MIA LOVED WEDDING DAYS. SHE’D GOTTEN UP THIS morning totally refreshed, chalking up the disappointment over her conversation with Nathan last night to exhaustion.

They were exactly where she wanted them to be. Where he wanted them to be, too. Having sex and having fun with it, with no emotional entanglements. She wasn’t falling in love with him. He was her best friend and they were slowly building on their relationship by dating. She needed to just have fun and go with it and not stress over every little thing. Nathan certainly wasn’t taking it all so seriously, and neither should she.

More certain than ever of where they stood, she dismissed last night’s weird emotional state, determined to soak in all the love from Barrett and Harmony’s day.

The guys had all taken off for Austin to go play golf, which left the women alone to enjoy the day. The wedding was scheduled for six p.m., so they had massages scheduled, followed by manicures and pedicures. They also had hair and makeup artists coming in. It was going to be a fun spa day.

Mia was looking forward to being pampered.

First they all gathered in the kitchen to make breakfast. It was a free-for-all of women chatting while peeling potatoes, breaking eggs and slicing fruit. Mia sipped on her coffee while talking with Katrina about her last photo shoot.

“It was beautiful. We were off the Amalfi Coast. Not only was the scenery breathtaking, but I could spend a week just wandering through the history of the place. I told Grant we have to vacation there during the off-season.”

“I’ve looked at pictures,” Mia said. “It’s lush and breathtaking, and I agree with you about the history alone. Maybe I’ll hide in your luggage.”

Katrina laughed. “As work goes, it didn’t suck. But of course I didn’t get nearly enough time to play tourist. I want to take the kids with me. I think Leo would love it for the history and Anya would enjoy it for the food.”

“I’m down with any place that has amazing food,” Anya said from across the kitchen island.

Amelia put her arm around Anya. “I love this girl.”

Mia smiled.

Breakfast ended up being quite a feast, from the croissants Anya made to the eggs Benedict Amelia had put together. Then there were fried potatoes and fruit salad and sausages along with freshly squeezed orange juice they used to make mimosas. Mia sat at the table and thought about what an amazing family she had, only enriched by these incredible women who’d fallen in love with her brothers.

She was very lucky.

“Who’s minding your interior design business while you’re busy getting married and taking a short honeymoon, Harmony?” Amelia asked.

“I have an incredible assistant who’s scary good at what she does,” Harmony said. “Rosalie has it all under control.”

“So you won’t worry something will fall through the cracks while you’re gone?” Mia asked.

“You mean like you are right now?” Mia’s mom asked.

“Maybe.” She wouldn’t mention how many calls she’d made already, or how many times she’d e-mailed everyone at the office. She had the utmost trust in her staff, but MHC was her baby.

“Oh, I was totally like you when my business first started out,” Harmony said. “It was hard for me to even leave for an hour to go to a dental appointment without freaking out that the whole place would go under while I was gone.”

Mia nodded.

“After a while, you start to realize that you hired awesome staff for a reason,” Harmony said. “Because they are awesome, and because they can do the job. And then you start to relax knowing your company is in good hands.”

“I know you’re right and I have the best people at MHC. But still, it is hard to be away from our babies.”

Her mother patted her hand. “You know that right now Monique is cracking the whip on your amazing staff. She has it all under control.”

“I know. She’s sending me regular updates and all is as it should be. It’s still hard to let go.”

Harmony smiled. “It’ll get easier with every month. I promise.”

Mia hoped so. She didn’t want to spend the rest of her life worrying about her company every time she had to leave town. But they were in the middle of negotiating some very big deals at the moment, and she felt like she needed to be there. But she also knew there were going to be times like this, and her team could handle it.

“I’m wondering if we could just all live together here on the ranch and do this every morning,” Alyssa said. “I mean, I get that some of you have husbands that you might miss and all, but this is pretty awesome.”

Mia swirled her mimosa around in the champagne glass. “I could get used to it.”

“I don’t know,” Aubry said. “I’d miss the sex.”

Aubry looked over at Mia’s mom. “Sorry, Lydia.”

Mia’s mom laughed. “It’s okay, Aubry. I already knew you two were having sex.”

Aubry laughed.

“I mean, the men are great and all,” Katrina said, “and you can’t deny the sex is outstanding. But sisterhood? No one is going to understand you as well as another woman can.”

Anya held up her glass. “I’ll drink to that.”

