Our divorce took place pretty quickly.

The funny thing was though, nothing much changed. Ernest still harassed me on the phone, and Denton dropped by to pick me up whenever I had an appointment with my obstetrician. Everything felt normal.

Until the day Rach finally returned from Europe, and we were instantly whisked away to Ernest’s condo on Park Avenue.

Correction: my condo on Park Avenue.

“We’re living here?” Rach whispered, afraid to set foot inside. The condominium had three bedrooms plus a study, including three bathrooms. It would be a nightmare to clean the place on a regular basis.

“Courtesy of Ernest North.” I didn’t mention that I owned the place. “He came over on Christmas and thought we needed more space, especially when the baby arrives. So here we are. You like it?”

Rach nodded, somewhat hesitant. “I don’t know if I can return to my old life again after this.”

It took us several days to pack our things and move permanently into the condo. Lucky for us, the spacious home was already furnished with Ernest’s tasteful furniture and art, so we didn’t have to move anything heavy.

“Pinch me,” Rach said, collapsing on the leather couch. “It still feels like a dream.”

“I’m not going to do that. Oh, I hope you don’t mind, but I asked Mom to move in with us. She’s going to quit her managerial position and open her own boutique closer to where I am.”

“I love your mom, Tiff. And when she’s around, we always have good food instead of takeout.” She sighed dreamily. “Seriously, I feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven.”

It did mean she had to drive longer to get to work, but what was an extra thirty to forty minutes when you got to live in a place like this?

We settled into the luxury condo pretty quickly, and Mom moved in a week later. I still returned to teaching my ESL classes, and spent my time visiting Ernest and helping Mom with her new boutique. Because the legal mumbo jumbo of the business transactions gave me a massive headache, I left that to her and focused on arranging the tasteful outfits and accessories around the store. As more work piled up, Mom had no choice but to hire three assistants. The place was starting to feel like a real business now.

One morning, while I was binging on hot dogs and pickles, Denton called me. “How do you feel today?”

“Hungry,” I muttered, biting down on my fourth hot dog. “This baby of yours is like an eating machine.”

He chuckled. “If you don’t have other plans tonight, maybe we could go out for dinner. Just the two of us.”

“Are you asking me out on an actual date?”

“Yes,” he said, not even bothering to deny it. “Dress in smart casual. I’ll pick you up at eight.”

Well, this was interesting. As I hung up, I suddenly grew nervous. What did this mean? Was this a step forward in our relationship, or was I reading into it too much?

“Oh, stop overanalyzing,” I said to myself, returning to the hot dogs. “Just go out and have some fun.”

When eight o’clock arrived, my nerves rattled as I sat waiting on the couch.

“He’s late,” Rach pointed out, looking annoyed.

Mom hushed her. “He’ll be here soon. Now come into the kitchen and help me with the tuna casserole.”

When she disappeared into the kitchen, the doorbell rang. I jumped to my feet and went to the door, opening it. Why, why was he so good looking?

Denton flashed a disarming smile, wearing an expensive navy suit and silk tie.

“I thought you said smart casual?” I glanced down at my simple black dress. I’d chosen black to hide the bump that had begun showing recently.

“I came straight from the office,” he explained. “You look gorgeous, by the way.”

“Thanks.” I did my best to ignore the fluttering in my stomach. “You look,”—

like a god—“pretty nice yourself.”

Denton took me to a small Italian restaurant owned by one of his close college friends. As we sat down in an intimate corner of the room, his friend bustled over to introduce himself.

“Tiffany Lewis,” he said as he took my hand. “I’ve heard so much about you.” He was tall and muscular, and sporting a thick man bun.

I smiled and glanced around. “You have a lovely restaurant.”

“This is Michael Ricci,” Denton said. “We shared a dorm room for two years in college. All he did was talk about opening his restaurant and hardly went to classes. It drove me nuts when he still got top marks, though.”

Michael laughed. “What can I say? I’m naturally gifted.”

“I still think you bribed the professors. Maybe with a plate of potato gnocchi.”

