The Predicament (The Proposition #3.5) Read Online Free PDF

coffee house. She eased her SUV into a space next to Emma’s. After what had happened the night before, an emergency girls’ meeting had been called. To ensure that they were able to speak as freely as they needed considering the subject matter, Emma had left Caroline and Noah with Patrick while Casey had dropped off Olivia at Nate’s mom’s house an hour earlier than usual.
    As she stepped inside The Grind , Casey inhaled appreciatively of the tantalizing smell of roasted coffee. She had loved the illicit substance before Olivia’s birth, but she had practically been mainlining it to her veins during work hours to keep herself awake. Even though pumping and dumping was a pain in the ass, it was a necessary evil to keep her beloved coffee.
    After she inched forward in the line, she craned her neck around, searching for where Emma was sitting. Casey spotted her in the far corner. Always the punctual one, Emma had arrived early and snagged one of their favorite spots—an overstuffed couch and table. Like Casey, her appearance was a little more thrown together these days considering Caroline and Olivia were only a day apart, and then Noah was twenty months. But if there was anyone who could make motherhood not only look easy, but a walk in the park, it was Emma.
    Once she had her venti Vanilla latte, Casey headed over to the table. When Emma caught her eye, she popped off the couch like a Jack in the Box and opened her arms in an inviting hug.
    With a roll of her eyes, Casey snorted and held up her coffee free hand. “Jesus, Em, would you stop being so melodramatic? I only fell asleep during a blowjob.”
    Emma shook her head. “You can play it off all you want, but I know you.”
    “Is that right?”
    Jerking her chin up, Emma replied, “Yeah, it is. You hold three things sacred in your life—your family and friends, your career, and your sex life.”
    Casey gave a grunt of frustration before sinking down into the soft cushions of the plush couch. “You do know me too well.”
    “I would be a pretty lousy bestie if I didn’t,” Emma replied, with a teasing smile.
    “True,” Casey murmured before taking a steaming gulp of her coffee. She couldn’t help laughing when she saw the longing look on Emma’s face. “You know, you can always pump and dump like I do,” she suggested.
    Emma sighed as she swished the cup that held her Passion Tea Lemonade. “I know. It just seems like even the least amount in my bloodstream has Caroline wired for hours. It never seemed to effect Noah.”
    Casey grinned. “I think it’s more that Caroline is going to be a little firecracker and take after her Aunt Casey.”
    Emma laughed. “That’s true. She’s already way more outgoing and social than Noah was, and he hammed it up most days for kisses and smiles.”
    “So far so good that Liv seems to be taking after Nate personality wise,” Casey mused.
    They were momentarily interrupted by Emma’s phone dinging. After glancing down at it, Emma smiled. “Megan’s here.”
    “I thought she was working today.”
    “She is. She’s just popping over during her break.”
    Great. The fact that Emma had felt the need to invite Megan made what had happened last night seem even more horrific. Swallowing another gulp of coffee, she said, “Please tell me you didn’t invite Connor, too.”
    Emma’s cheeks tinged pink. “He couldn’t make it this morning. But he sends his love and support.”
    Casey groaned as she sat her coffee down. “Jesus, Em. You’re seriously making feel like a real nutjob, you know that?”
    “That wasn’t my intention at all. I just wanted to be supportive,” Emma argued.
    Megan pushed through the front door and made her way through the crowd. Outfitted in a pair of pink scrubs, her long, blonde hair was swept into a ponytail. “Hey guys,” she said with a bright smile. As she sat down across from them, the enormous diamond wedding band on her left hand caught the light and almost blinded Casey.