It was a miracle she didn’t fall over her own feet, she was so hormone-addled, but she got her legs working and moved past Todd, who’d come out to help unload stuff.

She managed to get into the guest room where Erin sat propped up on the bed, no shoes on, munching on an apple.

“Hiya, cupcake.”

Ella moved to kiss her friend’s cheek. “How are you feeling?”

“Swollen. Pregnant. The usual. You? I hear you rode in with one Andrew Copeland. How did that go? Did he try to touch you in any no-no places?”

Ella burst out laughing. “You’re really horrible, you know that? He did not. Not that I’d have stopped him, of course. He ...” She paused, not knowing how to put what he did to her into words.

Erin leaned forward, interest on her face. “He what? This sounds very promising.”

“He’s helping Adrian bring in a bunch of stuff. Where’s Elise?”

“Right here. Just grabbing a bottle of wine for the two of us.” She tipped the bottle in Ella’s direction. She turned back to Erin and handed her a glass. “You get lemon slices and sparkling water. Todd said he’d bring you a salami sandwich in a few minutes.”

“I swear, I can’t get normal pregnancy cravings, oh no. I have to eat salami like it’s my last meal, every meal.”

“Ew.” Ella took her glass of wine from Elise. “Thanks.”

“Before we do anything else, Ella needs to finish her sentence about Cope, because you were not going to tell me that he was helping Adrian move stuff. He what? Did he kiss you?”

“Yes.”

Both women gasped and moved closer. “When? Oh my god, why didn’t you tell me!” Elise demanded.

“It wasn’t just now. Last night and it was just a peck. Today was a hand kiss. He just, he stirs me up. He’s just so, gah, he’s overwhelming and sexy and I love the way he makes me feel when he turns all that attention my way. That’s all I meant.”

Erin smiled, a secret smile that made Ella just a tad nervous.

“He’s sweet on you. Enjoy it. God knows you deserve some excitement and attention from a man as flat-out hot as Andrew Copeland.”

“A-men. Also, if anything else happens, I expect to know about it. Well, I’ll give you time to shower and stuff, and then you have to call me.” Elise laughed. “Your dress is in the bathroom. It’s really cute, and I plan to borrow it very soon.”

“Yeah, yeah. I figured that was the case when you helped me pick it out.” She sipped her wine but left it on the bedside table before going in to change. “Glad you chose white wine. That way when I spill, it won’t show,” she called out as she got dressed.

It was the right length; the cut at the hem didn’t show her scars at all. The color was rich against her skin, a deep plum, setting off her hair and her eyes. The material hugged her body, emphasizing her br**sts and making her butt look pretty darned sexy too. The heels were low but feminine. She wasn’t very graceful; higher heels, and she’d have been on her ass. She even had a little sweater thingy Elise called a shrug, which she could wear to cover her arms in case she got cold. Or embarrassed. Quite a bit of her tattoo showed through the cutouts in the back of the dress.

The dress had been a bit of a bone of contention between her and Elise. Elise had wanted to buy the engagement party dresses for everyone, and Erin announced her wedding present was to pay for the wedding, including the clothing for everyone.

Ella had been very uncomfortable with anyone else paying for her clothing and had argued with both of them about it. Finally, she’d burst into tears, and Elise let her pay for it, though naturally the dress was some expensive number so there’d been more struggling because then Elise didn’t want to choose a dress that would stretch Ella’s budget.

In the end, they’d chosen the more expensive dress that Elise wanted for them originally, and she’d agreed to let it be a gift while also putting a lot more energy into the planning of the party and wedding as her way of saying thank you.

“You look so pretty. The dress fits you perfectly and makes you look all hubba hubba and stuff.” Elise sidled up to Ella and put her arm around her shoulders.

“I don’t know how I let you talk me into this dress.” She looked at her reflection and then back to Elise. “And speaking of pretty, good lord, Elise, you look amazing.”

“Pffft. I look fine. Brody’s gonna love this dress because my boobs are on display. You know how he feels about boobs.”

Ella snorted. “I’m pretty sure it’s a basic male preference. Most of the time anyway.”

Raven came into the room, the scratchy velvet of her voice filled with concern as she spoke to Erin.

Elise and Ella’s eyes met in the mirror. “She’s really good to Erin, you know. And she loves Brody,” Elise murmured.

“Not in that way,” Ella said, then remembered that moment with Cope earlier when he’d said the same thing.

Elise laughed. “Doesn’t matter if she does. She can’t have him.”

“You make him happy when you make an effort with her.”

“Don’t tell her this, but she’s not half bad once she stops being such a bitch. It’s just that for her, apparently it takes like two years to warm up to a new person. She and I actually had a fifteen-minute conversation wherein not a single bit of sarcasm or biting commentary was used. I don’t think we’ll ever be as close as you and I. And there’s only one you, so there’s good reason for that. But I think we’re beginning to achieve some genuine like for each other.”