“You did good, sweetie. Once you get your hands on a guy like that, you don’t let them go.”
My throat grew tight, causing my face to squinch up. It was kind of hard to breathe. The thing is...I had my hands on him, but not in the way she thought. And the trick was to not let myself fall into the delusion of thinking it could be anything more.
“Food’s ready!” Chuck called out, shooting me his usual disdainful glare that no one else ever seemed to notice but me.
We all gathered around the picnic tables. I scooped Olivia up in my arms to hold her while Ben offered her little bites of hot dog and sips of juice. I did my best to eat my own food in between her squirming in my lap.
It was hard to focus on eating with Ben sitting so close to me. Every time his arm brushed against mine, I was hit with another wall of memories of us in bed. It had been more hot and bothered than I was comfortable being with a kid in my lap and all my co-workers around. But at least it left a dreamy sort of look in my eye that had to be convincing for everyone else.
“You got a little something,” Ben said suddenly, eyeing the corner of my mouth.
It was the same look he flashed over my lips right before he surprised me and kissed them. Olivia started squirming and managed to wriggle her way out of my arms. She caught sight of a ball nearby that she was more interested in.
My life raft had abandoned me, leaving me face-to-face with Ben with nothing between us. He leaned in, brushing his thumb along the streak of ketchup that had pooled on the edge of my mouth. Everything went blurry when he kept his hands cupped around my face, and pulled me in for a kiss, licking along my bottom lip.
“What are you doing?” I asked breathlessly.
“This is our last chance at convincing them,” he whispered. “I figured we might as well really give them a show.”
I took in a deep breath and tried to act natural while being painfully aware of several sets of eyes watching us. They were all oohing and ahhing over us like we were the cutest thing ever. If they only knew the truth. That he was torturing me, and I had a feeling he was doing it on purpose.
All you have to do is get through this picnic, Kate. Then you two can go your separate ways and you never have to talk again. They’ll all be convinced your fiancé and his kid are the real deal. You’ll get promoted. And you’ll figure the rest out later … without Ben!
8
Ben
As we said goodbye to all of Kate’s coworkers, I was getting bummed out that our time together was about to end. I had already pulled out all the stops I could to entice her to want to see more of me … Well, aside from actually telling her I thought I might have feelings for her. But that was such a foreign concept to me, I didn’t even know where to begin in broaching the topic.
I turned to her as we got into the car and considered trying to find some way to explain. “Hey, Kate … so … I was thinking … ”
“Yeah?” she asked, smiling back at Olivia in the backseat, who passed out within seconds of being strapped into her carseat.
“Uh, the thing is …”
“What is it? You’re kind of freaking me out,” she glared at me. “You’re never at a loss for words.”
She looked so beautiful with the sun lighting up the edge of her face and hair, and I remembered that another thing that was foreign to me was rejection. It left me retreating in my mind like a scared kid.
“It’s just that Olivia’s house is on the way to yours. Would you mind if we stopped there to drop her off first?” I blurted, sighing with disappointment in my lack of nerve.
“Sure,” she shrugged, buckling her seatbelt.
“Great.” I put the car into drive and took off, kicking myself the whole way.
When we got to Joey’s, she grabbed her diaper bag and all of her other things to help me carry them to the door, since my arms were full with a sleeping child.
“You’re back! How did it …” Joey answered the door and trailed off as soon as he noticed Kate standing behind me. “Oh. Damn. Hi.”
Angel popped up at his side, smiling. “Hey! Glad you’re here. I just pulled some glazed pork chops out of the oven. It’s a new recipe I’m playing around with for the restaurant. Would you two be taste testers?” She lovingly patted Joey on the stomach. “This guy’s reviews are always so good that I’m starting to think his judgment is clouded.”
“No, it’s just that all of your food really is that good,” he defended.
“Oh, well … uh … I’m not so sure …” I cut my eyes over to Kate.
She squirmed for a moment, studying Joey and Angel’s welcoming faces. “I am a little hungry actually. We ate at the park, but running around with Olivia worked up an appetite all over again. Oh, but I don’t want to impose …”
“Not at all,” Angel shot back. “Get in here. And excuse the mess. Olivia has been such a handful lately that both us and the nanny are struggling to keep up with the housework.” She ushered us through the door, kicking toys out of the way to clear a path.
Joey leaned in to take Olivia from my arms. “I keep telling her we need to hire a maid to help out.”
“I’m still getting used to this whole house staff thing,” she argued. “The less strangers in our home … the better.”
“I’m going to take this little one to her room so she can finish her nap,” Joey said, starting up the stairs. Olivia hadn’t opened her eyes even a little as I handed her to him.
“You two will have to take her more often if you’re going to bring her back in a deep sleep like that,” Angel laughed. “Come on into the kitchen. I’m just finishing up the food. Would either of you like a beer?”
“Yes, please,” I replied, following her deeper into the house towards the kitchen.
I felt a sharp tug at my arm as Kate yanked me back out of Angel’s earshot.
“This is weird,” she hissed. “What do they know about me? Do they think I’m like … your date? Or do they know the whole story?”
I winced. “They know the whole story. Sorry. I felt weird about asking to take Olivia again without telling the truth.”
“Oh, god,” she pressed her fingers to her temples and scrunched up her face. “They must think I’m a total psycho. And what do you mean you felt weird about it? And yet you were perfectly fine with pretending Olivia was your kid and that you had a dead wife!?”
“Lets not start that again. That was different. I didn’t know you then. It’s easier to lie to strangers. Or co-workers … apparently in your case.”
She rolled her eyes as I perked up at the sound of beers hissing in the next room when Angel twisted off the caps.
“I’m too thirsty for alcohol to bicker with you,” I told her, dragging her along. “These are the nicest people you’ll ever meet. They obviously don’t judge you or they wouldn’t have invited you into their home. Now come on.”
“I’m Angel, by the way,” Angel smiled at Kate, handing her one of the bottles.
“Kate. Nice to meet you.” The two shook hands and Kate took a long swig of her beer while Angel returned to getting the food ready.