Page 33 of Surprise Baby for Daddy's Best Friend

As he finished his statement, two other cars pulled up behind him. Each, the same shade of blue. I almost wanted to cry from joy at the thought of going into some nice air conditioning and prayed the sweat wasn't going to stick on me for the rest of the day.

We all climbed into different cars at random. I chose the one closest to me to get out of the heat as quickly as possible and wipe the sweat away.

"Looks like you lot are planning a fun evening," the driver said and adjusted his rearview mirror to look at the others in the backseat.

I looked back and noted Amanda and Mandi were sitting in the back. I opened my mouth to reply, but Mandi was the first to answer.

"Bachelorette party. Keep your eyes to yourself if you want to keep them."

He chuckled and readjusted his rearview mirror again, "Right. I'll keep that in mind." He cleared his throat and tapped something on his phone. "We'll be there in about ten minutes."

The rest of the ride continued in an almost awkward silence, aside from the older rock music blasting from his radio. I didn't mind it too much and it didn't look like the other two did either.

I turned to play with my phone and clicked my tongue as I realized my contacts were still open with the unfinished message to Jared waiting for me. I started typing again and erased it multiple times before I settled on a basic intro.

Hey, it's Kim.

I groaned. Of course, I couldn't think of anything witty to say to him. I wasn't exactly a great writer of flirtations. Anything I tried to say just came off awkward or forced, so basics were the best I could do.

He didn't answer or read the message. I knew he had the same brand of phone as I did so he couldn't use the excuse that he read it or not when I could see the icon for delivered or read shift. I waited another few minutes and still received no indication that he saw it.

My mind raced, trying to think of why he hadn't seen my message yet. Perhaps he ignored messages with unknown names, or maybe he was with another girl who had finally caught his eye after I denied him last night.

"Hey Mandi," I started without even thinking about how I would explain I had her dad's number.

"Hm? What's up?"

"Um..." I tried to think of something else to ask, "Is this your first time down here? I know you and your dad travel a lot." I let out a sigh of relief at my quick shift.

"Yeah, it is. Usually, he takes me somewhere that's private versus a big crowd. He gets angry dealing with a bunch of people all the time." She puffed her chest and deepened her voice. "These idiots don't know how to behave themselves and are acting like animals. Never turn into one of them, Mandi."

We all laughed at her Jared imitation. My stomach hurt from the sudden shift in emotions, I wiped a tear that was forming at the corner of my eye.

"Glad we could break him from that."

"Yeah, it was definitely a struggle to make him want to be around people, but it looks like he's enjoying himself. Especially with this random stranger, he’s been seeing. Must be some woman to keep my dad interested."

I turned away and stared out the window, "Yeah, he seems like the picky type."

"Super picky. I couldn't even get him to go on another date after his marriage with my stepmom failed. I thought he was going to be celibate for the rest of his life."

We pulled up to what looked like a bar in the middle of nowhere. A tall wine glass in lights stood tilted next to the place's name.Jamie's. I almost wondered how many places out here were so self-centered to name their business after themselves. Then again, it did make it sound a lot classier than calling it by some generic name like the Drunk Bull or whatever.

None of us said much beyond simple goodbyes and thanks to the driver and I know I prayed we wouldn't have him in our car again on the way back. I wasn't sure I could deal with that awkward experience again.

Everyone gathered around in a large group in front of the bar and gossiped about their drivers. Either they were horrible with trying to beat every red light and failing, or trying to hit on the bride. I started to join in on the conversations when my phone buzzed.

Did I give you my number?

My stomach dropped. Of course, when Jared saw my text he would immediately question it. He probably hated the idea of sharing his number with anyone.

Sorry. I can delete it if you want.

I sucked in a deep breath, waiting for the bad news of him saying to delete him.

No, you don't have to.

I let out my held breath and closed my eyes. Whatever bad luck we had with the driver was the only bad luck I would have.

---