Page 8 of Desperate Needs

Still, the banter and teasing continued, even after I emptied my bladder and washed my hands.

“Okay, okay, okay, hush! Now, I want to hear from Clementine,” Michaela stated, and everyone immediately shushed.

“Me too! I mean, holy shit, Clem! What was with you and Mr. Tall, Dark and Fuckable?”

“Oh my God, nothing is with me and Connor,” I said, but my bright pink blush gave me away.

Curse you, ivory skin!

“Yeah, right. Come on, tell us!”

“Nothing,” I repeated. “I mean, I teared up during the toast, and he just gave me his handkerchief. That was all.”

“You teared up? You never cry!”

I shrugged, straightening my dress in the mirror.

It was a real find. A classic cut bit of silk that fit my ultra curvy body. Plus, it was my favorite color. A rich emerald-green that brought out my eyes and highlighted my auburn locks.

“You know he is way older than you, right?” Andrea said.

“Oh my God, so what? Look at all our parents! Talk about age gap romance,” Lucy answered her with an exaggerated eye roll only that beauty could pull off and still look gorgeous.

“So, what’s gonna happen now?” Michaela asked, handing the baby to her honorary Aunt Shelly.

“What do you mean?”

“Are you two going to go out or what?” Lucy asked.

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “I told him to text me. So, the ball’s in his court now.”

“I can ask Liam to ask him,” Michaela said, but I held up my hand.

“Please don’t. We are not in school, for Christ’s sake,” I said and shook my head.

The girls squealed, and baby Michael objected with a shriek of his own. I rolled my eyes, commiserating with the infant.

“By the way, I love your dress,” Merida said.

“Thanks. I figured with Christmas being so close, it worked.”

Biting my lip, I turned sideways and grimaced at the fact the dress did nothing to disguise the size of my ass.

Oh well.

“Sure does work, cousin. I noticed the way that man was watching you walk away. Hubba hubba,” Lucy teased.

I snorted and tossed a wad of tissue at her. Conversation drifted away from me and onto the baby, and I was more than okay with that.

I loved my cousins, and I was intrigued by Connor.

But I doubted the man was going to call or text me.

He was out of my league. I appealed to a different type of man. My one and only boyfriend had been a soft nerdy kind of guy who turned out to be less sweet and more controlling than I wanted or needed in my life.

I mean, I was surrounded by over-the-top males.

Just look at my father and uncles.

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