“Hey!” Gage protested. “I’ve had girlfriends before. I mean, come on, I’ve dated way more than either of you have so don’t you think I probably know more about women?”

“Relationships?” Mac laughed. “Have you ever gone out with a woman without sleeping with her? And if that miracle actually happened, did you ever attempt to see her again or did you go ahead and delete her from your phone?”

Dominic turned in his seat to find Gage once again looking around nervously as he had in the office earlier. “Of course, I have,” Gage snorted. “I’m just not sitting around crying over my feelings all of the time like you two.”

“We’re not talking high school here,” Dominic added. “We’ve been friends for over ten years now, and I’ve never known you to actually date anyone. You seem to have an unlimited supply of women more than ready to sleep with you, though, which is completely baffling to me.”

“Why are you busting my balls?” Gage huffed. “Unless you’ve forgotten, we all spent eight years surrounded by mostly men. None of us were exactly doing much dating back then. And Mac might have finally snagged a woman and gotten married, but Dom, you’re not doing too hot in that area. Plus, I don’t recall a single long-term relationship that you’ve been involved in—your mother and sister don’t count, by the way.”

“You’re right.” Dominic seemed to surprise Gage when he agreed. “I had girlfriends at times before I joined the military, but like you said, that doesn’t happen too much while you’re enlisted. Gwen is a completely new thing for me, which I knew she would be. Being married to Uncle Sam was all of our lives for too long. Hell, I hate to admit it, but I’m afraid I’m screwing up with her because I’ve been out of the dating game for too long.”

“You’ve dated since we got out,” Mac added. “Why the sudden panic over a woman?”

Dominic ran a hand over his head in frustration. “Because I’m in love with her and it has me second-guessing everything I’ve ever known.”

“But you’ve only been going out a few weeks,” Mac choked out. “That’s pretty fast, bro. Are you sure it’s not just something of the physical nature? We all spent a lot of time without a woman in our lives—well, other than . . .”

“One-blow wonders?” Gage added from the backseat.

Mac winced at the other man’s description. “I wasn’t going to put it like that, but you know, casual hookups. It would be too easy to lose it over the first woman who you have some kind of connection with.”

Dominic released a heavy sigh, wishing this conversation had never gotten started. “Mac, I’m not some teenager who lost his head after having sex for the first time. I’ve been hung up on her since I first saw her at our apartment building. I went to a senior citizens water dancing class for God’s sake! What does that tell you?”

“Well, fuck,” Mac said, sounding stunned. “You do love her, don’t you?”

“Ain’t no doubt about it,” Gage added. “No man does something like that unless he’s already given his dick away. Big props to you on going that far, though, bro. I thought it was bad when I waxed her legs the other night.”

Laughter filled the vehicle when Gage’s last comment hit him. “Dude, whose legs did you wax? We better not still be talking about Gwen.”

“Shit, no, not Gwen,” Gage sputtered out. “I . . . I meant I’ve done that in the past. Not like recently or anything.”

Looking at Gage in the rearview mirror, Mac snorted, “I call bullshit on that. You’re seeing someone, aren’t you? Hell’s bells, you got a woman, Gage?”

Dominic turned completely in his seat to stare at Gage incredulously. “You do, don’t you? That’s why you’ve been wigging out this morning. I knew something was up. It’s Crystal, isn’t it? You finally get her to take pity on you?”

“No, it’s not Crystal,” Gage replied, surprising them all. “I . . . um just ran into this girl one day and then we seemed to keep running into each other. I mean, it happened before I even realized it was a thing. One day we were laughing when we almost collided in Walmart and then I was eating with her at McDonald’s.” Seeming truly perplexed, he asked, “Can you imagine me doing something that innocent with a woman? And I had a good time, too. There are a couple of issues with her that I have no idea how to deal with, though.”

Forgetting his own problems, Dominic was intrigued. The only woman he’d ever heard Gage say more than a few sentences about was Kandi and that was just because the other man was obsessed with the thought of a stripper threesome. “Why haven’t you said anything about seeing someone? Hell, I’ve given you plenty of opportunities while we’ve been talking about Gwen. And what are the issues with her? Fuck, she’s not married, is she?”

“No, man, she’s not married. She’s just different than my usual type.”

“Doesn’t accept dollar bills in her underwear?” Mac asked.

“Ha-ha.” Gage rolled his eyes. “I believe you’re talking about Dom’s past girlfriends.” Looking relieved, he added, “Oh look, we’re here. I hate that this conversation will have to wait, but what’re ya gonna do, boys?” With that, he flopped back against his seat, and Dominic thought it was probably the first time Gage had been more excited to work than to goof off. Strange—who was the mystery woman that Gage had gotten involved with? Shaking his head, he decided that he had enough confusion and mixed signals in his own love life without worrying about his friend’s.

*   *   *

“That’s a total waste of a manicure.” Gwen looked up to find Suzy smiling down at her. She’d decided to have lunch at one of the outdoor tables that were scattered into the beautiful landscape around Danvers. Her mind was on the previous night with Dominic when Suzy’s voice pulled her from the daze that she had fallen into.

Holding up her half-chewed nail, she gave a sheepish grin before dropping her hand back to her lap. “Yeah, between popping my fingers and chewing on them, I’m a lost case. It just makes me grateful that I never understand what they’re saying at the nail place when they fix my mess.”

Indicating the bench, Suzy asked, “Mind if I sit with you? I’ve already walked off my nervous anxiety and now I’m just tired.”

“Sure,” Gwen replied, even though company was the last thing she wanted. She’d really enjoyed her lunch with Suzy and the other girls, but they were still somewhat like strangers to her. Good manners dictated that she at least attempt a few minutes of small talk before making her excuses and leaving, though. “So, nervous anxiety, huh?” Boy, did she know that feeling well. “Bad day at work?” Gwen only wished her problems centered on Danvers and not what she had discovered earlier that morning.

“Nope, nothing work related.” Suzy took a deep breath and said, “I just found out I’m getting a baby. Or Gray and I are.”

Gwen felt like all of the air had left her lungs. This wasn’t the explanation that she’d expected by any means. “You’re pregnant?” she managed to squeak out.

“No.” Suzy shook her head. “My husband and I have been on a waiting list to adopt a child . . . and I just got the call. A birth mother has selected us.”

Gwen gaped at the other woman, trying to process her words. “Oh, my . . . Wow!” she whispered. “I . . . um didn’t know you were trying to adopt. I remember someone asking you if there was anything new on the baby front at lunch the other day, but I just assumed . . .”

“No, I’m not trying to get pregnant—anymore.” Then looking completely at peace, she added, “This is our path—what we’re meant to do right now. I just . . . never expected it to happen this soon.” Turning to fully face Gwen, she admitted, “I’m excited, beyond excited, honestly. But, I’m scared to believe that this will actually work out. We’ve gotten our hopes up too much in the last few years. I want to run to Gray right now and tell him, but then a part of me is afraid to see his happiness dashed if this isn’t our baby.”