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Tamara cleared her throat. “I have news.”
“You already told us, remember?” Belinda quipped. “We know you’re knocked up, and Sawyer is the daddy.”
“Old news.” Tamara looked from Pia to Belinda. “The new news is that Sawyer and I plan to stay together.”
“For the sake of the baby?” Belinda shook her head. “Honey…”
Tamara shook her head. “No, because we love each other.”
Belinda stared at her blankly for a moment. Then she waved to a passing waiter. “Another Bloody Mary, please.”
Pia knew this was a sore point for Belinda, since her friend still needed to get an annulment from the Marquess of Easterbridge.
“I suppose I should be addressing you both as My Lady,” Pia mused. “Sawyer is an earl, making Tamara a countess, and since Colin is a marquess, you’re entitled to be called—”
“Don’t you dare,” Belinda retorted. “I’m planning to shed the title as soon as possible.”
Pia sighed. “Oh, well.”
Belinda turned to Tamara. “I can’t believe you’re abandoning our trio of girlfriends for the aristocratic cadre.”
“I’m not. It’s just…”
“What?” Belinda asked, her expression sardonic. “You moved in with Sawyer and made a marriage of convenience. And then—” she snapped her fingers “—next thing you know, you’re pregnant with his child and declaring yourself in love.”
Tamara smiled and shrugged. “It’s the most exciting thing that’s ever happened to me,” she admitted. “I wasn’t looking to fall in love, and if you’d asked me months ago, I’d have said Sawyer was the last man…”
Tamara got a faraway look as her words drifted off. “I realized Sawyer was the one I wanted all along,” she eventually continued. “And the best part is he feels the same way about me.”
Belinda accepted the Bloody Mary that the waiter was about to set down in front of her, and took a healthy swig. “Well, I’m happy for you, Tam. One of us deserves to find happiness.”
Tamara gave a faint smile. “Thanks. I know you and Pia don’t like Sawyer’s friends—”
“You mean my husband?” Belinda asked archly.
“You mean Hawk?” Pia said at the same time.
“—but Sawyer and I are hoping you all will make nice enough to be in the same room together. In fact, we’re hoping to have all of you over next Saturday night for a small postwedding celebration.”
“A we’re-staying-married party?” Belinda queried.
“Sort of,” Tamara acknowledged before looking across at Pia, who’d taken the seat to Belinda’s right. “Please come. You love anything having to do with weddings.”
Pia sighed again. She did. And she hated to disappoint Tamara, though it wasn’t wise for her to spend too much time in Hawk’s company.
“How are you getting along with Hawk these days, Pia?” Tamara asked suddenly, as if reading her mind. “I know you’re planning his sister’s wedding. And you just noted that Mrs. Hollings is gossiping about how he helped you last night.”
Pia hesitated. How much should she reveal? Certainly not the stolen kisses—and the fact that she’d enjoyed them.
He’d said he was trying to make amends. And so far, she’d let him. More than let him.
The kisses came back to her. The tingle of excitement, the remembered feeling of delicious passion—just like the first time, and just like in her dreams—and the sensation of melding with a kindred spirit.
Pia shook her head slightly as if to clear it. No.
She was playing with fire, and she’d be foolhardy to go down that road again.
And yet…
