Page 95 of Baby, Be Mine

I was about to go save him when Emma swooped in and stole him for a dance. Alan Brooks wasn’t the smoothest of men. A bit rumpled and awkward on his best day, but he straightened as Emma lifted her hands to rest on his shoulders.

She had that effect on many a man.

When I heard him laughing, I couldn’t help but smile at them.

Jared nudged me. “Emma is pretty amazing.”

I tried to school my features, but my brother just thumped me on the back of my head as if we were teens again. “Hey.”

“Don’t be an idiot.”

I rubbed the back of my head. “An idiot about what?”

“She’s amazing, and you should catch a clue.”

“A clue about what? She works for me, for God’s sake.” I sipped at the bottle of water I’d been nursing for the last hour. And she tasted like sunshine. “And she’s a new mom.”

“Sounds like excuses to me.”

“As if you should talk. Gina is your best friend, and you took years to get your head out of your ass.”

“I know, but you should do better than me.” He took a long drink from his bottle of beer. “Learn from my mistakes. You haven’t dated anyone since The Mason Jar opened, for God’s sake. What are you, a monk?”

“No. I’ve dated.” Sort of. I never seemed to have the time to go on more than a few dates before the women got sick of my lack of availability. A few had even ended up with a naked nightcap, but the restaurant had been my sole focus for so long it was hard to make anyone see I was worth sharing.

Because The Mason Jar was definitely my wife these days.

But Emma was the first one to make me wonder if maybe I wasn’t making the best choices.

“What happened to that teacher?”

“Melinda?” I hadn’t thought of her in months. God, was it a year now? I counted back in my head, but the only way I marked the days was in milestones for the restaurant. And it was before I’d bought the barge at auction.

“Yeah.” Jared frowned. “At least I think that was her name.”

“Left me a voicemail that a relationship didn’t include text message excuses about work.”

He whistled. “She’s right.”

I was about to open my mouth and remind him how much work I’d been doing when he held up a hand.

“Listen. You’ve done a lot of amazing stuff here. And this boat—or barge, or whatever it is—is amazing. And you made Bee the happiest I’ve seen her since she found out we were having our little boy.”

“I’m glad. She’s important to me too.”

“I know it. Just think about shuffling some responsibilities. I know it’s not easy. Believe me, I know better than most, but I’ve noticed you watching Emma.”

“She’s—”

“She’s awesome. And I get it. I know she’s young and has her own entanglements, but time passes fast. I turned around to find a lonely house because I was clueless. Bee and Sami smacked me awake.”

“I’ve only known her a few weeks, Jare. Bring it back down.”

“Even if it’s not Emma, you need to look up once in a while, man.”

Hearing that made my gut twist. Not just at the idea of her, but that I could lose her before I’d even had her. Right now, it was just a nebulous maybe.

Though that kiss was anything but a maybe. I could still freaking taste her.

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