Page 3 of Don't You Want Me, Baby?

‘Tyler asked me not to.’ Well, in truth, he’d caught her earwigging and had made her swear not to rat him out in a very red-faced, stammering way. When she’d asked him about the mystery woman he liked, he’d shrugged and muttered something about a little white lie. ‘He was nice about it; he might be a loner when it comes to women but he isn’t cruel. He just explained he wasn’t dating at the moment; it’s not his fault Stephanie’s bad at excuse making.’ Sharon’s steps picked up speed. ‘Can you sit down? All your pacing is making me ill.’

‘Fine,’ she huffed. ‘I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me. I’m your best friend!’ She sat down in the seat next to her. ‘That should trump your other friends. You and Tyler are as thick as thieves sometimes.’ Amber laughed, which made Sharon scowl all the more. ‘God, he’s so stubborn! He’s just like you. Refusing to see something for what it is. I’m amazed either of you have ever had a love life.’

‘Er, it’s nearly a year for me and Brad. I’m hardly some dusty spinster.’

Sharon’s eye roll made her eyeshadow sparkle. ‘I know, but itirks me, I can’t help it. You deserve better, and Brad’s not being fair on you. Is it really a year?’

‘Nearly.’ She’d met him out drinking on her birthday night out the year before. ‘My birthday is our anniversary, remember?’ She’d spent most of that evening huddled in a corner with him. They’d talked the whole night, and he’d come to work the very next day and asked her for a proper date. Flowers, chocolates. She remembered how bowled over by him she was. How sure he was from the off about his future plans, them together. Like he’d walked into her life at the right time. It was refreshing, intoxicating to feel so wanted. He wanted everything she did: the business of their dreams, the relationship, the family. Nearing thirty, she’d made no secret of the fact she’d wanted children, and soon. Aside from The Bingley Arms, the one thing Amber wanted was a child of her own. A yearning that had increased in volume with each passing year. The fact that Brad wanted that too only made her feel more secure about them, even when he was absent now. It was a blip, that was all. What was a few months to wait when you had forever? If she bailed now, that dream would be further away. A year of her life wasted. One thing Amber wasn’t, was a quitter. ‘I actually can’t believe it’s been that long. It’s gone so fast.’

‘Exactly. A year.’ Sharon was a woman decidedly not in the rose-tinted glasses gang. ‘In Austen times, you’d be married off by now. You guys were hot and heavy from the start. He was always here; now he’s like a ghost. The guy has been saying things would slow down at work, but you know he’s just going to keep chasing the next best thing. What’s the point of him saying he wants a life with you when he can’t prioritise you for a night? Weren’t you supposed to be getting engaged? Start making those babies you always wanted?’

That stung.Amber could feel her cheeks redden. Sharon was right, but Amber was too embarrassed to admit it. He’d brought up the idea of getting engaged on their six-month anniversary, but hehadn’t mentioned it for a while. Not since he’d formed the plan for a second business, the upscale eatery that would complement the fine dining experience of his restaurant Sloane’s, without the slightly pricier tag. She hadn’t mentioned it either. How could she, when he had been the one to even mention the E word in the first place. She didn’t want to bethatgirl. She wasn’t the type to be clingy, but rejection was starting to make her want to figure him out a little better. With his second business and an engagement in the mix, it had made her pause on certain things. Like her own aspirations. The damn clock that kept ticking in her ovaries and made her cry at adverts for baby wipes. She kept telling herself it made more sense to save more but, in reality, she realised she was trying to keep her plate just that little bit less full. None of which she was about to admit to the woman calling her out on her bullshit. Sharon, and Tyler for that matter, would be mad. They wanted her to go for her dreams. Tyler was always mentioning her business plan, and it was still languishing in her cloud. Literally, and metaphorically.

‘I’m not in some mad rush, Shaz,’ she and her reproductive system lied. ‘Even if we lived in Austen world, a year is not that long in the grand scheme of things. I’ve still got time to have a family; and do me a favour. Remind me not to invite you the next time I fancy a Colin Firth fix.’

‘Not a chance,’ Sharon tittered. ‘It’s the only reason I endure that romantic drivel. Don’t you dare watch the lake scene without me.’

