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Brady: Don’t make me answer that.
Cici: lol Does your offer for tomorrow still stand?
Brady: For Oakland? Yeah, of course.
Cici: I want to come. But only if I can get Lyla my own gift too.
Brady: She’d be thrilled.
Cici: Great.
Brady: Pick you up at 10?
Cici: See you then.
I sat back at my desk, my cheeks still hot as I recognized that not only was I giving this guy a chance, but I was throwing my whole self into a possible relationship. And for the life of me, I couldn’t find it in myself to be sad about it.
Because at the end of the day, I really, really liked Brady. And it had very little to do with the baby whose heart pounded just below mine.
***
Chapter 16
Cici
I’d felt really good about my decision last night. I’d even felt really great when I woke up this morning, smothering a piece of bread with strawberry jelly. But as we pulled into Brady’s mother’s neighborhood, my earlier confidence suddenly vanished.
For the first time since our disastrous date at Galleria, I was feeling more than a little faint. And while I’d smiled and hummed and chatted with Brady the whole way here, my brain was consumed by the reality of what I was doing. I was meeting a man’s family. My child’s future family. They would share the same amount of DNA with this baby as Ashlyn or my mom.
I forced myself to take a deep breath, pressing a hand against my gut as we slowed, turning into the driveway of a cute, two-story blue house with gray shutters. The front door had an enormous wreath on it, decorated with a gilded “M.”
My stomach twirled. “M” was obviously for Martinez. This was Brady’s childhood home.
Brady put his car into park, turning to me with a serious look on his face. “You look like you’re ready to run.”
“I never run.”
“You can if you want to. I’ll let you take the car home.”
“No, Brady, I’m not running.” I pasted a smile on my lips. “I’m excited. This is good.”
His laughter was quick and deep. “Great. Now just keep repeating that.” He opened his door and stepped out, his form-fitting jeans hugging an ass that, even now, distracted me. I bit my lip.
I had always avoided going home to people’s parents. It escalated things to a level that always made me nervous. But that no longer mattered anymore. Because right inside that door was my baby’s aunt. And their grandmother. That’s what mattered.
There was no longer any boundary between his family and mine. Not unless I put one there. And I was determined to not do that. I wiped my sweaty palms against my legs. When Brady opened the door, I gripped his hand with a renewed sense of purpose.
If these people would forever be involved in my life, I wanted to find out more about them. Ideally if they were the mimosa and brunch on a holiday type of family or if they were the holiday 5K type. Because that would be a whole different kind of hurdle to get over.
“Let’s go,” Brady murmured, his lips warm on my hand. I melted when he did that.
Opening the door with a dramatic gesture, Brady ushered me inside. “I lived here from about third grade to when I left for college. So unless you count my place now, this is home for me.”
Smiling like a lovesick fool, I followed him inside. It was a traditional two-story with a long, carpet-covered staircase leading directly upstairs. The decor was tasteful, pretty, and more feminine than I’d originally thought. But then again, Brady had never mentioned his father.
“I love it.” And I meant it. There was a comfortable charm here, and I could picture a younger, wild-haired boyhood Brady rampaging through here. The thought warmed my insides. “Where did you go to school again? I’m not sure I ever asked.”
“He went to UCLA, the traitor,” a soft, female voice spoke to the side of us.
