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“Plus, you had a lot of surgery and hospital time recently.”She gestured to my leg.“If that had happened to me, when I was living in my parents’ guest house?I would have been sunk.It would have been cheaper to buy a chainsaw and—”

I cringed as she mimed cutting off her leg.

“All right.How about this?I’ll call a hospital, ask for their billing department, whip out my credit card and pay every single outstanding, uninsured bill they have.”I grabbed my phone.

Her eyebrows went higher than I’d ever seen them go.“You’re doing it right now?”

“Mmhmm.”I typedhospitals new yorkinto the search bar.

“It might not be as simple as you’re making it sound,” she warned.

“Pff.How complicated could paying a medical bill possibly be?”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

(Charlotte)

Matt’s noble plan of calling up a hospital and canceling medical debt wasshockinglymore complicated than ordering a pizza.He agreed to table the idea until we could get back to the city.

We met back up with our hosts on the patio; Neil sat in an armchair of his own while El-Mudad and Sophie snuggled on a double chaise.

“We were discussing our options for the evening,” Neil said, standing as we approached.“We have some time before dinner and a few thoughts about how to fill it.”

“He’s trying to ask if you want to go see our sex playhouse and fuck around together,” Sophie said with a long-suffering eye roll.Neil shot her a glance and she shrugged.“What?There’s no easing into that.”

“Sex playhouse?”That, I had to see.

“It isstunning,” Sophie insisted.

“Of course, we could always give you a tour with no strings attached,” Neil added.“No pressure at all.”

“You don’t have to pressure me,” Matt said, and he adorably blushed and looked away.

So, my boyfriend had a little crush on one of my friend’s husbands.Maybe that should have threatened me, but it was very cute.

“Well, shall we, Charlotte?”Neil asked.

Oh fuck, did his voice ever give me little flutters in my stomach.But I looked to Matt.“Yeah.Let’s go.”

Neil and Sophie and El-Mudad had hidden their secret sex house in plain sight.Kind of.It was located on their property, with a paved access road leading right to it.However, a chain-link fence and signs warning about high voltage surrounded the secluded area, and trees hid the building itself.

Once it came into view, however, it was breathtaking.

“This looks like something out of a corset movie,” I breathed, holding onto the canopy post of the golf cart Neil had driven us in.I sat in the middle row with Sophie, while Matt had taken the seat beside Neil.El-Mudad had seemed to very much enjoy riding on the rear-facing back row.

I could understand how their relationship worked so well: Neil was older, wiser, and laid-back.Sophie was fun, but high-strung, and El-Mudad matched that energy with a totally carefree attitude.They all brought out the best in each other.

“It’s meant to be a copy of a building at Versailles,” Neil explained.“It’s a bit larger, though.”

“Big time Francophiles?”Matt asked.

“It was here when we bought the place,” Sophie said.“But it wasn’t used for this purpose until Neil converted it for a wedding present.”

“That’s some wedding present,” Matt commented.

She grinned conspiratorially at me.“Oh, just wait.”

“I don’t know,” El-Mudad began.“It pales in comparison to your island.”