Love at Blind Date Complete Series: Books 1-4

by Lorelei M. Hart

  “Don’t you have to work?” I sassed, glad to see he wasn’t. It had been many weeks since the last time he was in the shop and we argued and made up and argued and made up. It had been a mess.

  Life since then? Very much not a mess. I’d been working hard at keeping my hormonal insanity at bay. It wasn’t easy, but it sure made life better for all of us. And honestly, there were a few times where Rex or Andrew or Keith had to point out that I was heading into a spiral, but they did it out of love and I’d grown to appreciate it. Sebastian, despite being an experienced tailor, never did, but I think he was still in the should I be scared of my boss or not stage of his employment.

  “I only have five minutes.” I walked—waddled—whatever, over to him and snatched the bag from his hand. “Is this what I think it is?” I kissed his cheek.

  “If you think it’s a chocolate chip cookie from Louisa’s Bakery, then yes it is.”

  I squeed. I’d been craving one of these bad boys for a week and the darn place was always closed by the time I got out of work. He was officially the most amazing alpha in the world. And not just because of the cookie, although that sure didn’t hurt.

  “You’re the best.” I opened the bag and inhaled deeply. Ahhh, yes. This was bliss. I grabbed a chunk of it and popped it in my mouth, chewing it slowly to savor the morsel of chocolatey goodness.

  “What do you mean you have five minutes?” he asked as he set the cups on the counter. “Tea or cocoa? Your choice.”

  “It’s official. You are the best alpha ever.” I looked back and forth between the two, trying to decide.

  “You can have them both.” He chuckled. ‘I had my coffee on the ride over.

  “Thanks.” I cracked the lid on the hot cocoa. Yum. “I have a fitting in five —make that three minutes, and Keith and Andrew are at a wedding show and Sebastian has the day off—so three minutes and then I really do have to work.”

  “So no quicky?” He winked, and had it not been only a few minutes, I’d have taken him up on his offer. I’d officially hit the always horny point of my pregnancy—so much better than the always puking or sleeping point, that was for sure.

  “Yeah, I’m thinking a two-minute quicky would be too quick for even a quicky.” I ate another bite of my cookie. So good.

  I was currently on a sweet-craving kick. Last week it had been salt and all the pretzels. Who knew what even tomorrow would bring. Baby was not predictable, but how could I expect anything but?

  “I guess we’ll just have to take our time later.”

  The desk phone rang and I answered it to discover my appointment needed to reschedule. It looked like our little afternoon delight might just happen—after I drank my cocoa because preggo priorities.

  “I’m all yours.” I set the phone down. “What ever shall we do?”

  “I need to get a suit for an event that I think might be in my near future.” That wasn’t how I saw that playing out.

  “I can do that.” I ate the last of my cookie. “What kind of event? Formal or business or business formal?” I walked around, grabbed his hand and led him to the bolts of fabric. I had swatches for customers, but there was something missing when you only had that tiny bit to see, to feel, and in some cases to smell.

  “Formal and definitely not business,” he said, instantly narrowing down my choices.

  “And when is this event?” I was hoping for summer, having just gotten in some fabric I thought would drape over his ass perfectly and was lightweight enough for the heat without giving up its formal flair.

  “Not sure.”

  “You need to give me something to work with here.”

  “It’s for a wedding.”

  “That’s nice.” Another wedding that I was helping someone prepare for. All the happy occasions I’d been almost part of. “One of your friends or a business associate?”

  “Hard to describe our relationship,” he murmured. “But I like the guy—a lot.”

  I was tempted to ask him for more information but let it go. Weird. I reached for the bolt I thought would look the best on him and pulled it from the shelf. “I think this one would do nicely.” I turned around to find him on his knee...just one, a box in his hand.

  “Whose wedding is this for?” I set the bolt down as my eyes blurred with tears.

  “Ours?” He flipped the box open; a simple ring sat on a bed of velvet. “If you’ll have me?”

