Capri sat down, finally deciding Mrs. Penny’s curiosity was going to have to wait. “It seemed best, considering our situation.”
She didn’t think she’d ever seen her husband look more unhappy, except when they’d decided to separate.
“The divorce is final in two weeks,” he said quietly. “The day after Christmas. You weren’t planning on giving us much of a chance to get back together.”
“Because of a pregnancy?” Capri shook her head. “Seagal, if you’d wanted to come home, you would have long ago.”
“I can’t blame you for feeling that way.” He cast a longing eye at her stomach. “You look beautiful, by the way.”
Secretly she was flattered, even if she knew Seagal was being kind. “Thank you.”
He nodded. “It’s true.”
She didn’t say anything else. Things were too uncomfortable between them as it was.
“What are we having?”
She looked at him, seeing real interest in his eyes. “I don’t know. I didn’t want to find out,” she fibbed.
“I’m going to be there,” he said softly.
He leaned back on the sofa, trying to seem casual. The depth of his voice told her that Seagal was anything but casual.
“All right. Just no looking under the sheet or seeing me naked.”
He smiled. “Always good to know the ground rules.”
Her heart beat a little harder at his smile, but she’d always loved Seagal’s smile, and just about everything about him. “Will you be comfortable sleeping on the sofa?”
“Well, I’d be more comfortable in our—”
“You’re familiar with the kitchen, I’m sure,” she interrupted. “I’m not happy about you being here, but I guess Mrs. Penny will just have to have some gossip with her bagel in the morning.”
Shrugging, he scooted down in the sofa and closed his eyes. “Good night.”
She studied her almost-ex-husband. “Exactly what is it you’re protecting me from?” she asked, thinking she was in far more danger from Seagal.
His eyes remained closed. “The man we arrested today was part of a small-time gang using your shop to transfer drugs. Now he’s in jail, but someone else will take his place. Your shop might have proven to be convenient. We want to bust this crowd, but obviously we don’t want you caught in the middle, since there may be hometown boys involved.”
“I don’t know a single person in BC who would dabble in illegal drugs,” Capri said. “We have our troublemakers, but no one who would do something like that. If there really are drugs in Bridesmaids Creek, they have to be coming from the outside.”
Seagal shrugged. “I can’t say any more than I have. But I’m hanging out here with you until the BC guys have everything pinned down.”
She didn’t want Seagal in close quarters with her. No telling what might happen if they shared a roof.
They’d shared a bed before—that part of their marriage had been wonderful. But a marriage wasn’t built solely on sexy fun.
“I can close the store for a few days,” Capri said, knowing that wasn’t really feasible. She had employees to think of, and arrangements already ordered for holiday parties and even a wedding.
“That would stop the traffickers for a few days, but not the long term. Simpler to just catch them while the situation’s hot.”
Capri eyed her husband lying on the sofa he’d never been keen on—he’d far preferred the leather sofa in the den—and thought he looked sexier than the last time she’d seen him. He’d shattered her heart when he’d left, and now he was back, wanting to protect her, and see his child born.
The situation was definitely hot.
“This is not the way to spend Christmas,” she said. “Haven’t you heard that holidays are stressful?”
He pushed his Stetson low on his face. “Then don’t stress me out, dollface.”
Stress him out? She was pregnant, someone was using her grandmother’s shop for illegal activity and her sexy about-to-be-ex husband wanted to be her bodyguard.
“Merry Stressmas,” she said, and went off to bed.
Chapter Two
Seagal let himself out of Capri’s house the next morning to check the perimeter of the small, three-bedroom home. The fact that his wife and child might be in danger chilled his blood. He’d nearly had heart failure when he’d heard that the feds were nosing into a drug ring in Bridesmaids Creek—and who should be involved but his darling, everybody’s-best-girl, almost-ex-wife.
Imagine his shock when he learned from a very reliable source that his wife was about to make him a dad. Heart failure. Capri had always brought him to his knees, but now…now she staggered him.
She hadn’t planned to tell him. He knew Capri better than she realized. Oh, she would have told him after the birth of his bundle of joy, and not one second before.
Because she knew he’d be right back here in Bridesmaids Creek—and she didn’t want him back.
Tough. She was going to have him. That baby was going to know its dad—no matter what sexy mama had in mind.
“Hey!”
Seagal glanced up. His fellow officer Jack Martin idled at the curb in one of Bridesmaids Creek’s new police cruisers. He strolled over to greet Mrs. Penny’s nephew.
“What’s up, Jack?”
Jack grinned. “Considering that your car is parked in Capri’s driveway, I’m surprised you are.”
Seagal ran a hand over his unshaven chin. “Just barely. Did you bring me a latte, or is this a social call?”
His buddy grinned. “Neither. Just wanted to let you know that you were a hit last night. The kids said you were the best Santa ever. You’ve been voted Santa Most Likely to Repeat next year.”
Seagal grunted. “I couldn’t get out of that itchy suit fast enough.”
“Scrooge.” Jack handed him a coffee in a white cardboard cup. “Have a jolt on me. Figured you didn’t sleep much.”
Seagal sipped the beverage gratefully. “I didn’t. As sofas go, it’s not made for sleeping. I always despised that flowery thing, and now it’s my bed. I think that’s called karma. I wanted to get rid of it, and somehow that poufy nightmare outlasted me.”
Jack laughed. “Does my aunt always keep an eye on you like this? I’d like to think she’s proud of me, but I’m pretty sure she’s
