Read Online My Best Friend's Baby by Lisa Plumley - Free Book Online

raw ?"
    She heard the muffled whump of tissues being
pulled out of the box. Nick pressed a wad into her hand, and she
used it to wipe away the last traces of his pseudo health drink.
That horrible stuff had to be revenge for the way she'd sprung her
pregnancy surprise on him.
    "Of course it was raw," he said, exactly in
the same way he might have said, "Of course I hate shopping."
    "You've seen too many Rocky movies."
    "Don't be a baby."
    "Don't be a doofus," she said with a
shuddering glance at the Flintstones cup. "I'm not drinking that
stuff."
    "Okay." He looked disappointed.
    Something told her she hadn't seen the last
of his efforts to make sure was a suitably healthy example of an
expectant mother. The idea had a certain irony, but it wasn't
anything Chloe could consider further with egg aftertaste in her
mouth and Nick's steady gaze making her feel warm all over.
    "I'll come up with a better drink next
time."
    "Thanks for the warning." She dreaded it
already.
    "You're welcome." Smiling, he picked up the
Flintstones cup and slugged down the contents, then rubbed his
stomach. "But you're missing some good stuff."
    I know , Chloe thought, watching him
carry the cup into the kitchen. I'm missing you . The sink
faucet rumbled, then water splashed. She imagined a future with
Nick elbow-deep in soapsuds at her sink every day, a kitchen towel
slung over his shoulder and a babbling baby at the table and her
whipping up something gourmet at the stove ... and knew her fantasy
was only that.
    She couldn't even cook.
    She followed him into the kitchen anyway,
and found Nick head-and-shoulders deep inside her refrigerator,
mumbling to himself. His backside faced her, every bit as cute as
she remembered. His denim shorts stretched tight as he reached for
something on the shelf in front of him.
    Chloe stifled a sigh and leaned back on the
counter to watch. Fate was cruel to have delivered her a man like
this next door, given her a taste of life in his arms ... and then
dangled him just out of reach with Kahlúa-induced amnesia and the
constraints of platonic friendship. It just wasn't fair.
    Nick's hand emerged holding a box of
Twinkies. He slapped it onto the countertop beside the six-pack of
diet cola he'd already removed from the refrigerator.
    "Hey!" She was beside him in an instant.
"Those will get all gooey if you leave them out like that."
    He faced her, eyebrows raised. "They'll get
even gooier in the trash can," Nick said, picking up the box again
and aiming it toward the plastic bin in the corner like a
basketball player making a free throw. He paused. "Want to say
goodbye?"
    "What? No!" Chloe grabbed one end of the box
and pulled. Nick pulled back.
    The tug of war that ensued wasn't
pretty.
    "You can't eat this stuff," Nick said,
wrenching his end of the box.
    His tug sent her stockinged feet skidding
across the linoleum. She added her other hand to the struggle and
gained an inch or two. "Let go!"
    "You let go." He tugged back, and she lost
the ground she'd gained. His broad chest and grinning face forecast
his victory, but she wasn't ready to call it quits yet.
    Chloe Carmichal was no pushover. And she
never surrendered.
    Instead she stuck her foot on top of Nick's
ankle for leverage and tightened her grip on the Twinkie box. "It's
mine. Give it up, you brute, before I have to manhandle you."
    The idea had merit. She couldn't allow
herself to dwell on it—but she couldn't deny herself a quick roving
glance over his ... manhandables, either. The man could entice a
nun to sin, and never know he was doing it. That was the trouble
with brainiac types like Nick. He lived in a world of the mind,
where a buffed-up body was just efficient packaging for the real
goods.
    She never knew efficiency could be so
sexy.
    "Grow up, Chloe," he said, interrupting her
in mid-fantasy-flight. "Doing without junk food for a few months
won't kill you."
    "Oh, no?"
    "No. Anyway, it's for your own good."
    He pulled harder. She skidded and