Page 26 of Christmas with the Baby Daddy

The truck stopped, and the window rolled down. I swore I could feel the warmth from inside seeping out, and I resisted the lure of leaning toward it. I had to resist the idea of heat because it was Zach in the driver’s seat.

“Blake? I thought that was you.” He crouched over the steering wheel to face me more at my eye level from the tall truck. “What are you doing?”

I bit back a smirk, gesturing at my feet, then the sidewalk only slightly clear of the new layer of snow. “Walking home.”

“In this?” He faced forward, furrowing his brow. He’d always been so serious, unlike the goofball Kevin was. Like opposites, almost a Yin and Yang, they’d complemented each other as the best of friends, filling in for each other’s weaknesses.

“This doesn’t look like a good night to be walking home.”

“I, uh, didn’t plan to.”

“What happened?” He frowned as he turned to look back, as though he could pinpoint the problem and solve it pragmatically like the strategic military man he was. “Run out of gas?”

“No. Just…” I shivered as I looked down. “Other stuff the van needs.”

“Well, come on then.” He tipped his head to the side, inviting me to come closer. “Get in. I can give you a ride home.”

A ride?You want me to get in that truck and be near you?It sounded like a terrible idea. One I wouldn’t know how to handle. How to survive. So much of my gameplan where he was concerned fell one on simple fact—that I’d never have to see him again. That was no longer feasible. He was here, and if I turned down his offer for a ride that I really,reallywanted or needed, I’d be actively avoiding him. Stupidly.

My toes were ice. The boots were drenched. My fingers were numb, and this coat would be wet halfway to my house.

“Um. Okay. Thanks.” I turned, trying not to look uncoordinated as I waded through the pile of snow that had been pushed to the edge of the curb from all the snowblowers and shovels. I slipped. My arms flung out as I corrected my balance. As I attempted to get to the truck, I damned my shoes and prayed I wouldn’t pull off a repeat of falling on my ass. Once was enough. I didn’t need him thinking I’d lost the ability to move like a normal, functional adult. Clumsiness was the theme of my actions, though. Between the snow, my cold hands and feet, and the awkwardness of wanting to look cool and collected in front of him, I failed.

I dropped into the snow twice, dunking my knee into the coldness. I gripped the door handle three times and my fingers failed to pull it. When I got the door open but slipped with my foot on the runner board, I closed the door by accident.

“Here, let me?—”

“No.” I held up a hand and opened the door again. I did not need him getting out to help me up and in. It was already hard enough to brace myself for spending time with him one-on-one like this. I couldn’t manage his getting out and physically assisting me. If he were to touch me…

Just be cool, dammit.My teenage crush had long since crumbled to dust. But the one-night stand we’d shared set me up for worse tension.

I didn’t know how to act around him, mostly because I counted on never being around him. I didn’t know what to say, primarily because I figured I wouldn’t have a chance to speak with him.

The moment I got into the passenger seat and closed the door, I exhaled a long breath. Letting the warmth of the truck’s cab seep into me, I willed my heart to slow down.

“Thanks,” I whispered, rubbing my hands on my thighs to get blood flowing through them normally again.

When he didn’t reply, I glanced over, tense. “What?”

He seemed to search my face for something, but he didn’t speak. Shaking his head, he seemed to shelve whatever was on his mind. “Lousy night to be out walking in shoes.”

I nodded, knowing he was trying to just make small talk, not scold me. Zach had never been the kind of guy to nag or belittle anyone. Just serious and observant. Closed-off. “Yeah, it is.”

Clearing my throat, I tried to sit up straight and look confident and unaffected by his presence in here. “So, thanks for the ride.”Fuck. Ijustsaid that.

“Working with Grandma Jenny tonight?” he asked, glancing at me and no doubt taking in the rumpled caterer uniform my coat didn’t fully cover. I hadn’t even taken the apron off.

“Yeah. Half the staff was out sick so it was a long night.” I shrugged, worrying that it could sound like I was complaining. I never liked to whine or complain. It was an old habit from my father’s worst drunken days. If Kev or I complained, he’d get so irrationally furious, calling us spoiled. “But we made it work. Jenny and I are a good team.”

“She mentioned people being off sick this week,” he said, nodding as he drove. “The season for it.”

“Yep.”

Silence followed. He didn’t even have the radio on, no doubt still as annoyed with Christmas music now as he was when he was a teen. He’d never qualified as a Scrooge, but he’d never been a fan of the season. Right now, though, I wished for aHo, Ho, Ho,Jingle Bells, orFa-La-La-Lato break up this awkwardness.

Sitting with my former one-night stand wouldn’t be so bad. If only he wasn’t also my baby daddy…

“So… you work with Grandma Jenny catering…”

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