Truly Madly Yours by Rachel Gibson Page A

to his own house to get the fireworks he’d promised Sophie, Gail and the twins had been knocking on his front door. He didn’t like women dropping by his house. It gave them unrealistic ideas of his involvement with them. But it was a holiday, and he’d decided to overlook the intrusion this one time and had invited them to Louie’s. Now he wished he hadn’t. He recognized that determined look in Gail’s eyes. She wasn’t about to drop anything.
    Gail followed close behind Nick, but waited until they were in the deserted kitchen before she continued, “Do you remember when Delaney left ten years ago? A lot of people said she was pregnant. A lot of people said you were the father.”
    Nick tossed Louie’s bota on the counter, then reached into a cooler. He grabbed two Miller’s and twisted the caps off each. He remembered the rumors. Depending on who you listened to at the time, gossip had him and Delaney getting it on in a hundred different places and in very imaginative ways. But whichever version you heard, the ending was always the same. Nick Allegrezza had put his dirty hands on Delaney Shaw. He’d impregnated the princess.
    Henry hadn’t known what to believe. He’d been enraged at the very possibility that the rumor could be true. He’d demanded Nick deny it. Of course, Nick hadn’t.
    “Were you?”
    Now it was ironic as hell. Ten years later, Henry wanted him to knock up Delaney. Nick handed Gail one of the cold beers. “I told you to drop it.”
    “I think I have a right to know, Nick.”
    He looked into her blue eyes and laughed without humor. “You don’t have a right to know squat.”
    “I have a right to know if you see other women.”
    “You know I do.”
    “What if I asked you to stop?”
    “Don’t,” he warned.
    “Why not? We’ve gotten close since we’ve become lovers. We could have a wonderful life together if you’d let it happen.”
    He knew for a fact he wasn’t the only man on Gail’s list of potential husbands. He just happened to be at the top. For a while, being number one on Gail’s sexual hit parade had been amusing. But lately she’d begun to get possessive and that irritated him. “I told you from the start not to expect anything from me. I never confuse sex and love. One has nothing to do with the other.” Nick raised the beer to his lips and said, “I don’t love you, but try not to take it personal.”
    She crossed her arms beneath her breasts and leaned her behind against the edge of the counter. “You’re such a shit. I don’t know why I put up with you.”
    Nick took a long drink. They both knew why she put up with him.

    Delaney felt Steve’s strong masculine arm encircle her waist and pull her against his side. Red, white, and blue exploded in the black night, showering the lake with fiery sparks as Delaney tested the feeling of Steve’s embrace. She decided she liked it. She liked the contact and the warmth. She felt alive again.
    She glanced to the left and watched Nick bury the bottom half of a pipe in the sand. A few minutes earlier, she’d gotten a real good look at the fireworks “Uncle Nick” had brought his niece. There wasn’t so much as one legal sparkler in the sack.
    A cascade of gold illuminated his profile for a few brief seconds, and she looked away. She wasn’t going to avoid him anymore. She wasn’t going to limit where she went because she didn’t want to run into him. And she wasn’t going to spend the rest of her time in Truly like she had the past month. She had a plan. Her mother wasn’t going to like it, but Delaney didn’t care.
    And she had a wedding to look forward to in November, too. Lisa had approached her again about being in her wedding and Delaney had gladly said yes. She remembered the many times she and Lisa had pinned dishtowels in their hair and pretended to walk down the aisle. They’d speculated over who would marry first. They’d hoped for a big double wedding. Neither of them would have believed