“I hate to break up the party, but I’m still really tired,” she announced, easing out of her chair.

“Oh, so soon?” Her mother looked crestfallen. “The coffee should be ready in a minute.”

“No, thanks. I lived on coffee yesterday. I’m coffee’d out.”

“Will you please call me when you have time to talk?”

And when would that be? “All right, Mom.”

Jared stood as she edged closer to the door. “Can I walk you out?”

Shit, she should have seen that coming. And it was like insta-happiness dawned across her parents’ faces. Seething, she shrugged and hoped the fake smile she plastered on wouldn’t give away her aggravation. “Suit yourself.”

She kissed her parents good-bye as Jared went into the foyer, making sure he’d be able to help her into her coat and open the front door for her. She let him go through the motions without a fuss, thinking how none of it meant as much as when Seth had done similar things. Maybe because she hadn’t expected it out of a guy like him. Or maybe because when Seth had done it, it hadn’t reeked of desperation.

The thought made her sad all of a sudden. Jared hadn’t done anything to deserve her annoyance, really, except still care about her at a very inopportune time.

“Please come by Saturday,” he said as they strolled out into the chilly night. His warm fingers curled around hers. “The weather’s supposed to be great.”

She tugged her hand away and shoved it into her coat pocket. “Jared, I need you to stop this.”

“What?”

“I explained to you Friday.”

“I’m just trying to be your friend.”

“Then I’m going to have to ask you to stop that too, if this is the way you go about it. Getting Mom and Dad involved was not the thing to do.”

“I’m sorry about that.” He leaned against the front fender of her Acadia, looking as if he was getting comfortable, and she sighed. “I got to thinking yesterday, and I sorta got beside myself, I guess. I wanted to talk to you some more. Then you didn’t come home all day—”

“What did you do, camp out on the street?”

“No. I checked once in the morning and then tried again in the afternoon.”

She narrowed her eyes. He’d gotten “beside herself” thinking she’d spent the night with Seth. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’m a big girl. I can make my own decisions; I can take care of myself.”

“Macy, you can do better than that guy.”

Hell no. She lunged for her car door handle, elbowing him out of the way when he tried to intercept her. “I don’t owe you any explanations.”

He won, grabbing the handle before she could open it. “I’m sorry, okay? But listen to what I’m saying. You know it. In your heart, you know it. It’s never going to work. You think they’ll go for it?” He pointed toward her house. She stopped trying to pry his hand away and glared at him as her breath burned her lungs. “You think they’ll welcome that in their house?”

“It’s not up to them.”

“Don’t go like this. Please. Just think about coming over Saturday. I swear I won’t get out of line. I have the girls this weekend. They would love to see you there. It would make their weekend, Macy, really.”

Oh, that wasn’t fair. “You’ve proven you won’t back off when I tell you to, so no. I’m not putting myself in this situation again.”

“What if I promise I’ll be good?” He grinned at her.

“No.”

“Just tell me what it’s gonna hurt. You can see some old friends, laugh about old times, get a little piece of your old life back. I want to help you with that, if nothing else. You were awesome. If I can be a little part, a tiny part, of you getting back to that, then hell. I want in.”

Jared wasn’t supposed to be a part of her getting her old life back. She searched his face, looking for any signs of insincerity. Or veiled lechery. Nothing was there except his earnest, pleading blue eyes.

“Jared…”

“Come on. Just one day. If you don’t have fun, I promise I will never, ever bug you about hanging out with us again.”

She crossed her arms, glared at him some more, chewed her bottom lip. Finally she released her breath in a huff, dropping the defensive stance and trying for her car door again. This time, he let her. “Fine! All right. I’ll freaking come over.” After opening the door, she put her finger in his face. “Listen to me. You try one thing, you say one thing that even remotely offends me or pisses me off, and I’m out of there. You got that? I’m serious, Jared.”

He’d been grinning like the Cheshire cat, but he dropped all expression at her tirade. “I got it. I do. Yes, ma’am.” He saluted her.

She rolled her eyes and escaped into the interior of her car, yanking her keys from her purse and jamming one in the ignition.

“Saturday. Noon,” he said.

“I know.”

“Good night, Macy.” With a final grin that had a little too much triumph behind it for her liking, he shut her door.

Seth’s sleepy voice as he answered his phone was the best damn thing she’d heard all day. Chuckling, she pulled her own covers up to her chin. “You were asleep.”

“Yeah,” he yawned.

“But you answered on, like, the first ring.”

“Been waiting on you.”

“Really?”

“You didn’t answer my text earlier, though, so I didn’t know if you’d call or not.”

“Sorry. I was at my parents’ having dinner.” Her brow furrowed. Should she tell him her ex-boyfriend was there? Or that they were hanging out this weekend? Was he the type to get mad about something like that? If he was, it probably wouldn’t be worth the drama. Wasn’t like he had anything to worry about.

His laugh was slow and warm and…oh, what she wouldn’t give to hear it beside her instead of across a state line. She rubbed her thighs together restlessly.

“That’s awesome,” he said.

“Why?”

“Call me deranged, but if I’d known you were at your parents’, I probably would’ve kept it up.”

Thank God he hadn’t known, then. She would’ve been glued to her phone all night, and her mom might have flipped out. “You must feel a little better.”

“Well…I’m all right.”

“Everything…the same?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

She wanted to ask how things were going with his brother, but that would probably be the last thing he wanted to talk about. “Where are you?”

“Stephanie’s guest bedroom.”

“Hmm. I guess you have to be quiet then.”

“I’ve got no problem with that.” His voice dropped to an intimate timbre that made chills run from the tips of her toes to the roots of her hair. “I already miss you, Macy.”

She’d missed him before she’d gotten in Sam’s car and rode away. Her hand, which had been resting on her belly, inched downward of its own volition. To think just a couple nights ago…

“Can I take your mind off things?” she asked softly.