Prologue
Ring.
Addison Graham Wolfe shut her bedroom door and answered her phone. “Hey, Olivia,” she said as she lay on her bed.
It was Maddox’s night to put the boys to bed, so she was going to enjoy a moment of talking on the phone with her friend in peace.
“Hey, Addison. I saw that you’d called. Everything okay?”
Addison laughed. “Yes, everything is fine.”
Ever since Olivia Mayer had represented Addison’s now husband—then boyfriend—against an attempted murder charge a few years ago, she always asked if everything was okay.
“If I needed your help, I would text you 911 or leave you a call me back right now voice mail.”
One good thing that had come out of the situation was that Addison and Olivia were closer. In college and law school, they hadn’t done much hanging out together outside the classroom besides getting together to study. But since Maddox’s arrest, the two of them had become better friends. Addison and Maddox had gone to Des Moines a few times to see Olivia since then.
Olivia chuckled.
“Things are good. Maddox has really settled into his role as the sheriff, and work is the same for me.”
“Until you defend someone that your husband has arrested.”
“He doesn’t do the arresting. His deputies do.”
“You know what I mean.”
Addison shrugged even though Olivia couldn’t see her. “Eh, they’re minor crimes. If I had a serious case, I know who to call.”
“Is that why you called me?” Olivia’s voice brightened.
Addison frowned. “Sorry, no. Aren’t things exciting enough for you in Des Moines?”
Olivia sighed. “No…things are good. I’m finishing up a big case, and I cannot wait for it to be over.”
That didn’t sound like Olivia. She loved going head-to-head in cases.
“Is everything okay?”
She didn’t answer right away. “Yes. Everything is fine. Or it will be.”
“Are you sure?” Addison was starting to worry.
“Yes, I’m sure. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“When’s the last time you took a vacation?”
“Uh…”
“I’ll answer that for you. So long that you can’t even remember. Why don’t you and Ray go somewhere fun? Your firm is big enough now, so you can take a few days off. They don’t need you to be there every day to run everything.”
Olivia cleared her throat. “Ray and I broke up.”
Addison sat up. “Oh no. What happened?”
“It’s not important.” Olivia’s voice said otherwise.
“Are you sure about that?”
Olivia sighed. “It’s embarrassing.”
“The only person I’m judging is Ray.”
“He sent me a text about a week ago to say it was over because I was boring in bed.”
Addison winced. Ouch. “He broke up with you in a text? Asshole.”
Olivia chuckled. “Thanks for not focusing on the boring in bed part.”
“That’s on Ray, not you.”
“It’s still humiliating, especially when I know what a great sex life you have.”
As if on cue, Maddox pushed the bedroom door open and silently walked in their bedroom. Addison lay back down and admired her husband as he stripped off his shirt, showing off his muscular body.
Olivia was right. She did have a great sex life.
If only Olivia could find herself a man like Addison’s husband.
Maddox pulled his phone out of his pocket and tossed it on their bed before he shucked off his pants and threw them on the wicker chair in the corner. Addison watched Maddox walk into the connected bathroom and was disappointed when her eye candy was out of sight.
“Addison, are you still there?”
“Yeah, I’m here. You need to find a man who fucks you like Maddox fucks me.”
Olivia gagged. “My ears. I can’t unhear that.”
Addison laughed. “I’m sorry. Did I offend your delicate senses?”
Olivia laughed, too. “Yes.”
Addison turned onto her side. “I’m serious though.” She gasped as an idea came to her. “I know. You need to go on vacation somewhere with a friend, find a single guy that you’re never going to meet again, have him fuck you silly, and come home. Maybe if you find someone you’ll never see again, you’ll let go a little.”
Addison felt bad for Olivia and her breakup, but she knew that Olivia was kind of stiff in bed. She had admitted so to Addison. In all fairness, Ray probably wasn’t entirely to blame about things ending because Olivia would often put work before intimacy with her partner. Addison understood how important sex was to a relationship. He was still an asshole for breaking up with Olivia through a text message though.
“Are you offering to go on vacation with me?”
Addison closed her eyes and pictured a beautiful beach on the ocean, where the weather was the perfect temperature, and she sighed. But reality set in, and she opened her eyes. “I wish. Maybe when I’m done nursing Thane, we can go somewhere together.” Thane was only five months old, and she wanted to make it until he was a year before she stopped nursing. She’d done the same for Spencer, who was now two years old. “I’ll just have to make sure not to get pregnant again right away.”
“They do make this thing now called birth control.”
“You’re so funny. I was on the minipill. I just forgot to start back on the regular pill once I stopped breastfeeding. I won’t make that mistake again. I have an IUD now.” Addison loved her kids, but if she had another right away, she might go insane.
“Great. Then, let’s make tentative plans to go somewhere together. It’s summer now anyway. We should do it when it’s cold outside and we’re freezing our asses off.”
“Hmm…Thane will be a year old in February,” Addison said with a smile. But she soon lost it. “But that doesn’t take care of you now.”
“Yeah, but February’s not that far away. Right?”
Maddox’s phone vibrated on the bed, and a notification popped up.
Flash: Tickets booked. Will forward flight info. Can’t believe I’ll be there in just under a month.
Addison grinned as a plan began to take shape in her mind.
Flash was the nickname for Tommy Morelli, a former SEALs teammate of Maddox’s. He and Olivia had met once, and while the two of them hadn’t exactly hit it off, Addison had sensed some sparks. Plus, if anyone could sex up Olivia, it would be a Navy SEAL. Especially one like Flash, who had gotten his nickname for a reason.
“I have a better idea.”
“What is it?” Olivia asked just as Maddox exited the bathroom.
“Why don’t you come here for Brook Days next month? Will your current case be over by then?”
Maddox’s eyebrows flew up.
“We’re on track to be finished with closing arguments in the next two weeks or so. What weekend is Brook Days?” Olivia asked.
Addison told her and added, “But come for more than just the weekend. Come for a week or two. It’s not the ocean, but it’ll get you away from the city. And we could always go to the lake and sit on the beach if we have the time.”