careful.
In case she knew.
Sounding confident now, she said, âSee what I mean? Youâll be married in less than a year.â
âZuzu, weâve talked about this before. Iâm never going to get married. There are too many women out there.â
âEvery man says that,â she said. âEvery woman knows it only takes the right one.â
Jack frowned. He always spent time at the beginning of each relationship establishing a single rule: heâd date whom he wanted, when he wanted.
No commitments, and no cat fights.
âAnd what makes you think Abbyâs my Miss Right?â
âIntuition,â Zuzu said with a knowing smile.
âBaloney,â he responded, with a confidence of his own.
And with that, the otherworldly Zuzu drifted out of the diner, and the astounded Jack returned to his town home alone for the first time in a number of weekends.
Always before, a barren weekend had been his choiceânot theirs. Heâd had no idea how spoiled heâd been. He walked around among his boxed possessions, wishing he hadnât packed. Wishing the movers would come so he could get to the farmhouse and begin to put the next year behind him.
At least there the baby-care duties should keep him from being bored. It had been nice of Abby to offer to take care of the twins all weekend. He wondered if Wyatt had gone to sleep without a struggle tonight, and if Rosie had babbled nonstop all day.
After an hour of quiet, he called Abby to find out.
âHullo?â
Her voice was low and throaty. She sounded tired. He checked the time and realized it was eleven oâclock. Sheâd probably been asleep. He could picture her lounging in bed with a pristine white sheet slipping down the front of herâ Whoa!
An eveningâs assorted discussions about the caliber of her assets must have gotten to him.
âHullo? Is anyone there?â
âAbby, itâs Jack. Howâs it going?â
âFine. The babies have been asleep for two hours,â she said. âThey wake up early, so I came on up to bed.â
Bed. There it was again.
No matter how hard he fought it, that image of her naked body kept popping into his brain. The only explanation he could think of was that his woman-filled weekend had been a complete washout.
âIâm sorry if I woke you. I just wanted to check on things there,â he said with his eyes closed, as if he could block the unwanted mental pictures.
âYou mean youâre alone? Jack, are you slowing down at the ripe old age ofâ¦what, thirty-one?â As she grew more alert, she seemed to extend her talons again.
âThereâs no need to start a fight now,â he said, opening his eyes again.
He should thank her, really. As soon as her tone changed from soft to sarcastic, her image transformed, and he saw her standing with her hands on her hips and her lips pinched together. Wearing plenty of clothes.
âI wasnât starting a fight. I was expressing surprise that you didnât have company.â
âIt wasnât by choice.â
That got her for a moment. Then she said, âPoor baby, did your girlfriend get upset by your news?â
âYes. And I wouldnât scoff too much, since itâs your fault,â he sniped back.
âMy fault? How is that?â
âObviously, theyâre upset that Iâm shacking up with you.â
He heard her sharp intake of breath. âThey? As in more than one? But youâve only been gone one day. â
âUmâ¦yes. I managed to squeeze in a fewâjust to let them know I was moving, of course.â
âHoly cow,â she breathed. âWell, did you tell them we can hardly tolerate one another?â
âNot in so many words.â
âWell, you should. It would probably help.â
âWhatâs the point?â he asked. âIâm coming to live there in the boonies for a year, remember?â
âHow
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