"Ooh, what'd you get him?" Ginny asked, sitting up straighter. I could tell that the topic of her son had already cheered her up.

"A shirt, a few toys; nothing too major," Jen said.

"Hmm, that sounds like what I got him," I said.

Ginny looked at me, a slightly sheepish smile on her face. "Me, too. I think we went a little overboard."

When Josh and Danny arrived a few minutes later, it was clear that we had gone more than just a little overboard. After accepting kisses and hugs from all three of us, Danny was promptly made to open no fewer than ten presents. He was now the proud owner of four Vegas t-shirts, an Eiffel Tower money bank, several pool floats in various shapes, and a gladiator costume from Caesar's Palace.

"Talk about spoiled," Josh muttered. "Is anyone at all excited to see me?"

Ginny ceased her incessant kissing of Danny to smile at Josh. "Sorry, babe," she said, getting up to hug him h.e.l.lo. Jen took over snuggling the baby. I had to admit, Josh had a point. Between the three women in his life, Danny was pretty spoiled. But how could you blame us, when he was that cute and sweet?

"Oh."

We all looked up to see Tina standing in the doorway, looking at us with a bewildered expression.

"There are people here," she said, still looking confused.

"Hey, Tina," Jen said. "How was your weekend?"

"Weekend?" she asked, her fake airy voice becoming more p.r.o.nounced.

"Yeah, your weekend," Jen said. "Did you enjoy having the house to yourself while we were gone?"

"You were gone?" Tina asked.

I rolled my eyes. She was such a faker.

"Yeah, we've been in Vegas, remember? You said goodbye to us when we left on Thursday," I said.

"Oh...oh, yes, I suppose I do remember that. It must have slipped my mind. I've been doing so much meditating, I've barely been on this plane at all..."

With a dreamy little shrug, she turned and slipped back to her bedroom. Jen and Ginny were doing their d.a.m.nedest not to laugh. "She is ridiculous," I muttered. "Seriously, who does she think she's kidding?"

"I'm surprised you don't like her," Josh said, draping his arm lazily over Ginny's shoulder. "I mean, aren't you supposed to be all into that open-minded hippie stuff? I've seen some of the theater friends you hang out with, you know."

"Tina is not a hippie," I said firmly. "She doesn't really believe in meditation or crystals or any of it. I would respect her if I thought she was for real, but she's not anything but a fake. Her whole persona is just an excuse to smoke pot and be lazy. She's a poser."

"The worst thing you can be in Annie's book," Ginny told him, smiling at me in a fond sort of way.

"Enough about crazy Tina," Josh said, leaning in for another kiss. "I thought you were supposed to be telling me how much you miss me?"

Ginny giggled and snuggled into him.

My cell phone rang, distracting me from the sight of Ginny and Josh reuniting. Something about the sight of them set off a little pain in my stomach, though I had no idea why-usually their overt displays of affection simply made me nauseous.

I looked down at the screen of my phone and found myself smiling involuntarily.

I managed to slip out of the living room without interrogation, and I answered the phone on my way to my bedroom.

"Hey," I said softly.

"Hey," Nate replied. I felt my smile grow. "Will you call me a wuss if I told you that I miss you already?"

"Probably," I said.

"Well, I guess I couldn't expect any less from you." The amus.e.m.e.nt was clear in his voice and I could just tell he was smiling on the other end of the phone. I felt my own smile grow wider. I probably looked like an idiot.

"What can I say, Nate? I'm a tough broad."

He laughed. "I'm actually not so sure about that."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I think that's just reputation, a cover."

"So what am I covering up?" I asked, feeling my stomach squirm a little at the flirtatious tone in his voice.

"Your soft and gooey underside," he replied. I burst out laughing.

"Nice try," I told him.

"I still think I'm right," he replied easily. "But I guess we can table the topic for now. So, are you home yet?"

"Yeah, landed about an hour ago. We're currently showering Danny with way too many gifts. You'd think it was his birthday or something."

"See?" Nate replied. "Even the baby has you wrapped around his finger. Soft and gooey, just like I said."

"Whatever," I said, rolling my eyes. "So where are you?"

"Waiting at the airport," he said. "Bored out of my mind and wishing you were here."

"What about all of your friends?" I asked.

"They're all hung over," he replied. "Everyone is sitting around with sungla.s.ses on, trying not to move so they don't throw up."

"Sounds like a successful bachelor party," I said.

"I guess so. But anyhow, I wondered what you were up to tonight."

"Tonight?" I asked. I had been planning on lazing around the house, spending time with the girls and Danny.

"Yeah. I was thinking maybe we could get dinner when I get back."

When I didn't answer, he sighed. "Just casual, Annie," he said. "No big deal, I promise. We'll get dinner and I'll take you right home."

"Well, I do have to work tomorrow," I said, seizing on the excuse.

"Me too."

"But a person does have to eat..."

"Also true," Nate said, and I could once again hear the amus.e.m.e.nt in his voice. He knew I was caving.

"Fine," I said. "When does your flight land?"

"I can be in Ferndale by seven," he replied.

"Then I guess I'll see you at seven."

Nate was laughing outright now. "What?" I asked, feeling annoyed.

"Soft and gooey," he repeated.

"Goodbye, Nate," I muttered.

"Bye, Annie."

