for you,” she paused, realization dawning on her. “This is for Allie!”
He glared at her then pointedly looked at his watch. “Allie’s late. Looks like that extra piece of French toast is up for grabs!”
“Seriously?” Mia exclaimed, looking at her phone. “In the six years I’ve known her, she has never been late. Not once! It’s always been me. God! This is so not fair!”
“Mia, just eat,” Ethan ordered.
“Nooo … I still have baby weight to lose.”
“No, you don’t,” he said with a frustrated shake of his head. Her accelerated weight loss journey didn’t make sense to him.
“Yes, I do. I still have ten pounds to go.”
Her husband rolled his eyes at her as he fixed his coffee. “Mia, you look beautiful.”
“Please don’t go back to being skin and bones again,” Luke added.
“I was not skin and bones,” she said defensively. “There was a lot of muscle on this body.”
“Very true,” Ethan agreed with a wink. “Though I do love how you look …” He leaned down and whispered the rest, “and feel now.”
Those words of his made her ache for him to finish what he’d started earlier.
“Stop stressing about it, Mia,” her husband added.
“A half piece then.” Her way of conceding. “Plus the five miles tonight.”
Luke
It was fifteen minutes later when a haggard looking Allie finally arrived. Mia had been placing the food on the table when Allie came through the mud room door.
“Where the hell have you been?” Mia asked, trying to be stern but failing miserably. God, he loved his adorable best friend, Luke thought, trying not to laugh. “This is the first time you’ve been late. Ever!”
Allie glanced around the room before she addressed Mia. She didn’t look well. Her eyes looked haunted which threw off her usual confident demeanor. There was none of that right now.
“Fashionably late?” Allie offered. Mia rolled her eyes hard at her before crossing the room and wrapping Allie in her arms. “Sorry. Bad morning,” Allie added, hugging Mia back.
“Wanna talk about it?” she asked quietly.
Allie met Luke’s eyes and he was shocked at the pain he saw there. “No. It’s all right. I’m starving and it smells so good in here,” she said, disengaging from Mia’s arms.
Luke saw the indecision on Mia’s face. She must have seen that look in Allie’s eyes too and it set off her friend-in-trouble alarm. “Allie,” Mia called out again. The other woman gave a swift shake of her head, so much said in that single gesture. He wished he knew how to decipher their silent communication.
Turning away from Mia, Allie placed her bag on a stool and went about making herself an espresso. Mia gave Allie the space she seemed to need and pulled the covers off the food and with that Luke’s stomach led his body.
The foursome gathered around the table and dug into the wonderful food Mia had prepared. Breakfast wasn’t a quiet affair, though no one discussed the reason why they were all there. There was always lots of laughter when Mia and Ethan were at the table. She loved to tease her husband … as well as her best friend, but Luke and Ethan teased her right back.
Luke had been worried for a while about them, but the two had worked through their problems and seemed so much happier.
As they should be.
“So, what’s the word, Luke? Got my nanny in that pile of papers?” Mia asked, gesturing to the stack of folders next to him.
“I think so,” he said, handing her the files. “My favorite is on top.”
Mia went for the top file first and as she looked it over, a smile flirted with her mouth. He knew why too. He knew what his best friend wanted. “Bring these five in,” she said, sliding the files to Ethan. “Now … my studio, tell me it’s gonna start soon. Please?”
“Monday,” Allie answered with a grin.
“Shut up! Really?” Mia asked, joyous surprise covering her face. It had been awhile since he had seen that big smile of hers.
“Yes, expect a lot of noise next week.”
“Oh my God! That’s awesome news! What about leads on the PA?”
“Still working on that. I haven’t found any candidates that could put up with you.”
“Hey!”
“You are very demanding.”
“Well, I have a very demanding job with lots of demands,” Mia explained … or tried to.
“That sounds like crap,” Luke said.
“Bite me!”
“God, more demands!”
“Luke, stop!” Mia exclaimed, trying not to laugh.
“I never realized just how demanding you are.”
Mia looked over at her husband, a questioning look on her face.