"I'd be one of the coordinators," Maddy explained. "I'd have my own living quarters and I'd supervise the arts and crafts activities. It's only for the summer, but it sounds like fun."
"Not to mention that Santa Fe is one of the art capitals of the world," Christine pointed out. "Maybe you could get your work into one of the galleries out there."
"In Santa Fe? I doubt it!" Maddy laughed nervously. "My portfolio of current work isn't nearly strong enough, but Mama Fraser says I'd have plenty of free time to paint in the evenings."
"It sounds perfect," Amy said. "You should do it."
Maddy grimaced. "There's only one problem."
"What's that?" Christine asked.
"Joe," Maddy said as if it should be obvious. "I don't know how I feel about seeing him again."
"Didn't you tell us he's career Army? In the Rangers or something?" Christine asked. "With everything going on in the world, I doubt he's even in the country."
"Actually…" Maddy smoothed the envelope. "He was wounded two years ago and had to leave the Rangers. He works for his mom now as the camp director. So… if I take the job, I'll be, you know, working for him. Seeing him. Every day."
"Would that be hard?" Concern lined Amy's face.
Maddy huffed out a breath. "We didn't exactly part on friendly terms. For all I know, he still hates my guts and never wants to see me again."
Amy's frown deepened. "If that were true, why would he have his mother offer you a job?"
"You know ..." Christine sipped more coffee. "That bothers me. I mean, how dorky is it to get your mom to fix you up with an ex-girlfriend?"
"Joe doesn't know. Mama Fraser says she didn't want to tell him until after she had my answer, in case I turned her down. Which suggests to me he's still angry over my rejection."
"Or that his mother knows he wants to see you," Amy said, "and she doesn't want him to be disappointed if you say no."
"The important thing here," Christine said, "is do you want to see him?"
"I don't know." Maddy rubbed her forehead. "I'd really like to take the job. It would be a nice bridge between the last ten years and whatever it is I'm going to do with the rest of my life. And it would help Mama Fraser, who sounds a little desperate to fill the position."
"Plus" ---Christine wiggled her brows ---"you'd get to spend the summer with an old flame. From what you've said, things were pretty hot between you two."
"Christine…" Maddy laughed nervously. "I'm not going to Santa Fe so I can have wild sex all summer with Joe Fraser in front of a camp full of young girls and his mother."
"Why not?" Christine sat back with her cup of coffee. "Sounds good to me. Well, the wild sex part, not the camp full of girls and the mother. I know how ill Nigel was those last years, so I can imagine how long it's been since you had any sex, much less wild sex."
"Forever." Maddy felt her body heat at the mere thought of sex with Joe. Saying he rocked her world was putting it mildly. He'd set it on fire. "But that is totally beside the point. I just want Joe and me to get along. Who knows, maybe this is a chance for us to put the past to rest."
"Either that or rekindle it." Christine grinned.
"You just want a vicarious thrill since you aren't getting any either," Maddy said.
"Only because I made you two promise not to let me date anyone who didn't meet your approval," Christine grumbled.
"With good reason, considering your track record with men." Flustered, Maddy turned to Amy. "What do you think I should do?"
Amy folded her hands on the table. "I think you should do it, for yourself, not as part of this challenge. As you said, it would get you out of the house. As an added benefit, maybe you can make peace with Joe so you can be friends.
"If you do it, though" ---Amy took hold of Maddy's hand ---"you have to promise to show your work to some of the galleries while you're in Santa Fe. And keep at it until you get one of them to take you on."
"Gee." Maddy tried to laugh. "Facing an old boyfriend who probably hates me isn't enough?"
Amy's eyes narrowed behind her glasses. "Not if I have to risk getting lost in some strange place and Christine has to conquer the ski lift."
Panic crawled up Maddy's throat. "I think the challenges are a tad uneven here."
"Like hell!" Christine set her coffee down. "You just have to get one gallery to take on your work, and considering how good you are, that should be a piece of cake. I'm committing to spending Christmas with my whole family in Colorado."
"Who said anything about the family?" Maddy frowned at her. "You could go on your own."
"No, if I'm going to do it, I'll kill two birds with one stone. Conquer the lift ... and annihilate my brother on the slopes. Preferably in front of my father."
"A noble cause." Maddy laughed.
"You, on the other hand, are going to go to Santa Fe, have hot sex with your old flame, and jump-start your art career. Agreed?"
Maddy laughed. "Are you making sex part of the bet?"
"No…" ---Christine grinned ---"But we expect a full report. And photographic proof that Joe is as hot-looking as you claim."
Amy snorted into her cappuccino, then had to wipe froth from her nose.
Maddy mulled it over. "I just have to get one gallery to take on a piece of my work, correct?"
"Correct," Christine said.
"Can it be on consignment?"
Christine looked to Amy, who nodded. "Okay, on consignment. Is it a deal?"
Maddy took a deep breath. "I know I'm going to regret this ---"
"I'll take that as a yes." Christine held up her coffee. "So here's to us, and facing down fear. May this be the start of a perfect life for all of us."
Maddy's stomach did a somersault as their three cups clinked. "For all of us."
Read excerpts of Just Perfect and Too Perfect at Julie's Website
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Table of Contents
Bonus Content
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Epilogue
Return To Pearl Island
Part Three
Falling For You
by Julie Ortolon
Chapter 1
Lead Me On
by Julie Ortolon
Chapter 1
Almost Perfect
by Julie Ortolon
Don't Tempt Me Page 33