  “You want to marry me?”

  “No. I was originally going to ask Barry or Tony, the restaurant host, but they’re both taken, so I thought who else in my life might accept me? Oh, I know. That Jason guy who I love more than life itself.”

  I growled and slapped his shoulder. “I’m not easy to live with.”

  “Nor am I.”

  “And I’m stubborn,” I added.

  “Same.”

  “And lately I’ve been snoring—a lot.

  “It helps me know you’re there. Why are you trying to talk me out of this anyways?” He took the ring out and I gave him my hand. “Please say yes. Make me the happiest man alive.”

  “Yes.” My voice cracked, my eyes tearing up as he slid the ring onto my finger.

  “It’s—it’s—it’s silicone.” I threw myself at him. This amazing, wonderful, caring man gave me a ring I could wear even at work. He didn’t throw his money at me, like I knew he’d have prefered.

  “Your job matters to me.” He went to continue, but my lips on his gave his mouth something better to do.

  97

  Rex

  “Yes.”

  Really? “Yes,” I repeated after him.

  “Yes,” Jason yelled again, and I picked him up and twirled him around. “I can’t believe you asked me to make you a suit for our wedding.”

  An alpha poked his head through the door. “Have I come at a bad time?”

  “Not at all.” Jason planted a kiss on my forehead. “Put me down, Rex. We can celebrate properly tonight.” He ushered the alpha inside while pushing me out the door. After blowing me a kiss, he led the customer to the changing room.

  While standing outside the shop and looking in, I was tempted to jump up and click my heels together as they did in old musicals. Instead, I grabbed a coffee from the place opposite, where I’d watched Jason so many weeks ago, and headed to the office.

  I checked my phone at least twenty times, and at one minute after five, I took my briefcase and left. My assistant raced after me asking if I was ill.

  “Nope,” I shouted over my shoulder. “Just in love and getting married soon.”

  Celebrating with champagne was out of the question, so once at home, I gathered the ingredients for a Shirley Temple, which I’d discovered Jason loved. When he drove into his driveway, I carried everything next door and sat him on the sofa while preparing the drink.

  “I could get used to this,” he said as I handed him a glass containing a pink concoction. “Mmmm delicious.”

  “Glad you like it.” I sat beside him with his feet on my lap.

  “What?” Jason peered at me while sipping his drink.

  “Huh?”

  “You’ve got a weird expression on your face as though you’re hiding something. Not sure I can take any more surprises today.”

  “I can wait until midnight if you want.”

  “You think you’re so funny.” He rubbed one foot over my crotch, and I gasped. “Just get it over with, Rex.”

  “Now that we’re getting married, I think we should live together.”

  “Sounds like a plan. Your place or mine?”

  “I was thinking of the penthouse.” Jason started to say something, and I held up my hand. “Hear me out. It’s modern with plenty of space. A big room for the baby, a home office, and a guest room. Gorgeous view. I know you love this house, but it’s cramped, and there’s no room to expand.”

  “And the penthouse has a dishwasher, right?”

  I narrowed my eyes and growled. “Technically this place does too, it’s just not
connected.”

  “From what I recall, your decorating style is pretty bland. Neutral colors on the wall and the same for the furnishings. Apart from your blue-and-white collection.”

  Putting a hand on my heart, I intoned, “I solemnly swear that you can have free rein to decorate the penthouse as you please.” I picked up a purple cushion. “I love the way you use color.”

  He rubbed his hands together. “You might regret saying that.”

  “Never.”

  “It’s tempting,” he said. “I suppose I could rent out this place. What about next door?”

  “I’ll sell it, probably at a loss. I can’t get the stink completely out. And to think I paid over the going rate for that dump.”

  “Barry and his husband did well,” Jason agreed.

  “Well, I wanted the place and was prepared to pay for it. But I felt sorry for the guy.” And it had been worth every penny, as crazy as my plan had been.

