“I’d be happy to take him to my climbing gym some time. I could show him the ropes, so to speak,” I offer.
Emma flicks her eyes to Sarah and then back to me. “I think he’d love that. I’ll ask him.”
“Great. Let me know and we can set up a time.”
“I will. Thanks, AJ.”
I feel good that I may be able to give something back to this family since they’ve been more than welcoming toward me. I finish my drink, remembering I’m taking up valuable alone time. “Well, we should hit the road and get outta your hair so you can enjoy what’s left of your afternoon.”
Sarah climbs to her feet, collecting the glasses and placing them on the tray. I take the tray from her and head inside to wash them. “You’re very domesticated.” Sarah chuckles behind me.
I shrug. “I guess it comes from living on my own. If I don’t do the dishes straight away, I have to do them later. No one else is going to do them for me.”
We work side by side, her wiping the glasses and putting them away where they belong. Emma and Theo step inside. “Am I following behind you two, or are we all going in my truck?”
I glance at Sarah. “You can follow behind. That way you can come straight home and I can spend some time showing Colton how to climb safely.”
“That makes sense.” He turns to his wife. “Did you want to come too? We shouldn’t be that long.”
“I’ll stay here and get the laundry folded so we have no interruptions to our afternoon.” She winks at him and Sarah groans.
“Okay, you two. Can you at least wait until we’re out of here before you start?” She chuckles.
Em and Sarah hug goodbye. “Say hi to the kids. I’m bummed I missed them today, but it was nice having some sister time.”
“I will. Bye, AJ. Great seeing you again. I’ll let you know what Austin would like to do.”
I wave over my shoulder as Sarah and I head to my Jeep and reverse out of the driveway. I wait until Theo’s behind me and then lead the way to my sister’s place, making sure I don’t leave Theo behind.
CHAPTER21
–sarah–
Nerves have takenover my body and even with the air conditioning in the Jeep, I’m sweating more than I should, and I can’t stop my leg from jiggling up and down. I’m worried his sister and her wife won’t like me and they’ll tell AJ he shouldn’t help me. Ultimately, the child I’ll be bringing into the world will be Colton’s half-sibling. What if they change AJ’s mind? I don’t think I’d be lucky enough to find someone else as amazing as him.
I glance across at him, watching the muscles of his forearm tense and flex as he rests his hand on the steering wheel. What is it about muscular forearms that’s such a turn-on? I’d never really thought about it before I saw AJ’s perfectly muscular arms. I’m not into guys who look like they go to the gym seven days a week and are bulky like the Hulk but AJ’s muscles are perfect. Masculine. Sexy.
Heonlysees you as a friend, Sarah! Stop thinking about his damn muscles.
Then why does he keep kissing you on the damn lips?
Good point. Why does he do that? Does he kiss all his friends on the lips? Surely not.
“So, do you have many female friends?”Oh shit!I can’t believe I just blurted that out. “Sorry. It’s none of my business,” I rush to add.
He grins at me. That sexy grin which causes crinkles around his eyes and deep lines to bracket his mouth. “Let me think about that for a sec.” He puts on a big show about tilting his head this way and that. “Nope. Can’t say I have any female friends, actually.”
My body deflates as I release the breath I was holding while I waited for his answer. “Oh.”Oh, Sarah? Really? That’s the best you’ve got.
Silence fills the cab of the Jeep as we make our way toward his sister’s house. It’s not long before we’re parking in front of a quaint cottage-style home. The garden reminds me of aHome Beautifulspring garden spread. I’m not sure how they’ve managed to have so much greenery in the middle of summer. “Your sister’s home is gorgeous.”
He looks out of his window at the property as Theo pulls around us and into their driveway. “Yeah, it’s really nice. Lisa has a green thumb. If it were up to my sister, everything would be dead.” She sounds a lot like me. I struggle to keep plants alive. Living in an apartment suits me for that very reason.
We both climb out of the Jeep and AJ opens the back door, pulling out two canvas mats so I move closer to help him. “I’ve got this. You probably shouldn’t be lifting heavy stuff.”
I smile at him. “I don’t even know if I’m pregnant yet. It won’t hurt me to help you.”
He studies my face closely and eventually nods. “Okay, but be careful.”