AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You have many layers. And it takes a while to get through them to see the real you, not the one putting up walls.”
“And you, Abby Knickerbocker, are a fruitcake.”
I giggled like a fool. “I like fruitcake, actually—probably one of the few people in the world who does. I’ll take that as a rare compliment from you.” I fell silent for a moment, then couldn’t help myself. “The last compliment you gave me really caught me off guard, though.”
“What was that?”
“When you told me a man wouldn’t want to share me.”
“Ah... I did say that, didn’t I?”
While I’d hoped he would elaborate onwhyhe’d said it, he remained silent. “So…” I cleared my throat. “When was the last time you had a successful hookup?”
He sighed. “The rhinoceros. Well, I wouldn’t call thatsuccessful. But it…went to completion.”
My forehead wrinkled. “Rhinoceros?”
“She snored like one. Fell asleep, and I didn’t have the heart to wake her. Big mistake. She kept me up all night. Then Phil and Kate knocked on my door the next morning and saw her here.”
I snorted. “That must have been awkward.”
“Indeed. So was Phil’s yodeling.”
“What?” I laughed. “I’m not even gonna ask, but that sounds like a circus.” I slid between my sheets. “Why did they come over so early anyway?”
“That was the trip when they flew in to talk to me about the surrogacy. They surprised me that morning.”
“You haven’t been with anyone inthatlong?”
“You’re taking a great interest in this topic, Abby.”
“Well, I have nothing better to do right now than pry.”
“Perhaps you should get a hobby,” he teased.
“I don’t need a hobby. I’m currently growing a human inside of me. What’s your superpower?”
His deep laughter vibrated through the phone. “Touché, love.” After a moment he added, “What else are you itching to ask me? I can hear the wheels turning in your head.”
“Who was the woman at your apartment tonight?”
“Name’s Rose. Someone I met on an app.”
“And you just…what? Changed your mind and kicked her out?”
“Despite my reputation for kicking people out, generally they leave of their own accord.”
“Shedecided to leave?”
“We were…in the middle of things, though we didn’t get very far before I stopped it. She asked me why, and I blurted out that I was distracted because I was having a baby with my dead wife.”
“Well, that’d do it.” I covered my mouth with my hand to smother a laugh.
“It took her several seconds to wrap her head around it before she asked me what the hell I was talking about. I tried again to explain why I was preoccupied. I don’t know if I made any more sense, but she finally got the picture that nothing was going to happen, despite my original intentions. And that’s when you rang. It was rude of me to take the call. That made things worse. So she left.”
“You arequitethe romantic, Sig.”
“I was for a brief time, about six months to be exact. Never before and probably never again. Now I’m just good at making women disappear.”
