Emilia was glad the phone hid her blush. Morgan swore and Stevie yelped, and then Morgan regained control of her cell.

“Yes. There will be a grill. And food. On it. Cooked by me.”

“Then I’ll be there. What time?”

“Four? And bring Nell. I’ll let Stevie explain about Dogpocalypse.” There was another flurry of static. “Explain when she gets here, you dumbass. I am not letting you anywhere near my phone again.”

“You got things under control?” Emilia asked.

“Totally.”

“Sounds like it. Anything I can bring?”

“Yourself.”

The way Morgan said the word left Emilia momentarily speechless. She swallowed, tried to respond, paused, and tried again. “I can do that.”

“Great.” She heard the grin in Morgan’s voice. “See you soon.”

She changed out of her ragged, paint-stained cutoffs and into a tank top and jeans, glancing at the mirror. The tank top dipped low over her breasts. Too low. She tore it off and wriggled into a T-shirt. Too casual. Her favorite blouse, however, was too dressy, and the short-sleeved, breezy button-up didn’t look right, despite the fact that it was another one of her favorites. Getting desperate, she seized another tank top and stared at her rumpled hair and wide eyes. I’m hideous, she decided, turning to examine the way the shirt clung to her waist. Nell turned a circle on the bed on top of her discarded clothes and settled with a huff.

“Okay, fine, you’re right, I am being ridiculous,” she said to her dog. The current shirt was the least offensive of the brood. Simple, with a casual elegance in the drape of the fabric and a neckline that was flirtatious without drawing attention to itself.

Her damp hair hung in a curling mess around her shoulders. She twisted it into a knot and pinned it up, then let it down again, remembering the way Morgan had buried her hands in it. Damn her, she swore internally as she blew it dry. It made no sense to feel this nervous. This wasn’t a first date. It was a barbeque. And after the night she’d already spent at Morgan’s, nerves seemed preposterous. They’d done things that left no room for misgivings. She shivered and sat on the bed. Thinking about that night had robbed her of sleep every night since. Morgan shouldn’t have been able to get under her skin the way she had. Nobody should. But whenever she blinked she saw Morgan beneath her, face filled with awe as Emilia rode her, or prone before her as she lifted Morgan to climax with her tongue. It made simple household tasks difficult.

Nell investigated the baggie of extra dog food she packed with interest. Not wanting to seem presumptuous, she settled for shoving a travel-sized bottle of mouthwash into her purse instead of a toothbrush, and then she killed time while she waited for four o’clock to roll around.

“Hi I brought strawberries,” she said in a rush when Morgan opened the door.