Chaser (Dive Bar #3)(45)

“About what?”

“Don’t try that shit with me,” he said, gaze fixed. “You’ve had your head messed up about her ever since she arrived.”

“She just had a baby.”

“Didn’t stop you from imagining she and I were suddenly joined at the hip, did it?”

Huh. Sort of true. Or definitely true. One of those.

“I sympathize, man. I really do.” He put his hand on the door. “But I also have a beautiful woman waiting for me to take her to bed. So you and your problems are going to have to wait.”

I hesitated.

“Go and sleep. You need it,” he said. “And dude, maybe you should seriously think about getting laid. You’ve made your point to Nell and the rest of them. It might help you relax.”

“Maybe.” God knows, just like the song said, masturbation had long since lost its thrill. But now I was pretty much confused about fucking everything. Besides being exhausted. “You’re definitely not hurting her by doing this?”

“Not even a little. Night, man.”

“Morning.”

The douchebag wiggled his fingers bye-bye before disappearing inside his apartment. I lingered in the hallway, lost in my thoughts. Soon enough the sound of feminine giggles and moans started up. And I stood outside his door listening like a pervert. Nice. Though it was probably as close as I would be getting to sex anytime soon, what with my fascination for all things Jean. Fascination wasn’t an emotion. It wasn’t love or anything. It was just like … you know, a thing.

I trudged into my apartment, slipping off my tiepin and unknotting my tie, tossing them on the sideboard. If you couldn’t dress up for New Year’s, when the hell could you? Next, I toed off my boots and socks, then just kind of gave up on life and getting undressed and fell into bed. Stone-cold sober and alone at the end of one hell of a New Year’s Eve party. These days, I barely recognized myself. What a sad sap I’d become.

On the other hand, Andre and Jean were just friends. Excellent news. I fell asleep soon after with a smile on my face.

*

“It’s also her seven-week birthday tomorrow,” I said.

Jean looked from me to the bear and back again with Ada gurgling on her shoulder. Hard to tell if she was stunned or pissed. The mom, not the baby. Ada seemed fine about the whole thing and enjoying her midmorning awake time. Though to be fair, Ada had trouble focusing on anything more than a foot away, so probably couldn’t even see the problem.

“That’s worth celebrating, right?” I smiled. “Jean?”

Her lips parted but no words escaped.

Shit, she wasn’t buying it. So I might have gone a little overboard with Ada’s Christmas present. How was I to know? This was my first time having anything to do with an infant. Women you could get flowers. So long as you aren’t cheap, they’re happy. All good. But babies are trickier and I wanted to make an impression. A good one, though.

“It’s bigger than her nursery,” said Jean, eyes still wide with shock.

“Sorry.”

She exhaled. “No, Eric, it’s great. Incredibly generous of you. I just…”

“A nine-foot-tall teddy is a bit much, huh?”

“Just a little. Not that it’s not beautiful.”

We both stared at the big fluffy bastard sitting in the corner of her living room. I’d smuggled him into the apartment when Jean was changing Ada in the nursery. Though maybe “smuggled” was the wrong word for something that had to be squeezed through the door. He did kind of take up a lot of space. Oops. “A bit too big.”

She nodded. Then she started quietly laughing. “That’s the largest teddy bear I’ve ever seen in my life. I mean … it’s ginormous. Where do you even get something like that?”

“Ordered it online. I might have gotten a little carried away,” I said. “Just wanted her to have the best.”

Jean’s eyes went all soft and sappy.

“No big deal,” I said.

“It’s a huge deal. You’re very sweet, Eric.”

Jesus. I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jeans feeling awkward as hell.

“Is it wrong that I feel like someone needs to make a joke about size?” she asked.

“Later,” I said. “Not in front of the baby.”

She snorted and kissed Ada’s little head. Over on the table, her cell started beeping. “Do you mind?”

I took the baby, getting my first cuddle in ages. “Hello.”

Ada stared up at me with her big eyes.

“You know I was reading the other night and the book said you should be seeing things better soon,” I told her. “Your fingers will be opening too. What do you think?”

She whacked me in the chest with her tiny fist.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get there.”

Over by the table, Jean had her cell up to her ear, listening. “No, Mom, it’s fine that you called.”

Anxiety seemed to be flowing out of the woman in waves. If her parents upset her any more I’d have a few things of my own to say.

“Yes, I realize that Grandma leaving me everything upset you,” said Jean, her lips a tight line. “Threatening to sue me kind of made that point.”

Uh, this was not good.