“You’re saying all the right things,” I said with a smile. I ran my hands over the dress as I stepped over to the wine bottle that Julia and I had already had a glass from. “It still feels weird to be wearing something like this. I think other than going to work, it’s the first time I’ve had anything on besides sweatpants since I had Faye.”
“All the more reason to go out tonight,” Julia said. “Go out there and fetch yourself a man with that hot bod of yours.”
I shook my head, a smile on my face. I tucked my strawberry-blond hair behind my ears and sighed.
“You’re making it sound so easy,” I said, turning back toward Julia. “‘Just go out there and get a man.’”
“Because it is that simple,” said Julia. “Lady, you’re gorgeous. Guys out there are going to be smashing barstools over each other’s heads just to get a chance to talk to you.”
“It just…feels weird,” I said. “Going out there and trying to find someone when I’ve just had a baby. I thought getting pregnant would be the end of stuff like this. I thought Brad and I were going to…” I trailed off, the mention of Faye’s father, the man who’d left me a few weeks after finding out I was pregnant, bringing back memories that were still raw.
“Don’t even worry about it,” said Julia, still rocking Faye. “Sure, maybe in a perfect world you’d be living happily ever after with Prince Charming. But you got dealt a bad hand.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
“It’s the right way to put it. You did everything right—you were about the best girlfriend you could be and were so ready to be a mom.”
I nodded. “Brad seemed so excited about it, too. I was so worried to tell him, but when I did, he was just as happy as I was. That’s what I thought, at least.”
“Maybe he got scared,” said Julia. “He may have seemed sweet and kind before, but he showed you his true colors when things got real.” She waved her free hand through the air, dismissing the topic. “Anyway! This is the last thing you should be thinking about right now. Tonight, you’re going to go out and have fun. You’re going to have some wine, maybe even do some dancing, and who knows after that?”
I chuckled. “You’re making it sound like I’m going out to a royal ball or something.”
“Hey,” said Julia, stepping toward the window in my apartment and pulling open the curtains, revealing the glittering Manhattan skyline beyond. “You forget what city you live in? Anything can happen here.”
“You’re such a romantic,” I said with a small smile. I took my phone out of my bag and checked the time. “Shoot. I need to get going if I want to actually have this night out.”
“Good call,” said Julia. “Time for me to take this little darling to my place.”
We both grabbed our things, Julia grabbing the diaper bag, and I took Faye from Julia and held her close. Faye let out an adorable giggle as I held her, her gorgeous blue eyes shimmering.
“Aw, my little lady,” I said. “It’s only going to be one night, but I’m going to miss you like crazy.”
Faye cooed again, grabbing onto my finger with her tiny little hand as I stroked the soft skin of her face.
“Hardly even twelve hours,” said Julia. “You still want to meet for lunch?”
I opened the front door of my little apartment and let Julia out first. Then I locked the door behind us.
“Yeah, definitely. You’ve got Faye tonight, and I’ll take Melanie tomorrow.”
“Such a good team,” said Julia.
“Pretty convenient, us getting pregnant at around the same time,” I said as we headed down the stairs of my walk-up. “Couldn’t be any more perfect if we’d planned it.”
“I’ll say,” said Julia. “Okay. Go out there and have some fun. And if I hear that you didn’t talk to a single guy, I’m going to be really disappointed. I’ll wag my finger at you and everything.”
I laughed, still holding Faye close.
“But you’re going to have to give up the kiddo first,” Julia added.
“I don’t know,” I said, looking back down into Faye’s eyes. “You sure I can’t take her with me?”
“Maybe you could,” said Julia. “She looks like she’s got what it takes to be a party baby. And one way to find out if she can hold her booze.”
“Julia!” I said, letting out another chiming laugh.
“I kid, I kid,” she said. “But seriously, hand over the munchkin.”
“Bye, sweetie,” I said, leaning down and planting my lips on Faye’s almost impossibly pudgy cheeks. “You promise I’m not being a bad mom?” I asked Julia as I handed Faye to her.
“I promise,” she said. “The worst thing you could be doing right now is not giving yourself a chance to blow off some steam every now and then. Seriously, you’re killing this whole ‘single mom’ thing—you deserve more than a night off as far as I’m concerned.”
“Aw, thanks,” I said. I had no idea what I’d do without Julia. When Brad left, I felt like I was alone in the world. But the two of us, both pregnant—though she was still with her husband—had each other’s back. The girl was a lifesaver.
“Okay,” she said. “Time to get going. Have a drink for me, and I’ll see you for lunch tomorrow.”
One more hug for Julia and one more kiss for Faye, and they were off. I stood still for a time on the busy sidewalk, watching them move down the block and disappear around the corner, pedestrians moving around me like I was a rock plopped down into the middle of a river.
“Okay,” I said out loud. “Time to have fun.”
The street outside my building in Greenpoint bustled with Friday-night activity, young men and women gathered in groups as they headed out for the night. It was hard for me to believe that only a year ago I was one of those kids, nothing on my mind but partying and having a good time.
How quickly things can change.
