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Abby checked the time on her laptop, made sure to hit save, and closed the computer. She only had an hour before Quinn would be there, and she hadn’t exactly gone shopping for the food she was supposed to cook for her. She hurried out of the office and down the hall to change into some jeans and a sweater because she needed to hit the store. When she was about to pull down on her sweatpants, the doorbell rang.

“Oh, I don’t have time for this,” she muttered.

Ever the anxious person when it came to unexpected guests as well as safety, being a woman living alone, she’d installed a security camera at both her front and her back door, so she pulled up the live view on her phone, expecting to see a delivery driver dropping off a package that she forgot that she’d ordered.

“What the…” She closed the app and, without changing, walked toward the front door, pulling it open. “You’re early.”

“Hello to you, too,” Quinn said with a little laugh. “You look nice.”

Abby looked down at herself and said, “Hilarious. I was just about to go to the grocery store to pick up something to cook. I haven’t changed yet, and you’re early.”

“Well, based on our text exchange earlier today, I had a feeling that you were writing and would probably forget about the dinner entirely. So, first, I’m happy that you didn’t. And second…” She held up two reusable grocery bags. “I did the shopping for us.”

They’d been texting pretty much non-stop since Abby had left Quinn’s house the previous night. She would only stop when she needed to write or Quinn needed to work, but she didn’t want to stop texting her. Quinn was funny and witty, and Abby had always had a thing for witty, funny women. It was one of the reasons why she and her ex hadn’t worked out. Samantha hadn’t been all that witty. She’d had a hard time keeping up with Abby’s own wit and hadn’t always understood her humor.

“You went shopping?”

“Yes. And this bag with wine in it is pretty heavy, so can I come in and set it down, please, Abs?”

“Why are you calling me Abs?”

“Should I not?”

“It’s fine. You just did it in your texts today, too.”

“I don’t know. I like it. Easier thanAbby.”

“Mytwo-syllable name is too hard for you to say?”

“Abigail! Can I please come in and put this stuff down?”

“Oh. Shit. Sorry. Yeah.” Abby moved out of the way and motioned for Quinn to come into her house. “I don’t have visitors often. Okay… That’s a lie.” She closed the door behind them. “Ineverhave visitors. I’m not even sure anyone else has been inside this house since I moved in. Maybe the plumber I had to call to fix the kitchen sink, but that’s it. And I didn’t cook him dinner or dress up forhim.”

“No? Didn’t put on a little black dress for the poor guy? How else would you get a discount, then? Also, where is the kitchen?”

“To the left.” Abby pointed. “And arriving an hour earlydoesn’t exactly give me time to put on one of those foryou, Quinn.”

Quinn set the bags on the counter and turned, lifting an eyebrow at her.

“You have one?”

“I have several. I have to go to events and stuff sometimes. They might want to make the first book into a movie, so there’s probably a premier or something that I’ll have to attend then, too, if that happens.”

“You have several… little black dresses?”

“Dresses in general, yes.”

“I can start cooking if you want to… put one on.”

Abby smiled at her and said, “You look nice, by the way.”

“I’m not wearing a little black dress.”

“No, but you aren’t comfortable in dresses, so I wouldn’t want you to wear one. You put on a blazer, and you’re wearing some very tight jeans.”

“Not too tight. They’d come off if someone gave them a good pull. Just saying.”

Abby laughed and said, “You know that’s not happening tonight, right?”