Page 40 of Misadventures Of A Single Mom

“What time’s the party?”

“Eight.”

“Holy crap.”

Ty perked up at that.

“I’ve got everything organized and in boxes here at the store. I just need you to pick them up and get to the party.”

I took a deep breath. “Fine. Call Dingbat back and tell her we won’t be there until eight thirty. She can make do until then. We’ll be by the store in an hour to get everything. And Goldie, make sure you get good directions. The last time I drove all over trying to find the place.”

Goldie hung up. No goodbye.

“Dingbat?” Ty asked.

“Don’t worry, you’ll meet her.”

“Huh?” A fry was halfway to his mouth.

“How do you feel about bachelorette parties?” I scarfed down a bite of my meal.

“Never been to one.”

“That’s about to change.”

“Oh really? Male stripper call in sick or something?”

I contemplated that for a moment, the image of Ty stripping like a Chippendale dancer. It actually wasn’t a pretty thought. I’ve never been big on strippers. Didn’t do a thing for me. Seeing Ty naked though was something entirely different. And maybe watching him take his clothes off might not be so bad either. The idea made me hot all over. I took a sip of my iced tea to cooloff. As long as when he finished he was naked instead of wearing some pouchless briefs or banana hammocks. Gross.

“Have experience with that? If you do, you may not want to mention it to Goldie or you might have a side job.” I paused to let Ty consider this back-up career. “Actually, we scheduled a toy party for a couple of bachelorettes last week. There was some confusion about the dates. It’s tonight. We’ve got two hours to get there.”

“We?” he asked. I could tell he was a little nervous. What guy wanted to break the invisible barrier between men and women and end up at a bachelorette party? He had every right to be anxious. The few males who ended up at one were only wearing neon yellow nut huggers and a pair of cowboy boots.

“Don’t worry. You’ll keep your clothes on. I thought you didn’t want me going anywhere by myself. Besides, I’m yourgirlfriend.” It was a perfect time to throw that word out there. See what I might reel back in.

Ty took a swig of his beer. “You’re right. I don’t want you going off by yourself with everything that’s happened, but I draw the line at stripping in front of a bunch of women, especially one named Dingbat. If you want me to take my clothes off, we can go back to your house—or mine. You can even help.” He lifted his eyebrows rakishly and took another swig of beer. “But here’s the thing you need to know if you’re going to be my girlfriend.”

He looked me in the eye. I was practically hypnotized by their blueness.

I licked my lips in anticipation. I hadn’t been a girlfriend since tenth grade. And that consisted of holding hands while walking through the mall. I dated. I married. There had been no girlfriend status ever with Nate. “What’s that?”

Ty’s mouth twitched. “I can cut my own meat.”

I looked down at my fork and knife. I was so flustered by the boys’ departure, the night’s change in plans, the imagery of Ty getting naked, I didn’t even notice what I’d been doing.

I had cut up Ty’s steak into little bite sized pieces, just like I did for Zach and Bobby.

12

“Oh shit,” Ty mumbled as we rolled up to the house for the bachelorette party. You couldn’t miss it. Unless the house had penis-shaped balloons attached to the mailbox justbecause. “This can’t be good.”

We were in Belgrade, near the airport. The subdivision was brand new with matching street lamps all the way down the road. The house had two stories, painted a cheery yellow with red shutters. The two-car garage took up most of the lower floor except for a tiny porch and front door. The yard had been put in by landscapers but ended abruptly at the property line on either side as the home abutted two empty lots.

“Where’s your sense of adventure?” I mocked. Secretly, I was enjoying every moment of this. His discomfort was comical and I tried hard not to laugh. Hell, I tried hard not to crack a smile.

“I will be the first man in the history of the world who’s ever gone to a bachelorette party unpaid.”

“I think you have enough testosterone to make it out alive.” My mouth twitched.

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