“Is that part of the criteria?” I ask with a laugh.

“Of course. And you make a beautiful couple.”

“It’s all her,” I reply softly. “Anyone would look good standing next to her.”

“Wow,” she whispers. “That might be the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard you say about a woman.”

“I like her.”

“I’m glad. Have fun tonight, friend. Call me tomorrow and fill me in, after you get home of course.”

“I’ll be home tonight.”

“Jake, if you’re taking her out on a date, you really should stay the night after you have sex with her. It’s the right thing to do.”

“I’m not having sex with her tonight.”

Christina is quiet on the other end so long I think I’ve dropped the call.

“Chris?”

“This one is different,” she says.

“Are you crying?”

“No.” She sniffles and I roll my eyes. “I’m just so happy for you.”

“Oh my God, C. Stop crying. It’s a date, not a wedding.”

“You deserve to find someone like Addie who’s smart and pretty and likes you.”

“I’m not so sure she likes me,” I reply honestly. “Or if she does, she doesn’t want to.”

“Trust me, J, if she didn’t like you, she wouldn’t be going out with you tonight.”

I nod, then remember she can’t see me. “Good point.”

“I have to go.”

“Why did you call in the first place?”

“Oh! I almost forgot. I have news.”

“Okay.”

She sniffles again, and my stomach drops. “What’s wrong, C?”

“I’m not going to have a baby. It didn’t take this month.”

My own eyes get misty. “Wow.” My voice is gruff with emotion. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”

“I know.”

“Are you okay?”

“I think so. Kev and I are a little sad, but we’ll try again next month,” she says, trying to sound better than I know she feels. “I wanted to tell you. Because you’re my person.”

“I love you, C. This is going to happen.” I hope. I pray.

“Thank you. Now, you go enjoy your date, and call me tomorrow.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I grin as we hang up, and pull through Addie’s gate, ready to see my girl.

“I’VE NEVER BEEN here before,” Addie says with a grin as she dips her bread into cheese dip.

“How have you never had fondue before?” I ask, watching her eat. God, that mouth makes everything in me sit up and take notice.

“I dunno,” she says with a shrug, which makes the black blouse that lays off of one shoulder slide farther down her arm. She has gorgeous shoulders. “Just never got around to it. Here, you have to try this.”

She holds a piece of bread, dripping with cheese, out for me to take. I oblige her.

It’s delicious.

“Good?” she asks with a smile.

“Good.”

She immediately dives in for more and it occurs to me that I’ve never seen her eat before. The way she enjoys her food is fun.

“Did you grow up in Portland?” I ask and finally dig in with my own skewer. If I keep watching her, I’ll walk out of here with an embarrassing hard-on.

“Yep,” she replies and licks cheese off her lips. Maybe fondue wasn’t a great idea. “Mia, Cami, and I all grew up here, and have been friends since we were little.”

“That’s cool,” I reply, remembering the photos on her mantel. “Are your parents still married?”

“They are, and they live in Hawaii.”

“What took them there?”

“A job. My dad is a college professor, and he took a job there so Mom could work there as a marine biologist. She got her degree in her forties.”

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

Addie nods and smiles. “She had me very young. It was a huge scandal.” She leans forward, as though she’s telling me new family gossip, making me smile. “She took my father’s advanced physics class when she was a senior in college, and they had an affair. She got pregnant”—she points to herself—“and they got married.”

“Wow, that is scandalous.”

Addie nods and shoves more bread in her mouth. “She hid the pregnancy until the end of the semester so my dad wouldn’t lose his job, and then they got married.”

“Is he a lot older than her?”

“About ten years,” she replies. “He was a child prodigy in math and science. He was a college professor at the age of twenty-two.”

“That explains why you’re so damn smart.”

She snorts and rolls her eyes. “He’d disagree with you, I’m sure. Anyway, Mom stayed home, raising me and being a housewife, and she never complained about it. She liked it. But when I went away to college, she decided to finish college herself, and now works as a marine biologist, with a love of all things sharks.”

“Sharks?” I ask with a laugh. “Is she a thrill seeker?”

“She got pregnant by her college professor. I would say so.”

“Do you see them often?”

“No.” She shakes her head, her eyes suddenly sad. “They’re busy, I’m busy. We talk on the phone about once a month.”

I tilt my head, chewing, watching the change in her. “That’s a sore spot for you.”

She shrugs again. “A little.”