Free Cupid's Mistake by Chantilly White

behind her
closed lids, and she couldn't be sure she hadn't done the corny movie-kiss
thing and popped her foot up in stunned reaction. Just thinking about his lips
caressing hers had shivers coursing over her body and spiraling tingles racing
to her core. Pressing a hand low on her belly, she took a deep, shaky breath.
Wow. Wow-wow-wow.
    Arriving at Mia's, most of the drive a blur in her mind,
Allison threw the car in park and practically ran to the front door. She gave
only a cursory knock before letting herself in with her key, calling Mia's name
at the top of her lungs.
    "I'm up here," Mia hollered from the depths of her
tiny, oceanfront condo, "hang on."
    Not willing to wait, Allison bolted up the narrow stairs and
hurtled into Mia's sunny blue-and-yellow bedroom where her friend was just
rising from the chair in front of her laptop.
    "What is it?" Mia asked, alarm in her eyes.
"What's wrong?"
    "Hug," Allison said, and Mia flung her arms wide,
wrapping them around Allison as soon as she burrowed in.
    Mia held her tightly, not letting go until Allison gave her
one more squeeze and stepped away, comforted and steady once again. That was
one of the many great things about Mia. She'd hug it out forever if someone
needed. She never rushed through an embrace.
    Already feeling better, Allison grinned sheepishly at the
concern on Mia's face. "I'm okay," she said before Mia could ask,
"but can we talk?"
    Studying her, a tiny frown on her forehead, Mia nodded.
"Of course. Snacks first?"
    "Do you have any more of those chocolate-covered
cherries?"
    Flushing, Mia made a face, her green eyes sparkling with
self-deprecating mirth. "I don't actually know. I haven't been able to
find the box since you put it away last September."
    Despite her mood, Allison swallowed a laugh. She'd wrestled
a box of the candies out of Mia's grasp after her last bad breakup, right
before Mia and Derrick started dating, and had hidden them on an upper shelf in
her friend's kitchen. Evidently, she'd hidden them well.
    "Okay, then," Allison said over her shoulder,
preceding Mia down the stairs and heading straight for the kitchen cupboard
above her friend's refrigerator. Rummaging behind the extra candles and
lanterns Mia stored in there for power outages, Allison gave a victory yell
when her fingers clamped around the box of treats.
    Fifteen minutes later, they sat cross-legged and facing each
other from either end of Mia's bright red couch. Mia had arranged the
necessities for tea and the mandatory sweets on a tray placed within easy reach
on the coffee table.
    Beyond the family room's large picture-window, the leaden
sea foamed along the shore, a darker shade of grey than the gloomy sky. Each
wave's crashing boom formed a soothing counterpoint to Allison's jangling
nerves. She took a deep breath and allowed the comfort of her friend's home and
the gorgeous view to wash over her in a familiar tide.
    Taking a cherry by the stem, she twirled it before popping
it in her mouth. Then popped it right back out into a napkin she snatched
hastily from the tea tray.
    "Bleh," she said, making a face. "These are
stale."
    Mia narrowed her eyes. "That's what you get for hiding
them so well."
    "Mia!"
    Laughing, Mia said, "Fine, hang on."
    Going to the sideboard in the attached dining room, she dug
in the top drawer and came up with a box of chocolate-covered caramels. She
tossed them to Allison, then flopped back into position on the couch.
    "Now," Mia said. "Tell me everything."
    It came out in a flood—her New Year's party sighting
of Ben, Cupid's Cavalry, the lunch. Realizing who he was, then the silly
misunderstanding over how they'd even wound up together on their date. That
second kiss.
    "Whew!" Mia said, but Allison kept talking.
    Firing up over the princess comment all over again, her
hands gesturing wildly, she stopped mid-sentence at the raised-eyebrow on Mia's
face.
    "What?" she asked, frowning.
    "Well, you are a princess," Mia said with a shrug.
"You're The