Page 20 of Don't You Want Me, Baby?

‘Amber? You okay?’

‘Huh?’

Sharon came to stand in front of her, rubbing her shoulders.

‘Sorry. Was just thinking about… something.’ She caught her bottom lip between her teeth. ‘You ever think about having a family, Shaz?’

Her friend eyed her for a long moment, her eyes boring into her. ‘Sometimes,’ she admitted. ‘Since mum moved away with husband number three, I’ve been thinking that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to have someone. I dunno.’ She shrugged. ‘I know you want more, Amber. It will happen. Just because things didn’t work out, it doesn’t mean that the next thing won’t.’

Amber shrugged. ‘Maybe. If my eggs will hold out that long without a freezer.’

‘Eggs?’ Sharon asked. ‘As in fertile eggs? You’ve really been thinking about it that much?’

‘A little.’ She bit her lip. ‘A lot, actually. I don’t want to have to date someone else for a couple of years, you know. That whole scene is depressing, and I’ll be so busy with the business. Finding the time to even find someone half decent takes time. And then what if he doesn’t have the same goals as me? You know what men are like: half of them have the attention span of a sandwich. Women who go into relationships all baby crazy aren’t exactly snapped up.’

‘I had no idea.’ Sharon squeezed her tighter. ‘I think you have time, though; you never know what’s around the corner.’

Amber shrugged. ‘Yeah, well – maybe some things just need to be done instead of waiting for the perfect situation that might never come.’ She thought back to the site, just waiting for her to place the order that might just make her a mother.

‘Have you told anyone else about this?’ Sharon asked, fiddling with her bag. ‘Tyler maybe?’

‘Tyler doesn’t need to hear about my baby fever, Sharon. He already thinks I should be focusing on the Arms now Bradley’s gone. I can’t see him being on board with this, and I don’t need anyone’s opinions.’

‘Huh.’ Sharon didn’t look convinced. ‘Still, I think it might be worth a conversation. Tonight, maybe.’

Amber thought of the guy waiting inside for them. A vision of Tyler popped into her head, lifting a toddler into his broad, muscly arms. Teaching a cute little kid how to make cherry pastries.Shit. Stop that. Shut it down. Friend, not baby daddy.‘Nope. Not tonight, it’s party time. Just ignore me,’ she said, shaking herself out of it. ‘Birthday blues, I think.’

Sharon smiled back, but there was something in her expression that told Amber she wasn’t going to let this drop for long. ‘I have a cure for that.’ She thumbed at the bar behind her. ‘Let’s get pissed, eh? Get your surprise game face on.’

Linking arms, Sharon pulled her towards the pub doors. It was eerily quiet, and just for a second Amber’s heart thudded. She steeled herself for what she was walking into, and felt Sharon push her through the entrance.

The first thing she saw was not people, but balloons. The whole ceiling was full of them, all kinds of colours. And then the place exploded. ‘Surprise!’

The opening bars of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Happy Birthday’ blasted out from the speakers in front of a DJ stand, and the whole pub was there. Everyone from Bill and his wife, Mary and her husbandMick, Ben and his wife, the staff from the dog shelter, Grandma’s old crew. She jumped at the noise, despite herself, her hands flying up to cover her squeal. ‘Happy birthday, Amber!’ they all shouted together, laughing and clapping at her shocked face. Party poppers went off around her, and Sharon shouted ‘Yes! Paaarrrrty!’ behind her. At the bar, she could see Sharon’s construction guy waiting.Hmm, interesting.Next to him, though, was someone who made her heart stutter to a shuddering stop.

Tyler strode across the room, the now animated crowd parting for him as he batted away well-wishers and came to a stop in front of her. He looked… lickable. There was no flannel tonight.No sirree.He was wearing a peach-coloured button-down shirt that only served to show off his thick, muscled chest, and a pair of black dress trousers that looked like they were stitched onto his body by tiny little angels. In his huge hands, a bunch of her favourite blooms were wrapped in tissue paper and fancy, gold-tinted cellophane. His hair was freshly washed, though she could see from the sides he’d run his hands though it a few times. There were tiny little cowlicks sticking out of it, which only served to make her brain rearrange him in her head further. This was Tyler, but tonight, he looked… better. No, not better. That wasn’t right. He still looked like him, but it was as if her eyes were truly seeing him for the first time. It took her a hot minute to remind herself where she was, who she was standing in front of. To breathe.

He held the flowers out to her, and her hands somehow started working well enough to reach out for them.

‘Thank you,’ she managed to croak out. ‘This is… amazing.’

‘Group effort. Happy birthday, Cherry.’ He grinned. She didn’t miss his eyes, looking her up and down lazily. His cheeks heated. ‘You look…’

‘Thirty?’ she cut in, trying not to combust on the spot. Even in the crowd, it felt like they were the only two people in the world.Everyone around them was getting drinks in, settled in for the party. Others were leaving gifts in a little pile on a table by the bar. ‘Although, after our spa day, I do feel a little less decrepit.’

His smile tugged at a corner of his full lips, forming a dimple she’d never spotted before. She wanted to put her finger in the little dip. She clenched the flowers a little tighter. Nodding at his shirt, which was a shade akin to her dress and nails, she smirked. ‘We match.’

‘Glad you had a good day.’ His eyes dropped to her mouth, and it looked like it cost him to pull them back to her eyes. ‘Sharon picked out the shirt. Told me if I wore flannel tonight, she’d burn all my clothes in the car park.’

Amber giggled. ‘Sounds like Sharon.’ After a pause, she added, ‘I like your flannels, lumberjack.’

His eyes crinkled in the corners. ‘You look mesmerising, Amber.’ She was about to shrug him off, but he stepped closer, and her rebuttal died in her throat. ‘Prettiest woman I’ve ever seen.’ His gaze turned heated. His jaw ticking with what looked like… arousal, and then it was gone. His face dropped back into her best friend once more. ‘Enjoy your party,’ he said, leaning in. For the briefest slice of time, she breathed in his aftershave, like sea salt and the ocean, and her head lifted to meet his automatically. His gait was tight, and then she felt his lips brush against her forehead. ‘See you later,’ he huffed out, as if the touch of his mouth hadn’t just branded her skin. He left her standing there, swallowed by the crowd as they descended around her.

By the time she made her way to the bar, Sharon already had a drink waiting for her.

‘Peach is my colour, eh? I could kill you,’ Amber threatened, but Sharon knew she was full of it. ‘Thank you, mate. I mean it. This is great.’

‘You’re welcome.’ She beamed, passing her a shot glass. ‘It wasnothing. Well, it wasn’t nothing… but it was mostly Tyler, if I’m honest. If he ever gets bored of cooking, he’d make an awesome party planner.’ She waved a hand at all the decorations, the little touches around the place. There was even a photo wall. Some of the puppies from the shelter with their little gifts, and what looked like a police line-up photo. Leaning forward, she saw it was some of the regulars, all posing with their hats and scarves. ‘He’s been planning it for a while,’ she added, following her gaze. Amber looked around the place, her heart full.

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