When I got back to my apartment, I sighed and flopped down onto the sofa, staring at the clock, willing the second hand to go faster so I could call Rosie and make myself feel better. I needed her desperately. I wanted her to hold me and tell me everything was alright and that I’d done the right thing. That couldn’t happen for a while though; she had DJ, so I’d just have to settle for a call for now, and then see her tonight for that hug. Eight o’clock seemed like an age away.

Chapter Nineteen

~ Rosie ~

‘Runaway Baby’ by Bruno Mars started blasting from my purse, and I smiled, knowing that was Nate’s song that I put on there for him. I grabbed my cell phone, wondering why he was calling at this time; it was only twenty to four.

“Hey you, what are you doing calling me this early? Shouldn’t you be at work?” I asked, stopping at the edge of the road and smiling at DJ as he pressed the button for the crossing, tapping it over and over.

“Hey, Rose. Yeah, I should be, but I got sent home early,” Nate answered. Butterflies swooped in my stomach when he called me Rose.

“You did? How come?” I asked as DJ skipped along at my side, swinging my hand back and forth.

“Er, it’s just a formality. It happens every time I-” he stopped talking abruptly. “Nothing, actually just forget it. I just called to say hi. How was school today?” Nate asked, changing the subject.

As he spoke, I noticed that he sounded off. He’d made no jokes, no slutty comments, no flirting or pet names – something was wrong with him.

“A formality for what?” I chewed my lip, waiting for an answer.

He sighed, and there was a couple of seconds of silence before he spoke. “I killed two people today. I got sent home while they investigate.”

I was speechless. He’d told me before that this was the worst part of his job. I had no idea how to make him feel better. I looked down at DJ; I needed to see Nate and make sure he was alright; I couldn’t let him be sad on his own. What I was about to do scared the hell out of me, but I needed to do it, I didn’t have any other choice.

“I’m sorry, Nate,” I mumbled honestly.

“Yeah, it’s okay.” He laughed humourlessly. The sound of his hollow laughter made me feel even worse.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and knew that I needed to take a risk for once in my life. Nate Peters was worth taking a risk on.

“How about you come to mine earlier for dinner tonight,” I offered. “It might take your mind off it for a little while.”

Part of me was hoping he’d say no. If he did then I wouldn’t have to let him into DJ’s life, this still felt like it was way too soon for me, way too soon for DJ. I’d only been dating Nate for five weeks, there was every chance this wouldn’t work out. But I couldn’t not be there for him. I had to try and help him if he was sad.

“Yeah? Where’s DJ going? Josh got him or something?” he replied.

“Umm, no, DJ will be there too.” I gritted my teeth, hoping he wouldn’t run a mile. He’d already asked to meet my son, of course, but part of me wondered if he was just asking knowing that I’d refuse so that he’d gain brownie points.

He took a deep breath, and my heart stopped. This is where he dumps me. Five perfect weeks of happiness with the hot, sweet, funny guy is all I get because I came on too strong. Great job, Rosie!

“Holy shit, really? I get to meet DJ now, that’s really alright with you?”

I looked down at DJ and he smiled up at me happily as he continued to skip along at my side. I smiled back, trying to hide my nerves. “Yeah, if you want to,” I answered, unsure of myself.

“Rose, I’d love to.” His voice was so much happier that it made my heart start back up again in double time. He wasn’t running anywhere, at least, not yet.

“We’re only having chicken nuggets and fries though, nothing exciting.” I wrinkled my nose. It was typical that this happened on the one day I agreed with DJ that we could have junk food for dinner.

“Sounds awesome. What time shall I come over?”

“We’re just walking home now. We’ll be home just before four, so you can come over any time you want.”

“I’ll be there at five past four,” Nate said quickly.

I laughed at his eagerness. “Hold on there, speedy. How about you leave it until quarter past, that way I’ll have time to get him changed.” That wasn’t exactly the only reason I wanted a few more minutes. I’d need a minute or two to run a brush through my hair considering he’d turn up looking like a male model the same as always.

“Okay. Want me to bring anything?” he offered.

