Sweet Spot

“I don’t want anyone. I’m barely separated and I’m perfectly content to be on my own.” Or she would be if everyone in her life stopped assuming she was crumbling from the emotional devastation of walking in on her baby sister in bed with her husband.

Yes, it had been horrible and degrading and maybe even heartbreaking. But she was dealing.

“I need to get used to being alone,” Nicole said.

“Why? You were alone before, when you were married to Drew.”

“Ouch.”

Claire sighed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean for that to come out that way.”

“It’s fine.” Nicole wouldn’t show heartache. Not even to her sister.

Claire gave her a gentle smile. One that spoke about compassion and an internal decision to bring this up later. When Claire felt Nicole was stronger, emotionally.

Oh, great. Now she could read her twin’s mind? How delightful.

Nicole glanced at her watch. “We need to go meet Wyatt.”

“Oh! The time. I’ll hurry.”

Claire darted back into the dressing room. Nicole wondered if she should scold herself for tricking her sister into forgetting to talk about Nicole’s tragic life, but then decided she’d earned the reprieve. After all, here it was, a Friday night and she was at the mall, an obvious extra party in what should have been a twosome. But they’d asked and she hadn’t wanted to spend the evening by herself.

“I’ll meet you out front,” Nicole called toward the dressing room.

“I’ll just be a sec,” Claire promised.

Nicole walked out of the maternity store and found Wyatt waiting by the front window display. He looked uncomfortable as he studied an obviously pregnant mannequin.

“Hey,” she said. “You owe me. I just kept your fiancée from buying something hideous.”

“You did it for yourself,” Wyatt told her. “You’d care more than I would.”

Nicole knew that was true, so she ignored the statement. She glanced at the bag in Wyatt’s hand. It was from the bookstore.

“Another instruction manual on pregnancy,” she teased. “Is there one left you don’t have already?”

“We want to do it right,” Wyatt told her. “Like you’d be any different.”

Nicole knew she wouldn’t, but that wasn’t the point. She was about to suggest they take in a movie when Wyatt said, “How are you doing?”

She blinked at him. “Excuse me?”

“We haven’t talked in a while. You okay? You know. With stuff?”

“Stuff” being man-talk for anything emotional.

Wyatt had been her friend and brother-in-law long before he’d fallen for Claire. He knew way too many of her secrets. He’d offered to beat the crap out of Drew when he’d learned about the cheating. She loved him like a brother—except for right now when she wanted to slap him upside the head.

“Have you and Claire been talking about me?” she demanded. “Am I the subject of one of those horrible ‘what are we going to do about poor Nicole?’ conversations? Because if I am, you need to stop right now. I don’t need help from either of you. I’m fine. Better than fine.”

Wyatt was unimpressed by her outburst. “You’re mostly staying home, you’re not seeing anyone. You’re crabbier than usual, which is a trick.”

“I’m not in the mood to date. I know that’s a surprise, but there we are.”

“Don’t judge everyone by Drew, okay? There are great guys out there. You need to get back on the horse again.”

“Tell me you didn’t just say that. Back on the horse? I didn’t fall off my bike. My husband cheated on me with my little sister. In my house. That is not a ‘back on the horse’ moment. It’s the kind of thing that makes someone rethink her sexual preference, okay?”

Her chest felt tight. Was it just her, or was it hot in here? “Look, I have to go. Thanks for letting me tag along for dinner. I’ll talk to you later.”

She turned and moved away.

“Nicole, wait.”

She kept walking. When she saw the sign, she hurried—as best she could—toward the parking structure, incredibly grateful she’d met them at the mall. At least she had her own car.

Thirty minutes later she was home where it was quiet and familiar and there was no one to ask her stupid questions or feel sorry for her. There were also too many memories and an emptiness that made her flip channels until she found a sitcom. She stared at the screen and vowed she wouldn’t cry over Drew. Not now and not ever again.

CHAPTER TWO

SATURDAY MORNING Nicole arrived at the bakery about ten minutes before Raoul was due for his shift. Not that she was actually expecting the teenager. She’d reacted to the moment—she’d been nice. And she was a firm believer that no good deed went unpunished. So he wouldn’t show and she would be pissed, mostly at herself.

She walked toward the rear door of the bakery, only to be joined by a tall, dark-haired kid who fell into step with her.

“Good morning,” Raoul said politely.

She glanced at him. “You’re early.”

“I didn’t want to be late.”

“I’m impressed you’re here at all.”

“You didn’t expect me?”

“No.”

“I gave my word.”

“You stole doughnuts. That makes your word questionable.”

She wasn’t exactly looking at him as she spoke, so she couldn’t be sure, but she caught what looked like a flinch out of the corner of her eyes. Because she doubted him? Because she mentioned the stealing? Great. Every morning should start with a hypersensitive pastry thief.

“You’re also a jock,” she added, not sure why she felt compelled to make him feel better. “I have this thing against jocks. It dates back to high school, when all the guys I had crushes on ignored me.”

“I don’t believe that.”

She sighed. “Are you trying to be charming?”