Page 151 of Full Mountie

“Am I blushing?” I mutter to Violet.

“Yes,” she says, making a wincing face. “Okay, I think my uterus has officially run out of space.”

Ellie swivels towards her with the phone and Violet winks at me.

I’m glad I got her an extra-awesome baby present. She deserves it. They’ve both been really awesome about welcoming me to their Frisky Beavers club.

And since Sasha has been in Greece on a research trip, I’ve avoided having to answer any nosy questions about sex.

Ellie’s phone vibrates while she’s trying to take a video of Violet’s belly. Speak of the devil… “Sasha!” she says as she stands up, the phone pressed to her ear. “Are you here?”

She waves her hand in the air as a polished blonde head bobs into view beside the player’s bench on our side.

Sasha climbs up to us. She looks suspiciously tan for someone who was on a research trip. She squees over Violet’s belly first, then hugs Ellie, and finally me.

Then she stops, her hands on my shoulders, and she does a slow scan up to my hat. “Wait a second,” she says, and I hate how smart she is.

There’s no need to explain my relationship to her. Sasha figures it out from the hat.

“You’re a Frisky Beaver now too, eh?” Her eyes light up. “Two players? You dirty, dirty girl. Lachlan and… Hugh?”

I don’t even get a chance to answer before she plops onto the bench beside me and claps her hands together. “I want to know everything.”

“No.”

“But—”

“I love you, but no.”

She’s undeterred. “I brought ouzo back from Greece.”

I giggle at the reminder that Lachlan hates liquorice. “That would make it hard for me to kiss—” I groan as she cackles and rubs her hands together.

“Excellent. Keep going. I’m in such a dry spell lately, I need to live vicariously.”

“No. Tell us about your research trip. Was it on a beach?”

It turns out it was, and her tan is a justified fringe benefit of learning about micro businesses that pop up in depressed economies.

And by the time she’s done filling us in, the game is over and there are sweaty men to kiss.

Sasha watches me kiss Hugh, then tips her head to the side. “Are you the one that doesn’t like liquorice?”

He howls and points at Lachlan. “Nah. That’s all him.”

“Good.” She nods at him. “I brought back some ouzo. We can celebrate you making my friend happy with some shots at brunch.”

He throws his arm around her and kisses her cheek. “We’re going to be best friends, aren’t we?”

That makes Corinne and Max guffaw, and Lachlan growls something that I miss, so Hugh kisses him, too. It’s a quick peck, but it still makes my heart skip a beat, because it feels so right.

“And now back to our place,” Ellie announces. “We have parents-to-be to toast.”

“With ouzo!” Sasha and Hugh cheer at the same time.

We do toast them with ouzo, as well as champagne and some rye that won the world’s best whiskey competition last year.

By mid-afternoon, everyone is pretty giggly, even the mom-to-be who has been indulging in chocolate covered strawberries instead of champagne.

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