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Was there anything worse than talking sex with your grandmother? “Boyfriend, Mimi. Daniel and I were not lovers.”
“Then that was the problem. At your age, you should be experiencing life—all aspects of life. Now there’s this very nice young man who lives next door who looks like he knows his way around a bedroom. I’ll introduce you next time you come over.”
Eden sighed. “Great. So how is Pops?”
“Besides being a little more forgetful, he’s fine. If you hold on, I’ll take him the phone. As usual, he’s out on the balcony.” No doubt naked as the day he was born. Eden’s grandfather cared nothing about city ordinances on public nudity.
“Eden?” her grandfather asked.
“Hi, Pops.”
“So I guess that young man got your phone back to you.”
Eden straightened, her foot sliding off the bench and thumping to the ground. “What young man?”
“A woman and a man called here yesterday.” He paused. “Or maybe it was the day before. Anyway, they found your phone and were looking to return it.”
“Who, Pops? Who found my phone? The hotel?” She cringed when she realized her slip, but luckily Pops didn’t catch it.
“They didn’t leave their names. The woman who spoke first just said that she had found your phone, then the man hopped on and told me not to call the police and he’d get the phone back to you at The Lemon Drop.”
Eden gripped her phone. It could’ve been someone at the hotel who had called. A maid and the head of housekeeping. But if that was the case, then why hadn’t they dropped off her phone that night? She froze. But someone had shown up that night. Someone who was the boss of a big lingerie company.
“Hey, Eden!”
She glanced up to see Madison walking across the grass in hot pink leggings, tie-dyed leg warmers, and a tight T-shirt with a designer logo on the front.
“Listen, Pops,” Eden said. “I’ve got to go. But I’ll call you later.” She hung up the phone just as Madison arrived, holding up a white bakery bag.
“I stopped to get éclairs first. I thought it would give us energy. Chloe is going to be late. I guess Zac is on the warpath over something. He’s such a jerk. If there was another escort service in the city, I’d drop him in a New York second.” She sat down on the bench and pulled two éclairs out of the bag.
After throwing up her green power breakfast, Eden should’ve been hungry. But her mind was too preoccupied with what she’d learned from her pops. It seemed that the panty billionaire had found her phone, which would explain why he had been at The Lemon Drop. It did not explain why he hadn’t given her the phone. Of course, he couldn’t have given it to her without her knowing who he was. So then why had he called her grandparents? Why hadn’t he just trashed it? And who was the woman? Surprisingly, she felt more annoyed that he was with a woman than she was about him taking her phone.
She tried to act nonchalant as she continued to stretch. “So have you ever seen the Dark Seducer, Madison?”
“No. And Chloe only met him once. I guess he’s a new client.” Madison took a bite of éclair and closed her eyes in ecstasy. “This is delicious. You really need to try one.”
“I had a power shake this morning.”
“I bet that was tasty,” Madison said as she watched a group of joggers run past. “Why is it that everything that’s good for you either tastes bad or is painful? And you can’t tell me those runners aren’t in pain. Just look at their sweaty, scrunched-up faces.”
Eden looked at the runners and had to admit that they didn’t look happy. In fact, they looked miserable. But she wasn’t about to let Madison get discouraged. “No pain, no gain.”
“If you say so.” Madison polished off the éclair and sucked the chocolate off her fingers. “But I can’t stay past ten. I have a date with Freddie.”
“Canasta?”
“No, that’s Harry. Freddie just likes to sit and talk about his late wife. It’s so sad. He and his wife had been married for sixty-five years before she died. Sixty-five years. Isn’t that amazing. How long have your parents been married?”
Eden suddenly felt like she always did when the subject of her parents’ marriage came up—embarrassed and thoroughly annoyed. “My parents never got married.”
Madison’s eyes widened. “Really? Wow, I did not see that coming. Was your mother a teen mom and your father just a high school mistake? Or did your mom fall in love with someone else before you were born?” She placed a hand on her ample chest. “I hope your father didn’t die before he could marry your mother.”
“Actually, my parents are still together. They just don’t believe in marriage.” She tried to keep the annoyance out of her voice, but failed miserably.
“I’m sorry,” Madison said. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Why would I be upset? It’s not like they don’t love each other. And if they want to ignore all societal norms and make up their own rules, who am I to stop them?”
