saunters away as if he wasn’t just told to stuff it in a room full of people.
“Go after him and give him a piece of your mind,” Chelsea says. “What an asshole.”
Hannah’s gaze stays on him at the bar. We watch him point to us, the bartender’s attention turning our way.
“He’s not worth it,” Hannah says, back to her collected self.
“From the heat that just filled this entire booth, I’m not sure about that,” I say. “Who is he?”
Hannah’s eyes don’t leave his. “Roarke Baldwin. My ex’s divorce attorney.”
Chapter Eleven
“There they are!” Jade jumps up and down in front of Navy Pier when Reed steps out of the Uber.
He must have stock in Uber. Has he never heard of public transportation?
Jade makes the first move and runs over to Henry, talking a mile a minute about the movie we’re going to see, while Reed waits patiently, his gaze flickering my way every other second or so. He fist bumps Jade and ushers the kids away from the side of the road toward the entrance.
“Happy Saturday,” he says, tucking his hands in his jacket pockets to show he’s not stepping over any boundaries. He looks good in his casual wear—a white Henley with a jacket over top and worn jeans.
“Hey,” I say. “Cute.”
He chuckles his usual amusement that ignites my stomach flipping. “I thought so.”
“Let’s go.” Jade tugs at my arm. “I don’t want to be late.”
“I think she’s spoken.” He nods to the glass doors that lead into Navy Pier.
Trying to keep the kids to the Imax theater without getting distracted is more of a struggle than I’d anticipated. I drag Jade away from a colored sand booth and Reed steers Henry away from a place selling fidget spinners. We usher them past popcorn stands and ice cream parlors, though both of those sound good right now. My stomach rumbles from the multitude of scents wafting out of the different restaurants as we make our way down the long pier.
“I think we should go on the Ferris wheel after the movie,” Reed says as we pass a picture of it.
“Yeah!” Jade exclaims, eyeing me to see if she’ll be allowed.
I hate that look. Usually, I don’t say no when we’re places like this. We do everything and anything because she’s young and I know the deal, soon she won’t want me anywhere near her. I’ve had a boulder in my stomach ever since this morning when she asked me if I was really okay with going and if I didn’t want to be with Reed, then we didn’t have to go. She’s so intuitive. Break my heart, why don’t you.
“Sounds fun.” I smile down at my daughter and remember that she only got one call this week from her dad. One. She deserves some fun.
“Really?” Reed says. “I thought I’d have to work a little harder for it.”
“We’re here, aren’t we? Might as well make the most of it.”
I know he’s staring at me as we continue the walk to the theater, but I force myself not to look back at him.
We arrive at the theater and Reed handles the tickets, after which we head to the concession stand to order our popcorn, candy, and drinks. We each hand our cards to the young girl behind the register at the same time and she looks uncertain as her eyes flicker from his credit card to mine.
“Take mine. I’m the man,” Reed says, and the girl’s shoulder rises in agreement, plucking it from his grip.
“Um, you being the man does not mean you pay.”
“It does when I tricked you into coming.” He winks and that, as well as the word coming rolling off his tongue, makes it feel as if hot lava has replaced the blood in my veins. If it weren’t for that, I would’ve had a snappy comeback.
Was I blind at my wedding eight years ago? Did I ignore the pull between us, or was I so hung up on Pete I didn’t notice other men?
He signs the receipt, shoves his wallet in his back pocket and we catch up to the kids who are going over the movie posters along the wall.
“Icees?” Jade’s eyes light up. She takes the cup Reed’s offering her and then hugs me.
“Tell me you’re not one of those moms?” Reed asks, handing me my own cup.
“What kind of mom is that?” I fill up my cup with diet soda because I’m a hypocrite of a mother.
“The kind who prohibits their kids from eating