MIMI LEANED against the car to catch her breath while she glanced around the crowded lot, grateful for the trees bordering the property. She didn’t think anyone had seen her, although she’d noticed a couple of reporters in the lobby, obviously interviewing stranded motorists for a story on the blizzard. Thank heavens they hadn’t spotted her.
Seconds later Seth walked down the snow-dusted drive, his hands in his pockets, his face stoic as he gazed around at the ice-heavy branches of the trees. He looked handsome and calm and totally in control. Unaffected by their night together. The complete opposite of her.
Damn him.
He hit the release on his key and opened the door for her—a real gentlemen—and she scooted under his arm and practically dived into the car. He climbed in, switched on the ignition and turned to look at her. “I don’t think anyone saw us together.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God.”
He turned on the radio, then pulled down the drive. “I stopped at the desk to ask about the roads. Apparently the plows were out early, so I think we can get through.”
“We have to,” Mimi said, her skirt crinkling noisily as she twisted the material in her lap.
Several minutes passed, tension building as they slowly wound down the mountain road. A few icy patches looked hazardous, and Mimi held her breath as Seth expertly steered the car around them. When they finally turned onto the interstate, he cleared his throat.
“We have to talk,” he said in a dark voice.
“I think we already said everything we need to say.”
“I don’t think so.” He reached into his pocket and lay an empty foil packet in the middle of the console, the shiny paper glowing like a red neon sign.
Mimi instantly reached out her hand to cover it as if the few people daring enough to brave the roads this morning could see into the car and would know exactly what had transpired between them. “What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to tell you something.”
“I know what they are,” Mimi said through gritted teeth.
“Did you take a count of how many we used?”
“What? You mean did I count the number of times we… Well, no. But it was a lot.” She was sore in spots where she had never been sore before.
He clenched his hands around the steering wheel. “Well, I did. And I came up short.”
Of course he would count. He was practical, logical, rational Seth Broadhurst. Mimi felt a sinking sensation in her stomach as she realized the direction of his conversation—the topic was much more frightening than the icy roads. “You mean we…forgot one time?”
“I believe it was in the Jacuzzi.”
“All those bubbles…” Mimi said, distracted by the memory. “We were so carried away…”
“I’ve never gotten carried away and forgotten before.” He rubbed a hand along his neck, sounding disgusted. She wasn’t sure if it was because he’d gotten carried away or because they’d forgotten or because of the possible consequences. His hand snaked over hers. “You will let me know if anything happens, won’t you, Mimi?”
“I…it’ll be fine. I’m…I’m sure.”
He shot her an uncertain look.
“Well, almost sure. I told you I was PMSing.”
His eyes darkened. “I will take full responsibility if…you know, if something happens.”
Of course he would take responsibility, whether he liked it or not. Noble, nice, responsible Seth, exactly as Hannah had always described, except for the sex part. Hannah—dear God, what would she tell her sister if she wound up pregnant with Seth’s baby? “Nothing is going to happen.”
He arched a brow at her clipped tone. “Just promise me you’ll tell me.”
Mimi dropped her head into her hands, a headache pinching at her temples. “But you don’t want kids.”
“Neither do you.”
“I won’t get pregnant.”
He said nothing, simply stared at her. “Promise me you’ll tell me, anyway.”
Mimi sighed. “Okay. But it’s not going to happen.” The memory of her hope chest floated through her mind—the baby blanket and rattle.
She clutched her stomach, feeling nauseous. No, the items in her hope chest had been placed there by mistake, just like the incredible night with Seth had been a mistake. Neither one meant anything. They weren’t an omen of the future as Hannah’s hope chest had been. Her future involved acting and TV and…other men.
As soon as she returned to Sugar Hill, to her own apartment with her dog and cat, everything would return to normal. She’d simply hit the fast erase button in her mind. And nobody would ever have to know she and Seth had spent the night together.
“IS THIS WHAT I think it is?
Mimi stared in horror at the newspaper Alison held in her hands. A color photo showed her and Seth, looking dreamy-eyed and glued together as they headed toward their hotel room. At least the story wasn’t on the front page. And she and Seth weren’t really the focus of the picture; they were actually in the background. Obviously the reporter had been interviewing a couple from New Jersey stranded on their way to the beach, and he’d caught them in the photo.
So much for nobody finding out she and Seth had been together.
“Mimi, is it?”
“Er…no, not exactly.”
Alison plopped onto Mimi’s bright yellow U-shaped sofa with a paper bag, then pulled out bagels and coffee. “What does that mean?”
Mimi scratched her dog’s ears while she scanned the article. Some stranded guests had spent the night in a local school cafeteria, others at churches, when they couldn’t find hotels. The reporter listed the couples’ names. At least he hadn’t identified her or Seth.
“Come on, you might as well tell me,” Alison said matter-of-factly. “Maybe I can help cushion things for Dad.”
“He’s going to freak and think I’m totally irresponsible, especially after I was so stupid with Joey.”
“Are you going to tell Hannah?” Alison sighed and stirred sugar into her coffee. Mimi left hers un-sweetened and tore off a tiny piece of bagel for Wrangler, her pug, and another piece for Esmereldo, the stray cat she’d taken in the week before. “No, I don’t want Hannah to find out. Since she’s out of town, maybe she won’t see it.”
Alison studied her and Mimi squirmed. “Oh, my gosh. You actually slept with him, didn’t you?”
Mimi nodded miserably, the horror of what she’d done escalating. “It…it just happened. One minute I was comforting him over losing Hannah and he was talking to me about Joey, then he started looking at me funny, all hot and sexy and different, and I challenged him to dance because I didn’t think he would, and he did. And it was dark and he’s actually quite muscular under those suits, and the music was so romantic and he was so tender, exciting kind of tender, not like Joey, and he isn’t boring like I thought he’d be.”
Alison blew into her coffee. “Good Lord, Mimi.”
“I know.” Mimi moaned and folded her legs Indian-style on the couch. “It was because we were