  Jason snorted and covered his mouth.

  “What’s so funny?” I asked.

  “Why were you sorry for him?”

  “Because I didn’t know if he and his husband had jobs. They were home in the middle of the day and wearing sweats—very sweaty and stinky sweats.”

  “That’s because their job was making exercise videos,” Jason informed me.

  “But… but… but does that make money?”

  “Seriously, Rex? Their exercise videos made them two million last year.”

  “Are you freaking kidding me?” I couldn’t grasp the idea of Barry as an entrepreneur. “I took pity on him and he took advantage of me.”

  “Oh, no! Mr. I’m-such-a-good-negotiator got shafted. One point to Barry.”

  I guess so.

  In the end, I decided to knock down Barry’s old house and build a modern bungalow for my parents who were looking to move to a smaller place closer to the center of town. While it was being built, they lived in Jason’s place.

  My penthouse was our new home, and the first thing I did was get on my knees and ask the dishwasher for forgiveness. “I’m sorry I’ve neglected you, old friend.” I patted its shiny, stainless-steel door. “How about I do a long hot cycle? Would you like that?”

  “You’re a weirdo, Rex.” Jason was wandering each room with paint samples and swatches of bright fabric for sofas, bedding, and curtains. “Come and help me choose paint for the baby’s room.”

  I assumed the little one would sleep in our room, and while Jason said he or she probably would initially, the baby needed a place of their own.

  “But what if our son or daughter cries? We might not hear.” I’ll have to sleep on the floor beside the crib.

  My husband-to-be waved his phone at me. “These devices have an amazing ability to download something called an app so you can monitor your baby. I know it’s high-tech, but I’m hoping you can grasp the concept.”

  “You’re not funny at all.” After meeting my brother again at the launch party for the Blind Dating App, Jason and Colin enjoyed making fun of my tech-know-nothing ability. They thought it was hilarious as Jason and I had met through that damn thing. Colin was proud of having brought us together.

  The intercom buzzed. Speak of the devil. “Come on up, little brother.”

  Colin arrived carrying a huge box. “A fancy-pants delivery guy was downstairs with this parcel, and I signed for it.”

  Jason eyed the box with his name on it and the words ‘Handle With Care’ on the side. He clapped his hands. “Something for the baby?”

  “Open it and find out.”

  With Colin’s help, the pair opened the cardboard box. “Oh my Gods!” A sob escaped Jason’s lips as my brother dug into the foam packaging and carefully brought out a blue-and-white ginger jar, the same size as my beloved original piece. “It’s so beautiful.”

  He stroked it and then had Colin put it on the shelf before patting the sofa. I sat beside him and draped an arm over his shoulder. “Thank you,” he said as he kissed me.

  “I wanted us to have a pair.”

  98

  Jason

  “Why are you pacing, love?” Rex climbed off the couch where he’d been perusing an auction catalogue with some pieces he was interested in.

  “I don’t know.” Today I just needed to walk—like a compulsion. Fine. I was waddling. Same difference. “Do you want to go outside for a stroll?”

  “Is it okay for you to do that?” Silly alpha. Always so worried about me, more so since we had our little one’s eviction day set.

  Eviction day—what a horrible way to refer to the birth of my child, but if I didn’t joke about it I was going to cry. When the doctor told us the baby was breach and if they didn’t turn we’d need to delivery by C-section, I’d done every stupid thing I could find on the internet to get them to be face down… everything from playing music to swimming laps upon laps.

  And at the end of the day, as long as I had my sweet baby in my arms, did it matter? No, of course not. That didn’t stop a little part of me from feeling less than. Which was probably why I was pacing like a freak.

  “We can.” He shut his laptop and placed it on the table. “Want to walk on the terrace or do you want to go to the park?”

  “Wait, what about the auction? We can wait.” I scratched my belly, which had been itching for the past month no matter what I did. “I have nowhere else to go.”

