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"Don't be ridiculous," Victoria muttered, her voice already thick and gravelly with impending sleep. "It hardly marks the first time we've shared a bed. Go to sleep, Emma. We have an absurdly long day ahead of us tomorrow, and I refuse to endure you complaining about being tired."

A quiet smile touched Emma’s mouth in the dark. It wasn't poetry, and it certainly wasn't a confession, but coming from Victoria, it was as close to reassurance as she was ever going to get. Emma pressed her face deeper into the warmth of the pillow, deliberately letting go of tomorrow’s complications, and let herself drift into the uncomplicated quiet of the night.

Chapter Nineteen

Victoria

Victoria drifted up from a surprisingly deep sleep. She could not remember the last time she had slept through an entire night without waking to check her phone or staring at the ceiling for hours. The mattress felt incredibly soft. There was a warm weight sprawled across her chest, breathing in a steady rhythm against her collarbone.

She opened her eyes slowly. The room was bathed in morning light. Emma was asleep, her face buried in the curve of Victoria’s neck, her arm thrown carelessly over Victoria’s waist. They were tangled together under the heavy duvet.

Victoria lay totally still. She let herself trace the curve of Emma’s spine with her fingertips. She felt a strange tightness in her chest, a quiet settling that she had spent weeks trying to avoid.

Then the doorknob turned.

"Morning sunshine! I just wanted to see if you needed help with—"

Chloe stopped dead in the doorway.

Emma moved with alarming speed. She scrambled backward and yanked the duvet entirely over her head, disappearing completely under the cotton.

Victoria's eyes opened wide, staring at her sister.

"Oh my god," Chloe squeaked. She slapped both hands over her eyes. "I didn't see anything. I am looking at the ceiling. I haven't seen a thing."

"Chloe," Victoria warned.

"I swear! But oh my god, Victoria, you told me you guys hadn't slept together again except for that first time before you officially met!"

The mattress shifted. Emma lowered the edge of the duvet just enough to expose her eyes. Her hair was sticking up in every direction. She looked directly at Victoria. "You told her about the night in Oakbridge?"

Victoria felt a muscle twitch in her jaw. She glared at her sister. "Chloe. Out."

"But she asked!" Emma said from under the covers. Her voice sounded way too amused for a woman caught naked by a houseguest.

"Emma, not the time," Victoria muttered.

"I'm leaving!" Chloe babbled. She took a blind step backward into the hallway. "I just came up because you asked me to help with breakfast prep yesterday, and it's already seven o'clock, so I figured—"

Emma sat bolt upright. The duvet pooled at her waist. "Seven?!"

Chloe peeked through her fingers. "Yeah. You told me to be downstairs by six thirty but—."

"Seven?!" Emma repeated. The amusement vanished into pure panic. She scrambled over Victoria’s legs, ignoring the fact that they were both fully exposed. "The first guests will be downstairs in twenty minutes. The stallholders arrive in four hours. Victoria, didn't you set an alarm?!"

Victoria sat up slowly. She looked at the clock on the nightstand. She had, in fact, not set an alarm. The thought had not even crossed her mind. She had been completely consumed by the slide of Emma’s hands and the sound of her breathing in the dark.

Chloe was still hovering in the doorway. Victoria pulled the sheet over her lap. She leveled a stare at her sister. "We will be right down, Chloe. Give us a second."

The door clicked shut.

Emma was already tearing through the room. She picked up a shirt, discarded it, found a pair of jeans, and dropped them again. "This is a disaster. I have to prep the coffee and the buffet. Who is going to run the stall while I bake the extra batches?"

Victoria stood up. She picked up her discarded linen shirt from the rug and slipped it on. She fastened three buttons before pulling on her shorts. She crossed the room and caught Emma by the shoulders.

Emma was panicking. Her hands were full of tangled clothes. Victoria turned her around. She kept her grip firm to ground her. "This isn’t a disaster. Breathe."

Emma took a shaky breath.