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Hoop popped the tab on a new beer and took a swallow. "I knew our Maggie would get to
"Our Maggie?"
"What? You wanna claim her all for your own?"
Nick sighed, then gestured for Hoop to pitch him a brew. He snagged the beer with one hand. "I don't
know if I want to make love to her or run screaming."
"Bullshit."
Nick sighed. "You win. I want to make love to her. I don't know if I should."
"Why the hell not?" Of course, Hoop knew the reason the Ice Queen. He just wanted to jerk his
friend's chain. "I know one sexy, little amnesiac television star who'd love to get cozy with you."
"Cozy we've done already. It's intimate I'm worried about." He dropped onto the sofa and kicked his
feet up, then popped his beer. "No, that's not exactly right. It's not getting intimate that I'm worried
about."
Hoop almost wished Nick would start pacing again. He seemed to make more sense when he was
moving. "What are you talking about?"
Standing up, Nick pointed toward the front door. "I have to go out that door, down the block, and into
my house. And there she'll be, just waiting for me."
"Lookin' all cute and perky in those little outfits Deena bought for her." Hoop smiled, remembering the
odd selection of clothes with which Deena had returned. They were all tight and stretchy. Deena never
had been one for subtlety. Thinking about her, Hoop smiled to himself. For the most part, subtlety was
way overrated.
"Cute? Perky? Try sexy as hell."
"And she's hanging out in your house. Man, does your life suck." He rolled his eyes. "Doesn't sound
like much of a problem to me."
"Maybe you forgot that I'm engaged?"
"How can I forget? It's a nightmare I live with every day. The thought that in just a few months the Ice
Queen's going to be living on my cozy little street makes me nuts. I mean, damn, Nick. There goes the
neighborhood." He crushed his beer can with one hand, then tossed it toward the kitchen. The aluminum
clattered across the tile floor, missing the trash can by a mile.
"I wouldn't lose sleep over it. I doubt Angela's going to want to live in my house. She's been making
noises about Brentwood." He ran his hands over his face. "Great."
"Great is right. You get married and I lose my best friend. I've got a sneaking suspicion Miss Angela's
not going to be sending me engraved invitations to Sunday brunch."
"Not the formal brunch, anyway." He headed toward the kitchen, stooping to pick up Hoop's can. He
pulled up and shot it nicely, sending it soaring in a perfect arc into the can.
"Lucky."
"Not on your life," Nick retorted.
"It's not just my breakfast you have to consider, buddy. It's Deena, too. And Maggie, for that matter.
Both Maggies."
"What about Maggie?"
"I just don't think your little woman's gonna be too keen on either me or Miss Maggie dropping by for
visits. And you know that girl is not just going to stroll out of your life. For that matter, the Ice Wife's not
gonna be too keen on Deena, either. But Deenie's your sister, so she's got a trump card." He kicked his
feet up onto the table, vaguely wondering if that might give him a trump card, too. "Not that she'll use it. I
don't think your sister's likely to be spending quite as much time at Chez Nick Goodman."
Leaning back, Hoop popped another beer, rather pleased by the look of extreme discomfort playing
across his friend's face. Time to add another log to the fire. "And the cat," he said, then paused for effect.
"Hell, I'm not even gonna go there."
"What about the cat?" Nick demanded, his befuddled expression morphing into that of his
cross-examination mode.
Hoop rolled his shoulder. It was sort of a shrug, but not really. "I just hope she likes living with me,
because you know Angela's not letting your furry friend live in her feng-shmeng, color-coordinated,
rich-bitch house."
Grimacing, Nick climbed over the back of the sofa, ending up perched atop it with his feet on the
cushions and his elbows on his thighs.
"What are you "
"What?" Nick asked.
Hoop shook his head. "Never mind." If his friend wanted to join the Loyal Order of Furniture Abusers,
so be it. And as far as Hoop was concerned, it was a step in the right, non-anal-retentive direction.
"Anyway, you don't need to worry about Maggie. No way are you going to end up her foster father."
"You say that now, but once you've got that ring on your finger, you're gonna find yourself wrapped
around Angela's."
Frowning, Nick shook his head. He certainly didn't intend to be wrapped around Angela's little finger.
Now, Maggie's, maybe. That was a different story. He bit back a grin. That possibility had some serious
potential. But not Angela. He just wasn't in lo
"Oh, God."
Hoop stared at him, his face blank. "What?"
"I don't love Angela." The second he spoke the words, he realized he'd known them forever.
"Well, zowie. This is a breaking story. Let me call the news crew; maybe they'll send a van."
Nick ignored his friend, too lost in his thoughts to even acknowledge Hoop. Had he ever loved her?
Had he ever even thought about it? Or had he just latched onto mutual respect and their shared need to
succeed? Hers was to win daddy's love, and his was to keep a full nelson on his security. A week ago, a
business marriage wouldn't have seemed at all absurd. But now . . .
Now he couldn't imagine living his life with a woman who didn't share his jokes, who didn't make him
laugh. Who didn't look at him with ab
solute trust, sure that somehow everything would
be all right in the end. '
"What have I been doing?" he said, mostly to
himself.
i
"I know what you've been doing," Hoop said. "If you were like most guys, I'd say you've been ]
thinking with your cajones. But considering we're talking you not to mention Angela I'm gonna take a
leap here and say you've been thinking with your checkbook."
Using his thumb and middle finger, Nick massaged his temples. "I meant that as a rhetorical question."
"So? I'm right, aren't I?"
Nick held out his hands. "What do you want me to say?"
" 'Yes, Hoop, O Wise Master of the Universe'
would be appropriate, I think."
"In your dreams." I
"So what're you going to do?"
Nick took a deep breath, then let it out. He let the thought roll around in his head. It was risky. "If I
break it off with Angela, I could lose everything."
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