The evening air was warm and mild. The recent July heatwave thankfully easing up for the time being.
The idea of having fun was so strange to me. I’d spent the last six months since Faye’s birth so wrapped up with her that I’d almost forgotten that I was my own person. Not that I was complaining—I was more than happy to give every little bit of myself to my baby girl. But it left me wondering just what the heck I was supposed to do with myself when I was alone.
Like right then. I stood in the middle of the sidewalk, trying to remember what I did when I wasn’t a mom.
Then it occurred to me.
“Booze!” I said, sticking my finger into the air as if I was a detective who’d just figured out a breakthrough clue. You drink booze when you want to have fun, right? And besides, I wanted to be a good guest, and not show up to the party empty-handed.
I laughed at myself as I started off toward the liquor store. It was almost as if I had to relearn how to be social.
The fresh air felt great on my exposed legs and arms as I headed down the block. I caught sight of myself in the glass front of a closed store, and I took stock of how I looked out of the corner of my eye. As far as I could tell, I was looking pretty trim. Sure, my boobs were still totally huge, but that wasn’t entirely a bad thing. I’d been making sure to eat right and sneak in exercise when I could, and it looked to be paying off. I was getting back to my normal shape, albeit with a bust that I couldn’t believe was mine.
But what did it matter if I looked good? Was I really going to go out and meet a guy tonight?
I loved my baby girl to death, but a nagging thought in the back of my mind had been that my dating life was about to get complicated. Not only was I still dealing with the fallout of Brad leaving me, but now I was a single mom, and I wasn’t optimistic enough to believe that that was exactly what most guys had in mind when they pictured their ideal girlfriend.
I did my best to put the thought out of my head as I stepped into the corner wine shop. The air inside was chilly, the sight of delicious red wine hitting me as soon as I entered. I walked up to the reds, my eyes sca
nning over the labels.
Truth be told, I didn’t know all that much about wine. I liked red, but I didn’t like ones that were too sweet. Usually, I just went for the bottle with the coolest-looking label.
I continued on, my eyes flicking from bottle to bottle. Finally, I settled on a bottle of pinot noir with a nicely sketched picture of a duck on it, which worked for me.
My eyes locked on the bottle, and I kneeled down to pick it up. But as soon as I reached out to grab it, another hand shot out and collided with mine. I stepped back, shocked by the sudden touch of my skin against someone else’s.
“I’m sorry,” I stammered out. “Wasn’t paying attention, I guess.”
But when I glanced up at the person I bumped into, I nearly jumped out of my heels.
He was freaking gorgeous.
Chapter 2
Heather
Actually, to say he was “gorgeous” would be the understatement of the century.
The man I bumped into was tall—he towered over me, and I wasn’t a short girl. His hair was black, that deep, dark kind of black that seemed to hint of danger. His eyes were a piercing blue, looking out from a face of perfectly sculpted cheekbones and a wide, strong jaw. I glanced at his lips, created for kissing. And he was dressed in a dark suit, one that appeared both expensive and perfectly tailored for his well-proportioned body. The scent of his manly cologne caused my insides to moan.
I opened my mouth to say something, but the man had me so taken aback that I couldn’t even think of words to say, let alone form and spit them out.
“My fault,” he said, his voice low and sensual. “I was making a beeline for the bottle.” He flashed me a small smile, one that made his already handsome face even more striking.
“No,” I said, finally regaining my powers of speech. “My bad, one-hundred percent. I was off in space.”
The charming smile still on his face, he took the bottle from the shelf and looked it over. “I blame the label,” he said. “Far too eye-catching.”
I chuckled. I was still a little jarred from the unexpected touch, but something about this man put me at ease right away. As I looked him over, I saw that he was likely around my age, no more than five or so years older.
“You’re right about that,” I said. “To be honest, I have no idea what to look for with wine. So the one with the well-drawn duck was a natural choice.”
“Good call,” he said, taking another look at the bottle in his hands. “The label is key to a great wine.” He winked, then placed the bottle back on the shelf and picked up another. “This would’ve been my second choice,” he said, showing me a bottle with, sure enough, a label of some French vineyard estate.
“Château Martin,” he said, affecting a slight French accent to his voice. “Can’t go wrong with a nicely drawn sketch.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, my hand shooting up to cover my mouth.
“My name’s Justin, by the way,” he said, extending his hand toward me. “I figured you ought to know the name of the guy who’s about to buy the bottle of wine you had your eye on.”
I took his hand, his skin warm and just rough enough. A thrill ran up my spine as our hands touched, and my heart beat faster. Still taken aback by his almost inhumanly good looks, I forced myself to focus and set aside the fact that I was talking to perhaps the best-looking guy I’d ever seen in person.
“Oh,” I said, my tone playfully challenging. “And you think I’m just going to let you take it? This duck wine is really calling out to me—I might have to fight you for it. And I’m Heather, by the way.”
“Well, Heather, something tells me you’re the type,” he said. “And you might very well win. On the ‘lover’ and ‘fighter’ spectrum, I’m definitely more toward the former.”
