Ethan shook his head. “I need to get a new job.”
She laughed a little. “No kidding.”
Apparently satisfied that it was a client, Amanda turned and headed back down the hall while Ethan went back to his office, Willow’s problems all but forgotten.
Caleb was sleeping peacefully on his chest, and as much as Ethan wanted to leave him there, he also needed to pee really badly.
Eventually, his bladder won out and he got to his feet, shushing and swaying as he walked to put the baby back to sleep when he started to flail.
By the time he got to the bedroom, Caleb was asleep again, so he put him down in the crib, turned on the monitor, and made for the bathroom.
As he was washing his hands, he felt his pocket buzzing. Quickly drying them off, he pulled his phone out and saw that Willow was calling him.
That was unusual—and she had never answered his text about the Chinese food, so he thought she didn’t want to talk to him—so he frowned as he slid his finger across the screen and put the phone to his ear.
“Hello?” he answered, not bothering to mask his surprise.
“Hey,” she returned, as casually as if she called him every day.
Hoping to find out why she called without asking, he asked, “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything’s… fine.”
“Good,” he said inanely, then waited.
Sighing audibly, she said, “So, I’m just going to throw this out there… I’m home by myself, I will be for several hours, but a girl’s gotta eat, so I’m making dinner. I made way too much, and… I don’t know, I thought I’d see if maybe you want to come over?”
“To your house?” he reiterated.
“Yes. My brother’s not home and my parents are in Chicago, nobody will know you were here.”
The correct response was no. He didn’t know why when he opened his mouth, what spilled out was a teasing, “I don’t think all your boyfriends would like that.”
She laughed, and he smiled at the sound. “All of my boyfriends? Have you been stalking me, Ethan?”
“You should expect as much given my line of work,” he returned lightly.
“That’s adorable,” she stated. “Unfounded, but absolutely adorable. Are you coming over or what?”
“I… I really shouldn’t.”
“Okay,” she said brightly. “Well, I just thought I’d ask.”
He hadn’t expected that—didn’t know why he hadn’t expected that—but her easy acceptance made him realize he wanted to go. Chuckling, he said, “Well, if you’re gonna twist my arm like that…”
“It’s no big deal,” she informed him, sweet as honey. ?
?I can just invite my army of boyfriends over to help me eat it all.”
A snort escaped before he could catch it. “Your army of boyfriends, huh?”
“Well, the ones on active duty, of course. Not the reserves.”
“You have reserves, too?” he asked, playing along.
“Of course. I’m a girl—we all have reserves.”
“Well, don’t I feel special. Am I one of your reserves?”