Page 7 of Any Kind of Life

“Anyone for a top-up?” Hannah worked her way around the dining table, holding up a bottle of red wine. She eyed Juliet’s glass. “Juliet?”

Juliet nodded, too busy enjoying the slow-roasted lamb Hannah had cooked that evening. No wonder Caz was so in love with her; she’d kept her cooking skills quiet. “Please. And I’ll have some more lamb if there is any leftover.”

Hannah quirked a brow. “From what I remember, you only ever ate salad. Rabbit food. Is someone keeping you busy and working up an appetite?”

Juliet felt Paige’s hand settle on her thigh at that. “Maybe.”

“Well, I hope that’s the case.” Hannah turned her attention to Caz. “Babe?”

“Definitely. And Juliet is right. This lamb is the best you’ve cooked.” Caz winked in Hannah’s direction, taking the hand that hung at Hannah’s side. “Thank you for this. It’s great.”

Hannah leaned down and kissed Caz, smiling against her lips. “Anything for you.”

Juliet’s insides swirled as she relaxed back in her seat. When she’d quit law and, in turn, left Hannah at the company once she’d sold it off, she hadn’t expected them to remain such good friends. There had been a moment when Juliet had been caught up in all things bar and Paige-related, but in the last eight months or so, Hannah and Caz had become a huge part of their lives. Edie, too. That child was one hell of an old soul.

“Nothing from Rachel and Andi?” Caz asked, lowering her cutlery and lifting her glass. “Hannah said you were going to get in touch with them about coming over tonight.”

“Mm. I did. They’re busy…again.”

Caz narrowed her eyes in Juliet’s direction. “You don’t think they’re actively avoiding some kind of friendship with you, do you?”

“I…it’s hard to say, really. If that was the case, then I’d understand, but I’d also expect them to be adult enough to say that to me. I don’t want to chase them if they have no intentions of joining this group of friends, you know?”

Caz nodded and then offered a smile when Hannah sat back down at the table. “What do you think?”

Hannah puffed out her cheeks. “Look, I can kinda understand where Rachel is coming from if she’s avoiding Paige and Juliet.”

Paige scoffed. “You…can?”

“Well, yes. She did fall in love with Juliet…let’s not forget that.” Hannah gave Paige a knowing look. “And you two are still together, so maybe she just feels awkward about it all. I get on really well with Rachel, and I think she’s lovely, but she may need some time to understand that not everything is drama. I think the last thing she expected was to be welcomed by the four of us once she’d met Andi.”

Paige shrugged. “Well, whatever. There’s absolutely no ill feelings there for me. I wouldn’t have given her the membership if I didn’t want to see her around.”

“I know that,” Hannah said, helping herself to more vegetables from the bowl in the middle of the table. “We all know it. But I also understand her on a different level. On an…escort level, if you will.”

“Huh.” Paige lowered her fork and eyed Hannah. “Care to explain?”

“Sure.” Hannah settled her hand over Caz’s where it rested beside her plate. “Juliet is an attractive woman. I can see why Rachel fell for her?—”

“Now, hold on!” Paige sat forward in her seat. “If anything ever happened between you two, I don’t need to know about it.”

“It didn’t!” Juliet and Hannah said in unison.

“Mm.”

Juliet laughed, turning to Paige. “Calm down, tiger.”

Hannah rolled her eyes and sighed. “Here, think of it this way. So, Caz…if you and I were nothing more than client/escort, but we decided to sleep with one another, and you felt something more without me knowing, and then Juliet shows up in my life and I’m attracted to her, how would you feel?”

Paige slumped back in her seat. “Why do we have to use Juliet as an example when it comes to fucking all of you?”

Juliet leaned in towards Paige’s ear, her voice painfully low. “If you don’t relax and stop taking this so seriously, I’m going to really punish you when we get home.”

Paige smirked, but Hannah and Caz glared back at them both.

“What?”

Caz sniggered to herself. “You didn’t say that as quietly as you thought you did.”