Katrina frowned. “Who put champagne in her glass?”

Mia grinned. “I did. She’s close enough to twenty-one and she’s not driving anywhere today. She’s entitled to one mimosa.”

Anya cracked a smile. “It hardly has any champagne in it, and you let me have wine in Paris, Katrina.”

“I did. But that was Paris. And that’s all you get today.”

Anya rolled her eyes. “Yeah, okay, Sis.”

It must be totally fun to have a sister. But Mia realized she had several now, and she couldn’t be happier about that.

After breakfast, they cleaned up the dishes. The massage and mani-pedi staff arrived with all their equipment. Mom had them set up in the dining room, living room and several of the bedrooms.

Mia had her manicure and pedicure first. She sat side by side with Aubry. The two of them were alone in her mom’s bedroom since it had a lot of space. And now her feet were relaxing in a warm bubbly spa while she was getting her nails done.

“So,” Aubry said. “Want to tell me what’s going on with you and Nathan?”

She knew Aubry would eventually bring that up. “Nothing’s going on. We’re just having some fun.”

“You two have known each other a long time. Were you friends all through college?”

Mia nodded. “Yes. But nothing was going on back then, either. We’re just friends.”

Aubry raised a brow. “I had guy friends in college and medical school. I never had sex with any of them.”

“Maybe you missed out, then.” She gave Aubry a grin.

Aubry laughed. “Ew. No, I did not. Trust me.”

“You’re only saying that because you’re married and totally in love with my brother. Back then, some of your guy friends were probably hot.”

“Okay, maybe they were. But I think we were all so stressed about medical school and grades and just trying to keep our sanity that was all we could think about.”

“Oh, come on, Aubry. You never had sex while you were in school?”

“I did. And had one relationship that ended badly, so I focused on school instead of guys.”

Mia nodded. “I understand that. That’s why I’m not having a relationship. I have my business to think about and that’s occupying most of my thoughts.”

“Your one true love?” Aubry gave her a wry smile.

“Yes. That’s it exactly.”

“Then it makes sense for you to have sex with your best friend.”

Mia looked down at the women doing their manicures. They were good at their jobs, because they were focused on their tasks and, while Mia was sure they were listening in, their facial expressions betrayed nothing of their thoughts.

“It’s working for both of us right now. Nathan is just about to start the football season and he has a lot of pressure on him, too. Keeping things simple between us is the best way to go.”

Aubry’s nails were finished, so she leaned back in her chair. “Sure. As long as neither one of you gets emotionally involved.”

“Right. And that’s not going to happen. We both know what we’re doing.”

Aubry let out a soft laugh.

“What?” Mia asked.

“Oh, nothing. I’m sure you totally have it together. Just like Tucker and I did.”

Mia frowned. “Hey, that’s not funny. You two are married now.”

Aubry gave her a knowing smile. “Exactly. And so are Grant and Katrina and now Flynn and Amelia are engaged. Oh, and of course Barrett and Harmony are getting married today. And you know what the common thread was binding all of us together?”

She didn’t want to know the answer, but she knew she had to ask. “What?”

“None of us wanted to get involved. None of us were in the market for love or a relationship. And none of us planned on falling in love.” Aubry held out her hands. “Look at all of us now, Mia. So you know, best-laid plans and all.”

Mia lifted her chin. “That’s not going to happen with Nathan and me. We’ve been friends for a long time. How we feel about each other is different.”

“Uh-huh.”

She did not like Aubry’s tone. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that once you introduce sex into a relationship, it changes everything.”

Her manicurist had just finished with her, and the team was taking a break before pedicures, so Mia shifted in her chair. “That’s exactly what I told Nathan. Only my reasoning for keeping sex out of our relationship was because I was afraid to lose our friendship.”

“I don’t think that should be your biggest concern. But I do understand it. I know how close you and Nathan are. If it were me and I had a guy friend as my BFF, I’d be hesitant to have sex with him, too. Because like I said, sex changes everything.”

Mia sighed. “Dammit, Aubry.”

Aubry laughed. “Sorry. But it’s true. It changes the entire dynamic of your relationship. However, I will say this. If anyone can manage it, it’s you, Mia.”

“Thanks. I’m going to try my damndest.”

She thought about—or more like worried about—what Aubry had said. In fact, she pondered it all through her pedicure. By the time she was on the table for her massage she was a tight bundle of tension and the massage was more painful than enjoyable because she wasn’t able to relax.

