Page 75 of Vixen and her Best Friend

“Come in!” I call, and a few seconds later, Blair appears in the doorway. Tonight she’s changed out of her suit and she’s wearing jeans and a T-shirt, and she smiles at everyone as she comes in.

“I brought my laptop,” she says, “to make the posters.”

“Come into the kitchen,” I instruct her. “We can sit up at the table.”

Millie comes running down the stairs, having obviously forgotten about the book I asked her to get, which is fine because I didn’t want it anyway, and she jumps off the last step into Blair’s arms. Blair laughs and spins her around, then carries her through to the kitchen.

“I need your help,” she says. “We’re making posters, and someone needs to choose which graphics we put on them.”

“Me!” Millie says. “I can do it!”

“Thank goodness you’re here to help.” Blair lowers her onto a chair, winks at me, then sets up her laptop.

“The others will be here soon,” I tell her. “But I thought we could have ten minutes on our own to sort these out.”

“Good idea.”

I draw up a chair, and she opens the laptop. “I’ve found a couple of templates we can adapt,” she says.

The templates are great, and in less than ten minutes, we have a poster that declares that Evermore Books is having a one-day special sale on Saturday. I’ll probably continue to sell the rest of the second-hand books after that, but people are more likely to flock in if it’s marketed as a one-day sale.

Millie helps her choose some pictures to illustrate it, and then we’re ready to go. I ask Dad if we can borrow the printer in his study, then print off fifty copies, which I’ll distribute around the town tomorrow.

They’re nearly finished when the other girls start arriving. I hear Dad greeting them and telling them we’re in the kitchen, and then they start coming through—Emma, then Cate to begin with.

I fetch the posters from the study and bring them out, and the girls are admiring them when Mitch walks into the kitchen. “Evening all,” he says, opening the fridge and taking out a bottle of water.

“Hey, Mitch.”

“Hi, Mitch.” Emma does a double take. “Is it snowing outside?”

He gives a rueful smile as he leans back on the kitchen counter and runs a hand through his hair. “It’s paint. It doesn’t wash out.”

“How’s the flat going?” Cate asks.

“Good. Leo’s doing the ceilings, and I’m doing the walls.”

I pass him to extract a bottle of wine from the fridge. “Would you like a glass?” I ask, trying not to shiver at the feel of his gaze slipping down me, gentle and soft as a silk scarf.