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“How many miles today?” she asked.
Tex turned around and said, “Six.”
She rolled her eyes at his back, “Wow, what a meanie,” she whispered.
Shark’s jaw clenched, but Twister snickered. Tex turned around but by that time, Maddy had schooled her features into an innocent, unassuming expression. Twister snickered again, and Tex’s eyes narrowed.
That’s right, LT, she thought to herself. I’m a bad influence on your team. Maybe Shark should give me a spanking.
Shark gave her one last dark look, bending down and whispering in her ear, “You are a bad, bad girl.” Then he followed the team out the door.
She went to the kitchen starving from the workout Shark put her through last night. “Esther, you’re a godsend,” she murmured as she grabbed a plate and filled it with eggs, bacon, and toast.
Her father and mother came into the kitchen and eyed her plate. “You must be hungry today, Maddy. Shark keeping you busy?”
She almost spit out her OJ. She turned to him with surprise.
“You two walking all over your research areas must be building up an appetite.”
Her shoulders relaxed. Of course, he couldn’t know what they were doing. But, really, what would it matter? Her parents realized she was a grown woman, and what she did in private with a man behind closed doors was her business. But she agreed with Shark. It would complicate matters if everyone in the house knew they were sleeping together.
“Yeah, that sure does build up an appetite.” She smiled and her mom gave her a curious sidelong glance. She hastily changed the subject. “What’s up for today?” she asked.
“Your mom is heading to the hospital to put in some time, and I’ll be going to the palace for a meeting with Baptiste. I’m afraid I’ll be taking your pals with me. Shark and Twister are going to ride shotgun for security.”
“Oh, could I ride along? I haven’t seen the palace, and I would love to see Fabrice. Do you think that’s possible? I’m sure she’d give me a tour if you asked.” She suddenly felt guilty for not thinking of her friend. Shark’s fault for being such a distracting influence. She wondered what her settled friend and new mom would think about all of Maddy’s mistakes and blunders along her path to love.
Her father thought about it for a moment, then smiled. “I think they would at that. It’s steeped in history, and there’s a lot to see, especially the grounds. Why not?”
“Thanks, Daddy. I’m looking forward to it.” She was excited to see Fabrice, her best friend here on the island when Maddy had been in her early teens. Fabrice had been several years older, but they’d hit it off and had spent hours and hours together. She’d kept in touch from time to time over the years, but Maddy hadn’t had a chance to meet her little boy, Kenzy. She’d seen pictures of him, and this trip would give her the opportunity to meet with her.
They’d moved from Marseille, France where her dad had been the consul general. Before that, her dad had served in the Navy for four years as an officer, then took an assignment in Manama, Bahrain as the Foreign Policy Adviser to the Commander of United States Naval Forces Central Command and the US Navy Fleet. After that he’d been on many overseas assignments, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Africa and the Sudans in the Bureau of African Affairs, Executive Director of the Bureau of African Affairs, Management Counselor in Jordan, in Madagascar as Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. and Deputy Chief of Mission. He had also been posted in Hungary, Morocco, India, and Haiti where he began his diplomatic career. Her dad spoke fluent French, in addition to Haitian Creole, Italian and Spanish.
She was ready once the limo came by to pick them up. Shark was surprised to find out that her father let her accompany them, but since this was a diplomatic appointment with a supportive and non-combatant president, Shark deferred to her dad.
He and Twister were dressed in civilian clothes, khaki cargo pants, Shark in a light blue button-down shirt, and Twister in a soft yellow. Both of them were armed, the weapons tucked under their shirts.
Shark held the door for her as she slipped in beside her dad. Twister rode up front, but Shark settled in beside her. She didn’t move far from him, enjoying the warmth of his thigh pressed to hers, basking in the memory of his body and quick mind.
The palace was located in downtown Port-au-Prince in the southern part of the island in a natural harbor and had been active throughout the island’s rich history. The short ride from the residence was filled with a spectacular view of the ocean and greenery that carried into the city.
She really liked this man…a lot, more than any man she’d ever met. Maybe that was what was causing her to reassess everything about her damn, chaotic love life. Only recently, she’d become aware of her apparent need for many options. She tended to move from one option to another if the first option didn’t work out for some reason.
She bit her lip. Yeah, most of her romantic options hadn’t worked out because she was like a butterfly, flitting from one to the other, too afraid of each one of them limiting her options. In the case of Max and Enrique…she felt sick to her stomach.
Max had been wonderful and the thought of where they were headed…maybe marriage was too scary for her. She had been at the tail end of her postdoctoral fellowship with MIT, and she was ready to move on from her academic training to something else. She wasn’t ready for any of it, but instead of talking to Max about it, she’d sabotaged their relationship, ghosting him and using Enrique to flush away the negative feelings she was having about commitment.
They pulled up to the black iron gates and waited moments for her father to be allowed inside. The presidential or National Palace was the official residence of the president of Haiti. It had been severely damaged by the 2010 earthquake. Its ruins were demolished to make way for a new earthquake-proof structure. It looked the same from the outside but was redesigned inside to accommodate a more modern era. Maddy was eager to see it.
The gates opened and the limo drove through, turning right onto a concrete road before stopping at the main stairs with its distinctive dome.
They exited the vehicle, and Shark stayed close to her while Twister moved near her father. Crossing under the large portico, and between two of the four huge columns, they entered through the middle of three big doors and were stopped in the cavernous foyer.
“Mr. Ambassador,” a man greeted them. “If you could follow me, there will be a short wait.”
He took them to a room off the entrance where there were couches and chairs. She approached the man and asked, “Where could I find the restroom?”
“Back out the door and to the left,” he said.
