LITMIR.BIZ

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involve her going along as a buffer between him and his newfound brother. Definitely an awkward situation, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to get involved. She searched for the words to politely decline.

      Before she could speak, her telephone vibrated against her waist. She glanced at the screen, grimacing when she saw that her sister was calling again. It seemed that she had a choice of how to spend her evening—either entertaining Mark’s brother or refereeing yet another of her own family squabbles.

      “Okay,” she said abruptly, pushing her phone back into its holder. “What time?”

      “That’s a yes?” He seemed rather surprised that she had accepted, as if he’d realized how close she had come to declining.

      She nodded. “Sure. Why not?”

      His smile was wry. “I’m sure there are plenty of reasons why you’d have liked to pass, but I’m not going to argue. I’ll pick you up at seven, okay?”

      She nodded even as she ignored the renewed vibration of the phone at her waist. “I’ll be ready.”

      At least as ready as she could be, she added silently.

      “C’mon, Rach, you’ve got to help me out. I don’t know how I’ll get through the evening without you.”

      Holding her phone to her ear with one hand while she unzipped her slacks with the other, Rachel wondered absently when Robbie’s voice had taken on this rather shrill, whining tone. She was sure he hadn’t sounded that way when they had dated back in college. And it hadn’t been quite this bad before their three-year marriage had broken up, though it had certainly become more common as their relationship had slowly dissolved.

      “I’m sorry, Robbie. I told you, I have plans for tonight. I can’t change them now.”

      “But what will I do? Kaylee just doesn’t feel like working tonight. I can’t have an empty hostess stand.”

      “Then you’ll have to find someone else to fill in, because I can’t do it tonight.”

      Robbie wasn’t used to having Rachel stand her ground when he begged. Usually he could count on her to cave if he laid it on thickly enough. But not tonight, she vowed. She was already doing a favor for Mark. This time Robbie was going to have to find his own solutions to his problems.

      “You’re doing this to punish me, aren’t you? Because I forgot to call you on your birthday last week. I know it hurt you that I didn’t remember, but I’ve been overwhelmed with everything that’s going on here. And Kaylee hasn’t been much help—even though I guess she really does feel lousy, having a cold and all—but I’ve apologized to you over and over, Rachel. I don’t know what else I can do.”

      Rachel sighed loudly as her clothing fell to the floor at her feet. “I’m not mad at you for missing my birthday. I just can’t help you out tonight. I have other plans. You’re going to have to find someone else. Mary can handle hostess responsibilities tonight. You’ll have to call in one of the day staff to take up her serving duties. Call Hilary. She’ll do it, if you pay her overtime. She needs the extra money.”

      “Mary’s too impatient to be a good hostess. She doesn’t have enough tact.”

      “She’ll get better with practice. Or you’re going to have to hire someone else if Kaylee continues to bail on you. The point is, you can’t keep depending on me to come to your aid, Robbie. I have my own career. My own life.”

      “The restaurant was your dream, too, at one time,” he reminded her, sounding more sullen than whiny now.

      “It was never my dream. It was always yours. But I tried to support you in it—until you found someone else to be your cheerleader.”

      “So that’s what this is about? You’re still jealous about Kaylee?”

      She nearly tripped over her fallen clothing. “Are you kidding me? I will always be eternally grateful to Kaylee. If you hadn’t dumped me for her I might have spent years trying to hold our marriage together out of some misguided sense of loyalty and responsibility. This isn’t ‘about’ anything, Robbie. I just can’t help you tonight. I have a date, and I’m going to be late if I don’t hurry. I’m hanging up now. I suggest you get on the phone to Mary and Hilary while you still have time to prepare for the dinner rush.”

      “A date? You didn’t say you have a date. Who is the guy? Can’t you reschedule for another—”

      “Goodbye, Robbie.” She snapped her phone closed and headed for the shower.

      Mark didn’t know why he was so nervous as he parked in the lot of Rachel’s apartment complex. It was just dinner, right? A double date of sorts, over a nice meal. He’d been on dozens of outings like that. No big deal.

      Of course, this would be the first time he’d dined with a man who claimed to be his brother. And the guy’s sort-of psychic girlfriend. Not to mention a woman Mark, himself, had hoped to woo into his bed—once she’d selected a bed for him.

      Wondering which of those factors made him most uneasy, he tugged at the collar of his deep blue shirt as he strode down the hallway of Rachel’s apartment complex. He hadn’t been sure what to wear. The restaurant where he and Ethan had agreed to meet wasn’t a jacket and tie sort of place. He’d settled on a blue dress shirt, open at the collar, worn with khakis and brown oxfords.

      And because he so rarely obsessed about his clothing, that was just another sign of how rattled he was this evening.

      Rachel opened her door with a smile that made him forget any qualms he’d had about inviting her.

      “You look great,” he said.

      “Thank you. I forgot to ask where we were going, so I wasn’t sure what was appropriate to wear.”

      Only then did he notice what she had on, a sleeveless black dress with a knee-length hem. A small diamond pendant lay nestled in the tasteful amount of cleavage revealed by the V-neckline of the dress. Just enough of a glimpse to make him fantasize about seeing more.

      “You look…great,” he said again, unable to think coherently enough to come up with a new compliment.

      Shallow dimples appeared in her cheeks, then quickly disappeared. Captivated by them, he simply stared at her until she cleared her throat and said, “Um, would you like to come in?”

      Chiding himself for his uncharacteristic awkwardness, he shook his head—both to clear his mind and as a negative to her invitation. “We’d better go, if you’re ready. Traffic’s pretty heavy this evening.”

      “Just let me get my purse.”

      She returned after only moments with a small black bag tucked beneath her arm. Locking her door behind her, she smiled up at him, and only then did he see the slight hint of nerves in her eyes. “I’m ready.”

      It made him feel somewhat better to know that he wasn’t the only one with hesitations about this outing. “Yeah. Me, too. And thanks again for going with me tonight, Rachel.”

      “Actually, you’re helping me out, too,” she confided, falling into step beside him.

      “Yeah? In what way?”

      “My mother and sister are squabbling and they’re trying to put me squarely in the middle. I’d have had to spend the evening refereeing a family confrontation. I’d much rather deal with your family problems than my own tonight.”

      He laughed, as she had obviously intended for him to do. “Caught between a rock and a hard place, huh?”

      She smiled up at him as he opened the passenger door of his car for her. “Not quite. You said you were planning to ask me out again today even before your brother showed up last night? I have to admit that I was hoping you would.”

      Pleased, he held the door while she slid into the seat. All of a sudden, he wasn’t nearly as uneasy about the upcoming evening.

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