I laughed again, partially at his joke, partially out of nervous excitement. Like before, my hand covered my mouth.
“You know,” he said. “When you’ve got a charming laugh like that, you’re really doing the world a disservice by covering it up.”
I felt my cheeks go hot as a blush spread across them.
“I don’t know about that,” I said. “You haven’t heard me do a full-on snort-laugh.”
“I can’t imagine it’d be any less charming.”
More nervous laughter sounded and, as if on cue, this one came with a quick snort, followed by more blushing.
“Ah, and there it is,” he said. “And just like I thought, exactly as charming.”
I waved my hand through the air. “Oh, stop,” I said. “I sound like a total nerd.”
He cocked his head to the side as if considering the statement. “Maybe a little nerdy, true,” he said. “But think how unfair it’d be if a girl who looked like you had a totally perfect laugh. We all need a flaw or two.”
My heart beat even faster—now he was flirting with me, and not even pretending that he wasn’t. I couldn’t believe that a guy this attractive was giving me the time of day.
“Anyway,” he said. “Would be it be too prying to ask what the occasion for the wine is?”
“You mean the wine you’re going to buy right out from under my nose?” I asked with a grin.
“The very same.”
“I’m going to a friend’s party. Figured I’d bring something with me.”
As I said the words, I felt my mood shift from the excitement of talking to Justin to the nervous hesitation that the party had brought to mind. And I could see by the slight narrowing of his eyes that he picked up on it.
“A considerate guest,” he noted. “And how much are you looking forward to this party? On a scale of one-to-ten?”
I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, wondering how appropriate it would be for me to get into it. But Justin made me feel at ease, like I could tell him anything. Still, I kept myself in check.
“I’d say about a three. Somewhere around a doctor’s appointment and a trip to the DMV.”
He raised his eyebrows slightly.
“Now, I’m not an expert on such things, but I would think a party would have the opposite effect.”
I very, very nearly spilled the beans then. The reason for me feeling this was partially that I really wasn’t the party type anymore, but there was something deeper to it. Ever since I had Faye, I’d been so wrapped up with her that my old life, one that did involve the occasional wild night out, seemed more and more like a distant memory with each passing day.
And now, I felt like I was a million miles from my old friends. Julia and I had grown closer, what with both of us having a kid, but my old friends almost seemed like they were a different species. What would I even talk about with them? They’d be going on about guys or their jobs or whatever trendy brunch place they’d last hit up, and I’d talk about what—that new brand of diapers that was both cheap and effective that I was totally thrilled about?
Bringing this up to Justin, however, was a no-go. Was there a topic that could bring flirting to more of a grinding halt than mentioning a baby?
“You would think so,” I said. “But I’m not feeling it today. My friend I haven’t seen in a while invited me out, but I’m going more out of a sense of obligation than anything else.”
“Is that right?” he asked. “And is spending your Friday night out fulfilling an obligation how you want to spend it?”
“No,” I said. “Not really, now that you mention it.”
“And what would you rather be doing?”
I didn’t have the first clue as to how to answer that question. Faye had been the focal point of my life for the last six months, and what I wanted didn’t even enter the picture.
“That’s…a really good question,” I said. “I hadn’t even thought about it.”
“Then maybe you should do that,” he said with a smile. “Go ahead—I’ll guard the wine.”
I flashed him an intrigued expression before doing as he suggested. I let my mind go blank as I tried to figure out what sounded good to me. Some quiet came to m
ind, but not the “at home watching TV” sort of quiet—more like that of a mellow atmosphere. And I don’t know if it was simply being surrounded by the wine that was doing it, but a drink sounded delicious.
“I’m imagining…being someplace relaxing. Maybe some chill music playing. And a delicious drink in front of me.”
“Hmm,” said Justin. “I think I have just the thing. That is, if you don’t mind me buying you a drink.”
Whoa, what was this—was he asking me out?
“Are you inviting me for a drink?” I asked, my heart rate picking up again.
“I am,” he said. “I’m thinking someplace other than the red wine aisle would be a better venue for our conversation.”
Right at that moment, a customer appeared behind us, angling her body to get past Justin and me. I realized that I’d been so wrapped up in the conversation that I’d totally spaced on where I was.
“Sure,” I said. “That sounds nice.”
“I think so too,” he said. “Life’s too short to do anything but what you want.”
I knew at that moment that whoever this mysterious, charming man was, he didn’t have any kids. No one with a little one to worry about would ever say something like that. But I didn’t mind—it was the exact attitude that I wanted for the evening.
He set the bottle of wine back on the shelf and turned his attention to me.
“Then let’s not waste another second,” he said.
I smiled. “Let’s not.”
Chapter 3
Heather
A brief stroll down the block later and Justin and I were in front of what looked to be a nondescript stairwell. I glanced down it, noting a small pile of fast food wrappers in the corner, along with a steel door sprayed with an artful smattering of graffiti.
“If you wanted to drink wine in a stairwell,” I said with a smirk, “we probably should have bought that duck wine.”
Baby Surprises 7 Book Box Set Page 34