AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He picked up the phone and dialed. It took her a few rings, usually because Evan had her hair in a stranglehold.
“Hiya,” she answered breathlessly.
“Hey,” he said, a little breathless himself though he had no excuse.Gotta get to thegym.“Did I catch you in the middle of something?”
“Just finishing up bath time for the demon formerly known as Evan. I think he’s feeling a bit strange because the flat is new. He’s the one who has an early bedtime, but I’m the one who’s worn out.”
“Nothing a glass of wine won’t sort out,” he said.
“Oh, so tell me, master sommelier, which works better on a devil child—a nice Cab or a fruity Pinot Gris?”
“The Cab, but if you give it to Evan, it’s considered child abuse so be sure to drink it all yourself. Afterward, all his antics will take on a nice rosy hue.”
He could hear her smile. “So, what’s up?”
You’re about to start fucking dating, that’s what’s up.“How come you didn’t tell me about the dating thing?”
There was enough of a hesitation for him to doubt the truth of what came out of her mouth. “It was spur of the moment. I was just running it by the girls when Jack overheard and got his boxers in a twist. Why? Do I need to get your okay?”
Yes.“You don’t want me to be your wingman?” he asked, all light and airy, hating with the heat of a thousand suns that things had changed between them in the last year.
She harrumphed. “You’d scare any decent guy off with all your macho posturing. Whenever we used to go for a drink or dancing, no one came near me because the Tad force field of fuck off was always locked in place.”
So she’d noticed. “It was for your protection. As long as you were with me, they thought you were mine.”
The word hung between them, weighty and full. He covered the receiver to mask his hard swallow.
“Is this really why you called? To nose around in my nonexistent love life like my brother?”
And nonexistent it would stay. “Actually, I’m calling to find out what you’re doing tomorrow around lunch time.” Far too soon for her to have found a date, he was sure of it.
“I was going to go to the gym. Frankie offered to look after his highness for a couple of hours.”
She sounded a little uncomfortable, and he suspected it was because she felt she had baby weight to lose. He thought she looked more than fine but that was the kind of argument a man can’t win, especially when that man should not be appreciating the fine figure of his friend.
“Skip it.”
“What?”
“Skip it and come into the bar. You said you wanted to learn more about wine and I need to practice my spiel.” Weak, but whatever.
“Playbook getting overused, is it? Need to craft some new chat up lines?”
“My wine spiel, wiseass.” He licked his lips, feeling unaccountably nervous. If she couldn’t make it, she couldn’t make it. No big deal.
He heard her hesitation. “I can’t drink much. I’m such a lightweight these days.”
“You won’t get tipsy. We’ll treat it like a professional tasting and I’ll let you spit.”
She laughed, warm and husky. The sound stroked his spine. “Bloody hell, I hope your spiel is better than that. Okay, it’s a date.”
Five
“First, we have to come up with your profile.”
Cara opened a binder, which allowed Jules a moment to catch Lili’s eye. As she suspected, Lili was halfway between an eye roll and a brow hitch. Notorious for her organizing skills, Cara never began a project without a binder and an unhealthy supply of office products, and everyone enjoyed ragging on her for it.
They were slumped at a table in the juice bar at Wicker Park Fitness, trying to catch their breaths after a Zumba class that had left Jules reeling. Cara had urged Jules to get to date weight(just a touch-up and tone!). Jules had let the comment slide because she knew that not being able to indulge in her usual exercise regimen while pregnant was tough on a woman who had once defined herself by her D/s relationship with her Stairmaster. Since acknowledging her complicated relationship with her body as she recovered from anorexia, Cara had eased up on herself but she still loved hanging at the gym. Using the mother ship as her HQ for organizing Operation Get Jules Hooked Up was like comfort food for her.
