Page 9 of Keeping it Casual
“Definitely.”
“You want to share a bottle of red?”
“Sure. I’m easy with whatever.”
Jeremy throws me a smirk after he’s ordered a bottle of merlot. “I’ll show great restraint and leave that comment untouched.”
“The world thanks you for that.”
Our waiter slips away, and my eyes follow him before moving to the surrounding tables, and, yep, there seems to be a few people shooting glances at us right now.
“We’ve already got people’s attention,” I comment.
He smirks. “This is going to work better at promoting the idea we’re incompatible than taking out an ad in the local paper. Plus, we get a nice meal out of it.”
“How does a guy like you end up single anyway?” I ask curiously. It’s something that has been puzzling me. Jeremy is incredibly handsome, with a good job and a magnetic personality. It’s hard to understand why he hasn’t been snapped up.
Jeremy looks down at the table, reaching out to adjust the placement of his knife and fork. “Well, there isn’t exactly an excess of gay single guys around here. Hence why the whole town wants to play matchmaker with you and me.”
“They definitely are enthusiastic about setting you up,” I say.
He shrugs. “I grew up here. Everyone knows everyone. Since my marriage broke up, some people do appear to be overly invested in trying to find me my happily-ever-after.”
He stops speaking when the waiter comes back with the bottle of wine and pours two glasses.
“So you were married to Lucy’s mother?” I ask once the waiter retreats. I know we’re supposed to be doing the awkward silence thing, but that can start in a few minutes. For now, I really want to know more about Jeremy.
His shoulders tense and he plays with the bottom of his wine glass. “Yes. I thought I was bisexual. It turns out I am very, very gay.” He picks up his wine glass and takes a gulp. “Unfortunately, I didn’t make this realization until after I was married and we’d had Lucy.”
“That sounds difficult. How did your wife take the news?”
He twists his mouth into a smile, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Not particularly well. Emily’s great. Like really great. You couldn’t find a better person. So it’s not themost fun thing to break the heart of your best friend, one of the nicest people on the planet, and the mother of your child.”
“You can’t change who you are, Jeremy,” I say quietly.
“Yeah, I know. Trust me, I tried.” Something deep and dark lurking in his voice makes me realize that underneath all his quips and jokes, Jeremy has been through a lot.
Without thinking, I reach across the table, resting my hand on his.
His hand is warm and soft and just touching him causes all my nerve endings to fire.
Okay, so that was a bad idea. But I can’t resist squeezing his hand before releasing it.
Jeremy gives me a tight smile. “So that’s how I became a single dad. Anyway, tell me about how you had Lachie.”
I can see how much he needs a change of topic, so I launch into the story about how I was a single twenty-four-year-old when my older sister, Stephanie, told me she and her husband were planning to start their own family in the next few years. If I wanted her to be my surrogate, then now was the time.
“It’s crazy looking back on it now. I was so young, and I wasn’t financially secure. But I’d always wanted to be a dad, and I don’t know, it just felt right, even though I was doing it by myself. And New Zealand surrogacy laws are so outdated that using someone outside my family as a surrogate always scared me because you have no legal protection. One of my best friends offered to be the egg donor, so it all fell into place.”
“That happens with some of the best things in life, right?” Jeremy asks. “You’re not expecting something to happen, but it all just slots into place perfectly and feels right.”
I meet his dark gaze. “Yeah, that’s sometimes how it happens.”
We stare at each other for a few heartbeats.
He breaks our gaze to pick up his wine glass. “I reallyadmire you for deciding to become a single dad. I can’t imagine looking after a newborn by myself.”
“There were some nights I wondered what the hell I’d done,” I say. “But my family was really supportive, and I was lucky that Lachie was an easy baby.”
