Love You, Baby (Must Love Diamonds 3)

“Oh. Okay.” She hesitated a moment, then opened the doo

r and slipped out of the vehicle. “So…I’ll see you Tuesday?”

Guilt gnawed at his gut as he said, “I’ll call you.”

Her gaze narrowed slightly, and her chin lifted as she gave him a cool smile. “Yeah, okay, you do that, Merit.”

She stepped back and shut the door, then strode to the house without looking back. He gripped the steering wheel so hard his hands hurt. He wanted to go after her, try to explain why he was being a cowardly prick, but his body wouldn’t move. Besides, he didn’t even fully understand why himself, so what the fuck could he say to Mae?

Chapter 18

Mae shut her front door and leaned against it, her breath tight in her chest as she hoped to hear the SUV shut off. The slam of his door. The sound of his footsteps…his knock on—

The motor revved, and then faded as he drove away.

She closed her eyes against the sting of those damn hormonal tears, took a deep breath, and pushed off the door to go change. She’d certainly been right about one thing—he had no clue how a relationship worked. And judging by the last half-hour, it definitely wasn’t going well. Hell, it wasn’t going at all.

The sight of the rumpled bed drew her up short. A wave of memories shortened her breath. Last night seemed like forever ago. What had happened between now and then—or even between this morning and now?

In the middle of stripping her sheets, her phone rang. She ran to the kitchen where she’d left her purse and then hated herself for hoping it was him. It was too soon anyway.

When she saw Honor’s name on the screen, she swiped aside her disappointment at the same time she swiped to answer. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Her best friend’s voice was thick with sympathy. “You okay?”

Now the tears welled up again as she crossed over to the living room. “No, not really.”

“I’m sorry, Mae. It seems like the senator’s been harder on Merit than usual lately. Asher didn’t even know about the money stuff. I don’t think anyone did. You just got caught in the middle.”

She’d bet his pride had a little something to do with not broadcasting that news, and she certainly couldn’t blame him on that. In fact, she’d been shocked at how tough his father had been on him in front of the whole family. Did he really disrespect his son that much?

“I don’t care about the money. I felt bad for Merit, though.” No one had really seemed to stick up for him—other than his mother who tried to end the discussion twice.

“His dad’s been on him to get a job for a while now. It’s good to hear he’s done that.”

“He really hasn’t had a job before now?” she asked with disbelief. She had a brief flashback to Ian’s father, but then shoved it aside. Merit wasn’t even close to Patrick.

“I don’t think so,” Honor said. “Is he still pissed off?”

“I would imagine so, but that would only be a guess. He didn’t speak on the ride, and when we got here, he pretty much dropped me off and left.”

“What? Just like that?”

“Yeah. He said he had stuff to get done.”

“Ouch.”

She threw up her hand, then let her arm flop down to slap against her leg. “You know, I don’t get him. He kept coming after me, pushed me into letting him in, and then I make one little mistake with his parents and he won’t even talk to me.”

“Wait, he’s mad at you? He said that?”

“Not exactly. He said he doesn’t blame me for pretty much blurting out we’re pregnant, but if that’s true, then why just leave—especially after last night.”

“Oh. Last night happened?”

That’s right, they hadn’t had a chance to talk before the disaster that was brunch.

“Yeah. It happened.” She dropped down onto the couch and leaned her head back, eyes closed. “And it was good, you know? Not just the sex, but we watched a movie, and talked, and then this morning, we decided we’d give it a try. Being an us, I mean. Because it makes sense because of the baby.”