She fell into bed, slept, and woke hours later to darkness and her bedside phone ringing. Crap. She hadn't texted Charlie, or anyone, to say she'd arrived home. She snatched up the receiver. "Hello?"
"Well about bloody freaking time. Where the bloody hell have you been and why didn't you call me?" Maddy's voice filled her ear.
Christine fell back against the pillows. "Hi Maddy, had a delay so I didn't get home until a bit ago."
"Well bugger, what, cell phones and internet don't work? You went down on some deserted island? I've been bloody worried about you, Christie. Fine thing to do to a mate, making me worry half sick."
"Stop, you did not." Christine pulled her cell phone off the nightstand and texted Home and fine. Talk soon to Charlie and her children. "I needed a shower and sleep. I meant to call as soon as I got up."
"Well, you're up now so tell me what's going on." Maddy demanded. "What sort of delay? It's been like three days."
"No, it hasn't. Oh wait, time differences and all, yes, I guess it has. I'm so sorry for worrying you." Christine yawned. "Sorry, jet lag, getting adjusted back to east coast time and all. I'm still out of sorts."
"How's Charlie?"
"How did you find out the plane had engine problems and we had to land in Hawaii?" Christine bolted upright.
"I'm a seer." Maddy cleared her throat. "Story on the news actually. So, give me all the details. Sex god poet in bed too?"
"Geez, I'm not even awake and you want to talk sex." Christine thought of Charlie's hands and mouth on her. "I did things I never thought I could, felt ways I didn't believe my body could feel over and over. I became some wild woman."
Maddy whistled. "I get the picture. You got bloody adventurous, he went along, and you liked it."
"Oh yeah." Christine stretched and realized her muscles ached in delicious places. "He's wonderful, fabulous, absolutely amazing and I think," She burst into tears.
Maddy let the storm rage and waited until Christine reduced to mere hiccups. "So you had great sex, but it was more than simple sex, and now you aren't bloody sure what to do next."
"Damn, how did you nail exactly what I'm thinking?" Christine reached for a tissue then kept the box on her lap.
"We've been friends a long while. You're always aware when Mark's a bloody wanker and ticking me off, always more in my mind than I am." Maddy laughed softly. "What shook you most? The sex or realizing you want him in your life as more than a friend?"
"It's...it's never been this way before." Christine swallowed. "I married Randy, had his children, yet he never made me feel like this. I have no idea what the heck Charlie thinks now or even how he feels."
"How did you leave things?" Maddy sighed. "Wait. You're this upset because, let me guess, you two didn't exactly do much talking?"
"Not really. I said thanks for everything and take care." Christine sniffed and wiped her nose. "We didn't talk about the future or meeting again."
"Well, bloody hell. What did you expect the man to say if y'all didn't say anything more? Did you expect him on one knee, declaring undying love for all eternity?"
"No. Yes. How the hell should I know? I haven't done this before. I have no clue where I'm going or what to do." Christine twisted the damp tissue around her finger. "And I didn't think until after I got on the plane and left."
"You just enjoyed. He made you big O and all?"
Christine shifted even though Maddy and she talked about anything. "Um, yes, God, yes. Lots."
Maddy laughed. "Oh, you got well and truly laid. Saved a horse and rode a cowboy laid. Well, rode a Hawaiian. Did you reverse cowgirl or something more erotic?"
"Maddy!" Christine fanned herself with the tissue.
"Hun, hate to be bloody crude, but I call a spade a spade. The mystery of what sex between the two of you would be like is no longer a mystery. You don't know if it was all sex for sex's sake or if you're friends who happen to have great sex. Or if there's more."
"Get out of my head." Christine threw the tissue on the floor. "Why even ask if you already have the answers? And how do you have the answers?"
Maddy's voice became gentle, a rarity for her. "You're not the one-night stand type of woman nor are you a causal sex type. You never have been, never will be. You've been with what, two men now? You were married to one, so of course you wonder what sex with the other meant."
"You were the one who urged me to take the chance and be a dare devil." Christine shoved at her hair.
"I told you, I'm a seer. Course, I don't have to be psychic to see how you feel about him. Don't you think Charlie is familiar enough with you to see you'd never have casual sex?"
Christine shook her head though Maddy couldn't possibly see. "It doesn't feel real, more like I dreamed, landed in some fantasy or something, and then the next morning he became so distant like he couldn't wait to get away from me."