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“She said her life was too hectic for her to take on the responsibility of another child.”
“How old are her kids?”
“Four and eight,” he says.
“But Sammy could be like a big sister to them.”
“Sammy has always dreamed of being a big sister,” he says wistfully.
I merely shake my head. “People are hard to figure out, aren’t they?” It may sound like I’m talking about his sister-in-law, but I’m really talking about Jamie himself. There’s no reason he should have stayed single and not had more children.
“People can be a real challenge,” he agrees, not at all aware of the irony that my comment was mostly about him.
Bringing the subject back around to his original question, I tell him, “I’d be happy to come if you really think it would help Sammy. Do you want me to meet you at a restaurant or something?”
“Would you mind coming over to our rental house after work? I’ll cook.”
“The store is closed tomorrow, so I can meet you any time.”
A weird tension fills the atmosphere around us. Jamie stands up and reaches his hand out to help me. “You don’t work tomorrow?” I shake my head. “And Sammy isn’t home tonight …” I see where he's going with this, and I start to hold my breath in anticipation of what he’ll say next.
“I’d better get you home then.” That’s not what he was supposed to say. It’s not like I was going to fall into bed with the man, but tonight would have been the perfect night to invite me over for some canoodling under the moonlight.
“You want to take me home?” I ask, sounding as confused as I am.
“It’s getting late,” he says before turning and walking toward his SUV.
I grab my sandals and rush to keep up with him. The man is on a mission to get out of here. We don’t say anything else until we’re in his car and practically in front of my apartment. “Thanks for a weird night,” I tell him.
“It was weird, wasn’t it?”
“Astonishingly so. I mean, first Tim was there and then his date sort of freaked out and threw her drink at me.”
“And we became really good friends …” He lets that thought dangle in the air.
“About that …” I’m not quite sure what to say but decide to go for complete candor. “Do you still think that’s a good idea?”
“Do you?” I should be getting used to him answering my question with a question, but I’d rather he just answer it.
“I asked you first,” I tell him.
He pulls over and turns off the engine. “I don’t think you can ever have too many friends.”
Startled by his response, I ask, “You mean like Tim?”
“No. Tim is taking things too far. Also, he’s leading those women to think he’s interested in a relationship with them. That’s not what we’re doing.”
“What is it that we’re doing again?”
“We’re becoming friends. Really good friends.”
“Who kiss,” I remind him.
“Yes. Do you think we should stop doing that?” He gets out of the car to run around and open my door for me.
My pulse starts to race the second he reaches out for my hand. “Stop kissing?”
He moves me slightly to the left so that I’m propped up against the back door. Then he leans in and whispers in my ear, “I don’t want to stop, do you?” His hot breath causes the tiny hairs all over my body to stand at attention.
