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“No, you’re not. Had’s all stressed out about the store pressures,but she doesn’t want to burden anyone with the details, so she holds it all in,which is not at all healthy. Izzy’s buried under a mountain of work now thatshe’s producing as well as writing, and I’m worried she’s not coming up forenough air. And you—”

“What about me?”

“You’re different lately.”

“Different how? I am not.”

“Your head is in the clouds, maybe in a good way. I can’t tell,but my protective side is on alert just in case.”

Gia nodded. That was fair. Her headwasin the clouds. Part of her loved it.The other part was scared to death about who she was in the cloudswith. Elle, in everyway, was amazing, but what were the ramifications of sleeping with your biggestcompetitor? And what kind of implications would that have for her career, longterm? Right now, she didn’t seem to care. Elle had her feeling things, a lot ofnew and wonderful things, and she wanted to enjoy that before examining thosefeelings under a microscope. Because, in all honesty, who knew what she wouldfind? “We slept together.”

There.

It was out there now.

No taking it back.

Autumn, to her credit, kept her cool. She was always dependablefor a mature reaction. “You and Elle?”

“Yep.”

Autumn shoved a handful of fries in her mouth, and Gia grinned.She really adored the pregnant version of Autumn. The fries might have been adistraction to buy her a moment to compose her thoughts, but Gia didn’t care.

“I feel like that’s a big step for you,” she said, around hermouthful.

“It is.”

“And I don’t think you’ve ever volunteered information like thatbefore. No, I can safely say you never have.” Autumn paused. “This one matters,doesn’t she?”

Gia sucked in air, hesitant to admit what she already knew. Shenodded. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I feel like I’m falling for her,and it’s all happening really fast.”

Autumn beamed. “I can tell. Just look at you, Gia-Pet. You looklike I do when I’m daydreaming about junk food.”

“What do I do now?” Gia asked. “I’ve never been here before. Ineed a map or a to-do list. I usually train for things I find difficult. How doyou train for a relationship? For falling in love with someone.”

Autumn reached across and covered the top of Gia’s hand. “That’sthe best part. There’s nothing to do, no training required. Just enjoy it.”

“Except I still have to surf against her. My mission in life foryears now has been to be ranked number one. I’ve never been so close.”

“Yeah, that part’s a little trickier, I admit.”

“So, about that manual?”

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to fly blind, my friend. Now Ihave a solid reason to worry about you.”

Gia sighed and reached for a fry. She was worried, too, but thegood overtook the concern in a welcome array of warm, sexy, and happy feelingsthat seemed to alternate, moment to moment. She’d never felt more like Hadleyin her entire life.

The worry would just have to wait its damn turn.

* * *

“So, how do you do it?” Gia asked, sitting up in bed, pulling thesheet with her. It was late morning on a Saturday, which meant she and Ellecould be lazy, take some time off and enjoy the day…and each other. Theycertainly had the night before.

“Oh, that could go a lot of different ways. How do I do what?”Elle grinned, reaching up and tugging lightly on Gia’s hair. “Might have to bemore specific.”

“The way you charm the public so effortlessly. I used to hate it.Now that I know the girl behind it, I’m impressed. Proud.”

Elle smiled. “That’s a really nice thing to say.”