CHAPTER EIGHT
Adam now knew how the soldier guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier felt. He was honest-to-God pacing, wearing a groove in the carpet, trying to get it all straight in his head and figure out what the hell had happened last night.
The pacing was also helping him work up the nerve to make a phone call that would forever change his life. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this nervous about calling a woman—perhaps never. He’d always been Mr. Smooth. But last night, in an instant, everything changed.
He picked up the phone and began to dial the number he’d recently memorized. At the last digit, he chickened out and hung up. God, was he really contemplating writing a script?
In Boston, Adam’s reputation as a womanizer was common knowledge.
Colleagues, especially those who loved juicy gossip more than the truth, pegged the number of women he’d slept with to be well into the triple digits.
His love ’em and leave ’em attitude was notorious among those in his department and beyond.
Men revered him, and women flocked to be with him.
His prowess and conquests were legendary.
The only problem? It was all a sham. He never understood why everyone was so quick to believe the lies and exaggerations, but after several futile attempts to debunk the myth, he had accepted it and moved on.
He was friendly to everyone, male and female.
Was he a shameless flirt? Yes. Did he date a lot of women?
Yes. Did he sleep with all those women? No.
The truth of it was that out of all the women he dated, he’d only slept with a handful.
The others were simply part of his search.
He’d been ready to find “the one” and settle down for years.
He wanted a wife. He wanted kids. And he wasn’t getting any younger.
His Casanova reputation severely hampered his prospects and played a big part in his decision to leave Boston.
It was difficult to find Mrs. Right when everyone you asked out assumed they were just going to be Ms. Right Now.
Picking up the phone again, he gave himself a little pep talk. Stop being a pussy, and just do it. He dialed and let it ring.
“Hello?” Her voice instantly caused his heart to race, and his hands dampened.
“Hi, Jenny. It’s Adam. Mitch’s partner?” He thought it came out pretty smooth. So far, so good.
“I remember. How’s it going?” He heard the boys running around in the background and figured he should be brief. His nerves couldn’t take much more anyway.
“Good, thanks. Hey, I was just getting ready to head out and realized I left my jacket and sunglasses at your place last night. I don’t want to inconvenience you, but is there a time I could stop by and get them today or tomorrow?”
Shit, did that sound too desperate? He didn’t want to be pushy but couldn’t risk her offering to give them to Mitch to give to him. The last thing he needed was Mitch involved in this.
“Sure, no problem, um…let me check our schedule…” He heard papers rustling. “We’ll be home most of tomorrow. Baseball practice starts at five. Anytime before that would be fine. Does that work for you?”
“Yeah, that’d be great. Thanks. I’ll see you then.” He hung up with a sigh of relief. Whew! I guess that wasn’t so hard. Am I about to throw up? God, get a grip, man!
Purposely leaving his sunglasses and jacket at Jenny’s was an immature, middle school move, but it was a classic for a reason—it worked. He would see her again tomorrow.
Deep down, he knew exactly what had happened last night.
He just had a hard time believing it. After all this time searching, all it took was one look into those beautiful blue eyes, and he’d found her.
In that instant, he had to stop talking to catch his breath.
The earth shifted beneath his feet, and he discovered that “love at first sight” wasn’t just a trite cliché.
It was real, and it had happened to him.
He had fallen in love with Jenny Johnson, of that he was certain. But, now what? She came with baggage. Lots of baggage. She was a widow with two kids. And one of her best friends would just as soon kill him as look at him. Mitch. Shit. He would not be happy about this.
Note to self: Keep Mitch in the dark as long as possible. When you do tell him, be sure he’s unarmed.
Despite the hurdles to overcome, he felt optimistic. Love conquered all, right? He hoped to God that was another platitude that turned out to be real.
In the meantime, he had less than twenty-four hours to figure out what to say to Jenny tomorrow.
Should he ask her out right then? Or was that too much, too soon?
He knew Mitch wouldn’t be inviting him over again anytime soon.
He couldn’t very well leave anything behind this time.
She’d think he was a complete idiot. He had to figure out a plan to keep seeing her.
***
As it turned out, fate dealt him a second winning hand.
He arrived at Jenny’s a little later than he’d planned.
After some deliberation, he’d decided on khaki cargo shorts and a button-down plaid shirt that matched the green in his eyes.
His hair was freshly cut, and his truck freshly washed.
Walking to the porch, he felt fifteen again, nervous and excited, and about to pick up the girl he liked for a first date.
He knocked tentatively and waited impatiently. When Jenny opened the door, she was saying goodbye to someone on the phone.
“Okay, sure. The boys will be disappointed, but I understand. Thank you for calling.” She hung up and smiled at him. His heart flipped.
“Hey there.” God, she was gorgeous. Dressed in white capris and a billowy, yellow top, her blond hair floating in the breeze, she looked like an angel. Once again, he was speechless.
“I found your jacket on the coatrack but didn’t see your sunglasses anywhere. Do you remember where you put them?”
“I think maybe on the bookcase, but I’m not sure.” He needed to get inside. “What are the boys going to be disappointed about?”
She opened the door to let him in. “Their coach has to leave town for an unexpected work thing and had to cancel tonight’s practice. It was supposed to be their first. They were pretty excited about it.”
“I bet. Don’t they have an assistant coach or some other parent that could run practice?” he asked. Having played a lot of baseball, he knew everything didn’t rely on one person.
“I guess not. They were asking as they were calling around, but no one has stepped up. I was thinking of calling Mitch to see if he’d do it.” She seemed tentative about that.
“I could do it,” he blurted. She looked up, eyes wide with surprise. Realizing this was his way in, he plowed on. “I mean, I played baseball in high school and some in college. I’m sure I could manage one practice for a bunch of ten-year-olds.” He shrugged and smiled.
“Oh my God, would you really do that? Practice is supposed to start in like an hour. Aren’t you busy?”
“I’ve got nowhere to be. Would it be a big deal to un-cancel practice?” This was precisely what he needed—the perfect excuse to spend time with Jenny and her boys.
“Let me call Leslie back and see. The boys will be so excited. You’re sure about this?”
He laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure. Sign me up!”
An hour later, thanking God he’d opted for the extended cab version of his Ford F-150, the boys piled into the back seat, and Jenny hopped up beside him.
The equipment the coach had dropped off on his way out of town was in the bed of the truck.
They were off to the local high school for their first baseball practice together.
Adam couldn’t help but smile. Instinctively, he knew this was only the beginning. He didn’t know when or how, but someday, some way, this would be his family. He relaxed at the thought and decided to just enjoy the journey.
“Buckle up, boys.” He looked in the rearview mirror at two smiling faces. This is going to be an incredible ride.