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The seconds in which Vivian blinked and said nothing ticked away on his mother’s grandfather clock. Finally, when Karl thought he’d finally met someone who could wait out his silence, Vivian responded. “I’ve never been to an opera. I don’t think I have anything to wear.”
This was a problem Karl could solve. “I’ll buy you a dress.”
She wrinkled her nose, but her protestations had a new aim. “I don’t know. I think I’m working at the restaurant Friday.”
“I know your boss and I think I can talk her into giving you the night off.”
“I’m not sure you asking your mom to give me the night off is the proper channel. It might constitute special treatment, which I thought you were against.”
“If you don’t want to come to the opera with me, just say so.” He wasn’t used to feeling unsteady when asking a woman on a date. Being irritated was more familiar and comfortable than feeling inept.
Vivian cocked her head, and her answering smile radiated light through the room. “I’d love to go, and I’m sure your mom won’t mind if I take the night off for an evening at the opera. I’ll think about you buying me a dress, but maybe I can borrow something.”
“An evening at the opera with me.” Karl didn’t know why he felt the need to specify the details Vivian already knew, but he wanted there to be no misunderstanding.
“The part where you’re involved is the part of the evening your mother will be most supportive of.”
“Have you been getting the ‘be friends with the mother,’ er, ‘father of your child’ lecture, too?”
Her eyes and smile softened, but were no less beautiful. Even if they broke his heart. “I’ve wanted us to be friends from the beginning.”
* * *
VIVIAN SHUT THE door behind Karl. The living room was silent except for the beat of her heart and the giggling of the women in the kitchen. That the pounding of her heart reverberating through the room was nearly loud enough to drown out the giggles didn’t bode well for her sanity. She had wanted to be friends with Karl from the beginning…but she’d seen the heat in Karl’s eyes when he’d insisted on repeating, “An evening at the opera with me.”
He wanted them to be more than friends. She wanted them to be more than friends.
She rested her hands on her belly. It had just stopped being flat. Growing inside her was a baby. Under other circumstances, they could explore this relationship without concern of consequences for anything other than their hearts. Jelly Bean changed things. If they plunged into a sexual relationship—again—and it failed, where did it leave their shared parenthood? Could they retreat from a romantic relationship back to friendship? Possibly, but it would be difficult.
The knot of her ponytail pressed into her head when Vivian leaned back against the door. Was she talking herself out of letting a date progress because she was scared? She had wanted to be friends, had allowed herself the security of hoping they might be more than friends, and he’d hurt her. Only a fool would open herself up to Karl’s prim self-righteousness again.
Apparently she was a fool. But why?
Because Karl’s eyes twinkled with mischief when he was caught off guard, and his smiles were more precious for being so rare. Because his judgmental mind had a kind heart and a wish for the world to be right and fair for everyone in it—a sentiment that was hard to be too critical of, even if his judgmental mind had fallen upon her.
Mostly Vivian knew she would be a fool because his arms offered the security of a man who knew how the world should be and fought for that reality. And because her fingers wanted to trail down his lean body and pierce his expressionless countenance; the rest of her wanted his strong embrace.
The sound of something falling, then gales of laughter, blasted the reflections out of her mind. Once in the kitchen, she saw that Susan had knocked over a mug of tea and the entire room smelled of brandy.
“Okay,” she said with a clap of her hands. “I think all of you have finally had too much to drink. Even if we played more hands, I’m not sure any of you has enough head on you to count past one, much less make a bet on your count. Let’s clean up, then I’ll give you all a ride home.”