  I’d officially passed the reins over to Keith a week earlier. With Sebastian and Andrew helping, the three of them were holding down the fort nicely. We’d had to limit new orders for custom suits, but with the upcoming sale of my paternity designs, the business was thriving.

  “I was just browsing.” He half-shrugged. Rex never just browsed the auctions. If he was that focused on one, it had something he wanted.

  “Seriously, I can go fuss in the baby room or something until you are ready.”

  “It is just stuff, I’d rather spend the time with you.” He smiled as his eyes fell to my belly, the one the size of Nebraska, “both of you.”

  “You are too sweet.” I held my arms open and he walked in and gave me a hug—well, most of a hug, his arms couldn’t quite reach all the way around.

  “So, verdict?” he asked, still holding me close. “Here or the park?”

  “I say park. It might be awhile before we venture there again.” With my C-section date only a week and a half away unless my stubborn baby turned, I figured I might as well go and do all my favorite things. The doctor assured me recovery wasn’t as bad as the accounts in my pregnancy book, but when I asked him point blank about some of the six-week restrictions postpartum he gave a half-shrug, and I wasn’t so inclined to believe him.

  We rode down the elevator to the parking garage and climbed into the minivan. Never in a million years would I have thought I’d be the proud owner of a minivan, but there I was loving every inch of my new wheels.

  “Want to grab something to drink for our walk?” Rex asked as we approached the neighborhood of my favorite park.

  “Sure.” We drove through and picked up some tea and found a parking spot close to the trail entrance.

  “This is delicious.” I took a long sip, then handed him the cup so I could shimmy myself out of the van, snatching it back as soon as I was on both feet. “I see that look, mister. Don’t laugh at me.”

  He laughed and so did I.

  “It’s not my fault I’m no longer graceful.”

  “No, I guess that would be my fault.” He shut my car door. “Ready for our walk, sir?” He offered me his arm and I took it.

  We walked for a good half an hour, watching the birds, stopping on the bridge to feel the cool wind on our face, and laughing about everything.

  “This is exactly what I needed.” I leaned into him as we watched a boat pass by. “Thanks.”

  “Anything for you,” he pointed into the distance. “We probably should be heading back, though. It looks like a storm is rolling in.”

  I went to agree but stopped short a
s my pants became wet. “I think so.” I bit my bottom lip. “And Rex, ummm.” He looked to me, and I pointed at my pants.

  “Oh sweetheart. Don’t worry about that. We’ll get you home and cleaned up. It’s my fault, I shouldn’t have offered the tea.” Poor, sweet, clueless man.

  “I didn’t pee myself, Rex.” Not that there was shame in doing so. Goodness knew I had a few sneeze pees this past month.

  “Spilled your tea?” he asked, and I shook my head. “Water broke?”

  “It did.” Which I thought would be accompanied by contractions, but what did I know.

  “But you aren’t having the baby for over a week.”

  “I’m pretty sure that just changed.” Please let my doctor be on call. “The rain is coming. We should be going.”

  We walked as fast as I could comfortably manage and very much didn't miss the rain, both of us reaching the car more resembling drowned rats than anything else.

  “At least the people at the hospital won’t think I peed myself,” I teased as he drove through the downpour the short distance to the hospital.

  I couldn’t believe it.

  It was baby day.

  We walked into the hospital and straight to triage where things became a whirlwind of answering questions, filling out paperwork, and being poked and prodded, Rex by my side the entire time.

  “You're doing so good,” he kissed my cheek as he sat with me while we waited for the anesthesiologist to come in and give me my epidural. “You’re so brave and strong.

  “I don’t feel strong,” I admitted.

  “Trust me, love. You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met. Our baby is so lucky to have you as their father.” He removed a strand of hair from my brow. “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For everything.” He brushed a kiss over my forehead as the anesthesiologist came in proclaiming that it was go time.

  I was doing this. I was about to have a baby.