“Holy overkill, Batman!”I was sifting through the bags from Rite Aid.
"Well, there were so many choices, and I didn't want to bring back the wrong thing."
"Okay." I chuckled, holding up a teething ring. "Try these first. If that doesn't work, you rub a little bit of this on his gums." I held up the Orajel. "And as a last resort, the liquid Tylenol."
“Okay, how do I know how much to give him?”
I showed him how to calculate the correct dosage of the Tylenol and a couple of other teething tricks.
“How do you know so much about babies?”
"I'm the oldest of five kids, and I did a lot of babysitting growing up in Charlotte."
“You’re from Charlotte?” he asked.
I'd inadvertently shared personal information about myself, and he soaked it up like a sponge. My cheeks flushed with heat. I needed to stop talking.
“Yeah.” I turned away from him and started lining the small packages of Tylenol and Orajel up on the countertop. “My parents and my siblings still live there.”
“So, what brought you to New York?”
"I…" I wasn't sure how to answer that question, and I felt like I shared too much already. "I just needed a change."
He nodded, and to my relief, it seemed like he was done with his probing. "So, what brought you here tonight?" He chuckled. "Or this morning?"
“Well.” I turned to face him, smiling, relieved for the change of subject. “It would seem that the men in your family are determined to keep me from getting a decent night’s sleep.” I laughed.
Cole seemed to lose his train of thought for a moment, and I wondered what he was thinking. He quickly refocused with a slight flush to his face before answering me.
“Thanks. You might have saved my life. You’re so good with him.”
"So, are you saying you think I'd make a good mother someday?" I raised an eyebrow. It was clear in all of our subsequent meetings that what Cole said to me the night we met was an alcohol-induced one-off and was in no way related to the kind of person he really was. Still, something inside me, silly as it seemed, needed validation. I wanted him to erase those words, even if he didn't know he was doing it.
“Weird question, but yeah. I think you’d make an awesome mother.” He shrugged.
My chest warmed, and my lips curled in a small, satisfied smile.
Cole noticed my reaction to his words and took a step closer. "I mean, you did something in fifteen minutes that I've been trying to figure out for a week."
"You're not doing so bad." I smiled at him, took a step closer, and rested my small hand on his large warm one. My heart started to race.
“I really can’t thank you enough.” He took another step closer.
I smiled and tilted my chin up at him. This man was incredibly tall, and he smelled delicious.
He leaned forward. “Lisa?” he whispered.
“Yes, Cole?” I looked up at him and blinked, then took a step closer, his hand still resting on mine.
“I wanna kiss you. Can I kiss you?” he asked.
I giggled, causing him to pull away.
I’d never been asked for a kiss before. It was adorable, silly, but also somehow incredibly sexy.
“What?” he asked. I could see the look of apprehension on his face.
“Are you as good at seducing as you are at apologizing?” I reached up and stroked his cheek. Oh, shit. I swore I meant to say kissing, but seducing came out instead. A kiss would have made me happy, but seduction sounded so much better. I couldn’t remember how long it had been since I’d been seduced.
