Last-Minute Marriage. Marisa Carroll

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      CHAPTER THREE

      TESSA SNUGGLED MORE DEEPLY into her big chenille sweater. It was the warmest thing she owned right now. She’d gotten rid of all her New York clothes when she followed Brian to California. Who needed parkas and wool gloves and snow boots in L.A.? But some nights it did get cool at the ballpark, so when she’d seen the sweater in a trendy boutique, she’d bought it without a second thought.

      That had been seven months ago. Just about the time she got pregnant. The purchase was the second-to-last impulsive act she’d committed. The last had been to let Brian make love to her without protection one romantic weekend in Mexico, where he’d played a series of exhibition games. She’d been foolish enough to believe she knew her body’s cycles well enough to get away with unprotected lovemaking. She’d been wrong. And she would never, ever be so impulsive or so foolish again.

      She pulled the folds of the sweater more tightly around her. She didn’t want to wake up from her half doze just yet and be confronted with reality: a bad choice in love, a nearly empty pocketbook and almost a thousand miles still to drive. She wanted to go on floating half-in and half-out of her dreams, the anxiety that dogged her every waking moment temporarily held at bay.

      Knuckles tapped against the passenger window, and Tessa sat upright with a jerk. She turned her head toward the sound and at the same time reached for the door-lock button to make sure whoever was outside her car stayed there.

      “Tessa?” She recognized the whiskey and honey voice, and the square-jawed profile outlined by the pinkish glow of a nearby street lamp.

      It was Mitch Sterling.

      “Oh, damn,” she muttered under her breath.

      She glanced past his concerned face. It was fully dark now, the kind of darkness a rainy night produced. She had no idea what time it was. She couldn’t see her watch, and the clock on the dash didn’t light up unless the engine was running.

      She’d bought a cheese sandwich and a bottle of water at a place called the Sunnyside Café and brought them to the park. The storm clouds had rolled in while she ate. She’d watched the patterns the raindrops made on the river, watched the mist rise from its surface to writhe among the tree branches and creep forward to swathe her car. She’d only meant to rest her eyes, but instead, she’d fallen asleep. For a cowardly moment she thought of turning on the engine and driving away as fast as she could without saying another word to the man standing in the rain outside the car.

      But she wouldn’t take the easy way out. She wasn’t that much of a coward. She lowered the window.

      “Hi,” he said. “Are you all right?”

      “I’m fine.” She wasn’t really, of course. She was twenty dollars poorer than she’d been when she encountered him the first time. She wasn’t one foot closer to her destination. She’d lost four hours of driving time. It was dark and raining and getting foggy, and would continue to be that way for the next hundred miles or so, according to the weather forecaster on the local radio station. She was tired and discouraged, and she had to go to the bathroom. The last problem, a natural consequence of drinking an entire half-liter bottle of spring water and being seven months pregnant, loomed largest at the moment.

      “You’re sure you’re okay?” He dropped onto his haunches in that infuriatingly graceful way men had, laid his arms along the open window and brought his face level with hers.

      “I was a little sleepy, so I took a nap.”

      “Is your bed at the hotel that lumpy?” She couldn’t see his smile but guessed it was there.

      She was too uncomfortable and too embarrassed to be polite or equivocal. “I didn’t take a room at the hotel, after all. Thank you for being concerned about my welfare, but please don’t bother yourself anymore. I’m leaving town right now.”

      “You’re not planning on driving in this weather.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. Tessa guessed the smile on his face had disappeared along with the one in his voice.

      “I’ll be careful.”

      “Careful might not be good enough.”

      “Look. I don’t want to argue with you. You’ve been very kind and helpful today, but I really have to be on my way. My sister’s expecting me.”

      “Not tonight, she isn’t.” His voice had taken on a hard edge, one she so far hadn’t heard before. He reached inside the open window, unlocked the door and got inside.

      Her car wasn’t very big to begin with. Now it seemed even smaller with Mitch Sterling sitting beside her. Tessa forced herself not to shrink away. “Get out of my car.” She wasn’t afraid of him. Not really. But no woman with any sense let a strange man into her car. СКАЧАТЬ