Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 96833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
I’d made a reservation at the nicest restaurant in town, a seafood place by the water. Abby looked adorable in a white empire-waist dress, and she wore her long hair up, which she’d never done before. I appreciated the uninterrupted view of her slender neck, tempted at every turn to wrap my hand around it.
“At least Phil and Kate didn’t seem too freaked out about us,” she said as she placed her napkin on her lap. “You never had a chance to fill me in on how the talk went.”
“We had a good chat. They’re just as confused as we are, but they handled it well and will be accepting of whatever choices we make.”
Abby stared into her water glass. “I would assume not much affects you when you’ve already been through hell like they have.”
“That’s definitely true. They’re strong people. I was more ashamed of not having told them than worried about their reaction. They insisted I didn’t owe them an explanation, but I believe I did.”
Abby’s gaze suddenly moved to something happening in the corner of the restaurant.
“What’s wrong?” I turned around to look.
“You know that ex of mine, Asher?”
I stiffened. “Yeah?”
“Well, he’s sitting right over there. He’s the guy in the red shirt.”
I turned again. The bloke had blond hair and sat across from another guy. He hadn’t seemed to notice her yet.
“Do you want to leave?” I asked.
“No, of course not. I have nothing to hide. I mean…” She laughed and pointed to her belly. “I couldn’t hide it even if I wanted to now.”
“How badly do you care what he thinks?”
“I don’t give a shit what he thinks.”
“You trust me?”
She raised her eyebrows. “Should I?”
“Let’s switch places for a minute.” I moved to her chair. “Come sit on my lap.”
She did, and I reached up to cup her face as I brought her mouth to mine, rubbing her stomach slowly and intentionally. I checked a few times to confirm whether he was watching. And eventually he was.
When a waitress approached, Abby hopped off of me and returned to her seat. We’d made a brief spectacle of ourselves, but if her ex had seen us, it was worth it.
We managed to enjoy our meal without focusing on him. Abby seemed relaxed throughout dinner and didn’t appear to care about the presence of her ex in the room, which pleased me. At one point, though, her eyes veered off to the side again, and a look of discomfort crossed her face. “He’s coming over here.” She wiped her mouth.
The next thing I knew, he was standing in front of us.
“Hey…I thought that was you,” he said.
She cleared her throat. “Asher, how are you?”
“Good.” His eyes darted to me. “You look nice.”
“Thank you.” She gestured my way. “This is Sig, my—”
“Baby daddy,” I finished.
He looked down at her stomach. “Yeah, I noticed you were… Wow. Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
He turned to me again. “You’re English.”
“How keen of you to notice.”
“We met in England, actually,” Abby said.
“I didn’t realize you were over there.” His eyes dropped to her stomach. “I guess there’s a lot I didn’t realize.”
“Yeah. Life is unexpected. Thank you, I guess, for breaking up with me so I could experience it.”
Nice.
He nodded. “I’m glad you’re happy.”
Abby sat straighter. “I am.”
“Well, I’ll let you get back to your dinner. Good seeing you and good luck with everything.”
“Thanks,” she said.
He walked away, and after a moment of silence, I smiled. “Well, that was brilliant.”
“Yeah…” She looked a bit sullen.
My chest tightened. Does she still have feelings for that bloke? “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, uh, it felt a little weird to put myself in those shoes for a moment—where this was a simple, cut-and-dried situation. Of course you are my baby’s daddy, but it’s not that easy, right? Because it’s not my baby.”
“I’m sorry if I upset you by saying that.”
“No, no, no. It was great. I wouldn’t change a thing about that interaction. I guess it just…” She paused. “Made me wish it were true?” She shook her head. “I don’t know. Sorry.”
I cringed. You’re a genius, Sigmund. I hadn’t considered the implications of my statement at all. “I’m sorry I upset you.”
“You didn’t.”
“I just wanted to stick it to that wanker who hurt you.”
“He was definitely taken aback.” She forced a smile. “It was perfect.”
The air felt thick with tension for the remainder of dinner.
After we left the restaurant, I stopped short of starting the car. I was in no rush to return to the house, where Roland would likely still be awake.
Abby still seemed preoccupied, with a vacant look on her face. I knew she was thinking about us, all the things we weren’t.
“Did you want to go straight home?” I asked, reaching over to caress her thigh.
“What else did you have in mind?” She smiled flirtatiously, bringing me great relief. Perhaps I hadn’t totally wiped any joy from this evening.