Page 35 of Breaking the Ice

She asked him back to her apartment and he almost declined but hadn’t it been the whole point of the night? He needed to get laid and Angie was clearly up for it. So, he went to her apartment and she didn’t waste any time getting down to business.

Which shouldalsohave been a turn-on but… the sensations were all wrong. She straddled his lap and he could feel the bones of her butt pressing against his thighs, her small breasts disappeared from view when she flattened them against his chest and her hips felt like handles beneath his palms.

All he could think about was how soft and round Samantha was. How her cleavage would spill up and out if she was squashed close to him and he’d only have to look down to cop an eyeful of her lushness.

In the end, Nick had called a halt which Angiedid nottake well. Not that he blamed her. He’d tried to let her down gently but it was a perfectly horrible thing to do to someone and he didn’t blame her for not understanding his it’s-not-you-it’s-me explanation.

The door dinged and Nick looked up to find Samantha walking through it. She was in her regulation jeans and black T-shirt and he knew instantly that she had what Angie lacked. She was all curvy and lush. Not angles and points.

He also knew instantly that things hadn’t gone well with her either.

“Did you know he’d had a vasectomy?” she demanded the second she spied him. “I swear if you did Nick, I’m going to kill you.”

Nick knew he shouldn’t laugh but then he pictured her eggs sobbing and burst into raucous laughter.

“This is not funny,” she snapped, storming past him to the back room.

“It kinda is,” he called after her.

She reappeared a minute later glaring at him and Nick pressed his lips together to stop himself from grinning. “What the hell am I going to do with two hundred condoms in my apartment?”

Nick’s smile faded. After spending these last weeks with her, he knew she was an overachiever but… what the hell? “You boughttwo hundredcondoms?”

“There was so much choice.” She shrugged. “I just got a box of each.”

The dejection in her voice sobered him further. “I swear on this Rita Summers’” – he put his hand on the cover of the book he’d been reading – “I didn’t know about the vasectomy.”

“Nick…” She huffed out a breath. “It was your job to screen them.”

“I thought I was vetting them for two heads not sperm count.”

“I want to havea baby. Those things are kind of important.”

“Right. Next time I’ll be sure to ask their fertility stats.”

“Thank you,” she said waspishly. “How did your date go?”

He shrugged. “It was okay. I think she’s a little too young for me.”

“Ya think?”

“Yes, okay, Miss Smarty Pants. You were right. You can vet all my dates in future, too.”

“Well for damn sure, I’ll do a better job than you, Nick Hawke.”

Samantha left the shop mid-morning to grab their regular hit of Martha’s orange friands. Nick usually undertook the pilgrimage, citing his need for exercise, but she hadn’t given him the chance today. Last night’s disaster played over and over in her head and the mutinous noises from her eggs were making her restless.

A young mother pushed a pram toward her and Samantha caught a glimpse of a smooth bald scalp and a pink bow as theyhurried past. She tracked their progress down the street, a funny pain in her chest as the overwhelming desire tobethat woman took hold.

Would she ever know the joy of holding her child in her arms?

She rounded a corner and the mock Tudor façade of Martha’s Teahouse that had remained unchanged for acentury, came into sight. Unfortunately, not even it managed to lift her out of the funk caused by the glimpse of that little bald head.

“The usual?” Wanda asked.

Wanda was a bookshop regular. She adored vintage Mills & Boon and early bodice-rippers. “Yes thanks,” Samantha said and watched Wanda bustle off to fill the order.

The place was jumping as usual, but the infamous brisk service saw her heading back to Birdie’s inside of one minute. The tangy citrus aroma wafting from the brown paper packet was mighty tempting on the return trip and Samantha was grateful for the distraction from the vexed issue of her empty womb.

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