Page 57 of Vacation Friends

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.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-FOUR

THEN

Cecilia stood in her bedroom and stared at herself in the cracked mirror leaning against her bedroom wall.

She’d found a champagne-colored dress that hugged her curves in all the right places.

One of her friends at Balderston’s had helped her pick it out. Cecilia had been eyeing the dress for a while but had known she could never afford it.

Until now. Until Garrick had offered to pay.

Still, when Cecilia thought about the price tag, she’d nearly choked. Her friend and coworker had insisted she should get it, that an amount of money like that was nothing for people like Garrick.

Cecilia had halfway expected when she went to purchase the dress to be told there had been a mistake. That she’d misunderstood what Garrick had said and he wasn’t buying this for her.

But there was no misunderstanding. The dress had been added to Garrick’s tab as if doing so were a natural, everyday act.

She’d been able to leave work fifteen minutes early, which had given her just enough time to get home to her apartment to get changed. She had to shower and fix her hair. She took an especially long time with her makeup.

That had led her to this moment.

Staring into the mirror and wondering if she’d done enough.

With a nod of approval, she let out a breath.

Yes, she thought she had.

She looked good, even if she had to say so herself. Her blonde hair was pulled back into an elegant French twist. Fake diamond earrings graced her ears. Her makeup—though cheap—was flawless.

---