“Just you.”

“Great. Well, I’ll see you in a bit then. Thanks, Stripes.”

“Sure. See you then.” I disconnected the call, praying I hadn’t just made the worst mistake of my life by inviting him into DJ’s life.

DJ smiled up at me, and my heart melted at how cute my boy was.

“A friend of mine’s coming over for dinner with us tonight,” I informed him, trying to cover up the nerves and all around terror that I felt inside.

What if DJ didn’t like Nate? What if he hated him and I was forced to break it off with Nate because my son couldn’t accept him? What if Nate hated DJ? Oh God, why had I done this?

“Auntie Anna?” DJ asked excitedly.

I shook my head apologetically. “No, Baby; a new friend of mine. His name’s Nate.”

He frowned, obviously disappointed. “Oh okays,” he muttered, pouting.

“We’ll go see Anna next week if you want,” I suggested, needing to get him in a good mood again for dinner. He nodded eagerly, and I looked at him warningly. “You’ll be good at dinner though, right? Eat nicely and stuff? We don’t want Nate to think we’re a pair of piglets do we?” I teased, trying to make it sound more like a joke as I squeezed his hand gently.

By the time we got home I was so nervous and scared that I felt slightly sick. Dashing into my bedroom, I brushed my hair and applied a quick coat of mascara and some lip gloss. I groaned quietly, knowing I needed to do a lot more to look like I was worthy of Nate’s attention. What he saw in me I had no idea. The guy was so incredibly handsome, yet for some unknown reason he liked me when he should have really been dating a baggage-free swimwear model instead of a single mother.

I just had time to change DJ out of his paint-covered day-care clothes before the intercom buzzed. I practically skipped to the door, throwing a pleading look in DJ’s direction as I pressed the button to let Nate up.

“DJ, please be good for me, okay?”

“I will, Momma,” he confirmed, his eyes not leaving the TV.

I pulled the door open, flicking the latch so I didn’t get locked out, and stepped into the hallway. When Nate got to the top of the stairs, I swooned internally. He was just in jeans and a black T-shirt, but it looked like it was made for him. The beautiful grin that stretched across his face made my heart stutter.

He stopped in front of me and raised his hand, cupping the side of my neck as his thumb traced my cheekbone.

“Hi,” I whispered breathlessly.

His mouth inched towards mine. I wanted to throw myself at him, wrap my arms around his neck and crush my body to his as I kissed the life out of him. Instead, I stayed still as he pressed his lips to mine for a split second before pulling back smiling his sexy, cocky little smile, as if he knew what I was thinking.

“Hi.” He grinned and kissed my forehead lightly before looking at me curiously. “You’re sure this is okay? I don’t mind if you need more time, just the fact that you’ve asked me means a lot to me,” he said softly, his blue eyes burning into mine as if he was trying to drag the truth from them.

“I’m sure,” I lied, trying to sound more confident than I felt. Now that he was here though, it actually felt like the right thing to do. Only time would tell if this was a mistake. There was nothing I could do about it now, except pray that he didn’t break both mine and my little boy’s hearts.

His grin widened as his hand moved from my neck, tracing down my arm until he got to my hand. He interlaced our fingers before pulling my hand up and kissing my knuckles softly. My heart raced in my chest.

“Nate, I told him we were friends. I just don’t want him to freak out about you or anything. I hope that’s alright with you. I just don’t want to throw too much at him in one go,” I said, looking at him apologetically.

“Sure, whatever you want.” He let go of my hand, the adorable smile still plastered on his face.

I smiled and stepped forward, pressing my lips to his again for a couple of seconds, pulling away before I wouldn’t be able to. His kisses were addictive. I always felt a little like I needed a fix when I hadn’t seen him for a little while.

“Are you okay? You sounded so sad on the phone,” I whispered, stroking my hand on his chest.

“I’m fine now that I’m here. Thank you for inviting me,” he answered, looking at me so gratefully that it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

“You’re very welcome. Come on then, and play nice,” I teased, as I headed inside.

