She was the only woman he’d ever loved. The only woman he’d been ready to propose to, ring and all, and the only woman he’d ever invited to meet him for a romantic weekend in Bermuda only to have her stand him up because of work. Right now, she was standing in the baby aisle, scanning the diapers.
“Brooklyn?” he asked, finding himself wandering up to her.
She turned and her eyes flashed. It felt like a flaming arrow shot right through him. She beamed, and he was transfixed. “Alec? Oh, my gosh. What are you doing here?”
“I just walked home from work.”
“Oh, right. You like to do that to clear your mind, right?”
“Yes. I stopped here to grab a few groceries.” This all felt so surreal and yet oddly normal. He pointed at the package in her hands, the one with the chubby-cheeked baby on the front of it. “Is there something I don’t know about?” He had no earthly idea what was going on in her life. She could have a boyfriend. A husband.Please don’t tell me you have a baby.
Brooklyn’s eyes darted to the diapers. “No. These are for my sister.” She clamped her eyes shut and her shoulders shrank up around her ears. She shook her head just enough to leave him with a subtle whiff of her perfume. “I mean, they’re for my niece. Virginia brought her new baby into the office today. She ran out of diapers and I needed some fresh air, so I volunteered.”
He could never admit how relieved he was to hear that. “But you’re blocks from your office.” Alec knew exactly how far—only four streets and an avenue away. He avoided it on purpose. He’d convinced himself it would be too awkward to run into her. Now he wasn’t sure what exactly he’d thought he might be saving himself from.
“Yeah. She likes this one brand of diapers. This baby has a very special butt.”
Alec smiled. “It’s really great to see you.” In fact, it was amazing. He’d had such an idiotic day at work and now everything felt so much better. “How are things at Posh Post?”
“Busy. But good. The company’s growing like a weed. Sort of like a baby, I guess. What about you? Any exciting assignments?”
“Just did a piece on a crawdad eating contest in Southern Louisiana.”
“That’s a hot story right there, huh?” She elbowed him in the ribs.
Alec cringed, but she wasn’t wrong. “Definitely not what I went to Northwestern for.”
“Still no luck getting a spot in the news division?”
He was surprised Brooklyn remembered. She’d seemed so distracted for much of their relationship. “I just need the right story to come along.”
“What you really need is for the women of America to stop crushing on you so hard. At least you already have a job you’re great at.”
“I need to do something more meaningful than cooking demos and talking about the latest superhero movie.”
“You make it sound like you’re a coal miner, Alec. Most people would kill to have your job.”
As much as it hurt to hear it, that right there was what had drawn him to Brooklyn. She was honest. Genuine. No, she didn’t have much of a filter, but most people had too much of one. “You know, we should get dinner.” The words had popped out of his mouth before he’d had much chance to think about how it might sound. “I mean, some time. Just so we can catch up. I’m sure you need to go. Your niece needs her diapers.”Nice save, idiot.
Brooklyn narrowed her sights on him, which was not helping his utter lack of confidence right now. “You’re asking me out?”
Alec stuffed his hands into his jeans and stepped aside so a woman could make her way down the aisle. “It was just a dinner invite. You aren’t obligated to say yes.”
“The last time we spoke, you told me you never wanted to talk to me again.”
Alec wasn’t particularly proud of that moment, but he’d been hurt, stuck in a four-star hotel suite in Bermuda at the tail end of a work trip, left to eat chocolate covered strawberries and drink an entire bottle of champagne by himself, while the Tiffany box in his suitcase mocked him. To make it worse, he’d stupidly told the front desk that it was going to be a big, romantic weekend.Pull out all the stops.He’d had to call them and cancel every last syrupy sweet detail because Brooklyn was still back in New York, having mixed up the dates she was supposed to meet him.
“I know. I was angry. Let me make it up to you.”
She pressed her lips together tightly. “I don’t know.”
“Now who’s acting like they’re a coal miner?”
A smile broke across her face. “Fine. I’m game.”
“When and where?” He wanted her to set the time and place. That would say a lot about how she felt about the invitation.
“Saturday night?”
