You know, the usual.
Probably best she made her escape now. He could tap-dance around a closing argument in court, and couldn’t manage to ask a woman to dinner. Or not that specific woman. He needed more time to prepare, and be ready to handle any argument she tossed at him for getting out of it.
He’d see her again soon. And he’d be ready.
CHAPTER
2
Marianne set the serving tray with three glasses of wine, some cheese and crackers on the coffee table. “Where’s Zach tonight?”
“Friend’s house.” Kara settled on the floor on the other side, while Marianne and Reagan took seats on the couch. “He got a last minute invitation and decided going there was much cooler than hanging out with Mom’s friends.”
“He’s such a sweetheart,” Reagan said. “He reminds me of my brothers, but cuter and less of a pain in the ass.”
Kara smiled at that, then twisted her hair into a clip and grabbed a glass. She didn’t often have wine at home—the decent stuff was too expensive, and the cheap stuff was worse than no wine at all—so she relished when someone brought a good bottle to her place as a hostess gift. Even more so if she was kid free for the night.
“Please tell me why,” Reagan said as she nibbled on a cracker, “you have a free night from mommyhood and you are wasting it on us instead of going out with a hot man and getting some much-needed touching?”
“You’re both free from mommyhood and you’re wasting your night here.”
“Because we love Zach and you and we want to be able to save the rugrat’s life.” Marianne pointed at her. “Plus, we’re always free from mommyhood. And when we go home, we’ve got someone in our bed. You’ve got a book.”
“Or a vibrator,” Reagan said absently. When both women stared at her, she blinked. “Whoops. Said that one out loud, huh?”
“Nice one, Heels.”
“They are adorable, aren’t they?” Reagan extended one leg to show off her red patent leather Mary Jane–style three-inch heels. “Red is classic. Speaking of classic, you know who has those classic good looks? Graham Sweeney.” She stared hard at Kara as she said it. “The Adonis with a good right uppercut.”
“Do you even know what an uppercut is?” Marianne whispered.
“No,” Reagan whispered back.
“I’m not dating Graham Sweeney. Or any other Marine.” Kara gulped down the wine. Hell, she was kid free and had nowhere to drive tonight. She could go crazy and kill the bottle. “I’m not opposed to dating. I date.”
“Rarely,” Marianne muttered.
“I’m picky. That’s not a bad thing. Not when I’ve got another soul to worry about.” She crammed a cracker in her mouth in frustration. This argument was going to cost her serious calories. “I can’t bring around losers. It’s unacceptable.”
“But why no Marines?” Reagan asked while Marianne shook her head vehemently. “Oh, uh . . . sorry. Ignore the question.”
Kara sighed and waved her longtime friend off. “It’s okay. Henry’s an asshole. Zach’s father,” she explained to Reagan.
“Sperm donor,” Marianne muttered into her wineglass.
“Sperm donor . . . unless Zach can hear me.” Kara was firm on that. She couldn’t rightly call him a father on a regular basis when he wanted nothing to do with his own son, but she still did her best to keep the negativity away from Zach. “He lives here, we all went to high school together.”
“I’m almost a year younger than Kara, and Henry is a few years older. Just for your frame of reference.” Marianne handed Reagan another cracker and took one for herself. “This one walked in graduation with a secret under her cap and gown.”
“Five months along and nobody knew but me and Henry.” That part made her smile. She’d been so relieved when she’d shared the news with him, and he’d supported her gut reaction to keep the baby. It had taken the pressure off. “Obviously I wasn’t going to start college when I’d be giving birth midsemester, so I took what I told myself was a year off and started working the front desk at one of the gyms here. Henry supported that decision. He supported every decision I made.” That made her grimace. “It took me awhile, and some maturity, to see he wasn’t really supporting me so much as not emotionally investing. It was ‘Whatever you think is best, I believe in you.’ Or ‘You know what you need, so go do it.’ All talk.”
“I can see where that might bolster your self-esteem though. Feed into the relationship.” Reagan nodded. “So you had Zach. What’d your parents think?”
“What parents?” Marianne snorted, and Kara shrugged. “They were done with me when they realized I wasn’t giving the baby up and wasn’t going to college right away. It was my decision to toss my life away,” she added, “according to them. So I had to live with it.”