Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“Ah.” He nods. “Coral can be very demanding.” He winks, and heat rushes to my core.
What the hell is wrong with me?
No, I cannot let this happen. No. Just no.
“It was more her mom than her, but she’s learning from the best.” I smile, thinking about my best friend. Then I remember that not thirty seconds before, I was perving on her dad.
Damn, I’m a mess.
“What sounds good to you?” Will asks, nodding toward the menu that’s still sitting in front of me on the table, untouched.
“Chicken tenders, honey mustard, loaded baked potato, side salad with ranch,” I rattle off my usual order.
“No steak? We are at a steakhouse.” He chuckles.
I wrinkle my nose. “I’m not much of a steak eater. I mean, if I have to work that hard to eat my food, it’s not worth it.”
Will tosses his head back in laughter. “Babe, you’ve never had a well-prepared steak. This place does a phenomenal job. You can taste mine,” he tells me.
Babe.
Did he say that I could taste him?
“Trust me, you’ll change your mind,” he says, pulling me back to the conversation.
“Hi, I’m Todd. I’ll be your server. Do you want to start off with drinks?” he asks, rambling off the night’s drink special.
“Mandy?” Will defaults to me to order first.
“I’ll have a sweet tea, please.”
“And for you, sir?” Todd asks.
“The same. We’re also ready to order, if that’s okay.”
“Perfect.” Todd smiles and turns his gaze back to me. I rattle off my order word for word, as I did for Will. “And for you?” Todd asks Will.
“Ribeye, well-done, loaded baked potato, salad with ranch, as well. And go ahead and give us an order of pretzel bites,” Will says, handing Todd his menu. I rush to close mine, which is still sitting open on the table, and do the same.
“Their pretzel bites are so good. Mia loves them.”
“Does she? We’ll have to bring her back here sometime. They’re not as good when heated up. Ask me how I know,” he says, with a smile.
“They’re not,” I agree.
“How’s the car?” he asks as Todd drops off our drinks and quickly moves on.
“Good. It actually drives better,” I tell him. “I know that sounds weird, but it does.”
He smirks almost as if he has a secret. “I’m glad,” he answers.
“How was the draft?”
He nods, taking a drink of his tea. “We’ve brought some incredible new talent to the team. It’s gonna be another great season.”
“It will be here before you know it. It seems like the older I get, or maybe it’s the older Mia gets, time seems to fly by. She’s going to have her first birthday soon—well, two months—but to me, that’s too soon.”
“They grow up fast.” He nods.
“Yeah,” I agree.
“I always wanted more,” he says, shocking me. “Candice and I, we argued a lot, and the time never felt right.”
“I can’t have kids,” I tell him. “We tried for so long, and when we finally decided to adopt, he got his assistant pregnant, and he was done with me.”
“I’m sorry,” Will says, and his eyes tell me he means it. It’s not just empty words to fill the space between us. “He didn’t deserve you. Either of you,” he adds, including Mia, and my heart swells ten sizes.
“I know. I worry about doing it on my own, and I would love for her to have a sibling, but being a single mom of one is hard enough. I don’t know that I could do it with two.”
“You could,” Will says, his voice firm. “Just give it some time. Let Mia get a little older, and you might change your mind. Besides, you know you have a massive support group.”
“But it’s not their job to help me raise them.”
Will places his elbows on the table and leans forward. “Everyone needs help, Mandy. Single parents and two parents—it takes a village. I know you’ve heard that. I understand you feel the weight of responsibility because you chose to take this journey of parenthood on your own, but it’s okay not to have it all together all the time. It’s okay to let your best friend demand a sleepover, or for you to even ask her for one. You’re an incredible mother. Don’t let the noise, the doubts, or the insecurities get in the way of that. Any child on the receiving end of your love would be damn lucky.”
Emotion wells in the back of my throat, and thankfully, Todd saves me because he drops off refills and our pretzel bites. “Thank you,” I whisper. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it’s not for Will to reach across the table and take my hand in his.
“I meant every word.” His warm chocolate gaze is locked on mine, and it’s suddenly hard to breathe. He releases me and picks up a pretzel bite, dips it into the cheese, and pops it into his mouth. “So good,” he says, and I can’t resist taking one for myself.