Maddie moaned.

A cough sounded.

Maddie almost jumped out of her skin. She opened her eyes, and Elena quickly stepped back.

Simon. With a look that was way too smug. Great. He’d tease her about this forever.

Maddie fixed her best polite face, annoyed at how warm her face felt. “Ah. Not quite how I’d hoped you’d first meet, but Simon Itani, meet Elena Bartell. Elena, Simon.”

“Charmed.” He waggled his eyebrows. Given his hands were full with a surfboard and towel bag, at least he didn’t try and kiss her hand or something else desperately uncool. It was dodgy enough he was wearing a pair of floral board shorts, “Dad” sandals, and a faded Big Bang Theory T-shirt.

Elena took one long, supremely satisfied look at him and neatened her lipstick with her finger. “Well, hello.” Her purred tone was so sultry it made Maddie’s ovaries do a flip. “The audacious Simon at last.”

“Me? Audacious?” He laughed.

“Your fashion choices gave you away.” Her eyes sparkled, as though daring him to meet her challenge.

Simon grinned, looking completely unfazed. “So, the intimidating Elena Bartell. Although I gotta say, you’re a lot less intimidating now I’ve seen your hand on my best friend’s—”

“Great!” Maddie jumped in with a panicked cheerfulness. “Okay, um, so we will all catch up properly real soon. Good luck at work today, Elena. Simon, get your ass inside.” She shot him a glare.

He laughed far too hard, as he pushed past her and disappeared into her apartment, closing the door behind him.

“Sorry about him,” Maddie said. “Sometimes I forget he’s all boy brain.”

“Oh, but I can’t disagree with him. I did have my hand on certain body parts that were far too tempting.”

Maddie shook her head. “You’re impossible. And I’m missing you already. Wish I could spend more time with you this weekend. We could, um, talk some more.” She felt warm all over thinking about how that “conversation” would go.

Elena leaned forward and gave her a chaste peck on the cheek. “Have fun at the beach. Why not come over after you’re done? Rosetta will doubtlessly love to see you again. I suspect she will stuff you full of more fudge cake. You could even do some work from my place if you like. Then we could extend our discussion more when I get home.”

“That sounds great.”

Elena left her with a look so smouldering that Maddie slumped heavily against the door. “Bye,” she whispered to the now empty hall.

“Hey, Mads?” came the muffled voice through her door a few moments later.

“Yeah, Simon?”

“When you’re done swooning, can we go to the beach?” His voice rose to a whine.

She rolled her eyes. “What makes you think I’m swooning?”

“Hello? I have met your girlfriend. And almost slipped in a puddle of her charisma.”

Maddie smiled at the empty hall. Girlfriend. Elena Bartell was her girlfriend. Wow.

* * *

“You know, I’m starting to get sick of your attitude.” Maddie, sprawled on the couch with a laptop on her chest, gave a petulant look. “Always so superior. You walk all over me, and I just put up with it.”

Oscar ignored her pointed glare and resumed stalking up and down her thighs and stomach before finally shoving his long nose over the edge of her laptop.

“You wouldn’t care if I was writing a Pulitzer Prize story,” Maddie complained. “And you get away with it because you’re cute.”

Leaning forward, Oscar licked her cheek.

“Oh I get it. Think you can use your charm on me?”

Oscar batted the back of her laptop screen with his head, causing it to close over onto her hands.

“Fine! You win.” Maddie shut her machine and placed it on the coffee table. She gave the dog a thorough scratch behind his red ears.

Oscar flopped onto her chest and closed his eyes.

“Lemme guess, you’re going to fall asleep on me, and I won’t be able to move for three hours? Because pet rules apply? What if I had a big deadline, did you ever think of that?”

Oscar blinked back at her. He showed no signs of budging.

“You’re irresistible and you know it.” Maddie sighed. Her fingers threaded Oscar’s beautiful fur, and she smiled. “Just like your mistress.”

“My ears are burning.”

Maddie glanced up to find Elena leaning against the door, arms folded and an amused look on her face.

“Well, I see you’ve finally learned the house rules,” Elena added. “It’s Oscar’s way or Oscar’s way. You should be honoured. He doesn’t like many people. Looks like he’s well and truly claimed you.”

“Maybe Oscar just has good taste.”

“No argument from me.” Elena walked over to her and gently pushed Maddie’s feet along the couch, making way to sit beside her. “I was hoping you’d be here.”

“Miss me?”

Elena gave a long-suffering sigh. “It turns out you’re such a distracting influence that it was easier to just come home and get my work done here, than sit at work thinking about you on my Saturday.”

A warmth suffused Maddie, and she found herself grinning stupidly. She loved it when Elena said things like that. She always looked so sincere. “That’s my evil plan. To lure you to my side and love you to death. How’s it working out so far?”

“I’d say it’s the most cunning takeover bid I’ve ever seen. I’m impressed.”

Maddie gave Oscar another rub behind his ears. “I wish I could be as brilliant in all other areas.” She glared at her laptop.

“Ah. How’s your latest story coming along? Need a second set of eyes to read it?”

“That’d be good. Later, though, when I’m not drowning in conflicting timelines. Right now I can’t even work out what the agreed facts are.”

“You’ll figure it out. You’re good at this.”

“Good at storytelling?”