Page 54 of Unexpected Kisses

Lisa nods. “How old is Lachlan?”

AJ looks at me. “He’s ten,” I tell them.

Hayley’s eyes widen. “Oh, wow. I’m really impressed.”

“I’ll be sure to let him know. He only discovered he has a talent for working with wood when Theo moved next door to my sister when Lachlan was eight. He loves it.”

AJ’s attention moves to Lisa. “How have you been feeling?” He looks at me. “Lisa’s had trouble keeping food down.”

“I’m slowly managing to eat small amounts and keep it down. So I’m improving.”

AJ nods then drops his hand across the back of my chair and collects my ponytail, twisting it around his hand. “That’s great. Hopefully, you’ll get back to your usual self soon.” He tugs on my ponytail. “What were you guys talking about?”

I glance at the girls. “Hayley and Lisa were asking me why I accepted your offer of help when we were complete strangers. I was about to tell them about our meeting in the café.”

His head snaps to the other two and creases form between his brows. “Does it matter? I offered, and Sarah accepted.”

Hayley’s the one to answer. “We were just interested. It’s our way of getting to know Sarah as a person. After all, we’ll all be connected when she has her baby.”

I drop my hand on top of AJ’s firm thigh. “It’s okay, I don’t mind. As I was saying, AJ and I met in a café and he was happy to answer my questions.”

AJ chuckles under his breath. “She had this long-ass list with a million questions on it.”

I scoff. “There weren’t a million questions. Less than twenty.”

He shrugs. “Twenty. One million. There’s not that much difference.”

We all laugh. “I tried to replicate the questionnaire the fertility clinic used. Then AJ kindly offered his semen analysis, which was stellar, by the way.” He puffs up with pride and waves his hand across the table between Lisa’s stomach and Colton with eyebrows raised. “Yeah, yeah, I get it,” I say through my smile and gently push against him. He wraps his arm around me and pulls me back against him playfully as we both laugh.

I catch Lisa and Hayley giving each other a certain look and pull away, straightening up.

“What’s semen?” Colton asks when his mouth is empty.

I glance at AJ. “It’s the stuff that helps to make a baby,” he tells Colton without missing a beat.

“Okay.” Colton takes another cracker.

We spend the rest of the afternoon talking about lighter topics, which don’t make me feel as though I’m tiptoeing through a minefield. Time passes quickly, and I grow more comfortable with AJ’s family as the afternoon wears on.

AJ stands, collecting the dishes and loading them onto the tray. “I’ll do these and then we can head off.”

Lisa and Hayley glance at each other. “Did you want to stay for dinner? We were thinking of ordering Thai.”

AJ looks at me. “I’m happy to stay, but it’s up to Sarah.”

Oh yeah, lay the decision at my feet. I mean, we were going to have dinner together anyway and I guess with his family present, it might help to have that barrier. The more time I spend on my own with AJ, the harder it is for me to remember we’re only friends. He’s generously offering me my dream on a platter, and I refuse to put it at risk by falling any further than I already have for the guy.

I shrug. “Sure. That sounds great.”

“We usually order a variety of dishes and share them. Will that work for you, Sarah?” Lisa asks as she stands.

“That’s perfect.” AJ smiles and heads inside with the dishes. “I’ll help AJ with the dishes.” I thumb over my shoulder, then spin on my heel to follow him inside.

“I guess dinner’s sorted.”

AJ turns toward me, his posture’s a little stiff. “Are you okay with staying for dinner?”

“Of course. It was unexpected, so it took me a little by surprise.” I don’t feel comfortable when plans change at short notice, but since spending time with AJ I’m beginning to learn to be a little more spontaneous.

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