Have Baby, Need Beau. Rita Herron

way to phrase his concerns.

      Then she threw him for a loop. “I was trying to comfort you over Hannah.”

      His mouth tightened. Had she made love to him out of some misguided pity? “I don’t need your help getting over Hannah.”

      “And I don’t need you giving me therapy over Joey.”

      “Fine, this…us…it won’t happen again.”

      “Absolutely not.”

      “We’ll act like it never happened.”

      “Right. And we won’t tell anyone.”

      His temper flared. She’d never seemed secretive about that hood DeLito. Their public displays of affection had been almost embarrassing. “I’m certainly not going to advertise it.”

      She nodded. “You won’t tell Hannah?” Genuine horror rang in her voice.

      “Of course I won’t tell Hannah. After all, I still have to work with her.”

      “And she’s my sister.”

      Her chin wobbled as if she was on the verge of tears, and his gut clenched. He reached for her, the regret in his heart almost as dark as the look she gave him. “I’ll check the weather conditions if you want to shower.”

      “Fine. Oh, and you might want to put some powder on that eye. It’s a little blue.” Mimi swept the wrinkled bridesmaid dress from the floor and stumbled toward the bathroom. Seth’s stomach knotted as his body reacted, itching to go with her.

      Of course he didn’t move. He kept his feet glued to the floor. In fact, his fingers tightened around the empty condom packet. He’d been on the verge of discussing their possible problem when he’d seen her chin wobble. Maybe he’d save that conversation for the car. Once they were driving, she couldn’t just run away.

      MIMI PRAYED the soap and water and steam would clear her head and bring her back to her senses. As much as she didn’t want to want Seth again, when she’d seen him standing there, all shirtless and long brawny limbs, tight-lipped and sad eyed, she’d wanted to wipe that tightness off his face and that sadness out of his eyes and make him remember how great the night had been. She wanted to make him laugh and purr her name in that husky voice he’d used in the wee hours of the morning.

      But he thought their lovemaking was a mistake and so did she, and then there was Hannah, and oh, God…

      Tears leaked from her eyes and she let them fall onto the shower floor, unable to stop the flood. She always seemed to be creating messes.

      First, when she was little, she’d been so klutzy and messy she’d driven her own mother away. Grammy had said she was creative, and her father had laughed and bragged about her projects, but her mother had hated all the glue, glitter, paints, costumes and cooking disasters. She’d constantly complained, but Mimi had argued that her dad loved her impromptu shows, that he always ate her concoctions, no matter how bizarre they sounded. As a teenager, she’d brought home stray animals, and once she’d saved a turtle, but it smelled so badly her mother had gotten ill. Then her mother had walked out. And it was all her fault.

      Her teenage years had been rocky, too—she’d bounced from one loser boyfriend to another. Then she’d dropped out of college to pursue an acting career. And this past year she’d hooked up with Joey. He’d seemed like a loner when he’d first come to Sugar Hill, and she’d fallen for his candy-coated compliments. She’d been so naive she hadn’t known he was dating her to steal from her father. She’d put her father, his business and Hannah in danger because she’d been too impulsive and trusting.

      And now she’d really lost her mind. She’d taken Hannah’s ex-boyfriend to bed and actually imagined… No, she was not going to even entertain the possibility they might have a relationship. He had to get back to his analyzing and his stuffy family, and she had to return to her job as a manager of the café and practice for the audition.

      Finally her tears subsided. She toweled off and yanked on the bridesmaid dress, feeling like a fool wearing a rumpled evening outfit at seven in the morning. Her only comfort was that no one would ever know she and Seth had been together.

      Minutes later she patted her cheeks to put some color into them, and hoped Seth didn’t notice her red, puffy eyes. He was completely dressed, his jacket buttoned to hide the tear in his slacks, his body as stiff as a marble wall as he stood by the door. He watched her steadily, his expression closed.

      She lifted her chin and asked, “Ready?”

      He nodded. “Mimi—”

      “No, don’t.” She held up a warning hand. “Nothing happened. And no one will ever know. Agreed?”

      He hesitated and her heart did a strange pitter-patter. Finally he said in a low voice, “Agreed.”

      She nodded, wondering if the roads were clear enough to drive, but decided not to ask. They couldn’t possibly stay in the hotel a moment longer. Determined not to become emotional, she opened the door, only to see a couple who looked exactly like Hannah and Jake walking down the hallway of the hotel. Their hushed voices drifted toward her from the elevator, and her stomach churned.

      The couple was Hannah and Jake.