Baby, Be Mine Read Online Free PDF Page B

for such a huge, bloody nuisance.”
    “Hey, stop being so rough on yourself. The doctors said things should come back. Sometime.”
    S ometime was another not very reassuring word. Katy stomped across the room to stand with folded arms, glaring at her friend. “Janey, I still haven’t figured out the passwords to my computer. You had to help me pay my bills so my power didn’t get cut off. I’m relearning how to do the data entry at the garage, which means I’m basically a freeloader with my own family.”
    “They don’t mind. None of us mind.” Janey shook her head. “Please, stop beating yourself up. Stop acting as if, since your car wasn’t totaled, you don’t have the right to be injured. A few obstacles are worth dealing with until you’re back up to speed.”
    Obstacles. Fah . Another word that was as bad as memory gaps .
    Katy clomped into the kitchen and whipped open the fridge, but just like the past couple of weeks, nothing looked even remotely appetizing. Her stomach churned. “To answer the next question I know you’re going to ask, no, I’m not going tonight.”
    “Another answer I don’t understand.” Janey bounded off the couch and came over to hang on the fridge door. “It’s Gage. You remember this part. He’s the guy you’ve been mooning over for years. You really don’t want to be there when he gets home from Fort Mac?”
    “No,” Katy lied. She sniffed the milk in the carton before pushing it at Janey. “Does this smell okay to you?”
    Janey rolled her eyes. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing, because I know . I’m your best friend, dude, and the chances of you pulling bullshit on me—zilch. Zero. Zippo.”
    She examined the milk carefully, wrinkling her nose before she nodded approval.
    Katy caved a little. “Okay, you’re right. I’m lying. I want to see Gage, but I’m fighting off that stupid flu bug that’s going around. Add in I think the whole idea of a surprise party is stupid, and I don’t want anything to do with it. If I’d been out of town for a couple months and had driven nearly seven hours to get home, the last thing I’d want to find at the other end is a house full of people and noise.”
    Her friend shrugged. “Your brother set it up.”
    “Doesn’t make it any less stupid of an idea,” Katy pointed out, taking the milk back and replacing it on the shelf. “In fact, it makes it even more important I not go. Clay was listed as Gage’s emergency contact—that’s the only reason he found out Gage was coming home early. Who’s to say whatever is bringing Gage home four months early is good news? If something bad happened, it’s not like Gage will want a party. And the last thing I need is for Gage to be pissed off at me before I try to make some changes. He’ll never see me as anything more than Clay’s little sister if I’m always tagging along like I did when we were younger.”
    She gave up on the idea of food and wandered back into the living room, Janey hard on her heels.
    “You plan on making a move on him, then?” Janey asked.
    “Eventually.” Katy threw herself on the couch and stared at the ceiling. “I’ll let him settle in first. Maybe I’ll ask him to dance, or something, next Friday at Traders. You know, start small.”
    Janey towered over her, a frown creasing her forehead as she tapped her foot on the hardwood floor. “Maybe I should do the same with Len. Your brother is the most frustrating man I’ve ever met. I mean, I all but offered myself up on a silver platter to him once…”
    Katy raised both brows in disbelief.
    A guilty snort escaped Janey. “Okay, more than once, but you know, every single time he’s turned me down.” Her eyes widened to huge circles for a second, then her lashes fluttered like some regency heroine. “What if it’s hopeless? Maybe Len isn’t attracted to me. Oh dear, what if he’s sick of me being around, and he’s been humouring me all this time? What if I never get