Page 22 of Vacation Friends

“It’s probably just me being paranoid.” She placed a hand on Brody’s shoulder. “And I have Brody to watch out for me. He’s better than any hotel security.”

“I don’t know about that.” Brody shrugged off the compliment.

“Listen to him being humble.” Adrienne cast him a look. “But he was Special Forces for the Navy for six years. He knows how to handle himself in high-stress situations.”

“What are you doing now?” Brody now had Josh’s full attention.

“I work private security. Wanted a more flexible schedule.”

“If you’re ever looking for another job, let me know.” Josh leveled his gaze with Brody. “We could always use new people in our security department. Most people don’t realize what a cutthroat business the tech world is. Innovators in this field stand to make billions—and that’s reason enough for some people to go to extreme measures.”

“I can imagine that’s true.” Brody nodded slowly as if carefully choosing his words. “If I ever decide to look for a new job, I’ll find you.”

“You do that.” Josh said before sighing and placing his napkin on his plate. “Well, this has been a lot of fun. I may need to charge you guys with taking care of my fiancée while I’m busy with other events.”

Maddie nearly spit out the sip of water she’d just taken. “I’m sorry, but I don’t need a babysitter.”

“That’s not what I meant. You just seem to have a series of unfortunate events happening around you lately. Maybe someone needs to keep an eye on you until this streak of bad luck is over.” Josh gave her a pointed look.

Maddie’s cheeks heated. She was a grown woman. She didn’t need people to talk about her like this—especially when she was sitting right here.

“She’s more than welcome to hang out with us whenever she wants.” Bree winked.

Relief relaxed her shoulders, if even just slightly.

At least her new friends weren’t looking at her as if she were a freak—which was how Maddie felt at the moment.

“Speaking of which,” Josh glanced at his watch, “I need to run. I have a meeting with HR about Jared. We need to figure out how to handle the incident.”

His words sounded callous enough that Maddie’s stomach knotted.

This wasn’t a PR nightmare. A man had died. His family would grieve.

But this wasn’t the time to point that out.

“Feel free to stay as long as you would like, darling. I can handle this.” He leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Part of Maddie felt as if she should leave anyway.

The other part of her wanted to stay.

To have some real conversation.

About something other than Josh’s job.

Maddie watched him walk away and then turned to the rest of the group. “Don’t let me keep you if you have other things to do.”

“I think we’re free for the rest of the night,” Brody said.

“Please, don’t feel obligated,” Maddie pleaded.

“Not at all.” Bree waved her hand through the air to brush off the thought. Her bracelets—mostly leather and beads—clanked together at the movement. “You seem normal, unlike most of the people here.”

Maddie smiled. “I get that. I never feel like these people are my type of people.”

Adrienne’s eyes widened. “Me either! But I love my job, so I’m forced to conform.”

“I totally understand.”

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