Page 52 of Summer Affair
“What do you mean you didn’t make the touchdown. Didn’t you even make it to the ten-yard line?”
“Three times.” She looked around, then lowered her voice. “And we weren’t even in the same room.”
Darcy sighed. “That’s so romantic.”
Piper said, “That’s super hot. When are you going to have a man-made big O?”
Wasn’t that the question of the hour? It wasn’t that she wasn’t on board with some naked alone time, she was so on board she could practically feel his skin beneath her hands. “Between my work, his schedule, and Sammy, it’s like Father Time is working against us.”
Piper blinked. “You live next door to each other. You’re together every day.”
Jillian was more than aware. Hours of watching each other through windows, sly winks, gentle brushes as they stood on the sideline discussing the kids. It was as if she’d been engaged in a month of foreplay, with no relief on the horizon.
While they’d gained another thirty yards on the way to that big touchdown on the phone, last night alone, they were both ready for four quarters of tangled sheets tackle.
“What about when Sammy goes to sleep?” Piper suggested.
“Bad mommy move,” Jillian and Darcy said in unison.
“Kids can sleep through the night when nothing is planned,” Jillian explained. “But the second you decide to take some Me Time, it’s like a bell goes off and they come looking for you.”
Piper rested her hand on her little bump. “Aren’t you supposed to be reassuring me?”
“Oh, we’re reassuring you that your entire world is about to be turned upside down,” Jillian said, then reached across the table and put her hands over Piper’s, who was still holding her belly. “In the best way possible. But like any change, you have to reprioritize.”
“It also doesn’t mean you can’t carve out time for you,” Darcy lectured, her gaze targeting Jillian’s. “Single moms make it work. Look at me. When I stopped waiting for perfect, it came into my life.”
“That’s what Dr.Claire said,” Jillian explained. “That people who wait around, expecting it to happen, will never find what they’re looking for. Just like the hard work put into your career, if you want to advance your dating life, then you need to be bold and go after what you want.”
“First, you have to decide what you want.” This from Piper, who was the boldest of their threesome. She not only went after what she wanted, but she’d also made it clear exactly what she needed—leaving Josh to step up and become the man Piper deserved. Which he did in the most romantic way.
“Or who you want,” Darcy said with a knowing smile. “If you do know the who then all you have to figure out is the how.”
“I know who, I’m just not sure what I want or for how long I want it.” Actually, she did. It fell somewhere between a summer fling and a committed relationship. Not that Clay wasn’t relationship worthy. When he was ready to begin that stage of life, he was going to make an incredible husband and father.
Theyjust weren’t the right fit, andthiswasn’t the right time. For either of them. She was months out from opening her tasting room, which would be a five-year commitment. The goal was to grow her business while creating deep community roots for herself and especially for her son. Roots that would be three hundred miles from Clay’s home base. All things Jillian needed to keep in mind as they moved forward.
“Quick, without thinking, give me the first word when I say Clay.” Darcy asked.
“Fun, sexy, alive,” she said. There were another dozen that popped into her head, but those were the top of the list.
“That was three, but because they were a good three, we’ll let you have it.”
“I want to have fun with a man who makes me laugh. Dating doesn’t have to be more than that.”
“Well, if you’re looking for fun, I happen to know that you have a babysitter for another few hours and Clay is tending bar at Stout,” Piper said.
“Why is he behind the bar?”
“Something about losing a bet,” Darcy said. “And because you’re practically done, maybe you should go see what the bet was about.”
Chapter Sixteen
Resolutions from Jillian’s Journal
Socialize. With Adults.
It took twenty minutes and Owen’s help for Jillian to even make it through the crush at Stout. Word had gotten around that the Seahawks’ favorite running back was tonight’s guest bartender, and it was creating mayhem. Owen met her at the back entrance and walked her to a stool in the family section of the pub. The family section made her a bit nervous, and she kept looking over her shoulder as if Margo would suddenly appear and give her the evil eye. But once she saw Clay with a martini shaker in hand, doing his best to make a cosmo, she didn’t dare move seats.
