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“Yeah.” Miranda had to focus hard on the conversation because she was absolutely distracted. It was a good thing Tori hadn’t given her tequila because that would be the end of everything. Clothes would be off, and all her barriers would be down. Nothing good ever came of drinking tequila, at least for Miranda. That was how she’d ended her last relationship. Swiftly. Stupidly. And with tequila.

“So where has she been the rest of the time?”

“No clue.” Miranda finished half her glass. “Can I help with anything?”

Tori looked over her shoulder again, shaking her head. “It’s almost done.”

“Tacos?”

“I always love to eat a good taco.” Tori tossed Miranda a heated look, one that said so much more than the words.

Miranda’s lips formed a perfect O. She had no idea how to respond to that. Had Tori caught her intense gazes? Her leering stares? Why was she there again?

Laughing, Tori leaned in and touched Miranda’s arm. “Calm down! It’s a joke.”

Miranda didn’t think it was. She blew out a breath and leaned against the edge of the counter, her arms crossed and her glass between her fingertips. She really shouldn’t finish the whole thing before she ate something. She’d missed breakfast and lunch that day, and she needed the food in her stomach to absorb some of the liquor.

“Oh my god. Your face!” Tori pointed at her. “Joke, Miranda, joke.”

Maybe it was because she didn’t want it to be a joke. She could so easily fall into Tori’s lap, do anything Tori would let her do, and walk away the next day. It would be the perfect arrangement, except for the small fact that Tori was looking for something long-term. She wanted the relationship that came with the sex, not the other way around like Miranda.

Tori plated up food and set it at the small dining room table. The girls came to sit and were already digging into their meal before Tori came back and snagged Miranda’s empty glass to make her another one.

“Did she say when she was coming back?”

“Who?”

“Tierney.”

“Oh.” Miranda brought her gaze back up from Tori’s breasts to her face. “No, she didn’t. She said she missed Rebel, and that was about it where it concerned us.”

“Does that hurt? When she says things like that?”

Miranda took a full plate from Tori. “I guess it does. I never really thought about it before.”

“I’m sorry she can’t love you like you deserve.”

That hit hard. Miranda stopped in her tracks while Tori walked over to the table and sat down, her own drink in front of her. It took her a minute to catch her bearings. She sat next to Tori, Rebel on her other side, and started to eat quietly. The food wasn’t anything to write home about, but the company kept her nerves and dreaded thoughts at bay.

By the time they finished eating, the girls went to Harley’s room to pack up her bag to go to Siena’s. Harley had already begged three times over to stay because Rebel was there. Tori had reminded her that Rebel wasn’t staying the night.

They were sitting on the couch, the girls clambering onto one side, which meant Tori had to sit in the middle, right up against Miranda. Their thighs brushed, sending fire raging through Miranda’s body. She shifted to try and move away a bit, ease the discomfort between her legs, but that was a failure on all fronts.

Rebel climbed into her lap, then out of it, brought over a toy to show off and then went away to play with it again. Miranda struggled to keep up with it all. Tori rested her hand on the back of the couch, over Miranda’s shoulders, taking up so much space. Miranda trembled.

“So have you thought about dating again? Since our last conversation?”

Miranda jerked her chin up, her eyes wide. “Excuse me?”

“Dating with kids.” Tori’s lips pulled up on one side. “I think Siena is trying to set me up with someone.”

“Oh.” Miranda took a long sip from her third drink that night. It would need to be her last if she stood any chance of driving home. “Are you going to let her?”

“Yeah. She’s done it before. Sometimes she’s better at finding people for me than I am. To be fair, she does know me better.”

“You’re going to let your ex-wife find your soulmate for you?” Miranda didn’t quite believe it.

“Why not? She knows who I am, she knows the other person, that makes it easy. And if I want to find the love of my life by the time I’m thirty, then I have to use every resource available to me.”