“Oh, good. I love a good romantic crisis.” Bennett settles back into his chair, checking his cards. “What’s the situation?”
“He’s in love with Clare from PR, brought her home for Christmas, now he’s being a coward about asking her out properly,” Hayes summarizes.
“Clare Johnson?” Bennett’s eyebrows shoot up. “Dude, she’s great. Lucy loves her.”
“Lucy barely knows her.”
“Lucy has instincts about these things. If she likes Clare, Clare’s good people.” He arranges his cards, glancing at the baby in my arms. “Plus, look how natural you are with Emilia. Clare would eat that up.”
“I’m not natural with babies. I’m terrified I’m going to break her.”
“You’re holding her like you’ve done it before. Some guys go all stiff and weird, holding babies like they’re defusing a bomb. You’re just... comfortable.”
I look down at Emilia, who’s now making those soft sleeping noises that babies do. Her tiny fingers are still wrapped around my thumb, and she’s resting her cheek against my chest.
“She is pretty cute,” I admit.
“See? Natural.” Bennett grins. “Clare’s going to want babies someday. Showing her you’re not afraid of them is good strategy.”
“This isn’t a strategy. This is—” I stop, realizing how defensive I sound. “Look, I don’t even know if she’s interested.”
“She went home with you for Christmas,” Hayes points out. “That’s not nothing.”
“It was fake. Professional favor.”
“Professional favors don’t include the way Lucy says she was looking at you the other day,” Bennett says.
I blink. “What?”
“Last week, in the front office hallway, Clare was there, kept glancing toward the door like she was waiting for someone.” Bennett’s grin turns knowing. “Lucy asked her about it, and Clare got all flustered and claimed she was just checking the time.”
A soft warmth unfurls inside me. She was looking for me. Maybe I’m not the only one having trouble moving on from whatever happened in Minnesota.
“So what do I do?”
“Ask her out,” Hayes says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
“To what?”
“Dinner. A movie. Ice skating. Something normal that shows you want to spend time with her outside of work.”
“But make it special,” Ty adds. “Show her you’ve been thinking about her specifically.”
“Like how?”
They all start talking at once, voices overlapping with suggestions that range from reasonable to ridiculous. Take her to that restaurant she mentioned. Buy her something related to that hobby she has. Write her a letter explaining your feelings.
“Shep!” Bennett’s voice cuts through it all. “Do you need to potty again?”
“NO!” comes the reply from the living room. “I’M BUSY!”
“Busy doing what?”
A pause. Then: “NOTHING!”
Bennett’s eyes widen in parental terror. “That’s never good. Watch Emilia—I’ll be right back.”
He disappears again, leaving me holding the baby while the guys continue their romantic intervention.