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A chime sounds, indicating one of us has a new text message.
It doesn't sound like my mobile, but I check it anyway. No, I don't have a text. So I grab Maddie's mobile and turn on the screen, intending only to glance at it to see if she has a text. She does, but it's displayed on the main screen. "Have you decided yet?" someone called Naveen asks. I glance at Maddie, at her sweet, sleeping face.
Another chime. Another text.
I fight the urge to read it, but I seem to have lost my mind in the past three seconds because I look at the screen again. This time Naveen says, "Miss you, babe." And then he includes a kissing-face emoji. This must be her former lover, the one she met in Somalia. But why is he kissing her via text message? She said they aren't together anymore.
Maddie rouses, sighing with contentment, and stretches her entire body. She yawns, opening her eyes. "Good morning. Sorry I fell asleep and left you to read all those books."
"Don't worry about that." I scratch my cheek, grimacing. "I, ah, sort of did a…bad thing."
She flips onto her back and laughs. "You being naughty? What a shocker."
I know she's obliquely referring to when we had sex last night, but I can't manage a smile. I keep grimacing. "I read your texts."
"You mean Dexter's books? Yeah, I know. I fell asleep and left you to do all the work."
"No, I don't mean that." I scrub my hands over my face and groan. "I heard a noise, like one of us had a text, but it wasn't my mobile. It was yours. And I inadvertently read those messages. Sorry."
"Messages? I have more than one text?" She sits up and checks her mobile. Her lips twist like she's trying not to smile, and she rotates her eyes to glance at me. "You read what Naveen said. That's the awful thing you did."
"Yes. I invaded your privacy."
She sets her mobile on the table, turns toward me, and… smiles. "You're adorable, Rick. I stole your wallet on the night we met so I could find out your name. You accidentally reading my texts is nothing."
"I might have accidentally read the first one, but I did it on purpose the second time."
"And I'm still not mad about that." She grasps my face and plants a firm but brief kiss on my mouth. "We're involved, right? I mean, you're taking me home with you, so we're not just two people having a fling anymore. That means you can check my phone if I get a call or a text and I'm…indisposed at the time." She bites her lip. "Was I snoring again?"
"No. You were a silent, delicate angel slumbering beside me."
"You are so full of shit."
"Maybe, but you are lovely when you're sleeping." I hesitate, not sure if it's my place to ask the next question, but she did say we're involved and I can answer her mobile whenever it's appropriate. So I go on and ask. "Is Naveen the man you were involved with?"
"Yeah, and he's also my coworker. Or he used to be." The second I open my mouth to speak again, she holds up a hand to stop me. "But no, I am not with him anymore, and I don't want to be. Maybe he wants that, but I'm over it. That emoji is his problem, not mine."
"Good. I might've been slightly jealous when I saw that, but I'm not anymore."
My mobile rings. This time I'm sure it's mine because the screen tells me it's Ilsa calling.
"Good morning, Ilsa," I say when I pick up. "I assume you've seen the contract I sent."
"Sir Dexter and I have both reviewed it. He is ready to sign." When Ilsa is talking business, she always refers to her employer as Sir Dexter.
"He doesn't want to have his solicitor look it over first?" I ask.
"Sir Dexter does not believe in lawyers," she says. "He hates them even more than he hates agents and publishers, but he likes you and trusts you. We will arrive in twenty-five minutes to sign the contract."
"Dexter is coming here? To the resort?"
"That's correct. We will see you soon."
We say goodbye and end the call.
I face Maddie. "Dexter is coming to see us. We have twenty-five minutes to get ready."
"Twenty-five minutes?" Maddie almost shrieks. She flies off the bed, scrambling to find and open her suitcase. While she frantically searches inside it for the right clothes, she starts babbling. "I need a shower, but is there enough time? I haven't eaten breakfast yet either. Oh God, what if I have dark circles under my eyes? Where's my makeup bag?"
