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‘Yup. It might be a bit odd, but it makes me smile.’

‘If it makes you smile, I think it’s a good thing.’

‘Bit like me flirting with you then.’

‘Yeah. Used to be pretty good fun.’

‘Right. Phillip. Sorry.’

‘It’s OK.’ Mia nudged him with her elbow. ‘We’re still friends, aren’t we?’

‘Of course we are. You’re stuck with me now… Maudalina?’

‘Glad to hear it. And no.’

‘Dang it.’

‘Have you ever met anyone called Maudalina?’

‘No, but I’ve never met anyone like you either.’

It took them hours, but Mia was still in good humour when the last batch of cakes were put in the oven. She leaned against the counter and rubbed her eyes tiredly. ‘You know, I think the film industry owes me a refund.’

‘I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.’ He yawned, too tired to even hide it.

‘In romcoms with scenes like this, when they have baking montages, it always looks so much fun, with flour and icing sugar being dusted and sprinkled and at least one of them ends up with batter or frosting on their face – in an attractive, cutesy way of course.’

‘You watch a lot of romcoms, huh?’

‘Guilty pleasure. Anyway, I don’t feel at all attractive or cutesy, and I’m certainly not in the mood for giggling and tossing flour about. I mostly just feel sticky.’

Aiden laughed. ‘If it helps, you have batter on your neck.’

‘Of course I do.’ Mia rolled her eyes and grabbed a cloth.

‘I could throw some flour at you too?’

‘Nah, I think I’m all right, thanks.’

They both looked round as the timer went off.

‘I’ve got to admit, I’m a bit scared to open the door.’

‘I’ll do it.’ She opened the double oven and turned to smile at him, almost seeming to glow in the light from it. Every single cake in the tray was perfect: golden, risen into a beautiful dome. Even without being decorated they were Insta-worthy.

Naturally the icing behaved perfectly too, like it wouldn’t have dared to even consider splitting in Mia’s presence – though at one point Aiden had to grab the spoon that seemed to be intent on taking over and stirring the icing itself. It was only after making sure that the spoon was firmly behaving, when he was halfway through icing the final batch of cakes, that his over-tired brain started to nudge him, trying to get him to pay attention to something important. It was like not being able to remember the word on the tip of your tongue – he was just too tired to fully get it.

Instead, he focussed on finishing the last tray, and handing them to Mia to pack carefully into the boxes she’d been constructing for him.

When the last box was eventually stacked in the fridge, he finally breathed properly. ‘You’ve been amazing, Mia. Thank you so much. I couldn’t have done it without you.’

‘You’re more than welcome.’ She smiled tiredly. ‘But we’re not really done. We still have all this’ – she gestured around – ‘to clean up.’

‘I’ll come in early tomorrow and deal with it.’

‘Aiden?’ Mia leaned over and turned his wrist to see his watch. ‘It’s already late enough to count as “early tomorrow”. You stack the washer and I’ll wipe down. Then we can both get some much-needed sleep.’

He was too tired to argue, especially with Mia, so he just smiled and thanked her again before tackling the mess.