Thunder - Willow Summers Page 0,46

they’ll just bill my card?”

“What did he quote you for it?”

“We weren’t in a place to discuss it. Or anything, other than various profanities and name screaming.”

Janie’s cock-eyed grin was back. “So, so jelly.” A troubled look crossed her face. “But they can’t actually charge you unless you, at least verbally, agreed to the extra stuff. I guess you found a loophole.” Janie shrugged. “Pay or don’t, but if you want to get out of it, you probably could.”

An uncomfortable feeling settled in the pit of Madison’s stomach. Talking about loopholes and screwing Colton out of his pay tarnished everything he’d done for her. She’d signed a confidentiality agreement upfront, which she was totally breaking with Janie, and signed an agreement to pay for the companion she’d requested, but all of that was background noise when it came to her night with Colton. He’d shown up an employee of a company, and in her mind, he’d left as someone she respected and admired. The thought of trying to apply her sometimes shyster-y business tactics to him made her sick.

“No,” she said firmly. “I’ll pay him. Do me a favor and find out how much.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Janie settled her elbows on the island. “What else could we possibly talk about that would top Thunder?” She shook her head. “Nothing. Let’s go over details and then gossip until we’re drunk, at which point, I’ll try to paint your toenails.”

“I hate when you do that.”

“I know. That’s why I like doing it.”

The day passed in a slow grind of alcohol—started much too early—a few visits from delivery places, and Madison coming to the conclusion that, regardless of whether it was a good or healthy thing, she missed Colton something fierce. It took everything she had not to pick up the phone and text him a thanks for the night before, just to see if he would respond. She constantly wondered what he was doing, and stupidly wondered if he’d thought about her at all throughout the day. Maybe a passing reflection on the night, or a surge of lust.

Madison and Janie had unpacked all of the boxes from Frank in a haze of drunkenness, without putting anything away. Later that evening, which felt like the middle of the night, they sat on the couch amidst the rubble of Madison’s past life, staring at the laptop screen in front of them.

“I can’t!” Madison protested, on the reservation page of Big Dick Escort Service. “No. This is ridiculous. How desperate would he think I was?”

“Woman, listen to me.” Janie punched M—the start of the “name” entry. “The man didn’t nail out a contract before he nailed you. He tucked you in. He stayed all night—”

Janie had pulled a 180 since this morning, but Madison wasn’t convinced. She jabbed the delete button.

“That was uncalled for,” Janie said. “You are destroying my hard work.” She closed an eye while looking at the keyboard, swayed, and punched the M again. “Now, as I was saying. He was not acting like those guys typically act. Probably. Again, I have not exhausted my investigation, but I am mostly confident he was outside of the box on this. That says good things. And he called you Maddie! He called you Maddie. That cements it.” She twirled her fingers over the keyboard before leaning too far in to hit the A key. “How do you work on these things? The stupid keys are all over the place. Fuck me sideways and call me Betty, that bottle of Jameson was a terrible idea.”

“If I call you Betty, then you can call me Al.”

Janie paused in her typing, then joined Madison in singing the Paul Simon song, her voice pitch perfect and absolutely lovely despite her intoxication level. She stopped just as abruptly, burped, groaned, and finished typing Madison’s full name.

“I can’t believe I’m letting you do this,” Madison said, falling backward and crushing something beneath her. It felt like jagged paper, but was probably something quite a bit harder that would leave a bruise. She’d feel it when she was sober, she had no doubt.

“You warned him that you’d hire him to watch The Princess Bride.” Janie straightened up and lifted her nose in a snobby way. “Did you not?” she said in a British accent.

“I was joking.”

Janie swayed back to the computer. “He probably didn’t know that. So, we are simply following up on your threat to force him to spend more time with you.”

“This is ego crushing.”

“An orgasm will make up