Page 2 of From London, With Love

Harper feigns shock. “Miss Mia, is this your way of revealing you’re a secret crack addict?”

“So what if I was?” The prominent lift in Mia’s eyebrows is a silent challenge.

“Mia honey, we’ve watched you struggle to use a Vicksinhaler. I think it’s safe to say none of us are secret crack users,” I respond, grinning wickedly at Mia through the screen. “Harper, please proceed!” This gets one final snicker from Harper before she continues.

“This will come as no surprise, but I have been listening to true crime podcasts.”

As if planned, Mia and I dramatically roll our eyes in unison.?

“Harper, you do know there’s a wonderful thing called music you can listen to instead of gruesome murder retellings, right?” Mia’s tone is playful, a small smirk tugging on her lips as Harper turns to face her with a huff.

“Okay ladies, let’s play nice,” I tease. “You can listen to anything you want, Harps, as long as you tell us what we really want to hear; what are you reading?”

“The absolute literary masterpiece that is Give Me More by Sara Cate.” She beams, holding up her paperback triumphantly, not dissimilarly to the way Rafiki holds baby Simba. The familiar face of a half-naked man appears in my line of sight, his ‘come fuck me’ eyes staring right into my soul.

When it comes to smut, I’m partial to a cutesy illustrated cover rather than a male model shot. However, there’s something about the tattoos and leather jacket sported on the front of Give Me More.

I lock eyes with Mia through the screen and watch her eyebrows raise the same way mine do. Her expression of surprise reflects mine. A moment passes and smiles stretch across our faces as we look back at Harper.

“She sees the light!”

“It’s a Christmas miracle!”

Mia and I excitedly talk over each other, a regular occurrence on these three-way calls. We’re all easily excitable, which is both entertaining and chaotic. The three of us could never beallowed in a library together; the havoc we’d cause would be tremendous.?

We’ve spent the past several months trying to goad Harper over to the dark side and dip her toes into this series, but she was reluctant, to say the least. Of the three of us, she’d be labelled as the more conventional one when it comes to romance novels and their contents.

While Mia and I lap up the smut, Harper was never as exposed to that genre the way we were—we’d been the 16-year-olds secretly reading the Fifty Shades series and convincing our mothers it was a “teen series”. Imagine my mother’s shock when she watched the movie several years later. After that, she didn’t dare ask too many questions when it came to the books I was reading.

Having read Praise and fallen in love with the Salacious crew immediately, we knew Harper simply had to read it too. She was hesitant at first, but I strongly believe she has a closet praise kink, and this book brought her out of her shell. Needless to say, we’re overjoyed with the progress she’s made of her own accord through the series. Soon the apprentice will become the master, and we’ll be going to her for smut recommendations rather than her coming to us; what a moment in history that’ll be.?

“I hate to admit it, but the two of you were right. This series is sensational. Who knew you could have a healthy balance of smutandstoryline?” Harper returns the book to her lap before turning toward Mia. “You’re up.”

“Embracing my overachiever archetype, I’ve been rewatching a TV series and a movie series this week, and I have no regrets. Bridgerton continues to hit quite sensationally the second time around, as does the Fifty Shades trilogy. Really, I’m getting the best of both eras for sex and smut.”

Stifling a grin, I playfully roll my eyes at Mia as Harper smacks her on the arm.

“Must everything revolve around sex when it comes to the two of you?” Harper shakes her head ever so slightly as she speaks.

“Yes,” Mia and I respond in unison, causing us to burst into hysterics. Harper fails at maintaining a straight face and joins in. If the girl's neighbours weren’t already awake, they certainly would be after hearing this raucous.

“The sex doesn’t stop there!” Mia exclaims with a wide grin. “Harps, you might need to prepare yourself for what I’ve been reading this week—Pucking Around by Emily Rath.”

Harper reaches over and grabs the book off Mia’s lap; her brows pull together slightly as she lifts it into view. “This book has sex? This cute little cover doesn’t portray that. Where’s the half-naked model shot?”

“This bookissex Harps. We’re talking about one woman, three men, absolute filth.” The smile splitting the lower half of Mia’s face is downright devilish. Harper’s expression? Quite the opposite. I’ve never seen her look so confused.

“Honey, let me break it down for you.” Mia turns to Harper, levelling with her. “Girl meets three boys. Girl likes three boys and they like her, and each other. Said three boys proceed to fuck the girl in a loving manner, resulting in some ofthehottest sex scenes you’ll read. I’m going to assume the look on your face means I don’t need to spell it out any further?”

She’s displaying a look of astonishment, crossed with . . . No, it couldn’t be. Is sheimpressed? Colour me shocked.

“I’ve seen this book on almost every surface of our apartment the past week, and I never would’ve guessed it contained suchdirtycontent.” The small grin on Harper's lips is trying oh so hard to remain hidden, but it’s there.?

“I’ll be finished it by this evening.” Mia bumps hershoulder into Harper’s as she promises, “I’ll leave it on the bench for you.”

Harper’s cheeks turn pink, and I stifle a giggle.

“I’m quite alright with my current read, thank you.” Harper’s cheeks turn a slightly deeper shade of pink. “But I may take you up on that once I finish.”

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