got you enrolled and certified in three weeks.
“You still there?” he asked.
“Hang on.” She grabbed her purse, dug out her last bank statement and checked her savings. Shit, she’d have to cut a few corners when she got back home. “I’ll give you one thousand now and one thousand when you hand me viable information.”
He was silent.
“That’s the best I can do. Take it or leave it.” She hoped there was a recession in the spy business and he accepted her offer . “I’ll give you my Visa number— ”
“Okay. Okay. But no credit card. Cash only. You know where to wire it.” He hung up.
She shut her cell phone. A few minutes later, its ring tone sang the Mary Tyler Moore theme song. She’d caught the reruns on Nick at Night when she was a tween. She used to throw a hat in the air and sing the show’s song. She also used to wish Mary Richards were a mother. Hers. Hip. Smart. Funny. Career oriented. If she was fated to be raised by a single mother, who better than Mary Richards?
She sighed and answered her phone. “Maddie Saunders.”
The call from California couldn’t have come at a better time.
She couldn’t wait to share her elation with Alex. After eating a light dinner, she showered, dressed and waited for him to pick her up. As she was slipping on her heels, she heard a light tap and opened the door, ready to explode with her news.
Alex’s sexual magnetism froze her right down to her toes. His arm was braced against the doorframe, and his dark and unfathomable eyes cast a soft, hazy gaze.
His stance emphasized his physique. His slim hips were encased in tanned Dockers. The dark chocolate-colored button-down shirt that barely held his ripped chest, matched the brown in his eyes. All that collided with her exciting news and shot her pulse into a different time zone.
She swallowed hard and stepped aside as he walked into the room.
“Hey.” He took hold of her hand. “Sorry for losing my cool today.”
His touch unhinged her. She backed away and paced.
He shot an arm out and clutched her wrist. “Slow down. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing wrong. It’s all good.” She smiled. “I just found out that my article, ‘Roller Coaster Vacations: America’s Scream Machines’ won first prize in the Thomas Cook Competition.” The two-thousand-dollar prize would boost her savings account. “They also want to use my video footage on the Great Escape Travel show.”
“Would it sound sappy if I told you I was proud of you?”
She giggled. “Sappy’s cool.”
“Then come here.”
She stepped into his outstretched arms and savored his freshly showered and musky essence while he hugged her. “I’m proud of you,” he said and released her.
“This is my first international win. The nausea on those roller coasters was worth it.”
“You deserve it. I know how hard you worked on that piece.”
The pride in his face brought a smile to her heart.
His gorgeous looks had never been lost on her, but ever since they’d arrived, his nearness had upset her balance and left her speechless ¾ not an easy feat, some would say.
“Tim and I will take you out to celebrate this week. Now, are you ready to go?”
His gaze held on her face for a minute, then slid over her body slowly. Her instinctive response to him was so powerful, she was hot and bothered in a span of a few seconds. Oh gawd, if he kept it up she was going to have to jump in the shower and change into another pair of panties. Was it even possible to have an orgasm just staring at him?
“Maddie? You coming?”
Shit. She hadn’t voiced that aloud, had she?
The heat in her face matched the flame between her legs. He looked concerned. He must have referred to something else and not, thankfully, her thoughts of orgasms.
He lifted her chin. “You okay?”
“Yes, but…” She fanned her face with her hands. “After this win, won’t the pressure for an award-winning travel piece about Makana be even higher? What if I
“You still there?” he asked.
“Hang on.” She grabbed her purse, dug out her last bank statement and checked her savings. Shit, she’d have to cut a few corners when she got back home. “I’ll give you one thousand now and one thousand when you hand me viable information.”
He was silent.
“That’s the best I can do. Take it or leave it.” She hoped there was a recession in the spy business and he accepted her offer . “I’ll give you my Visa number— ”
“Okay. Okay. But no credit card. Cash only. You know where to wire it.” He hung up.
She shut her cell phone. A few minutes later, its ring tone sang the Mary Tyler Moore theme song. She’d caught the reruns on Nick at Night when she was a tween. She used to throw a hat in the air and sing the show’s song. She also used to wish Mary Richards were a mother. Hers. Hip. Smart. Funny. Career oriented. If she was fated to be raised by a single mother, who better than Mary Richards?
She sighed and answered her phone. “Maddie Saunders.”
The call from California couldn’t have come at a better time.
She couldn’t wait to share her elation with Alex. After eating a light dinner, she showered, dressed and waited for him to pick her up. As she was slipping on her heels, she heard a light tap and opened the door, ready to explode with her news.
Alex’s sexual magnetism froze her right down to her toes. His arm was braced against the doorframe, and his dark and unfathomable eyes cast a soft, hazy gaze.
His stance emphasized his physique. His slim hips were encased in tanned Dockers. The dark chocolate-colored button-down shirt that barely held his ripped chest, matched the brown in his eyes. All that collided with her exciting news and shot her pulse into a different time zone.
She swallowed hard and stepped aside as he walked into the room.
“Hey.” He took hold of her hand. “Sorry for losing my cool today.”
His touch unhinged her. She backed away and paced.
He shot an arm out and clutched her wrist. “Slow down. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing wrong. It’s all good.” She smiled. “I just found out that my article, ‘Roller Coaster Vacations: America’s Scream Machines’ won first prize in the Thomas Cook Competition.” The two-thousand-dollar prize would boost her savings account. “They also want to use my video footage on the Great Escape Travel show.”
“Would it sound sappy if I told you I was proud of you?”
She giggled. “Sappy’s cool.”
“Then come here.”
She stepped into his outstretched arms and savored his freshly showered and musky essence while he hugged her. “I’m proud of you,” he said and released her.
“This is my first international win. The nausea on those roller coasters was worth it.”
“You deserve it. I know how hard you worked on that piece.”
The pride in his face brought a smile to her heart.
His gorgeous looks had never been lost on her, but ever since they’d arrived, his nearness had upset her balance and left her speechless ¾ not an easy feat, some would say.
“Tim and I will take you out to celebrate this week. Now, are you ready to go?”
His gaze held on her face for a minute, then slid over her body slowly. Her instinctive response to him was so powerful, she was hot and bothered in a span of a few seconds. Oh gawd, if he kept it up she was going to have to jump in the shower and change into another pair of panties. Was it even possible to have an orgasm just staring at him?
“Maddie? You coming?”
Shit. She hadn’t voiced that aloud, had she?
The heat in her face matched the flame between her legs. He looked concerned. He must have referred to something else and not, thankfully, her thoughts of orgasms.
He lifted her chin. “You okay?”
“Yes, but…” She fanned her face with her hands. “After this win, won’t the pressure for an award-winning travel piece about Makana be even higher? What if I
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