We ordered a pizza marinara, linguine with clam sauce for Denton, and a Veal Milanese for me. No wine, since I was pregnant and Denton had driven the car tonight.

“I’m so glad you brought me here.” The intimate coziness of the restaurant was romantic without being flashy.

“It’s one of my favorite places to eat in New York. You’re the first date I’ve brought here.”

“I’m honored,” I said, half joking. “I think I’ll write about this in my diary tonight.”

When the food came, everything looked and smelled delicious. Once I began eating, it was hard to stop. I chewed as Denton talked about work and updated me on Gloria’s social activities.

“Is she upset with me?” The last time I’d visited the Hamptons, she had given me the cold shoulder except when the conversation centered around the baby.

“Probably. I mean, you did divorce her precious son.”

“It was a mutual decision! And it was her son who planned the whole fake marriage!”

Denton grinned, enjoying my fury. “She doesn’t care about that. In her eyes, you took advantage of me.”

Man, that totally sucked. But it wasn’t enough to curb my appetite. Tonight, I would eat. And tomorrow, I would start worrying again.

We ordered more pasta and pizza and spent the evening talking about our college experiences and laughing as we shared embarrassing stuff we’d done as kids.

This was a dream date if there ever was one, and I didn’t want the night to end.

It seemed Denton felt the same way—he asked if I wanted dessert, then coffee. Later, as we thanked Michael for a wonderful dinner and stepped outside, he asked if we could take a stroll down the street.

“It’s pretty chilly out,” I said, pulling my coat closer.

“Just for a few minutes, Tiffany.”

He wrapped his arm around me as we walked past shops and restaurants, shielding me from the cold by keeping me close to his body. Unable to help myself, I snuggled even closer.

“Why did you ask me out, Denton?” I asked softly, glancing up at him. “I mean, what’s the purpose of tonight’s date?”

“I said I wanted to build our relationship, didn’t I? I’ll tell you a little secret, though—this was the best first date I’ve ever been on.”

“Only because it’s technically not our first,” I said teasingly.

“It’s our first date as two honest, single people. No fake proposals. No contracts. Just two available people who are wildly attracted to each other.”

I stopped walking. “You’re wildly attracted to me?” Not that it was a competition or anything, but I’d always assumed my attraction to him was a lot stronger.

“Hell, yes.” His gaze fell to my slightly protruding belly. “And I don’t know what it is about being pregnant, but you look so unbelievably hot tonight.” He raised a hand and hovered it over my belly. “May I?”

“Go ahead.” I smiled reassuringly.

His touch was soft but firm as he learned the small curves and dips that held his baby. His other hand slipped into my coat, pausing at the rising swell of my ass.

“All I want to do right this minute is bury my face between your legs,” he whispered, his focus on my eyes looking a little unsteady.

My own breathing grew unsteady. “That’s not something you normally say to a woman on the first date.”

“No, it isn’t. Then again, what we have isn’t exactly normal, is it?”

I shook my head, leaning in. “No.”

Our lips met in a gentle kiss as we stood on the sidewalk, busy New Yorkers walking around us in the background. When our kiss deepened and grew more passionate, a man yelled something at us angrily.

“What did he say?” I breathed, pulling back.

“I think he said we should go get a room.” Denton raised a cocky brow. “He’s not entirely wrong.”

“I don’t sleep with a guy on the first date,” I said, going for a prim tone. “One kiss, and that’s it for tonight.”

Denton looked disappointed as we walked back to the car. Later, when he dropped me off in front of the building, we shared another intimate kiss before reluctantly parting ways.

I stepped into the condo to find Mom and Rach sprawled in front of the TV. They were in their pajamas and watching the latest season of Criminal Minds.

“How was the date?” Rach asked, looking up from her bag of potato crisps.

I shrugged, hiding how I truly felt. “It was okay. We had pasta and pizza.”

“Did you have fun?” Mom’s curious eyes landed on me, searching.

I had so much fun, I felt like I was falling in love with Denton all over again.

But I didn’t say that. Instead, I smiled. “We had a good time, all three of us.”