A Tricky Proposition(26)

“Do you think Jason told him that you want to have a baby?”

“He wouldn’t do that.” Ming’s skin grew warm as she imagined where she’d be right at this moment if she hadn’t run out on Jason. Naked. Wrapped in his arms. Thighs tangled. Too happy to move. “I know this sounds crazy, but what if Evan wants to get back together?”

“Why would you think he’d want to do that?” Lily’s voice rose.

“I don’t. Not really.” Ming shook her head. “It’s just that after I told Jason I wanted to get pregnant, he was so insistent that I’m not over Evan.”

“Are you?” Her sister leaned forward, eyebrows drawn together. “I mean Evan broke up with you, not the other way around.”

Ming toyed with the belt of her robe. The pain of being dumped eased a little more each day, but it wasn’t completely gone. “It really doesn’t matter how I feel. The reasons we broke up haven’t changed.”

“What if they did? What if the problems that came between you were gone? Out of the picture?” Lily was oddly intent. “Would you give him another chance?”

Ming tried to picture herself with Evan now that she’d tasted Jason’s kisses. She’d settled for one brother instead of fighting for the other. That was a mistake she wouldn’t make again. She’d rather be happy as a single mom than be miserable married to a man she didn’t love.

“I’ve spent the last six months reimagining my life without Evan,” she told her sister. “I’d rather move forward than look back.”

*

At a little after 8:00 p.m., Jason sat in his car and stared at Ming’s house. When she’d left him in Mendocino, his pride had kept him from chasing after her for a little over two hours. He’d come to California to spend the weekend with Ming, not to pace a hotel room in a frenzy of unsatisfied desire. Confident she wouldn’t miraculously change her mind and return to him, Jason had gotten behind the wheel and returned to the San Francisco airport, where he’d caught a 6:00 a.m. flight back to Houston.

He hadn’t liked the way things had been left between them, and her text message gave him hope she hadn’t, either. After catching a few hours of sleep, he’d come here tonight to talk her into giving his strategy one last shot.

But the sight of his brother’s car parked in Ming’s driveway distracted him. What the hell was Evan doing here? Had he come to tell Ming that he was dating her sister? If so, Jason should get in there because Ming was sure to be upset.

He had his hand on the door release when her front door opened. Despite the porch light pouring over the couple’s head, he couldn’t see Lily’s expression, but her body language would be visible from the moon.

Ming’s sister was hung up on his brother. And from the way Evan slid his hands around her waist and pulled her against him for a deep, passionate kiss, the feeling was mutual.

It took no more than a couple of seconds for an acid to eat at Jason’s gut. He glanced away from the embracing couple, but anger continued to build.

What the hell did Evan think he was doing? Didn’t he care about Ming’s feelings at all? Didn’t he consider how hurt she’d be if she saw him kissing Lily? Obviously not. Good thing Jason was around to straighten out his brother before the situation spun out of control.

A motor started, drowning out Jason’s heated thoughts. Evan backed out of the driveway. Jason had missed the chance to catch his brother in the act. Cursing, he dialed Evan’s number.

“Jason, hey, what’s up?”

“We need to talk.”

“So talk.” Considering the fact that Evan had just engaged in a long, passionate kiss, he wasn’t sounding particularly chipper.

“In person.” So he could throttle his brother if the urge arose. “O’Malley’s. Ten minutes.”

The tension in Jason’s tone must have clued in his brother to Jason’s determination because Evan agreed without protest. “Sure. Okay.”

Jason ended the call and followed his brother’s car to the neighborhood bar. He chose the parking spot next to Evan’s and was standing at his brother’s door before Evan had even turned off the engine.

“You and Lily are still seeing each other?” Jason demanded, not allowing his brother to slide from behind the wheel.

“I never said I was going to stop.”

“Does Ming know?”

“Not yet.”

“She’ll find out pretty quickly if you keep kissing Lily in full view of Ming’s neighbors.”

“I didn’t think about that.” Evan didn’t ask how Jason knew. “I was sure Ming wouldn’t see us. She’d gone up to her room.”