“Thanks again for everything, Naomi.” Faith turns the key in the ignition, sending the truck rumbling back to life. “I appreciate it so much. I’ll be bringing Jake a ‘thank you for picking my crazy mama up at the airport’ gift to work tomorrow.”
Naomi waves a dismissive hand in the air as she backs away from the curb. “Don’t worry about it. He didn’t mind, even though your mom did talk his ear off on the way home.” She cuts a look my way. “Seems she couldn’t shut up about my wonderful little brother.”
I make a “cut it out” gesture behind Faith’s back, worried talk of her mom will put Faith back in one of her “relationships are scary” moods, but she only laughs.
“Yeah, she’s definitely a fan.” She shifts the truck into drive. “See y’all tomorrow.”
Naomi and Maddie wave as Faith pulls out onto Main Street—after checking to make sure the road is clear, of course. In addition to being kind, funny, sexy as hell, and militantly opposed to emoticons, social media sites, and selfies, she’s an excellent driver.
Be still my heart…
I lean back in my seat as she guides the truck the short distance to her apartment, watching her with a smile. “I’m glad my sisters don’t freak you out.”
She huffs and shoots me a sideways glance. “Why would they freak me out? They’re both so nice. And one of them is marrying a guy who might as well be my brother, so…”
I shrug. “I don’t know. Naomi and Maddie scare off a lot of girls.”
“Oh, I see,” she says, laughing as she pushes my hand playfully from her thigh. “All those girls you were dating before me, right?”
“I wasn’t dating anyone,” I say. “I went on one or two dates with a few different people. That’s it. It wasn’t like this.”
“Like this?” she asks in a softer voice.
“Serious,” I say without hesitation.
She nods slowly. “Yeah. It is, isn’t it?”
“It is,” I confirm. “So, can I put my hand back on your leg? I like to be touching you as much as possible at all times.”
She grins, but it fades as she pulls up in front of her apartment building. By the time she shuts off the truck and turns to face me, she looks worried.
“What’s wrong?” I ask. “Reconsidering having me over to spend the night?”
“No, but…” She sighs. “There is something that’s been on my mind.”
“Okay, shoot.” I take her hand, the worry in my chest fading when she holds tight.
“My mom had me when she was twenty-eight,” she says. “I wasn’t planned and… Well, I know she loves me, but there were times when I could tell she felt burdened by having a kid she wasn’t prepared for, with a man who didn’t stick around long enough to see me out of diapers.”
I nod, though I’m still not really sure where this is going.
“I’m just saying I’m not ready to be a mom, not even close,” she says, a mixture of shyness and anxiety mixing in her big brown eyes. “Not that anything is going to happen tonight, but I think it’s going to happen soon. And when it does, I want us to be careful because the thought of being responsible for raising a kid right now is really scary. I would be so afraid I’d screw it up. I need more time to raise myself first.”
“Yeah. Totally. I get it.” I squeeze her hand. “Though honestly, that probably means you’re more ready to be a mom than most people. I think it’s supposed to be scary. You know? People who aren’t scared by that kind of responsibility are idiots.”
She shakes her head. “No, seriously, Mick. I’m not even thinking about wanting kids right now. Not even a little bit.”
“Right, yeah,” I say, with a laugh. “Got it. Loud and clear. Me, either. We’re absolutely on the same page.”
“But what if…” She trails off as she stares through the truck’s cloudy rear window. “I mean, what if there’s an accident? I know condoms don’t always work, and the women in my family are insanely fertile. And there’s no way I could be a firefighter and a single mom. Even if I could convince my mom to help out while I’m at work, which I’m not sure I could.” She sighs. “Or would even want to since she’s a hot mess and I know from experience she isn’t really—”
“Hey there, hold on a second,” I say, frowning as I cut in. “Who says you’d be a single mom? If there were an unexpected baby—which I really think we can take precautions to avoid, by the way—I’d be as responsible as you are. I’d be there to do my share, whether you and I were together or not.”
She glances back at me, a doubtful expression wrinkling her forehead. “Really? Would you? I mean, have you thought about what it would be like to have a kid? How much your life would have to change?”