Chelsea. It was about winning. At any cost.”

His words made sense, and he had known Chelsea probably better than anyone. The possibility that Jimmy’s claims were an exaggeration—especially the one where he’d supposedly overheard Chelsea saying to her blonde friend that they’d “already done a lot more” than kiss—was more than probable. And knowing what I’d learned so far about my young bartender friend, it was probably nothing more than some perverted, wishful fantasy. I made a quick decision to not even bother telling Adam those sordid details.

“So,” I clarified, “you think there really could be a picture out there, but that it doesn’t depict anything more than Chelsea following through with some kind of a wager?”

“Exactly,” Adam confirmed, reaching over the table to smooth back a damp piece of hair that had fallen to my cheek. “So Madeleine, there is absolutely no reason for you to go back to that bar. Don’t forget you made a promise when you lost a bet of your very own.” He cocked an eyebrow. “Remember?”

“Yes, yes.” My cheeks flamed. “I remember.” How could I forget the bet I lost—the one where I’d ended up begging him to take off my jeans?

“Maddy,” Adam warned, “I hope you intend to keep your promise.”

Maybe one little white lie isn’t too bad? “Of course,” I muttered.

He seemed to consider my response, watching me closely. At last those stormy eyes calmed. I was off the hook, for now.

We finished our dinner and then moved into the living room to watch some television. After awhile I curled up in Adam’s arms and drifted off. He must have fallen asleep as well, because we both started when my cell phone buzzed across the coffee table. I grabbed it, quickly silencing the text-alert tone.

“Who is it?” Adam asked, his voice thick with sleep.

There were three consecutive texts from Helena. She’d set up our day in Boston for Wednesday, and apparently she and Trina already had the shopping itinerary planned out. I shared the information with Adam, showing him the texts, and asked what his upcoming work week looked like.

“I actually have meetings all day on Wednesday in Boston. You could fly down there with me in the morning,” Adam offered.

Adam went on to detail how I wouldn’t even have to bother planning transportation to Trina and Walker’s downtown loft apartment, since his driver could easily drop me off on the way to his morning meetings.

“Oh, that sounds like a plan,” I cooed in response, and then texted Helena with the good news that I’d definitely be joining her and Trina on Wednesday.

Shortly thereafter Adam left, and I went up to bed. Unlike before, now I was really looking forward to the Boston excursion. Helena would be closing down the café for the next two weeks until the first of November. And Adam had several business trips coming up; he’d informed me he was working on closing a deal with a big client located in Boston. That was why he’d had so many meetings there lately.

With no Helena and very little Adam, I feared the next few weeks were going to be extremely dull here on the island. But as I drifted off to sleep, little did I know how incredibly wrong that assumption would end up being.

Chapter 19

As planned I flew out Wednesday morning with Adam. Oh, how that man looked smoking hot sitting there in the pilot’s seat in the cockpit of his jet, aviator sunglasses on, the early morning sunlight reflecting off the mirrored lenses.

Adam flipped a few switches, and the engines sprang to life. I placed the copilot’s headset on my head and pretended to press a few buttons on the control board.

“Madeleine,” Adam scolded playfully, while moving my hand back to my lap. “Behave!”

I lowered my chin, peering over the top of my own cool sunglasses. “Or what, Captain?” I teased.

Adam shot me a sidelong glance, smirking. “Or else the copilot is going to have to be punished.”

“Oooh, promise?” I squealed in delight. “Sounds like that could be fun.”

Adam laughed and shook his head. “Naughty girl,” he muttered.

“Only for you, babe,” I replied, leaning back into the copilot’s seat and adjusting my sunglasses. “Only for you.”

The plane taxied down the runway and then lifted into the clear, blue sky. There was nary a cloud marring the azure horizon. We really could not have planned for a more ideal day to fly to Boston.

The flight was short, and upon landing, I noticed there was a limo waiting for us out on the tarmac. Adam directed the driver to Trina’s downtown loft apartment that she shared with Walker. When we pulled up to the sidewalk, Adam and I said our farewells in the idling limo, punctuated by a fairly steamy make-out session. We broke apart only when we heard the driver clearing his throat, loudly. Yeah, being in love was awesome. I waved a good-bye and practically skipped into the tony apartment building. When I reached the elevator, I pressed the button for Trina’s floor—the fourteenth—and finally came down from my Adam-induced high.

Trina’s apartment was at the end of the hallway—a corner unit. The door swung open almost as soon as I rang the bell. “Maddy, hi,” Trina exclaimed. “Come on in.”

Stepping over the threshold, I noticed Trina was dressed to the nines in a pale blue blouse and navy pencil skirt ensemble that accentuated her trim figure perfectly. She was tall, like her brother, but the dark blue suede pumps she wore added even more height.

“Helena, Maddy’s here,” Trina called out over her shoulder, and then she gave me a quick hug. Stepping back, she added, “You look great, by the way.”

“Thanks.” Glancing down at the maroon crepe dress and black Louboutin pumps I was wearing, I was happy I’d chosen appropriate attire for this shopping excursion.

Trina led me into the living room, asking, “How was the flight down?”

“Smooth,” I replied. “It’s such a beautiful day.”

Trina nodded. “Yeah, perfect for flying

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