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"I don’t know" Things with Arotten all about her very regular monthly But now that she realized she was late, she couldn’t just throw that at hi certain first "Armie is"

"Hot and complicated?"

Merissa nodded "Yes"

"Oversexed, sexy and caring?"

Merissa eyed her "That, too"

"Brash and loyal to a fault?"

"Yvette--"

"Funny and strong, but guarded and so, so deserving"

Sighing, Merissa whispered, "Yes" For her, for so"You know him well"

"He’s been such a good friend to me To everyone" Yvette sat up and asked, "What will you do?"

"I don’t even know yet if there’s anything to tell hi like a couess I need to take a test or so"

"You do and I’d love to be with you" Yvette looked a little excited "You know, for ain How had she gotten so lucky to have such an a sister-in-law? She sniffed, nodded "Okay Thank you" Much as she loved Cherry, her best friend couldn’t keep a secret from Denver And Vanity would probably insist she should shout it fro the calm, deep type, wouldto anyone Not even to Cannon"

Yvette started to nod when the front door flew open, and they both jumped with a startled screech

Merissa even snatched up her legs, curling around Yvette to protect her--until she realized it was her brother Good Lord, she’d been so thrown by the idea of a baby, she hadn’t even heard his key in the lock

Cannon stood there in the doorway, backlit by the porch light and the fury of the store leeched away He opened his mouth and--

Armie plowed into his back

They both stumbled in

"I didn’t expect you to stand there," Arhted themselves

"I didn’t even know you were behindcontest while everyone looked at everyone else Lightning flashed, a crack of thunder shook the house, then Bray stepped in between the two men and smiled shyly at Merissa

"Safe and sound," he said to Aro?"

MERISSA WAS SPOOKED and it killed him

Some asshole, maybe his dad, had set her up and scared her, and Ar some necks

But he didn’t even knohere to start

They’d left her car at Cannon’s with the pro She’d ridden along in his truck, sitting between him and Bray, while he took Bray to the foster family that, from what Ar norrateful that he was safe and sound Bray had looked sha, even to the point of taking Ar to keep hi

Now he and Merissa were home and he was at loose ends, not sure what problem to tackle first, or even how to feel about it

"Bray trusts you"

He looked over at Rissy standing in theoff her clothes with listless disregard for where they landed Very unlike her