“Woman,” Sherry ended the sentence. “Of course it was weird, but I just tried to ignore it. What else could I do?” To be honest, all thoughts had fled the minute her lips touched Madison’s. That wasn’t really a bad thing. It was her job, and she was being well paid to do it. And it wasn’t as if she had enjoyed kissing Madison. Not really.

“How would you describe it?” Rita Mae asked. “I mean, the difference between kissing a man and a woman?”

“Rita Mae, this is part of my job. Like if I was an actress. I didn’t feel anything, and I wasn’t really paying attention to how it felt.” Okay, that was a lie, but there was no way in hell she would admit it had felt good. Good? Maybe that was too strong a word for it, but it could have been worse.

“You’re no actress.” Tilting her head, Rita Mae studied her thoughtfully. “You like her.”

Sherry shifted on the suddenly uncomfortable stool. “I wouldn’t go that far, but she isn’t as bad as I had originally thought in the beginning. Don’t laugh, but I think she’s been out of luck until now.”

“Ha! I wouldn’t mind being out of luck like that if it would bring me as much money.” Rita Mae gestured from the kitchen to the living room. “Look around. She’s a spoiled brat who’s never had to grow up. She has everything she could wish for and doesn’t even see it.”

“Does she really have everything?” Madison was wealthy, but that didn’t make her a happy woman. Happy people didn’t spend their life having meaningless encounters with strangers and running from party to party. The urge to defend Madison surprised her. But she couldn’t help it—she had to. “She’s giving us a great opportunity.” That Sherry had more or less been forced into this was a flaw she chose to ignore for now.

“I’ll go get Jake so that we can have breakfast.” Not that she was all too eager to eat after their conversation. Without giving Rita Mae a chance to ask more questions, Sherry stood and hurried to the hall.

Madison was at her coat rack, rummaging through one of her jackets. “Oh, um, hi.”

“Were you eavesdropping on us?”

Madison’s hands fell to her sides. “I doubt your chitchat was that interesting. I was just, um, searching for something.”

“And what, if I may ask?”

“You may not. But if you must know, I was searching for my, uh, wallet.”

Sherry took a step toward the coat rack, reached into Madison’s jacket, and pulled out the wallet that had visibly bunched out the inner pocket. “I don’t appreciate people eavesdropping.”