Page 45 of Honest Boys Don’t Play

I thought the CPR class would make me feel better, but if anything, I feel more stressed. Babies and children are so sensitive to anything and everything it seems. There is comfort in knowing what to do in an emergency, though. Hopefully we’ll never need to use that knowledge, but we’ll be prepared, nonetheless.

Outside of the building we say goodbye to Daire and Rosie. I’m glad they could join us, but I think Daire was just as shaken by all the things we learned as I was.

Based on the information they gave us, I will be insisting we put our baby in water safety classes as soon as possible.

Yanking off my baseball cap, I rub the back of my head. Flipping it around backwards I put it back on and I swear Bertie makes some kind of squeaky noise.

“You okay?” I ask as we head toward the side of the building where I parked her SUV. We would’ve come in my truck but it started making an odd noise, so I want to take a look at it before I take her out in it again.

“Yeah, I’m glad we did that, but it was a lot to process.” She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. Several small silver piercings decorate her lobe.

“I was thinking,” I begin when we reach the car and I open the passenger door for her.

“Sounds dangerous,” she teases, sliding into the seat.

Before I close the door, I say, “I want you to go on a date with me.”

Shock flits across her features and she gives a slight shake. “What? Why?”

“Because”—I try my hardest to hide my smile— “we’re having a baby together and I think there’s plenty we still need to get to know about one another.”

She bites her lip. “I don’t know, Luke. Do you think it’s a good idea? I mean, we’re not together.”

This woman. I should maybe be offended at the way she so stubbornly wants to keep a cement wall erected between us, but I’m not. After meeting her parents, and knowing how her ex treated her, it’s obvious why Bertie is hesitant. She gave her heart so freely in the past only to have it mistreated. She’s being cautious this time. Lucky for her, I’m a patient man.

“I want you to date me,” I tell her and hold up a hand when I see she’s about to protest. “That doesn’t mean I expect you to put a label on us. You don’t want to call me your boyfriend? Cool. But Bertie, I think we owe it to ourselves to see where things go. That’s what dating is for. Testing the waters to see if you like each other.”

She plays with the hoops in her ear. I hold my breath, waiting for whatever she’s going to say. “All right.”

I try to hide my shock. “All right?” I echo.

“Yeah. You’re right. Even if this goes nowhere, it’s the best thing for the baby for us to know each other well.”

Goes nowhere my ass.

This woman is going to be my wife one day, but it’s okay, I’m happy to wait and let her stubborn ass catch up with me.

Closing her door, I jog around and hop in the driver’s side. “Date time starts now.”

Her eyes bug comically. “Right now?”

“Yep.” I’m not giving her a chance to over think it or try to wiggle her way out of it.

“Where are we going then?” she asks as I back the car out.

“To eat. I’m starving, aren’t you?” Stress makes me work up an appetite. Her stomach gives an answering growl before she can speak. “Yep, you’re hungry too. What sounds good to you?”

I had a place in mind, but considering she’s pregnant and her appetite comes and goes still, I don’t want to pick something that might not sound good to her.

She thinks for a moment, her nose scrunching as she does. One of her hands rests protectively over her bump. She’s almost always touching it.

“I know I probably sound insane, but I would do just about anything for a steak and cheese sub right about now. Ooh, and some salty fries.”

I can’t help but chuckle. “I know just the place.”

The diner has great steak and cheese subs, but I’m not taking Bertie for our first date post pregnancy news to the place my mom works. Instead, I opt for the small hole in the wall place that doesn’t even have a place to sit and take the subs to the nearby park. My hand hovers centimeters from Bertie’s back as we head toward the bench in the distance near a pond.

“I have another doctor’s appointment soon,” she says the moment her butt touches the bench. “If you want to go.”