If I Can't Have You (If You Come Back To Me #3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

the end of the hall? There’s something important we’d like to discuss with both of you,” she whispered, a trembling smile on her lips. Colleen couldn’t quite interpret her expression. Was it excitement? Or anxiety?
    “Sure,” Colleen said more confidently than she felt. She turned to Brigit, who had just re-entered the room. “Mom, could you stay with Brendan while we run down to the waiting area? I could use a soda. I’ll be back in just a bit.”
    Brigit agreed, and Colleen, Natalie and Eric filed out of the room. When they reached the waiting area, she saw Liam was the only other occupant. Natalie sat next to him, and Eric and Colleen took seats just across from the couple.
    “We could do this another time if you’re uninterested, Eric,” Natalie said, her mouth settling into a grim line that didn’t at all match her lovely, delicate features. Looking at Eric, Colleen realized his expression had turned cold. Hard. As she glanced back and forth between their stubborn faces, Colleen realized just how much brother and sister resembled one another. Two identical pairs of eyes shot sparks back and forth.
    What the heck? Colleen thought. She’d only really gotten to know Natalie over the last several months, but she’d never once seen her any way but even-tempered and pleasant. Leave it to Eric to be the one to instigate this unlikely reaction in a paragon of virtue like Natalie. Still…why had Natalie’s suggestion about their meeting turned Eric into a glaring block of ice?
    “I didn’t say I was uninterested,” Eric said.
    “Fine,” Natalie replied, her eyebrows still arched in a challenge.
    Colleen didn’t get what was going on here, but she had a long history with brothers. Marc and Liam were fantastic, but she and her sister, Deidre, had learned long ago the importance of banding together in the face of male arrogance. Eric remained turned in profile to her, but she could almost feel his disapproval like a cold breeze. Yes, this was the Eric Reyes she knew—the man who had turned brooding into an art form.
    “Anybody want a soda?” Liam asked, standing.
    “What did you want to talk to us about?” Colleen asked Liam immediately once he’d handed them their drinks and sat down again.
    “We were going to take you two to lunch separately—someplace nice—to break the news, but then Brendan got admitted into the hospital and our plans had to be changed. I suggested we get in the squad car, turn on the sirens and use the bullhorn to spread the news to everyone in Harbor Town, but Natalie wouldn’t let me. Spoilsport.”
    “Liam,” Natalie remonstrated with a smile and a slap on his arm that turned into a caress. They both were glowing. Liam stared at Natalie, grinning, and suddenly they were kissing.
    “Wait,” Colleen said, the truth slowly dawning. “You two aren’t… You’re not…”
    “We’re getting married,” Liam said in a perfunctory manner before he leaned down to kiss Natalie again.
    Natalie’s laugh before she was silenced by Liam’s kiss was clear and musical, the very sound of happiness. Colleen just sat there holding her unopened can of soda, dumbfounded.
    “But you haven’t even known each other for four months now,” she said, even though Liam and Natalie looked far too busy to be listening.
    “Not even three,” Eric corrected morosely from beside her.
    Colleen did give him a quelling glance that time. He lifted one raven-dark brow and levelly returned her sardonic stare. The fact that he could look as handsome as the devil when he was being such a jerk really steamed her.
    In truth, she felt torn. The last thing she wanted to do was agree with Eric on something—anything—but she did feel that Liam and Natalie were being rash. Surely it was too soon in their relationship to decide on marriage. She and Darin had engaged in a whirlwind love affair before they’d married. They’d been young and foolish, and wild to be together before he was deployed to the