It was a secret society of overscheduled moms, and Josie was their baked-goods dealer.

She drew the line at birthday cakes and other things people could get from Buttered Up, but last-minute treats or items for fund-raising were different.

It still bugged her that Zoe didn’t know.

“Do they need frosted or decorated or anything?” Jane asked of the cookies.

“Nope, just good old chocolate chip.”

“Great, then I need you to come to Granny’s with me.”

“Oh.” Josie paused with a spatula in hand. “Um.”

Jane smiled. “I know your hair is up. You have flour on your face. You’re in your blue fuzzy pajama pants and have your glasses on, but I need you.”

“What’s going on?”

“I might, kind of, want to sleep with my boss.”

Okay, well, there it was. Out loud. Out in the universe.

“Oh.” That was a much more interested “Oh.” Josie moved closer and peered into her phone.

“Yeah,” Jane said.

Josie smiled and sighed. “That’s so great.”

Jane caught herself smiling at her romantic friend. Then she frowned. “Wait. What? No, it’s not great.”

“It’s not? He’s one of Aiden’s friends, right?”

“Yes, Dax.”

“Oh, the fun one!” Josie said enthusiastically. “He’s so cute too. He’s got that smirky smile and that charm.” She sighed again. “God, you deserve that, Jane.”

Jane shook her head. “You’re supposed to talk me out of this.”

Josie blinked. “Why?”

“He’s my boss.”

“That’s hot.”

“That’s illegal.”

Josie laughed. “It is not. You’re both consenting adults. Unless he’s blackmailing you or something. Is he blackmailing you?”

“Well, no.” Jane felt flustered suddenly. “Okay, it’s not illegal. It’s unethical though. He’s my boss. There’s a definite imbalance of power. He could coerce me or threaten to fire me or something.”

Josie nodded. “Okay, that’s true. I mean, technically. You’re right. That’s not cool. But…”

“But what?”

“Well, for one, it’s you. You don’t want to be promoted.”

“Oh God,” Jane said. “I so do not want to be promoted.” Promoted might mean more pay, but it also meant more responsibility which meant more headaches.

“Exactly. And if he tried to fire you or whatever, you’d tell everyone about it, and that whole place would walk out. You know that.”

Jane thought about that. She didn’t think the whole place would walk out. But several would. She’d never really given anything like that any thought, of course, but Josie was probably right. Her friends at Hot Cakes would have her back. Just like she had theirs.

Dax and Aiden and the others would have no idea what to do.

Though Aiden would never let that happen. If she told him Dax was doing something like that, Aiden would throw him out. She knew that. She trusted Aiden completely.

But… she trusted Dax too. It was weird. She hardly knew him. But Dax would never make her job contingent on anything sexual between them. Or contingent on anything at all, other than her showing up and doing her work, as it should be.

“Or you could sue him for everything he’s got,” Josie said.

A jar of gummy bears and a beanbag chair? was Jane’s first thought, but that was stupid. He was rich. She could sue for part of his gaming company. Hell, she could sue for his part of Hot Cakes. Wouldn’t that be ironic?

“I so don’t want to sue anyone,” she said, feeling tired just thinking of it. Or walking out. Picketing. Protesting. Who had the energy for something like that?

“Well, and it’s Dax,” Josie said, waving that all away. “I don’t see him saying that you’re fired if you don’t sleep with him.”

Yeah, okay, that was true.

“It’s still the principal of the thing,” Jane said. “I can’t sleep with the boss.”

“All right, I’m with you,” Josie said. She started lifting cookies from the cookie sheet to the cooling rack. “I just…” She sighed. “Wouldn’t it be great? Just for a little while? To have some fun like that? Some excitement? Not the boss thing, specifically, but to be swept up by a guy you haven’t known your whole life? To travel and try some new things? Things we never see or get to do here in Appleby?”

Jane watched her friend through the phone. She smiled. Josie was a romantic at heart, and while she loved their little hometown, she, like everyone they knew, had spent her whole life here. As had her parents. And her grandparents. And all her aunts and uncles and cousins. Her older sister was settled down with her high school sweetheart. Her parents were high school sweethearts. Her grandparents had not only met in high school but had eloped at age sixteen, forging their IDs so they could get married before they were even old enough. They’d kept their parents from breaking it up by getting pregnant.

It had been quite a scandal.

A scandal that had resulted in seventy years of marriage, five children, and twenty-five grandchildren.

Josie loved all that. But she was also very intrigued by the idea of her handsome prince being someone she hadn’t met at age five and who could show her more of the world than Dubuque County, Iowa.

Her grandfather and father had wanted to show their wives more. They just hadn’t been able to afford to.

“So I should become his short-term mistress because he’s rich? Get him to jet me around the world and buy me expensive trinkets? Let him pamper me for a little while?”

Josie sighed, her spatula against her heart. “Yes.”

Jane laughed. “Come on.”

Josie grinned at her. “Okay, not because he’s rich. Just… for fun. A little adventure. A little excitement. Wouldn’t it be fun to take a carriage ride in Central Park or go to Griffith Observatory in LA or have a cozy, romantic night in a cabin in the Rocky Mountains, or stay in a bed-and-breakfast in Vermont?”

Jane wanted to hug her friend and would have if they’d been talking in person. Josie wasn’t interested in money beyond the idea of travel and having some new experiences. None of those ideas were extravagant nor did they require being a mistress for a millionaire. But they were things that Josie’s salt-of-the-earth, blue-collar dad had always wanted to do for her mom and had never been able to afford.

“So just something different,” Jane said.

“Different and fun,” Josie emphasized. “And the pampering sounds pretty good. Massages, foot rubs, long bubble baths, decadent desserts I didn’t have to make myself…” She laughed lightly. “Or, you know, whatever turns you on.”

Jane grinned. “Wipe the flour off your face. Take your apron off. Put on some jeans, and meet me at the bar.”

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” Josie said.

Jane smiled. She really did have good taste in friends. “Thank you.”

“But just to be clear,” Josie said. “I’m supposed to keep you from sleeping with him, right?”