Evelyn throws her teething ring out of the stroller as I push the stroller in front of the baby gym’s storefront. When I bend over to pick it up, I have the feeling there are eyes on my backside watching my movement.
I’m wearing another pair of skintight leggings. I live in them when I’m not at work, and I have a decent ass—thank you very much. I just really hope it’s not the chess guys checking me out. But when I stand back up and flip my hair over my shoulders, a glance into the store shows it’s James watching me.
A little sizzle runs through me.
Which I instantly feel guilty about. James is happily married. I can’t sizzle around him.
Swallowing hard, I catch his gaze. He doesn’t look away, even though he was obviously staring at my ass.
Mentally brushing it off, I smile when he opens the door for me to push the stroller through. James and I have history. We were two teens in the flush of first love, fumbling over each other’s naked bodies in his dark bedroom. It must just be a lingering kind of nostalgic vibe.
Only my suddenly tight nipples might indicate otherwise.
Resolutely ignoring my body’s reaction to his look, I glance around the gym. It’s bright and colorful and clean. There are mats lined up on the floor and a wall with crates and shelves filled with balls and other items like pool noodles, block mats, and low skills apparatus. Noah is lying on his back on one of the mats, playing with his toes.
“This is so cute, James. That little balance beam, oh my gosh. How old are the students?”
For a second, he doesn’t respond. I turn and see he’s looking at me, but he just has a friendly smile on his face. I feel like I imagined it was anything other than that a minute ago.
I feel like that’s confirmed when he starts talking, and it’s casual and easy.
“We start at four months and go to six years old. It’s movement based and imaginative play designed to build confidence and motor and social skills. I use music and games that are age appropriate. Right now we’re doing three classes a day, but I’d love to add at least one more.”
“This is so impressive. You know I love kids. I’m probably more comfortable with the older kids since I don’t have the mommy experience, and I’ve taught kindergarten in South Korea.” I step up onto the balance beam and go the length of it easily. “Hey, yoga has paid off.”
“It’s triple the width of regulation,” James points out. “And flat on the floor.”
“Let me enjoy my victory.” I wrinkle my nose at him. “Not all of us were star gymnasts at Penn State.”
“Most of us weren’t,” he says with a grin. James bends over and greets Evelyn. “Hi, sweet girl. What do you think? Should we blow some bubbles for you and Noah?”
She rewards James with a huge smile and some soft enthusiastic coos. She even kicks her legs and smacks the bar of her stroller.
“You really have the touch with her.”
“It must be the dad vibe.” James unbuckles Evelyn and picks her up. “Oh, you’re so big.” He walks over to the mat. “Noah has already changed so much. I can’t believe in just a few months he’s going to be sitting up like Evelyn.” He sets Evelyn down on the mat and clutches his chest dramatically. “My heart can’t take it.”
Seeing James as a grown man—a father, a business owner—is really special to me. “Hey, remember that night we stole a bottle from my mom’s case of wine and snuck into the boathouse?”
I sit down on the mat and cross my legs as I tickle Noah’s tummy and smile at him.
James gives me a look. “Caroline. Of course, I remember that night. How the hell could I forget that night? I had big plans to get you out of your little denim shorts and instead you threw up all over me.”
“It’s polite of you not to mention what I was doing when I threw up.” I had been drunkenly giving him a blowjob and…disaster. “At least I turned and aimed away from you.”
He laughs and shakes his head. “It’s best left unsaid. Really. Let’s never talk about it again.”
“Take it as a compliment. It was a lot to fit in my mouth.”
James snorts. “Thank you. I guess.”
“I still don’t like white wine,” I lament. “What was that?”
“Moscato. No one should drink an entire bottle of Moscato by themself. That’s a lot of sugar.”
“We’ve come a long way. That was literally the one and only time I’ve thrown up from alcohol.”
“Lucky me, I got to experience that with you. Though I appreciate how hard you worked to redeem yourself the following weekend.” He gives me a wink.
