Page 38 of Full Mountie

Ellie: Hey! It’s Ellie.

Beth: LOL what’s up?

Ellie: I was wondering if you’d be free to get coffee today.

Ellie and I have a weird relationship. I like her, and I want to be friends with her, but…she had a threesome with Lachlan. At a time when he was refusing to acknowledge the zing between us.

Jerk. Lachlan, not Ellie. That wasn’t her fault. And now I understand that wasn’t about sex for him, but kink and service, butstill…

No. Gah, it’s not healthy to hang on to even that little bit of resentment.

Beth: Of course. I’m free now, and later. No plans.

Ellie: Does three work?

She names a small, independent coffee shop in the east end, and I confirm I’ll be there. When I arrive a few minutes early, she’s already there, two RCMP officers in tow. Thankfully, neither of them are Hugh.

We order iced coffees and take a seat next to the window. One advantage of going out with bodyguards—they scope the most private seats, and then save them for you while you get your drinks.

She gets right to the point. “I want to plan a baby shower for Max and Violet.”

Of course she does. And she’s right to want to, but holy moly, it’s celebration shower central with these women.

I don’t think anyone is going to throw me a yay-you’re-dating-two-guys-at-once-and-they’re-both-smoking-hot shower, although that’s totally party-worthy. I don’t point that out. My dirty dating life is…well, dirty, and therefore, secret.

Instead I pull out my phone. “Just tell me what to do and where to go.”

We talk about dates—after the wedding, but not too much later, because we don’t want to get too close to her due date. Location—Ellie wants to have it at 24 Sussex, which I think is a great idea. It’s where Max and Violet got married, in an understated, private ceremony.

Guest list. “Definitely co-ed,” I say. “A wedding shower makes sense to be just for the bride, but Max is totally psyched about this baby.”

The last time he came by to see Gavin, he sat at my desk and showed me sonogram pictures for fifteen minutes. Violet’s growing a super-cute alien inside her.

“Agreed. And maybe just friends, we don’t need to extend the list too much beyond that. The same circle they invited to their wedding?”

I nod. “Do you want to have it catered? Just a cake?”

She taps her pen against her lips. “Maybe we could do a breakfast type thing? Brunch?”

“Oh, I like that.” I give her a short-list of caterers I like for breakfast events, and I take on the task of getting a separate cake made, then we call the planning a success and tuck our notes away.

“So…” She swivels her straw through her iced coffee. “Now that we’ve taken care of the baby shower stuff…” She gives me a positively gleeful look. “Gavin told me.”

I rack my brain. What did I miss? “Told you what?”

“You know.” She wiggles in her seat. “About dinner.”

“The wedding dinner?”

She laughs. “No. Your dinner. Last night. With Lachlan.”

My mouth drops open as my pulse pounds in my neck. Oh. Heat tries to swarm up my face and I hurriedly take a sip of my drink. Nope. Not enough iced coffee in the world to compensate for this.

A stricken look falls over her face. “Was it not good?”

“Oh, God.” Did I say that out loud? “Ellie, please stop.” And that. I’m officially no longer in control of my face or mouth, and both are usually well within my control.

She bites her lower lip and nods.

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