Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 78340 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78340 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
“I adore her,” Hal said, as he handed me one of the glasses.
“Same.” I tried to take a sip, but Owen grabbed the stem of the champagne flute and dumped it down the front of my white t-shirt. It was plastic to be baby-safe but still perfectly spillable, of course. I sighed and muttered, “I really should have known that would happen.”
Hal took Owen from me and said, “I’ll watch the little dude for you while you get cleaned up.” I thanked him and left my glass on the fireplace mantel before heading for the stairs.
Someone knocked just as I reached the foyer, and I opened the door to find Lucky standing there, looking devastatingly handsome. He’d changed up his look—just a little—and was wearing a form-fitting T-shirt and jeans with a pair of Converse sneakers, all in black. “Hi! You look fantastic,” I said, as I stepped back and held the door for him. “I, meanwhile, have suffered a mimosa mishap and was just on my way to change.”
“Hi. Um, I made your son a present. If this is totally wrong, please tell me and I’ll throw it out and get him something else.”
He picked up a sleek, red car and handed it to me. It was about three feet long and looked like a convertible vintage Aston Martin with its curved lines and long front end. “It’s beautiful,” I said.
It had a little steering wheel and a white upholstered seat, and he explained, “It basically works like a Flintstones car, he’d sit in it and scoot along with his feet—if you think it’s appropriate and want to give it to him. I don’t know the first thing about babies, but I saw some toys like this online. I made sure there were no sharp edges and nothing that might pinch him, but…I don’t know. Maybe this was a dumb idea for a one-year-old.”
“It’s absolutely perfect, and I can’t believe you made this! Thank you so much.” I leaned over the car and kissed his cheek, and he smiled at me.
“You’re welcome. I’d convinced myself I’d totally made the wrong call and almost had my Lyft driver take me to a toy store.”
“Owen’s going to love it, and I do, too. We can give it to him after I change. Come upstairs with me.”
I left the gift in the entryway, took Lucky’s hand, and led him through the gates and up the stairs. We stopped off in the bathroom, and I peeled off my sticky shirt before cleaning myself up with a washcloth. Meanwhile, I rambled on about Hal’s surprise visit, and the party, and anything I could think of. Why was I nervous?
Lucky looked around curiously when we got to my room. It really didn’t look like much. The walls were plain white, my bed was in a corner with the crib pushed right up against it, and most of the floor space was taken up by a big playmat. At least I’d taken the time that morning to collect the toys into the soft-sided bin that served as a toy box.
He asked, “So, you and your son share a room?”
“Yup. We were really lucky that it happened to be available, since this house is filled to capacity.” I’d been searching the shelf in my closet, and after a moment I muttered, “Damn, that might have been my last clean T-shirt.”
Lucky came up behind me and slipped his hands around my waist before kissing my bare shoulder. I abandoned my search and leaned into him as I said, “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me, too.”
I turned to face him and draped my arms over his shoulders, and he kissed me for a long moment. Then he grinned at me. “So, you’ll be going topless to your son’s first birthday party? That’ll be nice for the scrapbook.”
I chuckled at that. “I can put on my one button-down shirt, which is the same thing I’ll be wearing next weekend. So much for trying to do something special for the wedding.”
He nuzzled my neck as he murmured, “My vote’s for going topless.” Then he kissed his way along my jaw before his lips found mine again.
That kiss went on for a long time before he mumbled, “We should probably go downstairs and join the party.”
I said, “Definitely,” but then I went right back to kissing him.
After another minute of this, he asked, “What’s your son doing while we’re up here making out?”
“I gave him a little red valet vest, and he’s parking the cars.” Lucky raised a brow, and I grinned at him. “One of my friends is watching him. What do you think a one-year-old is doing?”
“How would I know? Like I was saying, I don’t have the first clue about babies.”
“I didn’t either, up until a couple of months ago. Turns out they’re really not that mysterious. Keep them fed and dry and spend time with them, and they’re happy little campers. Owen is, anyway.”