I could still hear the sounds of his quiet laughter as I ended the call.

I saw Nate three times over the next three days. I knew I was being stupid, allowing myself to move so fast with him, but I couldn't help it. If I was honest with myself, I really liked spending time with him. And it was, admittedly, very flattering to see how much he clearly liked spending time with me. He took me out to dinner the Sunday night we got back, again the following day, and met me for lunch on Tuesday.

That was another thing about Nate: he insisted on paying for everything. It made me feel uncomfortable. I had never been the type of girl to blindly let the guy take care of everything, and I told him so.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, sounding hurt. "I'm just trying to be a gentleman."

"But that implies that you think I need you to, like, provide for me or something."

Nate rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. I can tell that you are perfectly capable of taking care of yourself. But I'm the one who asked you out. And I was raised to believe that when you ask someone out, you pay. You can pay when you ask me out."

"Who said I'm ever going to ask you out?" I asked.

"No one said you had to," he replied, smirking. "But if you don't, I'll just keep asking you. Which means that I'll keep paying for your dinner. If you don't like it, I guess you'll have to do something about it."

I glared at him. "This all sounds like a ploy to make sure I'll keep seeing you."

He merely shrugged, the smirk still evident in his face.

At the end of our lunch date, he asked if I would see him for dinner. I was grateful for the excuse to decline-I knew I needed to slow this down, and fast. Luckily, I was babysitting for Danny that night so Ginny and Josh could have an evening to themselves.

"Okay," Nate said, nonplussed. "Tomorrow then?"

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "How about I take you out?" I asked.

Nate grinned broadly. "See?" he said. "My plan is totally working."

Chapter Fourteen.

*The first time your potential mate invites you to his home is a big deal. You can tell a lot about a man by the house he keeps. Does he care for his s.p.a.ce? Is he good at making home repairs? Does it look like his home is dying for a woman's touch? Finding the answers to these questions can be very helpful in your quest to make your man fall for you.'-The Single Girl's Guide to Finding True Love I took Nate to a low-key wine bar in Ferndale. The prices were reasonable but the food was really good. It had been a standby for me and the girls in our leaner financial times. Come to think of it, I was still experiencing those lean times. It seemed like everyone else was starting to settle down, make some real money. Why was I still broke?

I lamented this fact to Nate over dinner. "Being poor sucks," I said.

"Yeah, but if you're happy, does it really matter?" he asked. "Take me, for example. When I first moved out here and started working at Ford, I was making a ton of money."

I scowled at him. "You're making me feel so much better."

"Sorry." He grinned. "I just meant that I was making good money, but I was pretty d.a.m.n miserable. I missed my family and my friends from home. It wasn't until I started hanging out with some guys from work and meeting new people that I could really enjoy myself. The money didn't really come into play."

"That's a good point," I mused, taking an onion ring from his plate. "I do have awesome friends. But my job sucks. It would be one thing to make c.r.a.p money and have a job I love, you know? But to hate my job and be poor? That's just depressing."

"Then change it," he said simply. "If you don't like your job, find a new one."

"There aren't a lot of theater jobs," I said, reaching for my shiraz. "I feel like I have to stick to where I am or leave the business entirely."

"No way," Nate said, shaking his head. "You're way too talented. I bet you get that part in Jenner Collins' show. Then everything will be different."

I smiled at him, feeling unexpectedly touched. He seemed so sure of his words, so confident in my ability. I felt my stomach clench. I still hadn't heard back from the theater about my callback. A friend of mine from college was dating a lighting designer who had heard a rumor that Jenner Collins was holding a final round of auditions that night. The rumor, even coming third- hand, made me incredibly nervous. If they were holding more auditions that must mean that they didn't find what they were looking for at my callback.

"Hey," Nate said softly, grabbing my hand. I looked up at him. "It's going to be okay, Annie." It was like he had read my mind. The sincerity in his face made my breath catch.

"Let's get out of here," he continued. "We can go back to my place for another drink."

For once, I didn't argue with him. I was dying to see his apartment. Plus, the idea of being alone when I was feeling so unsure about things was not appealing. Something about Nate's company made me feel calmer, less anxious. I had no desire to leave it so soon.

Nate drove the short distance to Birmingham in his Ford Focus. As I settled into the pa.s.senger seat, I realized for the first time that his car was less flashy than I would have expected. When I mentioned this, he laughed.

"I work for Ford, Annie. What did you expect me to drive, a jag?"

We pulled up in front of a modest, clean-looking apartment building. Also not quite what I had expected. When he had told me he lived in Birmingham I had pictured one of the rambling old houses that line the streets around the downtown area, or one of the ridiculously expensive lofts that marketed itself as being *urban'. This building looked like it could happily exist in any small city in the area.

He led me up the stairs to a second floor apartment, unlocking the door and allowing me to enter first into the foyer. It opened directly into a s.p.a.cious living room. Nate had furnished it better than most guys I knew: he actually had things like end tables and framed art on the walls. There was even a nice potted spider plant on the counter. Not a cheesy movie poster in sight.

"So this is how an engineer lives, huh?" I asked, looking around the room.

"Yup," Nate said, throwing his keys down on the side table. "There's a special store we shop at and everything."

"Hmm," I said, walking around the room to get a better look. "It's much cleaner than I expected."

He laughed. "Do I strike you as a messy person?"