Free Paradise Wild (Wild At Heart Book 2) by Christine Hartmann Page A

gallery?”
    “At the hotel. Tonight’s not part of the formal job description. But if they think there might not be enough guests at something like this, the word’s passed around.” She rubbed her hands through her short, bleached hair, making it stand in all directions. “Like stuffing the bottom of the tip jar before you put it out.” She regarded Ellie. “Why are you here? You don’t look like a hotel guest.”
    “What gives that away?”
    “You’re unattached, for one. Not many single women come to Maui without girlfriends in tow.”
    Ellie explained her circumstances, giving Jacqui a brief history of Vivyenne and Viv. Jacqui leaned against a carved pillar, listening and nodding.
    “Sounds crazy, right?” Ellie laid her purse on the broad railing and put her hands on her hips.
    “I’d have made the same choice.”
    “I got totally suckered by the money.” Ellie flung her hands wide. Both women both watched Ellie’s purse sail a graceful arc into the garden below.
    “It’s Maui, honey. We’re all suckered by something.” Jacqui took Ellie by the arm. “Let’s go find your purse. And then I’m giving you a free yoga lesson.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 7
     
     
    Later that evening, Ellie’s white Sentra pulled over crushed vines into her uninviting driveway. She parked the car and locked the gate. The house looked dark and uninviting after the lights and excitement of the hotel.
    When she pushed open the heavy door, Viv sat statuesque in the wooden foyer. She slung him over her shoulder.
    “I sometimes wish you were a big, scary German shepherd.”
    Viv rubbed his face against her cheek and purred.
    “I know.” She stroked against the grain of his fur. “Nobody protects me from creepy crawlies better than you.”
    She laid her phone on the kitchen counter. The screen indicated two text messages from an 808 number.
    Great. More creepy crawlies to worry about.
    Viv hopped from her arm and batted the phone across the granite surface. Ellie rapped his paw.
    “Bad cat. This is not an eight-hundred-dollar cat toy.”
    She spun the phone around and read the first message:
     
    Hey it’s Noa. Hope 2CU soon .
     
    And the second:
     
    JTOU .
     
    Well, I wasn’t thinking of you, Noa. What I was thinking about was how you got my number.
    She swiped delete and jumped as the device jiggled with a new text from another number she didn’t recognize:
     
    It’s Denver. JTOU.
     
    Sounds much better coming from you. She added him to her contact list.
     
    Ellie: Thx. U busy?
     
    Denver: At work. As usual.
     
    Ellie: Not me. Gallery opening tonite.
     
    She poured cat kibble into Viv’s bowl and got herself a bottle of beer from the refrigerator.
     
    Denver: Jealous.
     
    She used one finger to punch her response as she fished in a drawer for an opener.
     
    Ellie: Would have been more fun if u’d…
     
    Don’t go there. Keep it light.
    Delete.
     
    Ellie: Was fun. Did yoga.
     
    Denver: At gallery?
     
    Ellie: Private lesson in ritzy spa.
     
    Ellie gave up the search for the opener and put the beer back in the refrigerator, bumping the door shut with her hip.
     
    Denver: Now really jealous.
     
    Ellie: Might go back. Liked the instructor.
     
    Ellie sucked on her little finger.
     
    Denver: Was it a man?
     
    She grinned.
    Gotcha.
     
    Ellie: Woman. Jacqui.
     
    Denver: Glad u made a friend.
     
    Ellie followed Viv to the master bedroom and flopped on the comforter next to him.
     
    Ellie: Me 2.
     
    Denver: What u doing now?
     
    Ellie rolled to her side and fondled the cat. She slowly typed a response, closing one eye as she pushed send .
     
    Ellie: In bed.
     
    She flipped quickly onto her back and nervously tapped her feet on the mattress. Viv glared at her and hopped from the wiggling surface.
     
    Denver: Sweet dreams.
     
    Ellie’s feet stopped their thumping.
    That’s all you have to say?
     
    Ellie: U2.
     
    She boosted herself off the bed and headed back to the