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No worries. See you tomorrow.
I tossed my phone on my bed with a disappointed sigh. From the kitchen came the ding of the timer, reminding me to take the lasagnas out of the oven. I cheered up slightly. The lasagnas smelled delicious. Not as delicious as Michael, but still. If I couldn’t have orgasms then at least I could have cheesy pasta. Maybe I’d open a bottle of wine, change into my coziest pajamas, and watch thePrincess Bridefor the millionth time.
Or…
There was no reason I had to wait until tomorrow to deliver the lasagna to Suzie, was there? I could bring it by this evening, and Suzie could either serve it up for dinner or stick it in the freezer. I could bring it right now, in fact.
I wrapped both lasagnas in tin foil, shoved mine in the fridge for reheating later, and threw on jeans and a sweater. It wasn’t the sexy ensemble I had been planning to greet Michael with, but it would have to do. Anyway, the sweater matched the blue of my eyes, and I thought he would appreciate that.
Suzie was outside when I pulled up to the farmhouse. Technically, it was right next door to my Victorian, but here “next door” meant a good two miles of dirt road.
“Nora!” she exclaimed. “What a nice surprise. What’s this?” she asked as I handed her the foil-wrapped pan.
“Lasagna. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do for new mothers? Bring them casseroles and sh—where are the kids?”
“Inside, doing their own thing mostly. I just put Carly and Andy to bed. You can curse as much as you like.”
I grinned. “Fucking awesome.”
Suzie laughed. “This is so nice of you. We’ve been eating mostly take out and frozen pizza, not gonna lie.” She pulled me into a hug. “Thank you so much.”
Over my shoulder, I spotted Michael and Sam in the backyard. I waved, hoping he noticed me, even though the whole thing was pathetic and hopeless. At best, we would have maybe five minutes together. I couldn’t even kiss him hello, not with Suzie standing right there. But I wanted to get close enough to smell him. Just for a moment. That wasn’t too much to ask, was it?
He stared at me like I was a mirage. Then he dropped the saw.
“We need a girls’ night,” Suzie said. “You, me, Kate. Emma, too, if she can get a night off from Holiday House. Well, girls plus baby, because it’s easier to take him with me than pump.”
“Right,” I said. Michael was halfway across the yard. It felt like he was moving in slow motion.
“Maybe this weekend? I bet I could convince Sam to solo parent the kids for two hours, if we timed everything so Andy would be fed and asleep. Let them all watch a movie in their jammies or something. Or do you have interviews scheduled?”
“Right,” I said again. Sam hollered something to Michael. He stopped and turned.No, no, no.
“What does right mean? This weekend would work or you have interviews?”
Michael broke into a slow jog.Hurry, hurry. I didn’t know why it felt so urgent that he be within touching distance right this very second, but it did. “Sure.”
“I don’t get it,” Suzie said.
I didn’t answer. Michael reached us and came to an abrupt halt. His hands went to his hips, then he crossed his arms, then they were back to his hips again. “Hi, Nora.”
He was sweaty and beautiful and I nearly sobbed from the simultaneous feeling of relief at finally being close to him again and the unbearable tension of not being close enough.
Suzie tilted her head and frowned at me. “Are you okay, Nora?”
I tore my gaze from Michael. “Yes, I’m fine. I don’t have any interviews this weekend.” Just so everyone was clear on that.
“Perfect. We can do girls’ night on Friday.” Suzie handed Michael the lasagna. “Can you stick this in the freezer?”
“Girls’ night?” He gave me a look that said exactly what he thought about this plan, none of it good. “Didn’t you say you were…doing something?” His eyes burned into mine so hotly that he might as well have had a neon sign on his forehead that flashed the wordsMy Dick.
Oh, god. My palms began to sweat. “Right. I, um, have to work late Friday?”
There. I was officially a garbage human being. I had lied to my best friend in order to get out of girls’ night so I could bang her brother. It was wrong on so many levels I didn’t know where to start.
“That’s fine. We can meet after,” Suzie said cheerfully. “I’ll make sure Andy is down for the night first so Sam doesn’t have to worry about feeding him. Until two a.m., I mean. But he usually sleeps for a solid chunk from seven until then.”
Michael gave me an unhappy look.
