Page 78 of A Lesson for Laurel

She burst out laughing. “Thanks for that. I needed it.”

“Just out of curiosity. What would your ex do if you brought something like this to a party? Would he not eat it?”

“He’d use a fork to pick it all up and then the same fork to eat it,” she said.

“Loser,” he said.

“He is that,” she said, laughing. “And now I’ve got you.”

“You do,” he said softly.

It seemed odd to her that he was acting different and she wasn’t sure why. He was more attentive than before.

But she was too by being so nervous when she wasn’t normally.

Maybe this week apart had them both thinking differently. They’d have to talk about it more tonight.

She didn’t want things to be different between them. She liked what they had.

She changed her shirt twice until she settled on a sleeveless light blue one that showed off her toned arms. She put a few of Rose’s bangles on her wrist and one of Poppy’s headbands to pull her hair from her face. A thick soft one with a floral print of bold colors to offset the blues she was wearing.

She had little rose studs in her ears and a daisy ring on one finger.

Her makeup was subtle as always. She did one more turn in the mirror and knew she looked the perfect mix of a comfortable casual lady worthy to be on Easton’s arm.

She found her shoes, a pair of tan chunky open-toe sandals that went well with the purple pedicure.

“I’m ready,” she said. “Five minutes to go before you wanted to leave.”

“And you look perfect. Almost effortless except it took you twenty minutes.”

“I won’t be like this all the time,” she said.

“I know,” he said. “Just nervous about meeting my friends and you shouldn’t be.”

They left and drove to Liam’s. It was only ten minutes away. His friends lived in a nice house on a quiet street. An older home with a lot of character. She liked it.

There was no chance to ring the bell before the door was opened and she got her first look at Liam. “Dude, my wife iswearing a hole in the floor pacing for you to get here. You must be Laurel, I’m Liam.”

It made her feel good that Nicole might be just as nervous over this, but she wasn’t sure why that might be.

“It’s nice to meet you,” she said.

“Oh,” Liam said, reaching for the board that she had wrapped up. “Food. You’ve got manners. Good job, Easton.”

“I’ve got manners,” he said. “What the hell is that about? I’ve got wine.”

“You always do. I meant Laurel. Nicole will like that. You put this together too. I can tell. Unlike something you picked up on the way over.”

She held her smirk in place. She wondered if Rachelle was like that.

No comparisons, she tried to tell herself.

She did have to say that Easton’s condo was kind of on the boring bland side, but it was nice. Not a lot of decorations. She’d be all over it if she had the green light to make it more welcoming. Well, only if she lived there. No way she’d do anything to it visiting a few weekends a month.

“No,” she said. “I put it together before we left.”

“Stop gabbing in the doorway,” she heard. “You’re worse than a woman.”

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