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She hums, her gaze locked on me as she pulls out her phone. Is she calling for help, like one of those first-date pacts women have? Is she calling the police on me for harassment?
Doubtful, considering the idiots that were just here.
Is she—?
She flips her phone over and takes a sip of her tea. “Sold.”
11
Cady
“Seriously?” Max demands.
I feel like I should be asking myself that. Because, Cady, what are you doing?
I’m going to a wedding with Maximus Steele. Not only a wedding but a destination wedding in a place I’ve never been before. With a man I know nothing about.
And he’s not paying me. This is not for work. This is for…
Fun.
Noam told me I needed more fun in my life.
Aren’t weddings supposed to be fun? Because why else would I be going away with a man I’ve just met? That is a brand of impulsiveness I’ve never had. I don’t do spontaneous.
I swallow, hoping that I’m not making a terrible mistake. Max is… I know nothing about him except that his father was in my client book when he was married to both of his wives.
I’m not about to tell Max that. They don’t call me the Secret Keeper for nothing.
Didn’t… I guess that ended when I sold E and my client list with it.
Unlike his father, Max seems nice enough, and slightly protective, which surprises me when you consider the laid-back attitude and jokes.
He’s wearing jeans and a baseball cap in Tate’s. Noam would be rolling over in his grave if he were here.
He’s not. He’s never going to be here again. And he wouldn’t even be in a grave yet, but on route to some funeral home that his family picked and I won’t be welcome anywhere near him.
My therapist once told me grief is like waves and you never know when the next one is coming. I feel like I’ve gotten hit with a big one and the fear of the details coming to light keeps holding me down in the water.
The only way I can keep my head up is to push everything else down. Push it down and forge ahead. And ahead for me, is making this deal for Tingel Island.
Five one-acre islands and a fifteen-acre island in Muskoka, on Lake Joseph, the playground of the rich and famous. I want the land because I want to build something on it.
I’m just not sure what.
Years ago, a client took me as his guest to a cottage in Muskoka. I had been a working girl, trying to run E and advocate for the girls, but also tempted by the amount of money clients wanted to throw at me for spending time with them. I had stopped dancing, and tried to class myself up, and it worked because some of the clients who requested me didn’t even want sex.
I was a simple escort to most. A companion—someone for them to talk to, or join for dinner or business events in place of a wife or partner. A friend, if they weren’t paying thousands for that friendship.
Some of them still wanted sex, but I was slowly able to transition to those I wanted to have sex with.
We had to take a boat to this island, and I thought it was the height of luxury. Being so cut off seemed the best way to remove yourself from your life. To relax. To hide.
Even before I bought my house, I had searched for the perfect spot to hide, but it wasn’t until a few months ago that I heard Tingel Islands were coming on the market.
Which Max and his father are also trying to buy.
Spending time with Max might prove beneficial in many ways. I’ll get to hide from Preston and any more questions by the police as I pretend to be with Max, tick off the fun box as a way to fulfill Noam’s last request, all while keeping my eye on the prize by keeping an eye on Maximus.
