“Got a little busy, did you?” Kiki laughed.
“Sobusy.”
“Where is she now?”
“She went for a run while I was still asleep. Left me a note.”
“Does it have a heart on it?”
“It does.”
Kiki barked a laugh. “OMG, you two have it bad.”
And now Regan was laughing, too. “Right? It’s outrageous how this has all transpired.”
“It really is.” Kiki’s expression slid back into seriousness. “Just be careful, love. Okay? I know you really like her, but take care of you, yeah?”
“Yeah. I will. Promise.”
They caught up on a few more things and then Regan spent a hilarious moment talking to Artie on FaceTime. The cat could not have looked more bored if he’d tried, and it only made Regan laugh. She finally said her goodbyes and hung up, and not two minutes later, the door opened and Ava walked in.
Jesus fucking Christ.
Flushed and glistening and still a teeny bit out of breath, and holy shit, Ava looked good enough to eat.
“Nope.” Ava held up a finger and chuckled softly. “I know that look, but I ran into both Becca and Hadley downstairs and they’re both waiting for us so they can help with our big ideas.” She toed off her running shoes, then strode to Regan’s bed and grasped her chin in one hand. “We have no time for hanky-panky.” She kissed Regan’s mouth, and her lips tasted salty. “Sadly.” She headed for the bathroom. “I’m gonna shower.” She stopped with the door almost closed, met Regan’s gaze, and said, “You look really cute when you just wake up.”
The door clicked shut.
Regan flopped back onto the bed with a groan and the goofiest grin on her face. She could feel it. “This woman is gonna be the death of me,” she whispered to the empty room. “I just know it.”
* * *
Hadley had proven to be a good assistant in the kitchen, but she was an even better brainstormer. She and Regan had been in Regan and Ava’s room for the whole morning and well into the afternoon, trying to come up with a bake that represented her joy in July Fourth for tomorrow’s contest.
They’d finalized their idea around four o’clock.
“I think this is gonna be awesome,” Hadley said, sifting through the papers spread out on the floor between the foot of Regan’s bed and the foot of Ava’s.
Regan scanned them all: lists, sketches, idea notes, visualizing the cake, the cream puffs, the tiny apple pies, the sugar art…It was a lot. But if they could pull it off, it’d be amazing. A July Fourth picnic made of desserts, complete with a lawn, an American flag with rainbow stripes to add some Pride, a picnic table, and fireworks.
“Baked art isn’t my forte,” Regan said. “I’m better at standard desserts that look like they’re supposed to, not like something else entirely.” She looked up at Hadley and grinned. “But if we can pull this off, it’s gonna be pretty fucking cool.”
“We can totally pull it off.” Hadley held up a hand for a high five, and Regan slapped it. “Nice work, Chef.”
“We’ll see.” Regan started piling the papers and closed her laptop. “I’m starving. Food?”
“Are you kidding? My stomach has started eating itself.”
Regan tossed their work in a haphazard pile on her bed and they headed downstairs.
The teams had scattered that morning. Vienna was in her and Maia’s room, while Maia was in the living room to the right of the stairs. Paige and her assistant sat at one end of the dining room table, and through the window, Regan could see Ava and Becca sitting in the grass, a laptop in Ava’s lap and a notebook in Becca’s. They weren’tclose enough for Regan to make out expressions, other than Ava wasn’t exactly smiling, but then Becca said something and gave her a nudge and there was that smile.
The buffet table had an array of food and drinks, from sandwiches and chips to cookies and muffins. Bottles of water, cans of soda, beer, and wine were also available, the wine on the buffet, the bottles and cans in a large bucket of ice on its own stand next to it. Regan grabbed a bottle of water first, cracked it open, and took a long drink from it, not realizing just how thirsty she was until the first sip hit her lips. Chocolate chip muffin in hand, she sat down at the table just as Paige closed her notebook and smiled at her assistant, whose name Regan couldn’t pull from her brain.
“Success?” she asked.
Paige shrugged and gave her an uncertain smile. “I think so? What about you two?”
