Page 30 of Jaime
No matter what Jaime let me do to him the other day, it didn’t mean he suddenly wanted to get with a guy in a deeper way. Even if he “wasn’t as straight as he thought he was.” If he went for it though, for the first time I could remember, I wanted to jump feet first into a relationship. For some reason, I was entranced. I wanted to get to know everything about him.
“And does he know why you’re so eager to help?” she asked gently, her gaze filled with compassion.
Trust Naomi to read through me just like that.
I shook my head, unable to meet her gaze.
With a heavy sigh, Naomi reached out, placing a warm hand on my arm.
“Well, you might want to tell him before you get in any deeper. You might also want to get to know him a bit better before committing. Just saying. I mean, he did find you from TV.”
“The book signings are public,” I argued.
“Don’t think he was there for the books,” she said, making me blush.
“Well, we aren’t going to be spending much time together at all unless we find a babysitter,” I said, giving her a look.
She groaned dramatically.
“When and where?”
CHAPTER11
JAIME
I stoodoutside the Lupo Ristorante and Bar, trying not to fidget under the streetlights while I waited for Ethan. The caption below the menu in the window saidsophisticated Italian fare and wines.There was no way I could go in there. Like an idiot, I hadn’t looked the place up before leaving the house. I wasn’t dressed well enough to enter. Hell, as far as I knew, there was a dress code and I would be turned away at the door.
And I’d thought I looked nice in clean black jeans and a dark green, long-sleeved shirt. If I had a different jacket, or shoes, maybe it would have been okay, but my beat-up Nike runners and leather jacket didn’t really elevate the look.
“Jaime, what the hell!”
I turned, shock reverberating through my body at a familiar voice.
“Mark!” I said, as my old friend walked up the sidewalk toward me, arms out for a friendly hug.
I returned it, still in shock when he patted my back. When he pulled back I noticed the slightly vacant look in his blue eyes. It was only seven, but starting early had been the norm before. Looked like it still was. I shuddered at the thought of having a hangover at six in the morning when Evie would wake me up.
“Where have you been, man?” he demanded, grinning. “I called a couple times.”
Hehadbut that was months ago. Once I’d said I didn’t want to drink or do anything harder a couple times in a row, those calls had dried up.
I forced a shrug.
“I don’t know, I’ve just been holed up with the baby, you know?”
“Right...”
He nodded as though just remembering and chuckled.
“Can’t imagine it, gotta be honest.”
I chuckled awkwardly.
“Yeah, it’s crazy.”
“So, what are you doing out here?” he asked. “I’m heading downtown to meet Craig and Dave and the gang. Come with.”
“I can’t,” I said at once. “I’m meeting someone.”