“Try deep, cleansing breaths,” her massage therapist said. “In through the nose, out through the mouth.”

She did. She settled into the massage, determined to fall asleep if possible. But then she thought about Nathan, about all the things Aubry said and how things would change in her relationship with him.

She had been wary of introducing sex into their relationship, though she had to admit she was having a great time with him now that they had. The sex was amazing, and being able to see him more often, to touch him and be intimate with him had sparked desires in her that had lain dormant for far too long.

Nathan was an amazing lover, so generous, so passionate.

But at what cost? She was always going to worry about their relationship ending, about something going wrong between them.

Dammit. She could not relax. She even practiced her yoga breathing, tuned in to the gentle music, even tried to fall asleep. Nothing worked because she couldn’t clear her head. She was tense. Tense, tense, tense. She felt bad for her massage therapist, who Mia was sure took it personally.

Mia got up at the end of her session.

“I have a lot on my mind.”

Evita, her therapist, sighed. “I can typically work with that. I’m not sure why I couldn’t release the tight knots in your muscles.”

“It’s not your fault. But thank you. It was a lovely massage.”

She got dressed and left the room, hoping Evita’s next client was someone a lot more relaxed. She passed Harmony on the way out.

“How are you doing, honey?” Mia asked.

Harmony grinned. “I’m having a fantastic day. How was the massage therapist? I’m next with her.”

“She’s amazing and you’re going to love her.”

“I can’t wait. I’ll see you soon.”

Evita was going to have a great time giving a massage to the happy bride-to-be.

Mia went to her room and took a shower to wash off the massage oil, then slipped into a sundress. She went downstairs and found a group of women in the kitchen. There were small sandwiches and snacks laid out—her mom and Diane’s work, no doubt. Given the stress and activity of the day, her mom wouldn’t want anyone to get hungry. Mia grabbed a few carrots to nibble on and made herself some green tea. Maybe that would relax her.

She pulled up a chair next to Amelia.

“Did you get your massage?” she asked.

Amelia nodded. “It was heavenly. How about you?”

“Yes. It was perfect.” She wasn’t about to tell anyone how bound up with tension she was.

“What time is hair and makeup?” Katrina asked.

“According to the schedule, they should arrive around three.”

She picked up her phone. She had an hour to kill, so she took her tea and went upstairs to her room. She grabbed her planner and sat in the chair next to the window. The sun was bright, and the day was hot as blazes, but the air conditioning made the room perfectly comfortable.

She opened her planner and flipped to a blank page, then settled in to make some notes. But it wasn’t work that was on her mind, it was Nathan. Nathan and her, and their friendship.

She divided the page into two columns, titling one “Friendship” and the other one “Sex.”

On the Friendship side, she listed all the things that mattered to her: trust, length of their friendship, the fact she could count on Nathan for everything, that she could tell him all her secrets and that their friendship had, for the most part, been non-sexual, which had made it uncomplicated.

On the Sex side, she wrote “Fun, Adventurous, A Tension Release, Hot, Steamy,” and then smiled as she wrote, “The Best I’ve Ever Had.”

She tapped her pen against the paper. “Isn’t that the damn truth?”

On the Sex side she also wrote, “Complicates Things. What If It Ends? Could End Our Friendship.” And then there were the scary photographers, who’d been stalking them here and there. She still couldn’t make sense of what they wanted, but if word of their relationship got out, it could spell bad tidings for both of them. And then there was the family issue. She didn’t need her family nosing around her relationship with Nathan. With the season about to start, the last thing Nathan needed was to be at odds with one of her brothers.

Her brothers had always been protective of her. She had no idea how any of them would react to her seeing Nathan. Plus Flynn played on the same team with Nathan. So she added “Work Complication for Nathan” to the Sex side.

She sighed. So many unknowns. Which was why she put three underlines under “Uncomplicated” in the Friendship column.

She compared lists, searching for clarity but finding none. Of course their friendship would always come first. She could live without the sex. She’d done that plenty of times. The problem was, she was now having a sexual relationship with Nathan.

And that’s where uncomplicated had become complicated.

She sighed, closed her planner and headed downstairs. It was time to put thoughts of her oh-so-complicated relationship with Nathan away for now. Because it was wedding day for Barrett and Harmony, and that’s the only thing she intended to think about for the rest of the day.