.
Once she had graduated from Yale, Maddie had begged her mother to cease with the one-of-a-kind shoes and wardrobe, but every other month, a new box arrived. After a while, Maddie found herself looking forward to seeing what was inside. Particularly the shoes, which gave her a Cinderella-like vibe.
Maddie tugged on her plaid skirt and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Can I get up now?” she asked. “I only agreed to do this because you said you’d look at my script.”
“Of course,” Axel said, waving a hand before also sitting up. “So do you think I should purchase this one?”
“Yes. This is the one.”
“Great.” Axel scooted to the edge of the mattress and gestured to the sales clerk. The older woman scurried over to take his credit card.
“We’ll have it delivered this afternoon, sir,” she said, preening.
Maddie rolled her eyes. The clerk had to be twice his age, but it appeared no one was immune to Axel Harrington. Maddie reached for her tote and pulled out the script she had printed before coming to meet up with Axel. She smoothed the pages and gathered her courage. Then she click-clacked her way over to where Axel stood.
Yes, click-clacked. She wore a retro red shoe with a chunky wooden heel that resembled a mouth with wooden teeth. The glitter drew attention to her feet, but better her feet than her face.
Maddie straightened. “I brought my script for you to look at.” She spoke under her breath, wishing her heart would pump at regular speed.
Axel nodded. “Okay. I’ll get to it. What’s it called again?”
Maddie swallowed and declined to answer. She had told him the name of her story several times. What was so hard to remember about A Summer’s Dream? Disappointment whirled within her, and she pursed her lips before shoving the papers back into her bag.
Axel must have seen her expression, because the minute they left the store, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
She wiped her foggy glasses and cut her eyes, her fury and resentment building. “You didn’t hire me to help with bedding. I just completed my fine arts degree in filmmaking, and I should be vetting scripts and helping you with decisions around your career.”
“I know. I was at your graduation.” Axel’s tone told her he didn’t view this conversation as serious. He held open the door for her, and she sailed past him to jump into the dark SUV before putting her glasses back on. Maddie wasn’t sure why she hadn’t quit. Well, she knew why. Her script. The one she had written for Axel. The role she believed only he could play.
But he wouldn’t give her a chance.
Axel slid in beside her and gave her a light jab. “Don’t get all huffy on me. We have a two-hour drive to the airport ahead of us because of traffic, and if you’re upset with me, it will make this an even longer ride. How about I stop by that doughnut place and get you a box of doughnut holes?”
The ones with the jelly filling were her weakness, but Maddie wasn’t about to be distracted. She lifted her chin. “I’m good.”
“Uh-oh. I know that means you’re not good.” Axel cocked his head. “What can I do to make things right between us? I can’t take it when you pout.”
It was only because she detected sincerity in his voice that Maddie decided to take a chance and be truthful. “You can stop texting me at all hours of the day, telling me you have an emergency when you don’t.”
He wiped his palms on his jeans and nodded. “I can do that. In my defense, choosing my new mattress is sort of an emergency. If I don’t get ample rest, then I’ll be cranky and I might lose an important role.” He raised his brows. “That is related to my career, which is where you, as my assistant, come in.” He gave a satisfied chuckle.
Maddie groaned. She didn’t know why she even bothered to express her dissatisfaction. The man used his brains to reason away his selfishness. She had done her research—Axel Harrington was brilliant, with a photographic memory. However, he had shunned a career in nuclear biology in favor of capitalizing on his ridiculous good looks and body. Why? Because it was easy. That was her deduction.
It was her fault for refusing the internship with a young, upcoming female director and staying in this job. But she had been thinking of her script. A script into which she had poured her dreams, her passion, her hopes. A script that could change her life, her station—her mother’s opinion.
The driver swung into the farthest lane, honking at the drivers glaring at him, and made his way toward the Lincoln Tunnel. There was a light drizzle, and the drops hitting the glass looked like little splatters of tears. It had rained every day that week. Maddie’s lips curved. She loved the rain. It hid many of her tears and, when it passed, left her feeling renewed.
She released a deep breath and continued the conversation.
“I need you to respect my time and my space,” Maddie said. “I go on vacation in a few weeks, and I need your word that you will allow me to enjoy my time away from you. I need to recuperate.”
“I will. I promise. No interruptions.” He gave her a calculating glance. “Where are you going?”
“I’m not telling you,” Maddie said. “I don’t need you showing up with your hive of fans.” She reached into her tote and pushed the script into his hands. “What I do need you to do is keep your word. And read my script.”
A couple of women had their bodies hanging out the window of an adjacent car, screaming Axel’s name. They both wore tanks that barely held up their heaving chests. Lots to see. Axel gave a little wave and his signature grin before turning away from them. Then he reached into the pocket of the seat and pulled out his cap and signature shades.
“I told you to get a darker tint,” she said through her teeth when the women continued to holler, asking if he wanted their number.
“I should have listened to you,” Axel said. He quirked his lips. “See what happens when I don’t listen to you or make a decision without you?”
A yellow light loomed ahead, and the car next to them accelerated, taking the zealous women with it. Their driver stopped at the light. More fans had spotted Axel, screaming for him to look their way.
Maddie rested her head against the window and drummed her fingers on the door handle, fighting the urge to open the door and race for the subway. “Three weeks, Axel. I need it.”
Axel patted her hand before curling his long brown fingers around hers. “You’ve got it. I won’t bug you. I promise.”
She faced him. “I mean it. Unless you’re in an emergency room hooked up to a ventilator, no 9-1-1 texts.”
He saluted. “Even if my leg is broken and it’s being eaten by a vicious mama bear, I promise I will not call you.”