As we walked into the lounge, I looked back at Nate. For some reason, he actually looked incredibly nervous. I wanted to take his hand and reassure him, but my first priority was my son. Nate was a big boy; he could take care of himself. Pretending that we were friends for a little while so they could get to know each other would be better for DJ in the long run.

DJ was still watching TV in the same exact spot. “DJ?” I called, waiting until he looked at me before I spoke again. “This is my friend Nate who’s having dinner with us tonight.” Gritting my teeth, I waited for his reaction. Please don’t throw a fit or something because I really like him. He makes Momma happy, DJ, please like him!

“Hi,” DJ answered, smiling as he looked Nate over. “We’re having my favourite dinner tonight.” He beamed happily.

Nate stepped forward, his shoulders a little stiffer than normal, his usual cocky and relaxed demeanour was gone. “Yeah? What are we having?” he asked, cocking his head to the side, smiling.

“Nuggets and alphabetti pasghetti,” DJ chirped. I smiled to myself that he still couldn’t say that word properly.

Nate gasped. “That’s your favourite? That’s my favourite!” he replied excitedly, playing along as DJ’s eyes widened. “Do you like chocolate cake too?” Nate asked. DJ nodded, licking his lips. “Well that’s great because I bought a cake for dessert, so now I’ll have someone to share it with.”

Dropping my eyes down to his hand, I saw a grocery bag that I hadn’t even noticed in my eagerness to kiss him.

“You brought a chocolate cake?” DJ cried, bouncing on the sofa with excitement.

“Yep, and I know your momma doesn’t like chocolate cake too much, so I bought her a plain boring one,” Nate replied, scrunching his face up with mock disgust.

Nate reached into the grocery bag, pulling out a kids’ magazine. “While I was at the store I saw this and thought you might like it.” He held it out to DJ, who practically snatched it out of his hands with an excited whoop noise.

I just stood there watching the whole scene with my heart in my throat. Damn, where the hell did I find this freaking guy? TooGoodToBeTrue.com?

DJ stood up and was jumping up and down on the sofa, waving the Disney magazine at me. “Look, Momma, Woody’s book!” he cried excitedly.

“Stop jumping, Baby,” I said quickly, but my voice had lost some of its authority due to it barely being above a whisper. Nate was so incredibly thoughtful. Even Josh never made an effort like this with DJ. Emotions were hitting me hard as I looked between the two of them. “Baby, what do you say to Nate?” I asked, still barely able to breathe.

“Thanks, Nate!” DJ cried instantly, as he dropped down onto the sofa skimming through the pages with a huge grin on his face.

“No problem, Kid. I got you some candy in the bag too, but you’ll have to ask Momma if you can have that after dinner or something.” Nate looked at me with a slightly worried expression on his face.

I needed to get out of the room; I could feel my eyes starting to prickle with tears. It was one thing for Nate to treat me so nicely all the time but for him to do the same to my son meant the world to me. I held my hand out for the bag. Putting the cake in the kitchen would be a perfect excuse for me to compose myself for a minute. Nate’s face dropped a little as he looked at me apologetically before putting the bag in my hand.

“I’ll be right back, I’ll just put this in the other room,” I mumbled, heading for the kitchen. Setting the bag on the counter, I closed my eyes, trying to get my breathing to even out. My heart was still racing. How could he be that thoughtful and adorable?

Something touched my back, and I jumped a mile before I realised it was Nate. His arm snaked around my waist as he pressed his chest to my back, resting his chin on my shoulder.

“I’m sorry, I should have asked first. I didn’t think you’d mind if I got him it; I just saw it and I know you said he was a Disney freak, so I bought it. I’ve overstepped the mark and upset you, haven’t I?” he said apologetically, his arm tightening around my waist.

He thought I was upset that he’d bought DJ a magazine? I turned around in his embrace, facing him. His eyes met mine and I tried not to cry because he really was just too good for someone like me.

“I’m not upset.” I shook my head fiercely. “I was just shocked. I didn’t expect you to do that. That was really sweet, Nate. So thoughtful. Thank you.”