Amber snickered. ‘Fine, and it’s not drivel. Brad and I are fine. It’s a few missed dates, that’s all. Besides, we had a laugh without him. I enjoyed that comedy night.’ Another lie.I’m getting too good at this. Lying to my friends. Myself. Things are not good with Brad and deep down, I know it.She’d stopped thinking of him as the future father of her children. Hardly a good sign. ‘It was nice just us, and Martin was lovely.’

Sharon rolled her eyes. ‘It was rubbish, and Martin was a drip. He laughed like a hyena in all the wrong places and gave his number to the waitress right in front of me as we left. One date was more than enough.’ They sat in silence for a moment, and she could feel Sharon take a deep breath. ‘I don’t like how he treats you sometimes, that’s all. I don’t mean to be all heavy about it. I just worry about you getting hurt. Missing your chances just to prop up his ego. If a bloke says he wants to be with you, he’ll be there. He’ll show up. No matter what. A relationship should be a partnership, where both people can have the room to follow their dreams, but still put the other first.’Wow. Sharon really was on one today.Her cheeks felt like they were on fire. She had a point, but it didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt a little to hear it.

‘Shaz, you don’t even believe in relationships, and it’s not like I’m sat waiting for my boyfriend and knitting booties. And, yeah, I have plans but I don’t exactly have them in motion, do I?’None of them. In fact, lately they seemed further off than ever. Especially the booties part.‘Brad has his restaurant already; he’s just trying to capitalise on his success. Sloane’s is the hot new thing at the moment, and you know what the North’s like. It’s hard to break out against the bigger chain restaurants. Pubs and restaurants are shutting down all the time. My time will come soon enough; my grandmother’s place isn’t going anywhere. I can afford to save up for a little longer. Plus, if Tyler leaves, I’ll have to get a new chef in place before I go.’ Sharon was shooting her a pitying look, but she knew her heart was in the right place. The two women were so different; Sharon never wanted anything long term, choosing to live stress free – in the moment – but she always championed Amber to follow her dreams. ‘I’m okay, Sharon. I love you for worrying about me.’ She patted her hand affectionately. ‘But I’m good, honestly. A night in won’t kill me.’

‘Yeah, well, I still don’t like it.’ Sharon squeezed her hand back,the worry lines easing on her pretty face. ‘He needs to make the effort.’

‘Yeah,’ Amber sighed. ‘I know. I pretty much told him the same thing if that’s any consolation. I don’t let him off easy you know, but he’s working hard.’

‘So do you and Tyler; it doesn’t automatically make Brad good husband material.’ Amber rolled her eyes, knowing Sharon wouldn’t let this drop, and she was way off the mark with the Tyler comparison. He and Bradley were very different people. Both competitive – being chefs brought it out in them. Brad was clean cut, a pretty-boy type, petite even, whereas Tyler was a little rougher. Thick muscles, absurdly tall, flannel and jeans, tats everywhere. Brad said tattoos were the artwork of the commoner. She’d told him to never say that to Tyler if he valued keeping his headonhis shoulders. ‘What are you going to do tonight?’ Sharon pulled her from her daydream about the two men in her life, reminding her she had another evening off with nothing to do with it.

She had no idea, and that made her mood dip yet again. ‘Oh, you know, pine for Bradley. Write some bad poetry. WatchBridget Jones’s Diaryin my sweatpants.’

‘Really?’

‘No! I’ve got plenty to do.’

Sharon’s raised brow dripped with scepticism. ‘Don’t even think about coming down to work.’

‘How did you know I was going to?—’

Sharon’s returning look was all knowing.

‘Of course. You always know what I’m going to do.’

‘You’re not working tonight. You should go out! Dance, let your hair down.’

‘Just what I want to do,’ she got to her feet, aware that the bar was unmanned. ‘Spend the night in a bar, when I live and work in one.’

‘Better than crying over Daniel Cleaver in your trackies,’ she quipped as they headed out of the office.

‘I don’t think you understood that movie,’ she scoffed. ‘No-one cries over Daniel. Not for long, anyway. He’s the guy that’s the guy before the guy.’

‘The guy before the guy?’ Sharon drawled. ‘Right. That’s why women everywhere fawn all over him, is it?’

Amber scoffed. ‘Bad boys are all well and good, ’til the bad stuff spills into life.’

As they stood outside the kitchen doors, Sharon paused.

‘Yeah, well, I think perhaps you need to rewatch it too.’

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