LITMIR.BIZ

       CHAPTER ONE

      “YOU KNOW, THAT tummy of yours isn’t what you can call a ‘baby bump’ anymore. More like a baby beach ball,” Bree Donovan teased. She glanced at her friend Emma, who was settling herself in the passenger seat of her car. “Good thing he didn’t decide to pop out while you were flying over the mountains. Giving birth on a plane would be a little stressful, don’t you think?”

      Bree had to at least lightly chide her friend for waiting to travel until she was thirty-seven weeks along in her pregnancy, after she’d told Emma more than once she shouldn’t. Not that the woman ever listened to advice, and in fact usually did the opposite of anything suggested to her.

      “I know you wanted me to come sooner, but I wasn’t ready to deal with Sean yet,” Emma said with a grimace. “Lecturing me and fussing over me like I’m still a little kid instead of twenty-nine years old. Besides, the reason I look like I swallowed a volleyball is because the baby is still high and happy, with no intention of coming soon, I’m told.”

      And even if she hadn’t been sure of that, free-spirited Emma probably wouldn’t have worried about it anyway, would she? Bree would have smiled, remembering the way Sean alternately rebuked then pampered his sister, if it didn’t make her heart hurt thinking about Sean at all.

      Though not thinking about him had become impossible with Emma coming back to San Diego for a while.

      The ache in her chest was joined by self-mockery. Who was she kidding? It didn’t matter that she and Sean had broken up six miserable months ago—he was on her mind way too often, anyway. It also didn’t matter that their relationship had started to list toward rocky shore shortly after their engagement, showing how wrong she’d been during those first starry-eyed months with him. Obvious, important differences had wedged between them, slowly shaking the foundation of what had seemed like perfection together. How that had happened was something she still couldn’t figure out—didn’t falling in love at nearly first sight mean it was meant to be?

      The blinding happiness she’d felt then had convinced her it did. And was blinding the right word, or what? She’d certainly chosen not to open her eyes to all the reasons things could never work out between the two of them until after he’d put a ring on her finger, making their breakup all that much harder for both of them.

      “Oh, and speaking of Sean,” Emma said, emphasizing her brother’s name in a way that had Bree bracing herself for what might be coming next, “I wanted to confess something.”

      “Confess what?”

      “Mom told me he’s been gloomy and restless ever since you two broke up. So I set him up with a dating service to help him move on. Just so you know, in case you see him on a date.”

      “You did what?” Bree’s mouth fell open and she stared at her friend.

      “You don’t mind, do you?” Emma raised her eyebrows, the picture of surprised innocence. “I’m just trying to help him find someone better suited to him, and he works so much, he doesn’t have time to meet women. I mean, you’re the one who broke the engagement. And are ready to move to Hawaii. Right?”

      Cold, shocked dismay shot through Bree at Emma’s statement. Why, she didn’t know. She shouldn’t care one bit. A rational woman wouldn’t. It was over between them for a lot of good reasons, and she was moving on, literally and figuratively.

      “Of course I don’t mind.” And she didn’t. And maybe her nose was growing, because the thought of seeing Sean with another woman on his arm, thinking of him sleeping with someone else, made

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