Page 11 of Sacrifice Bunt

Those two thoughts ran through her head for hours as she tossed and turned and tried to sleep. She finally succumbed to exhaustion around one in the morning but woke up at five, thanks to the time difference between Michigan and Arizona.

Over the years, she’d gotten good at acclimating to wherever she traveled, since she traveled a lot for her work. Waking up early was not normal.

Something else to blame on Noah.

Great, she was already thinking about him. Not how she wanted to start her day.

After two cups of coffee and two hours of work, she decided it was late enough to call Celia.

Her friend would take her mind off Noah.

After several rings, a sleepy-sounding Celia finally answered. “Hello.”

“Shit, are you still sleeping?”

“No, I'm awake,” Celia said, still sounding groggy.

“She’s not awake,” Zara heard Kyle murmur into the phone, “and neither am I.”

They were snuggled in bed together, making Zara suddenly envious. “Damn, just call me later.”

“No, it’s really fine,” Celia said, finally sounding more awake. “I need to get up anyway.” There was some movement over the phone and a loud groan from what sounded like Kyle. “You will survive,” Celia said, obviously talking to her husband.

“Did I cock block him or something?” Zara gave a little chuckle thinking about Kyle being annoyed.

“No, he’s just being a baby and not wanting to get up.”

“Zara, you owe me,” Kyle yelled through the phone.

“Get out of here,” Celia laughed. “Sorry about him,” she said into the phone. “He’s feeling ornery this morning.”

“Is that anything new?” Zara had gotten to know Kyle pretty well the last few months, both as a client and her friend’s husband. He was a good guy who loved Celia and Jasmine madly. Finding out he had a child with the one woman he’d loved forever had been a shock to him, but only for a matter of hours. His love for Celia outweighed her keeping his child from him, especially once he knew all the reasons behind it.

“Not really,” Celia said easily, like it was totally normal for Kyle. “What’s got you calling me so early when you’re going to see me in a few hours?”

Zara sighed into the phone before taking it away from her ear and putting it on speakerphone. She set the phone on her bed as she sat down and leaned back against the pillows. “I kissed Noah Ashe.” Once the words were out of her mouth, she felt a little bit better.

She knew Celia was still on the line, but no sound came from her.

“Celia, are you there?”

“I’m just processing this massive information. You’re going to need to give me a few minutes.”

Zara tried to stay quiet but, after only a few seconds, couldn't hold in her words anymore. “It was a mistake.”

“Was it, though?”

It was. It had to be. “Yes. We were both worked up arguing, and it happened.”

“You argue with me all the time, and neither one of us kisses the other one.”

Zara groaned. “It’s not the same.”

“Why is that?” She sounded smug, and Zara knew that could be a trap. She answered anyway.

“Because I don’t like you like that.”

“Aha!”

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