Free Have Husband, Need Honeymoon by Rita Herron Page B

what to do. Thomas is wonderful and sweet and so easy to get along with. And he’d make a great husband.”
    “And Brady?”
    Alison shrugged and dug into the ice cream. “Brady is difficult and brooding and moody and…”
    “Sexy?” Mimi supplied.
    “That, too,” Alison said, a tear trickling down her face.
    Hannah handed her a box of tissues from the end table. “You still love him, don’t you?”
    “I … I can’t,” Alison wailed.
    “Of course, you can,” Mimi said. “That’s the reason you couldn’t say yes to Thomas’s proposal – because your heart belongs to Brady.”
    “But Brady doesn’t want me anymore.”
    Mimi reared up like a protective mother hen. “Did he tell you that?”
    Alison nodded. What else could “file the divorce papers” mean?
    Hannah and Mimi traded knowing looks. “Love isn’t always easy,” Hannah commented.
    “Yeah, men can be a pain in the—”
    Hannah frowned in warning.
    “The butt,” Mimi finished.
    Alison crumpled the tissue, grabbed another and blew her nose. “Brady says we’re different people, that we’ve changed. We’re not foolish kids in love anymore.”
    Hannah winced. “Sounds like he’s jaded.”
    “You might have to shake him up a little.”
    “What?”
    Mimi giggled and wiggled her hips. “Shake him up a little. Use your sex appeal, Ali.”
    Hannah pointed to Mimi’s swollen stomach. “Sex appeal is what got you into that condition.”
    Alison smiled. “Thanks, girls, but I’m not going to make Brady stay with me if he wants to move on.”
    Mimi sighed. “Men don’t know what they want. That’s why they need women.”
    Alison felt even more glum. “Brady knows what he wants. He just doesn’t want me.”
    “So, what are you going to do?” Hannah asked. Alison summoned her courage.
    “I’m going to give him exactly what he wants.” A divorce. Then I’ll make myself fall in love with an easygoing guy like Thomas.

----

    Chapter 8
    « ^ »
    T he next day Alison waved at Mimi as she and Vivica walked into Sugar Hill’s Hotspot.
    Vivica sighed. “Mimi makes the best chocolate-chocolate chip muffins in the world. I could eat a dozen of them.”
    Alison laughed. “I know. I’d probably weigh two hundred pounds if I worked here.”
    “You’re in great shape, Ali. I saw the way my brother was giving you the eye.”
    Alison blinked to control her reaction. “I swim every morning to keep in shape, and your brother wasn’t giving me the eye.”
    “Oh, come on, Ali, I still think something’s going on between you two.”
    Yeah, a divorce.
    “Hey, girls, want some café mochas or a cappuccino while we go over the menu for the reception?”
    “Sounds great,” Vivica said. “I’ll take a mocha.”
    “Decided to forget losing the five pounds, huh?”
    Vivica grinned and shrugged. “Yeah, Joe told me he hated bony women.”
    “Good for him.” Alison commandeered a table in a corner, away from the hubbub. The café was filled with people on their way to work, and early-morning shoppers who’d dropped by for coffee and lingered to browse through the book department. Alison spotted her cousin Rebecca talking with a customer and waved. So far, the Hotspot had done well, thanks to Mimi’s desserts and Rebecca’s savvy with books. And Alison couldn’t forget Wiley’s unique advertising.
    Vivica helped Mimi bring over the tray, laden with their coffees and a sampling of pastries, including chocolate chip muffins. Vivica immediately snatched one.
    “Want some of those at the reception?” Mimi asked with a giggle.
    “I was thinking of having the entire wedding cake made out of the batter.”
    They all laughed and Mimi spread out her ideas for the menu. “The groom’s cake isn’t always traditional. How about we make it the chocolate-chocolate chip?”
    “That’s a wonderful idea,” Vivica exclaimed.
    “And we’ll serve crab and shrimp appetizers—”
    “And I want some of those swirly cheese sticks and spinach dip.