Toe the Line(57)

“Ah. Alright. I assumed I was gonna meet him. No biggie.”

“Next time.”

“Well, I won’t complain about getting you all to myself.” He winked.

We stopped at Archie’s hotel first so he could check in and drop his bag. I then gave him the quintessential New York experience. We walked through Central Park and got pizza in Little Italy. I’d suggested a Broadway show, but he said he’d prefer to spend time talking to me than watching a performance. So, after strolling around the city, we had a late dinner in Chinatown and pretty much closed out the restaurant as we reminisced about our summer together and reflected over the past decade. The way he beamed when he talked about Clancy made my ovaries want to explode. I never dreamed Archie Remington would be a father, let alone a damn good one. He hadn’t had the best example in his own father, but it seemed he’d learned from his dad’s mistakes. He encouraged his daughter to be whatever she wanted to be.

We skirted the issue of my insemination plans most of the evening until Archie brought the subject up, just as we were about to say goodnight.

“We need to talk more about you tomorrow,” he noted as we stood outside my building.

“What exactly?” I asked, knowing damn well what he was referring to.

“Operation turkey baster.”

I laughed. “It’s a little more high-tech than that.”

“I wanted to keep things light tonight, but seriously, let’s talk about it tomorrow.”

“Okay…” I forced a smile.

Having spent time with Archie again, I looked forward to going through the donor options together. With Archie’s help, I might actually be able to come to a decision and move forward on this.

Archie’s hotel was only a couple of blocks from my apartment, so he’d said he’d walk there. “I don’t feel like leaving you right now,” he confessed as he lingered. “This weekend is going to fly by too fast.”

A piece of his hair fell over his forehead in the way that always made my heart flutter. I almost asked him to come upstairs and hang out more, but then thought better of it—especially now that I realized every shred of my attraction to him was still here. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure I could trust myself. I’d fallen into old feelings tonight and needed to be careful not to let nostalgia mar my judgment.

“Any idea what you want to do tomorrow?” I asked.

“Again, it doesn’t matter to me as long as we’re hanging out together.” He grinned. “Today was so much fun.”

“I was thinking we’d go to a diner for breakfast and explore the city some more.”

“That sounds like a plan.” He looked into my eyes, his expression turning serious. “Then we should go back to your place and talk—after I make you dinner.”

“You don’t have to cook for me.”

“I do. At least once while I’m here. There’s this gourmet market I scouted online. It’s not too far from here. We’ll have to hit that.”

After Archie and I parted ways, I had trouble relaxing that night in bed. I just wanted tomorrow to come so I could see him again.

? ? ?

The following day, after a breakfast of waffles and bacon at one of my favorite greasy spoons, Archie and I walked around the city, got coffee in the afternoon, and went to that gourmet market he’d told me about.

Archie had insisted on making me whatever I wanted. I chose crab cakes and zucchini fries. Not sure where I got that combo, but it just sounded good, and Archie certainly delivered. The crab cakes with homemade tartar sauce were to die for, and the zucchini fries were crisped to perfection.

After dinner, we took our glasses of wine over to my sofa. He sat next to me, and for the first time all day, I sensed a shift in the mood.

Archie put his wine down and rubbed his palms on his pants. “I feel like I gave you the impression that I was scrutinizing your decision when you told me about your baby plans...”

“It did seem like you might have thought it was a bad idea.”

He nodded. “I don’t know what it’s like to be in your shoes. But I do know what it’s like to be a parent. It’s a huge responsibility, but a joy—an experience I would never want you to miss, if it’s something you want. So, of course, if there are no other options, you should absolutely take advantage of what science has made available.” He hesitated. “But if there is an option to have a partner in this, you deserve that. You deserve for someone to have your back. As much as my relationship with Mariah is still a work in progress, parenting is a lot easier because we have each other.”

I shook my head. He was losing me. That was nice in theory but not always realistic. “I already explained that it’s not an option with Jason.” I sighed. “And yes, okay, while I secretly hoped he might change his mind and decide he wanted to be part of this, I respect his decision.”

Archie looked into my eyes. “Do you see yourself with him forever?”

I felt a bit like the walls were closing in. “I don’t know. But that’s the beauty of it. I don’t need to know in order to make this decision.”

Archie just stared at me, his mouth opening and closing as if deciding whether to say something. Sweat formed on my forehead. I worried he was about to try to talk me out of this.