It was almost six. Just enough time for a quick shower before we were due to meet Beth and Greg at the pub. On the way to the bathroom, I stripped, dropping my clothes in a pile before entering the glass shower stall.
“Hey,” Jake said as he arrived in the bathroom. “Room for one more in there?” His shirt joined the pile of clothing on the tile floor.
I chuckled as his pants landed on top of his shirt. “Like you would take no for an answer?”
“And miss this?” He rested a hand on my hip, using the other to push aside my hair to nibble at the nape of my neck.
“We’ll be late for dinner,” I whispered as a delicious shiver raced down my spine. “They’ll be waiting.”
“I’m willing to risk it.” The heat of his body against mine was welcome, as was the hand gliding over my bare belly.
I turned my head enough to kiss him back. Yup. We’d definitely be late.
We strolled into the restaurant forty-five minutes later. My warm and contented feeling grew as Jake’s hand glided across my hip, coming to rest on my lower back as we approached the table.
Beth stood and hugged me. “You’re practically glowing,” she whispered in my ear. “What were you two up to? Or do I need to ask?”
Like the glow, my smile could barely be contained. Not with Jake’s lingering touch on my back as he pulled out my chair, accompanied by the kiss to my temple. I turned to Greg, who looked completely comfortable and relaxed with one arm slung over the back of Beth’s chair, and not at all bothered at our lateness. “How are you?”
“Good, good.” An easy grin surfaced as Greg looked at me, then at Jake, and then back to me. “Ahhh. I see how it is. You two …” He motioned back and forth between us before chuckling. “Thought we’d be eating alone.”
“It was just a slight delay.” Jake picked up his menu.
“Is that what we’re calling the quickie now?” Greg sipped his wine.
I buried my nose in my own menu, letting the conversation roll over me as I scanned through the options, my belly rumbling. “I’m starving.”
Once we’d ordered, Jake said, “We should do that kayak trip before the weather turns.”
“Sounds amazing. What do you think, Beth?” Greg asked.
“Urgh, no.” Beth wrinkled her nose. “I love the great outdoors but being stuck miles from civilization in a tiny unmanned campsite with wild animals stalking the perimeter is not my idea of paradise.”
I hid a smile. It wasn’t the bears so much as the several kilometres of fathomless frigid water between her and the campsite, all of which would be negotiated in a tippy kayak. “Have you ever seen The Proposal? That movie with Ryan Reynolds where he says—”
“Oh! Let’s go to that new movie after dinner.” Beth narrowed her eyes in my direction. “Greg and I were just discussing it.”
My friend knew exactly where I was going with my comment. She and I had gotten serious mileage out of the quip about the boat. I smothered a giggle, but maybe keeping Beth’s intractable phobia to myself was the best plan. It might prove the tipping point for Greg, who spent most days navigating open water.
“Sorry, no can do on the movie.” Jake glanced at his watch. “I have a flight to catch.”
“Tonight?” Beth frowned. “Where are you off to?”
“Halifax.”
“You spend an awful lot of time back east. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you had another girl waiting.”
“He does, and she’s adorable.” Greg winked at her.
Beth opened her mouth then snapped it closed again, tilting her head.
“How is sweet Sarina?” Greg asked.
“Good. Tía sent me this today.” Jake turned his phone and showed us a picture of his cherubic baby girl.
“How old is she?” Beth squinted at the screen then frowned at me.
“Fourteen months.” Jake tucked his phone into his pocket.
“She’s … cute.” Beth rose from the table. “I need the ladies’ room. Amara?”
“I’m fine—”
“Now.” Beth grabbed my hand as she widened her eyes and hauled me from my seat, dragging me toward the bathrooms. “He has a kid?” she asked in a low voice as she shoved me through the door and then leaned back against it. “You didn’t think that was important to mention?”
I shrugged. “Lots of guys have kids at thirty-three.”
“He’s a widower with a kid in diapers!”
“What’s the issue?”
“What’s the—” She straightened, planting her hands on her hips. “Oh, no, no, no. You have to stop seeing him. Immediately.”
I scoffed. “I thought you were okay with it now, after what he said. And he took off his ring.”
She wagged a finger at me. “You failed to mention the extra excess baggage. Bad enough that his wife died, but he has a kid too? Never, ever get involved with a single dad of any child under five, or next thing you know, you’re changing diapers and picking preschools.” Beth clutched her hair, shaking her head. “Red alert! Abandon ship before it founders.”
“Relax. I haven’t even met Sarina.”
“Wait.” Beth cocked her head. “You’ve been messing with him for”—she squinted, tapping her fingers against her palm—“six … seven weeks, and he hasn’t mentioned when you’ll meet his daughter?”
I shrugged. “The travel is too much for a little girl.”
“Then go to Halifax and meet her.”
“He hasn’t invited me.”
“You don’t see the big flashing danger sign? Open your eyes.” She grasped my shoulders. “The ink isn’t even dry on your divorce, and you’ve launched yourself into a relationship with a widowed father of a child barely a year old.” She pursed her lips. “Has he told you what happened to his wife?”
“We’ll get there.”
“It must be bad.” Her eyes widened. “What if he’s one of those guys where everyone says, ‘he was such a nice quiet neighbour’ and all the while his wife’s buried in the backyard. Or, he dumped her in a tank of piranhas at the aquarium to destroy the evidence. Jake, the black
