Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 29132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 146(@200wpm)___ 117(@250wpm)___ 97(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 146(@200wpm)___ 117(@250wpm)___ 97(@300wpm)
“All right, then. See you tomorrow,” he said, lifting a hand.
“Tomorrow.” She paused, one ankle circling thoughtfully in the air before she added, “And thanks for the dinner invite. I’ve got a ton of crazy to get through tomorrow. It will be nice to have something to look forward to.”
“My tomorrow’s pretty crazy, too,” Noah said with a sigh, not looking forward to his breakfast date with the woman who would not be having his baby, no matter how passionately she pled her case. And he was sure she would be passionate. He didn’t know RunYazzRun’s name—only her e-mail handle—but he could already tell she was a handful. “We can exchange horror stories over beer tomorrow night.”
Her lips quirked. “Or compare battle scars.”
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” he said, unable to keep from flirting…just a little.
Thankfully his efforts were rewarded with another knockout smile. “Watch out, O’Sullivan. I’m starting to think you’ve got a naughty side beneath all that country boy charm.”
He shrugged. “I’m actually a city boy. Born and raised in San Francisco and still live in the Bay Area.”
“Interesting. I would never have guessed. You seem right at home as a knight in faded blue jeans.”
“Thank you,” he said, strangely touched. “Just wish I could have done more.”
“You’ve been great,” she said, eyes narrowing. “But don’t think I missed that.”
“Missed what?”
“That I didn’t get an answer about your naughty side.” She nodded thoughtfully as she began to back away again. “Guess I’ll have to figure it out for myself tomorrow night.”
Before he could respond, she turned and jogged away down the hill, her white dress bouncing around her thighs. Noah watched her go, wishing it was already six o’clock tomorrow and all the hard stuff was behind him. He was looking forward to Yasmin North learning more about his naughty side very, very much.
CHAPTER FIVE
Yasmin
The next morning dawned gray and humid.
It was clear from the moment Yasmin woke to gaze out her bedroom window that the sun would eventually win the battle over the clouds, but until then, the sky was ugly and the air almost too thick to breathe. The day matched her mood precisely as she swung into Dixie’s Diner at half past nine, a full thirty minutes before her meeting with the sperm donor. She intended to be fully caffeinated and ready to do battle before TheArkIsAMyth walked through that door.
The ark is a myth…
What kind of man had an e-mail handle like that? Was he an archeology enthusiast researching artifacts from the Indiana Jones movies? Part of a group determined to disprove the Old Testament? Or just your garden variety cranky atheist?
She didn’t know, but she had a bad feeling about this meeting. The man had been nice enough during their e-mail exchanges—probably more understanding than the average Joe whose sperm had been accidentally sold—but she couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d already made up his mind to say no, and this meeting was just a formality.
“All the more reason to be coffee-ed up and ready for action,” she murmured to herself over the rim of her second mug of Dixie’s synapse-enhancing brew.
By the time she’d finished her third, she was firing on all cylinders, only seconds away from laying eyes on the man who would provide the other half of her baby making equation, and ready to plead her case. Unfortunately, she also had to pee. Bad. Like, really bad.
Biting her lip, she waved at Viv, her waitress, across the room. The kind-eyed woman dropped a check at another table and hustled over even faster than usual. “What’s up, hon?” she asked. “Is he a no-show?”
“No, I think he’s going to show,” Yasmin said, casting a glance at the sidewalk outside, but still catching no sign of a tall, dark, double-PhD-holding man in his early thirties. “But I have to hit the ladies. If he comes in, can you let him know I’ll be right back?”
“Will do,” Viv said. “And this table is yours for as long as you need it. I already made sure everyone knows the corner is reserved for the morning.”
“Thank you so much,” Yasmin said, sliding out of the booth.
“No worries.” Viv reached out, giving her arm a gentle squeeze. “I’m rooting for you, babe. I think it’s great that you’re going for this, making the kind of life and family you want, no matter what anyone else has to say about it.”
Yasmin’s smile puckered in the middle. “Yeah, well, assuming everything goes as planned, I may have to bring some of my mom’s friends in here for a chat. Apparently, a couple members of her book club think I’m crazy.”
Viv laughed. “Well, you know what I always say: You aren’t living life to the fullest if someone doesn’t think you’re crazy.”
“I would laugh,” Yasmin said, hedging toward the restrooms. “But I have to pee too bad.”