Page 63 of The Bad Girl and the Baby

Yeah, that would do it. “Shit.”

Lulu batted him on the knee with her free hand. “Naughty, Matt.”

“Yeah, sorry, sweetheart.” He’d thought she hadn’t been paying attention. Hah.

“Plus,” Nate continued, “there’s the issue of her family. Well, maybe it’s best not to go there except to say that she loves them and they did not approve.”

“But things worked out between you.”

“And that’s my point. We set out to have a no-strings relationship and now guess what…? We’re getting married.”

“Well, that’s nice.”

He grinned. “It is. Best thing that ever happened to me. But it wasn’t supposed to happen. And it meant some major changes for both of us.”

Matt presumed he meant leaving the force. “So?”

“So…are you prepared for that?”

Was he talking about marriage? Between him and Darcy? It was never going to happen. He’d never met two people less suited to spending their lives together. Except maybe his mom and dad. Though things were working out for them, at last. They seemed happy and settled. And it had only taken about thirty years to get there. All the same, he just wasn’t the marrying type. And neither was Darcy. She’d told him so.

“We have it all under control.”

Nate shook his head. “Self-delusion at its best.”

He was saved from replying by the music starting up, and the door behind them opening.

…

The relief on Nik’s face made Darcy grin. But what did he expect? He knew what Summer thought about ostentatious exhibitions of wealth, and how she would react to all this fuss. But she reckoned neither of them had thought too much about the actual wedding—they’d been too focused on the marriage. They were so in love, it was freaky. But that meant they’d left the preparations to Nik’s mother—Summer’s mom had been on her own honeymoon for the last two weeks, so she hadn’t gotten involved—and Nik’s mother positively thrived on ostentatious shows of wealth, the more extravagant the better.

It was all so gorgeous. The room, the flowers, the guests. Summer. Nik’s mom had gotten one of her designer friends to design the dress, and it suited Summer perfectly. The simple lines showed off her slender figure. She wore no jewelry, just a circle of dark blue flowers in her hair.

And talking of beautiful things… Her gaze strayed to Matt as they passed. He looked stunning in his dress uniform. Tall and handsome and breathtakingly gorgeous. Lulu sat beside him with Trixie on her knee—that’s why they’d heard nothing from her.

She dragged her gaze away and forced herself to focus.

A buffet lunch had been set out in a big marquee on the lawns. Then later that evening, Nik and Summer were flying out. Off on their honeymoon. A week in Scotland. The terms of Summer’s parole didn’t allow her to leave the country, but Nik had rented a goddamn fairy-tale castle in the Highlands.

Darcy wasn’t hungry, but she snagged a glass of champagne and stood at the edge of the tent, people-watching. She caught sight of Matt through the crowd, and something melted inside her. He had hold of Lulu’s hand, and she had hold of Trixie’s lead. The handsome soldier, the little girl, and the dog. They looked so goddamn cute. Like a family. And she wasn’t part of it.

That shouldn’t hurt. She didn’t want a family. They just left you in the end. She was better off alone. Stronger.

Regan came to a halt beside her. “You see him like that, with Lulu, and you have to think—he can’t be all bad.”

“Of course he’s not all bad.” The words came out automatically. But it was a long time since she’d worried that Matt might be like his brother. He was a good man, trying to do his best in a difficult situation.

“Oh hell, you have got it bad.”

“No, I haven’t.” She sniffed. “I haven’t got it at all. Just because you and Summer are both crazy in love doesn’t mean I have to be as well. It’s not contagious, you know.”

Regan came around to stand in front of her and stop her forward momentum. “Tell me you know what you’re doing.”

“I know what I’m doing. We’re friends, that’s all.”

“Friends with benefits.”

One look at Regan’s face, and she knew she wasn’t going to get away with a lie. “Maybe. But it’s just sex.”

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