Fool for Love (High Rise) Read Online Free PDF Page A

honoured.” Maddie could tell Isabella wasn’t joking—and she completely understood. “Stop by any time.”
    “Should I make an appointment?” Nat sipped from her glass, but kept her eyes on Isabella.
    “Depends.” Isabella uncrossed her legs and bent over so her elbows rested on her knees, her face inches away from Nat’s. “Does your soul need healing?”
    Maybe Maddie had been too paranoid. Perhaps tonight wasn’t about getting her and Alex better acquainted. Isabella seemed to have an agenda of her own.
    “There’s not enough money and time in the world to heal Orange’s dysfunctional psyche. Her debut was based on a true story, you know,” Alex said.  
    Maddie’s awe spiked. Not just because of Alex's sharp tongue, but mostly because My Family , Nathalie’s first novel that had won a slew of prizes when it was published seven years ago, was one of her favourite books.
    “Alex is right.” Nat kept her eyes glued to Isabella. “I may have some mommy issues.” She slanted her upper body forward until her nose almost touched Isabella’s. “Can you fix me, Doc?”
    “I have time for an extra client tomorrow. Why don’t you stop by around noon and find out?”
    “I’m starting to feel like the third wheel.” Alex turned to Maddie. “I hadn’t seen this coming.” She looked into her almost empty glass. “That must be some Scotch.”
    Maddie took that as her cue to pour them a refill. “I don’t know about you, but this is the most fun I’ve had in ages.” She looked Alex in the eyes. “Then again, my life has been lacking some excitement lately.”
    “Being a banker is not all it’s cracked up to be?”
    Maddie chuckled. “It’s more my private life that’s been a real mess.”
    “Same here.” Before Alex looked away, Maddie could clearly spot the pain in her glance.
    When Alex lifted her head back up, the sparkle in her eyes had returned. “Is Isabella even gay?” She whispered.
    Maddie sighed. “It’s complicated.”
    “It always is.”
    Concurring with a swift nod, Maddie leaned back and took a healthy gulp of champagne. Isabella and Nat continued their flirting match, but Maddie soon found herself losing interest—in favour of the pretty half-Chinese girl sitting next to her.
    Alex and Maddie finished the bottle of Veuve Clicquot, while Nat opted for doubles every time Isabella topped up their glasses with more of her fine Scotch.
    When Alex and Nat said their goodbyes an hour later, Maddie hugged Alex tighter than social elegance dictated and breathed in deeply to commit the fresh scent of her skin to memory.
    “You may see me in one of your classes tomorrow,” she whispered in Alex's ear before releasing her from her arms.
    “If it keeps you out of the office.” Something simmered in Alex's eyes when she said it. “I look forward to it.”

    ALEX

    Alex woke up with a start and frantically searched for her alarm clock in the dark. Half a bottle of champagne and she wasn’t herself in the morning. The red digits told her it was only five a.m. Plenty of time before her nine o’clock session. She turned on her belly and closed her eyes again. Ten seconds later she knew she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep again, and if, by chance she did, she’d be too groggy to get up in time for work. She settled on her back and that’s when she heard the noise.
    Soft moans mingled with high-pitched giggles penetrated through the thin wall between her and Nat’s room.
    “For heaven’s sake,” she whispered in the darkness. “So bloody predictable.”
    It was hard to determine Isabella’s exact age but Alex estimated it to be about twenty years above Nat’s limit of interest. Despite flirting readily with the psychiatrist last night—as she did with everyone—Alex was certain it wasn’t the regal penthouse inhabitant producing those yelps of pleasure in Nat’s bed.
    Spurred on by too much single malt, Nat had gone out after they arrived back at their flat, into the