Page 120 of Vacation Friends

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“You should be. I thought you thought more highly of me than that.”

“I did. I do,” she quickly corrected. “I just got all panicky and jumped to conclusions.”

“We’re going to need to set some ground rules about that. I don’t like being accused of things that I’m not guilty of.”

“I understand.” She pushed a hair behind her ear and looked down, suddenly ashamed of herself.

Then Garrick released his grip on her arms and, using his index finger, nudged her chin up until her gaze met his. “I forgive you.”

Her lungs loosened. She was glad he’d seen it in his heart to let this go. Accusing him of cheating was a horrible thing to do. She should have kept herself in check more. Shouldn’t have eavesdropped.

The next moment, he reached for her, and his lips covered hers. But this kiss was different than the others.

There was almost a possessiveness about it.

He pulled away and his lips trailed down her jawline all the way to her ear. Then he whispered, “I love you.”

Delight flooded through her.

She realized she loved him too.

CHAPTER

FIFTY-FIVE

NOW

Maddie’s phone buzzed as she packed her suitcase.

Go to the pool. Now. You’ll see why. Don’t get CABIN FEVER.

She paused as she considered the words.

Should Maddie even play with the idea of agreeing to this?

Her first instinct was no. But what harm could it be going out to the pool? Was someone planning on pushing her in? There were too many people around for that.

She paused from packing and stepped onto her patio. Her gaze drifted to the pool area.

Nothing seemed suspicious—except for the fact that Josh had been headed that way. When Maddie ran into him earlier, he’d been wearing a bathing suit. Did this have something to do with him?

She stared at pool another moment, trying to figure out what to do.

In five hours, she needed to be at the airport. That was the earliest flight she could book.

Then she’d be done with all this.

She thought about her choices another moment before deciding to throw caution to the wind. She would see what this text was about. She would play this little game that someone unknown to her had set up.

She headed from her room toward the pool area.

Where was she supposed to go when she got out there? It was a large area—five acres.

Maddie decided to wander around. Someone had wanted her out here for a reason. Now she needed to figure out why.

She plastered on her best smile as she passed several people. Thankfully, no one stopped to talk. But she didn’t see anything suspicious either.

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