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She didn&039;t sleep, nor had she expected to Instead, she put the bubbling energy to good use She worked on kitchen ether some pocket charave herself aand clipping the flowers she wanted for store decoration When she arrived at Cafe Book at eight, her energy level showed no signs of waning Nell, dependable as sunrise, arrived at nine, loaded with supplies
"You look incredible," Nell said as Mia helped her transport boxes and containers
"I feel incredible It&039;s going to be a good day"
"Mia" Nell set the cake box on the refreshment table "I trust you But it&039;s just not like you to be so casual about what happened last night That level of on by the tail," Mia finished "I take what happened very seriously I have to ride this wave, little sister Physically, I really don&039;t have a choice It doesn&039;t lib, or that I don&039;t know that what&039;s coht More like a herd of theht I felt the edge of it whip throughNow you&039;re setting up
for a book signing as if it&039;s theyou have to do"
"Today it is" She took one of Nell&039;s apple fritters froh to eat It&039;s a ine you did, very skillfully, with Zack last night" She smiled a little as she bit into the pastry "I&039;ve had a lot of practice finding ways other than sex to route mine You could serve canapes off ht you and Sahtfully, Mia licked sugar fros to do"
"After you left, Mac took readings from Sam Sam didn&039;t like it Zack had to insult hi the size and sta him Mary"
"Ah, yes" Mia chuckled and nibbled "Always effective"
"Sah as yours"
Still ravenous, Mia contemplated another fritter "Really?"
"Mac&039;s theory, or one of theround zero and absorbed so around Now, of course, he wants to wait a few days and then get readings froave in, took the second pastry, and told herself she&039;d do an extra hour of yoga later "Sam wouldn&039;t care for that"
"No, he didn&039;t like it Butto cooperate Mac&039;s very persuasive, and he used you"
"Me?"
"Any data are essential, every scrap of inforet ertips, adive anyone the iht that I needed protection?"
"They&039;re ood humor
"Can&039;t live with them, can&039;t turn them into jackasses"
With preparations at Cafe Book well under control, Mia went down to meet the ten o&039;clock ferry She noted that Pete Stubens&039;s dog had gotten off the leash again and was racing around the docks with the re out of his ined that he and his creould be unloading a fresher,over and asking him to set aside some of it for her There was little doubt that by the end of the day her appetite would be just as keen as it was now
"Hi, Miz Devlin" Dennis Ripley skidded his bike to a halt inches in front of the open toes of Mia&039;s Pradas
"Hi, Mister Ripley"
The boy grinned, as he always did Growing like a weed, Mia thought, and well into the gangly-are In a couple of years, shein some secondhand car instead of on his bike
And the ideato your store today to see that writer lady"
"I&039;lad to hear it"
"My aunt Pat works at the hotel, and she says they&039;ve got a fancy room for her, with a whirlpool tub and a TV set in the bathroom"
"Is that so?"
"She says writers ine so His books are cool Maybe I&039;ll write a book and you can sell it in your store"
"Then we&039;ll both get rich" She pulled down the bill of his ball cap and h Gotta go"
He shot off, whistling for Pete&039;s dog, who raced after him Mia turned to watch them, and there stood Sam
Neither spoke for a moment, but the air seean"
"Excuse ripped the back of her dress in a fist, and crushed his mouth down on hers
And the air see that last night"
"Today works" Her lips vibrated from the heat of hi inside her, and watched the ferry chug its way toward the dock "Ferry&039;s on tiht"
"Yes, we need to talk about a nus But not today"
"Tomorrow, then We should both be a little lessdistracted"
"Is that a euphe herself, and stepped forward as the ferry docked A black sedan eased down the gangplank, steered to the side Before the driver could walk around to open the door, a pretty blonde popped out of the backseat
She gave a laughing shout, then rushed forward and all but jumped into Sam&039;s arms The kiss was audible, an extendedsound at the end
"God! It&039;s good to see you! How did you ? I can&039;t believe I&039;otten h a week of book tour wars Let&039;s have another kiss"
Oh, yes, let&039;s, Mia thought dryly as she watched the exchange Caroline Tru of sunny blond hair curved around a pretty elfin face, warmed by honey-brown eyes and dominated by a shapely pink mouth A mouth that, Mia noted, was currently fused to Sah school cheerleader, though her bio put her at thirty-six The bio had neglected to an had been lovers
"Tellyou&039;ve been up to," Caroline demanded "I can&039;t wait to see your hotel There has to be tireat! The book signing will probably be a dud - God knohy they schedule in these little holes-in-the-wall - so I can cut out early We&039;ll go to the beach"
"You still talk tooher shoulders a squeeze "Welcome to Three Sisters Caroline, this is Mia Devlin, the owner of Cafe Book"
"Oops" Caroline turned her cheerful smile on Mia "I do talk too ning" She took Mia&039;s hand, pumped "I&039;m just all wired up Haven&039;t seen Sexy here for over six allon of coffee already thisme"
"It&039;s our pleasure," Mia said in a voice so smooth it rip "I hope the trip froreat I - "
"Then I&039;ll just add o so you can settle in If there&039;s anything you need, you can reach al nod and walked away
"Oh, ouch" Caroline rapped a fist against her forehead "I&039;m such a moron Brilliant author-bookseller relations"
"Don&039;t worry about it," Saet you settled at the hotel I think you&039;re going to like your suite"
An hour later, Sa of hellfire and walked into Cafe Book
"Upstairs," Lulu called out as she busily rang up sales "And she&039;s on a tear"
He found her giving instructions to the part-time clerk at the auxiliary checkout counter She didn&039;t look like a woht, but like a coolly efficient business owner taking care of details But then, Lulu knew her all too well
She moved away to replenish stock that customers had already taken fro in?"
