When her grandmother had left, Madison went back to the living room in a daze.

In the past, she would have called Phil to tell him the news, but even though she missed him, he wouldn’t have cared much about this. But he was gone from her life now, and a part of her couldn’t be sorry about it.

“Everything okay?” Sherry asked with a worried expression on her face.

It was like in a dream. Her whole plan seemed to be working. Cheering, she ran toward Sherry and whirled her around.

After a few seconds, Sherry started laughing. “Madison, what are you doing? Let go of me!” But she didn’t sound as if that was really what she wanted.

Madison set Sherry down gently and looked into her confused yet amused face. Sherry cared about Madison and what happened to her.

A smile curled Sherry’s irresistible lips, and before Madison could think about it or hold herself back, she leaned down and—

“Me too!” Jake tugged on Madison’s pants.

Sherry blinked and stepped back from her.

Jake tugged again until she broke eye contact with Sherry. “I want a spin too.”

Madison picked him up and whirled him around a couple of times.

He laughed, and Madison had to grin. This innocent encounter had cleared her head. Once she’d set him down, she said, “My grandmother wants me to join her on Monday at the firm. She wants to take me to one of the board meetings.”

“That’s fantastic.” Sherry didn’t look at her. “I’m sure we’ll find someone who can take over for you.”

“Oh.” How could she have forgotten the Archer?

“Don’t worry.” Sherry sat on the couch. “We’ll be fine.”

Rita Mae took a seat beside her. “Sherry’s right. Good luck. That’s great news.”

“Thanks.” Now all she could think about was how much she would miss working with Sherry on Monday.

“What’s a board meeting?” Jake asked.

Sherry looked up and smiled at Madison.

God, how beautiful she was and how damn good it had felt to hold her moments ago, to feel her sexy body so close, and… Stop it! Madison cleared her throat and pointed toward Sherry and Rita Mae. “They’ll tell you. I, um, have to pee.” As fast as her legs allowed, she hurried to her bathroom. She needed a shower.

A cold one.

Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Madison followed Grandmother Eileen through the halls of Fielding Inc.’s headquarters.

In her black pencil skirt and conservative high heels, she felt like a dressed-up doll. Maybe the high-necked white blouse, black blazer, string of pearls, and chignon, which Grandmother Eileen had insisted on, were mostly to blame for this.

“Sit down at the end of the table and take notes.”

“Yes, Grandmother.”

Glancing over her shoulder, Grandmother Eileen said, “And for heaven’s sake, stop fidgeting.”