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I’d done nothing but dream of him all night long, and this morning when I’d seen him in the gym, my brain-to-mouth filter had started to malfunction.
There I was helping Codie lift, and the next thing I knew, I was asking him if he wanted to go to lunch with us.
Then I was sitting with him throughout the entire lunch, and despite having my ex-husband and his new ‘soon-to-be wife’ at his side, I’d actually enjoyed myself.
I’d. Enjoyed. Myself.
That kind of stuff didn’t happen to me anymore.
Why? Because I was Desi, the fat ex of one of the hottest men in town.
From day one, people had looked at me like I didn’t belong with Mal.
He was tall, rich, handsome and breathtaking.
I’d never really understood why he’d pursued me.
And now, here I was, allowing the same thing to happen again, only Callum was much, much hotter.
“You okay?” Callum asked, looking down at me with curiosity and worry.
I swallowed hard and nodded my head.
“Yeah,” I croaked. “Is Walmart okay? I’m kind of avoiding Target right now. Oh, and Hobby Lobby. If I go into either one of those places, I’ll be spending way more than I meant to.”
He jerked his head in a nod. “Sure. What else do you need besides tree decorating stuff?”
I thought about that for a moment.
I was going to go get a sports bra while I was there, but there was no way in hell I was doing that with him in attendance.
There was only so much I could handle and buying anything that covered my boobs just wasn’t going to happen.
“Oh, nothing,” I lied.
He looked down at me like he didn’t believe me.
“Come on,” he urged. “Tell me.”
I bit my lip, thinking about the other thing that I needed.
There was no way in hell I was telling him that I needed tampons.
No way, no how.
And with how my ex-husband reacted when periods were mentioned—i.e., as if he were still a boy-child and couldn’t handle the thought of blood, let alone the sight of it—I wasn’t really comfortable with telling him anything about it.
“Umm,” I said, biting my lip and knowing I was going to have to tell him something. “I need a new bra.”
His brows lifted. “And Walmart is a place where you can get those?”
My lips formed into a small smile. “Yes, at least sports bras. I wouldn’t be shopping for normal bras there. I have to go to the actual stores that fit you for bras, and all that fun jazz.”
I was a big girl—at least in the chest department. Depending on the time of the month, I fluctuated between a D and DD.
Luckily, Walmart had sports bras that could handle my boobs.
Because I didn’t have time to drive all the way to the next town over to visit their Victoria’s Secret.
Nor did I have time to do it tomorrow.
I had two cakes to bake tomorrow, I had a few things I needed to file tonight with the county tax assessor for my end-of-year taxes, and I also had to go help Codie with her tree.
Not that I minded that last part.
But it was still yet another thing I had to add to my list of things to do.
Knowing I had all these things I needed to do didn’t send me into a tailspin, though.
Having the large, silent man at my side who had dragged himself along with me made me feel almost… quiet.
And my brain was never quiet.
I had thoughts and ideas always swirling. Not to mention mental notes, things I needed to do, and preparations for any possibility that could happen.
Though saying that…
“I think we should do a rainbow color for our tree,” Callum said, startling me out of my head.
“Umm,” I hesitated. “Why?”
“Because I like this ornament, and this one.” He pointed to two different color ornaments. “But I like that sparkly ribbon right there. And Ace’s favorite color is bright green. Whereas Banks’ favorite color is orange.”
“What’s yours?” I found myself asking.
I shouldn’t care… but I did.
“Honestly, I like gray. Have you seen those new refrigerators that they came out with?” he asked. “It’s kind of a gunmetal gray?”
I nodded my head.
“That’s my favorite color right now,” he answered. “Kind of like that ornament right there.” He pointed to one that was sitting on top of the shelf.
“That’s a tree topper, not an ornament,” I explained. “But I like that color, too. I had a bride tell me she wanted her wedding cake decorated in that. In fact, I’ll be making that this weekend.”
His lips pulled down into a frown. “How do you do business-wise? Is the wedding cake industry a popular one?”
I thought about that for a second.
“Honestly, I liked it way better when I was doing cakes for fun,” I admitted. “I moved to a full-time business when my ex-husband and I bought our house. His income alone didn’t quite cover the cost of our monthly payment, so I bit the bullet and started doing the cake thing full-time.” I bit my lip. “I’m not saying that I hate it or anything, but it’s definitely a whole lot more work than I ever wanted it to be. I just wanted to be a simple baker. Make cakes and cookies. Sometimes throw in a little dinner here or there for parties. But now it’s something that I’m barely able to manage on my own.”
