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“Hi!” Tori’s voice was a breath of fresh air.
Now what? Miranda pulled her lips into her mouth, her shoulders tense and hard. What did she say now? “I just picked up Rebel.”
“Yeah? Kind of late, isn’t it?”
“I got stuck at the funeral home. We had a body come in.”
“Ah.” Tori didn’t seem quite as happy as she did before.
A heavy weight rested on Miranda’s chest. She’d called for one reason, and that was to complain. But did she really want to do that?
“I talked to Tierney.”
“Do you want to come over?”
They spoke at the same time. Miranda winced. But not for the first time since she’d met Tori, she went with her gut. “Yes.”
“Come over then. I’ll have some dinner ready. We can have some drinks. Siena will be by to pick up Harley in a couple of hours after her date. Then it’ll be you, me, and Rebel.”
Rebel. Right. She was asleep in the back seat of the car. Miranda rubbed her lips together, debating whether or not to just go home and let her sleep. But she took the next exit on the highway and circled back toward Tori’s apartment.
“I can be there in fifteen.”
“See you then.”
Miranda’s stomach was awash with nerves. What was she doing? Tori wasn’t her friend. Despite the few times they had gotten together and the conversations they’d had, times when Miranda had shared more than she had with anyone else in her life. It was just her, not Tori. It was because she was trying to contain so much in her life and couldn’t keep it all bottled inside. That’s all it was.
When she arrived at Tori’s apartment complex, Rebel stirred. Thankfully. She pulled the toddler from her car seat and snagged the diaper bag at the last minute. Stashing that in the car had been a tip and investment well worth her time. She’d used it several times already.
Balancing everything, Miranda made her way to Tori’s front door. As soon as she reached it, the scents from whatever Tori was cooking inside hit her. It smelled amazing. Tori answered the door in a pair of tight jeans, an even tighter shirt with a V-neck and buttons that showed off her ample cleavage, her dark hair pulled back into a ponytail, her eyes bright, and a dish towel hung over her shoulder.
“Hey,” Tori said, her voice full of sunshine.
“Hey.” Miranda shifted the bubbly Rebel on her hip. She was getting too big to be carried around everywhere, but Miranda hadn’t found another way to contain Rebel so she wouldn’t run off.
“Dinner’s almost ready.”
“It smells amazing.” She put Rebel down, and immediately, she and Harley went to the living room to continue playing with whatever toy Harley had out. The girls chattered together, Harley talking and Rebel making noises.
Tori took Miranda by the wrist and led her toward the kitchen. She had a drink ready for her, and it wasn’t wine. Miranda sniffed it. “What is this?”
“Vodka. You sounded like you could use something a bit stronger than wine on the phone.”
“I can.” Miranda sighed into the drink as she took her first sip.
Tori went back to work on dinner, her hips swaying as she moved to a rhythm all her own at the stove. “You said you talked to Tierney.”
“That’s a word for it. She talked. I avoided. Pretty typical.” Why couldn’t she take her eyes off Tori’s ass? It looked perfect in those jeans.
“What did she say?”
“She’s onto someone named Marcus. No clue who he is, but she went down to meet with Jason. So, new man, new day.”
“Oh.” Tori threw a look over her shoulder with a frown on her lips.
“She’s going to Cancun,” Miranda added, dropping her gaze back down to Tori’s ass. Would it be firm? Soft? The skin would be hot under her fingers, that much she could guarantee.
“Cancun?”
