That Man of Mine by Maria Geraci Page A

heaven and hell looking for the guy who’d knocked up his little sister.
    â€œI just want to make sure she’s okay. And to offer whatever help she’ll let me. Please, man, you got to believe I only want what’s best for Mimi.”
    After a few minutes of deliberation, Luke told him what he wanted to know. Mimi was currently at home. But not for long. She and her mother were leaving first thing in the morning to go hide out in some cabin in North Carolina. Zeke thanked Luke and jumped on his bike. He was careful to keep to just ten miles over the speed limit but it was hard. The urge to fly down the highway and get to her before her mother got wind he was on his way nearly choked him. Patience had never been his strong suit.
    He pulled his bike into the Powers family driveway. Mimi’s mother was distantly related to Earl Handy, the grandson (or was it great grandson) of Cyrus Handy, Whispering Bay’s founding father. Some of the Handys were loaded. Some weren’t. Mimi’s mom fell on the ‘weren’t’ side of the family, although they still did better than okay. Her dad owned a couple of Ace Hardware stores, including the one in town, and her mom was an elementary school teacher. Luke had just finished his sophomore year at Duke, the Powers family alma mater. Mimi had told him it was always expected that she would go there, too.
    He pressed the ringer and kept his finger on it. He didn’t give a shit if he was being obnoxious, he only knew he had to see her now .
    Mimi flung the door open. “What the?” Her blue eyes went wide. “ Zeke …what are you doing here?”
    She didn’t look much different from the last time he’d seen her. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail and her face was scrubbed clean, making the tiny freckles across her nose stand out. She wore shorts and her long slender legs were pale, like she hadn’t been out in the sun for ages. His gaze zeroed in on her stomach. She wasn’t big pregnant, like some women he’d seen, but it was there all right, in the form of a strange looking bump in her tummy.
    His hands, his mouth, his soul…all those parts of him knew every square inch of her body. This part was new, but it was a part of him, too.
    He laid the palm of his hand over her stomach. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
    â€œI…” She shook her head and opened the door wide. “Come in, Zeke.” Her voice sounded shaky, like she was frightened. Of him ? He’d never given her any reason to fear him before. Even when she’d broken up with him, he’d taken it like a man. But maybe she was right to be leery. A part of him wanted to scream at her. To take her by the shoulders and shake her until she came to her senses. But a bigger part of him wanted to grab her into his arms and tell her he’d do whatever it took to make it all better, like he was some kind of big human Band-Aid.
    The overwhelming urge to protect her and to protect the baby growing inside her came flooding through him. The hell with her parents and whatever it was they wanted for her.
    All he cared about was what she wanted for herself.
    They sat down on the living room couch, but he was careful not to sit too close. Even with no makeup and her hair all pulled back wearing that loose T-shirt and shorts, she still had the power to take his breath away. He wondered if he would ever feel different about her. In that moment, he didn’t think he ever could.
    â€œI should have told you, I know, but…” she shrugged, “there’s nothing you could have done about it, so what was the point?”
    â€œDid you know? When you broke up with me?”
    She avoided his gaze. “I didn’t know for sure, I mean, I hadn’t done a pregnancy test. I kept putting it off, but…deep down, I knew. I know, it was stupid, but I was so scared.”
    â€œScared of what?” he whispered.
    She