"Yes, she&039;s changing I&039; back shortly to take her to lunch"
"I hope our little signing doesn&039;t interfere too much with the social aspects of your reunion"
"Can we take this somewhere a littlea professional smile as a woman took another book off the display "Be sure to fill out the forhout the event,"
she told the woman "As you can see," she said to Sa with my pesky event in my little hole-in-the-wall to chat with you"
"She didn&039;t mean to insult you, Mia"
"Not to my face, in any case There&039;s no need for you to explain your friend to est you join us for lunch" He didn&039;t flinch at the long, slow stare she aimed at him
"Give her a chance to smooth over the aard first ie that, but I don&039;t have the time or the inclination And I certainly don&039;t intend to be part of any little ht First things first "Caroline and I haven&039;t been involved in that way for a long ti like that in the ed hiroup of tourists ere currently goggling "Goodfor our event this afternoon" She picked up a book to show then her latest"
By the ti the paperback display, he was gone
"Dud,she&039;s going to forget I ever had , Caroline"
"I can&039;t" She poked at her Cobb salad "And it&039;ll hurt otten that aboutto win her over before I&039;m finished You&039;ll see"
"Eat your lunch"
"I&039;m nervous She "
"You always babble" He nudged the coffee aside, nudged up her salad bowl
"No, I chatter Babbling&039;s different She&039;s the one, isn&039;t she?"
"The one what?"
"The one you were always hung up on" With her head angled to the side, Caroline studied hiether"
"Yes, she&039;s the one How&039;s Mike doing?"
"Ah" She wiggled her fingers so she could see the glint of her wedding ring It was still new And though it was the second she&039;d worn, she was deterreat Misses o I&039; him back here for a vacation It&039;s wonderful And," she added, "you changed the subject to distract me You don&039;t want to talk about Mia Devlin"
"You look wonderful, Caroline Happy, successful I really enjoyed your new book"
"Okay, on&039;t talk about her You&039;re really not co back"
"Well" She glanced around the dining rooot a hell of a place here"
She studied the portrait of the three wolance at Sam But when he simply continued to eat, she tossed her napkin on the table "I&039;ve got to get over there andto be able to settle down"
"I don&039;t believe I&039;ve ever seen you settled down" But he rose, signaled to the waiter "You&039;ve got tie"
"No, let&039;s just do it I&039;ll go over to sign stock now and look around later"
He led her through the lobby and out onto the sidewalk
"Terrific building," she said, scanning Cafe Book She squared her shoulders, sucked in a breath
"Okay, let&039;s do it"
"She&039;s not going to claw you, Caroline" He waited for a break in the traffic, guided her across the street "She wants this event to be successful as much as you do"
"Brother, you don&039;t know females" Caroline stepped inside, blinked "Wow! What a place! Dream bookstore And I&039;m everywhere Jesus, Sam, it&039;s packed I can&039;t believe I called this place rinky-dink"
"You didn&039;t Your terht Did I mention I was a moron?"
"Yes, I think you did Lulu, this is Caroline Trued up a sale, stuck out her hand "I&039;ve been ringing up your books like they were going out of style I read the new one last week It had a good punch"
"Thanks I love the store" She turned in a circle "I want to live here Oh! Look at those candles Sam, I need tenfondly as she whipped through the aisles It took fifteen ed to head her upstairs
"Well, you made Lulu like you," he commented
"That was just a side benefit Her stock is so smart - not just the selection of books, which is impressive, but the sidelines too Class all the way And look at this"
She stopped at the top of the stairs, dazzled
The croas already thick The cafe tables were packed, as were the rows of chairs Over the hum of conversation, she heard Mia&039;s smooth voice announce her name and the time of the event
"It&039;s a wonder she didn&039;t kick me out," Caroline murmured "There must be a hundred people up here"