What a Girl Wants Read Free Page A

legs.
    “I’m going to call security,” the woman said.
    That unlocked Maddie’s senses. “No.” She jumped out of her seat. “Wait. Hang on.”
    “What’s going on?” Alex asked. “Where are you? You okay?”
    “I’m…I’m fine,” she said, unlocking the door. “I’m in the dressing room at Bloomies.” Covering the phone with her hand, she opened the door and smiled at the lined face, squinting, with a not-so-friendly pucker to her thin lips. “Hi, I’m in here alone.” She opened the door wider. “See, just me.” To her chagrin, her voice hiked to a high pitch on the last word.
    The store clerk stuck her disbelieving head in the doorway and glanced around. Where could someone hide in here? Maddie wanted to ask. “I’m on my cell.” She held up the phone.
    “Maddie?” Alex’s voice echoed through her fingers. “What’s going on?”
    “I tend to talk loud. Sorry,” Maddie told the woman, lifting her foot. “And I…I stubbed my toe.” She cocked her head to the side. “I must’ve shrieked, huh? It hurt. The toe that is.”
    “Do you need any help?” the woman asked in a hesitant, didn’t-buy-her-story tone.
    “No thanks. And thank you for checking on me.” She dismissed the embarrassment out of her mind, closed the door, leaned against it and cleared her throat. “Alex, you still there?”
    “What happened?” he said.
    “Stubbed my toe.” She sipped water. “Store’s busy today. They’re short of change rooms and need me to clear out.” Blowing a strand of hair away from her face. “You were saying—”
    “Why do I get the feeling you’re up to something?”
    “Because you have issues,” she said, exhaling a forced smile. “Uptight, suspicious—”
    “Yeah, that’s it, wisenheimer.” She could picture his patented eye roll. “Have a good weekend and try to stay out of trouble. I’ll give you a call when I get back.”
    “Have a safe flight.” They said goodbye.
    Maddie shut the phone and dropped it into her tote, stripped out of the dress and put it aside with the other to-be-purchased items. She dressed into her jeans and T-shirt, ran a brush through her hair, blotted her face and neck with a tissue and coated her lips with clear lip-gloss. A few deep breaths and her pulse and breathing returned to resting state.
    “I’m back,” Reece said, knocking.
    Maddie opened the door, peered out and noticed Miss Knock-at-the-Wrong-Time lingering and talking with two other store clerks.
    “I gave my credit card a workout.” Reece held up a shopping bag. “You done?”
    Closing the door, Maddie said, “I want to show you something before we go.”
    “Why are you whispering?”
    Maddie shrugged her response, sat on the chair and dug into her tote. “I bought research material the day I found out I’d be traveling with Alex.” She handed Reece a hardcover book.
    Reece pulled up another chair and sat beside her. “Research material, huh?” Her manicured eyebrow registered curiosity as she read the title. “ The Kama Sutra .”
    With the tension from her earlier encounter evaporating, Maddie leaned back and relaxed. “You can borrow it when I’m done.”
    Reece flipped through the glossy pages. “You’d have to be a contortionist to do that.” She pointed to a couple demonstrating The Lotus. The woman lay on her back, crossing her legs, and hugging them up to her chin. Her lover thrusting in and out of her, while she held the pose.
    “Says here—” Reece ran her finger over the text, “—great for yoga lovers—”
    “Right up my alley.”
    Shaking her head, Reece flipped through the book. “You got kicked out of yoga class, remember?”
    “That instructor didn’t have a sense of humor.”
    “You’re not supposed to giggle or chat up the room during meditation or a pose.” Reece let out a teasing laugh. “And here’s a tip, not a good idea to do that during sex.”
    “Well, duh. I have had sex.” In her early twenties with a couple of