Zane & Lucky’s First Christmas (Forever Love #3.5)(11)
Author: J.S. Cooper

“Noah.” I bit my lip. “Don’t jump to conclusions. You don’t know what’s going on with her.”

“She never told me she dated anyone. She made me feel like her last boyfriend was before she moved to Los Angeles.”

“I don’t think she considers Leo an ex.”

“She obviously liked him.” He frowned. “And he liked her.”

“Well, he let her go.” I touched his shoulder. “You know I love Leo, but he left her. He’s old news.”

“Yeah, but am I a better bet? I lied to her.” His eyes looked pained as he looked back at me. “But, I have other things to worry about now. I’m going to go and watch TV with Skylar.”

“Okay.” I gave him a sympathetic look and then turned to Zane. “What are we going to do?”

“Nothing.” He looked at me seriously. “This is none of our business. We’re not going to do anything.”

“But—.”

“But nothing, we’re not going to get involved with this.” His eyes issued me a warning. “Robin needs to make her own decision.”

“Fine.” I looked up at him and kissed him on the lips. “I suppose that this once, you may be right.”

“Has the world ended? Did you finally admit that I’m actually right about something?”

“Don’t get used to it.” I laughed and placed my head on his chest. “I do love you, Zane Beaumont.”

“I know.” He kissed the top of my head. “I love you too.”

***

“I’m tired.” Zane rubbed his eyes as we made it to the Mommy and Me store. “Couldn’t we have made it to a later class?”

“Nope.” I laughed. “It’s not my fault you wanted to karaoke to every song, you’ve ever heard before, last night.”

“I didn’t want anyone to miss out on hearing my talent.” He laughed, and then groaned as he rubbed his head. “I think the gin and tonics helped.”

“You did pack away quite a few.” I grabbed his hand and guided him through the store as I looked for the instruction room.

“Well, when you told me you would drive I figured I might as well. But I guess I’m getting too old to be a party man.”

“Yeah,” I laughed. “You’re my old man. You know what they say, mid-twenties is the new fifties.”

“Very funny.” He groaned again and squeezed my hand hard.

“Hi, are you guys here for Mommy and Me 101?” A cheerful man asked as we stopped at the door to a large room.

“Yes, we are.” I smiled back at him and tried to ignore the weird look on Zane’s face. I know he was wondering why a man was greeting us (in fact, so was I), but I decided to keep it in. I mean, so what if a man was teaching the class, wasn’t it sexist of me to assume that it should be a woman at the front?

“Have a seat. We’ll be starting as soon as everyone gets here.”

“What the f**k?” Zane whispered to me as we found seats towards the back of the class. “Is this a joke?”

“Don’t be a male chauvinist.” I sighed. “I’m sure he knows what he’s doing.”

“Excuse my language, but don’t you find it a bit crazy that a man is teaching the Mommy and Me class? Like, is he going to be talking about vaginas? Won’t that be weird?”

“Zane!” I blushed as I admonished him. “Be quiet.”

“Okay.” He rolled his eyes. “You let me know how it feels for a man to tell you what childbirth is like.”

“He’s just going to give us advice on what products we will need as new parents.”

“Uh huh.” He sat back and rolled his eyes. I pulled my seat away from him slightly and smiled widely at the new couple that walked into the room that looked as clueless as I felt.

“Is this the Mommy and Me class?” the girl asked, slightly timid, and the man gave her a huge grin.

“Yes, ma’am. Have a seat.” The couple exchanged a look and walked back towards us uncertainly.

“Even they think this is shady.” Zane whispered to me and I ignored him.

“Hi,” I smiled at the girl and she smiled back at me wordlessly. “I’m Lucky, and this is my fiancé Zane.”

“I’m Diana and this is my boyfriend Gilbert.” The guy, who looked slightly dopey, stared at us and nodded. “And yes, it is a bit ironic that I am Diana and he is Gilbert.” She giggled. “People think I should change my name to Anne.”

“Oh, okay.” I smiled weakly, not sure what she was talking about.

“Diana even wanted to move to Prince Edward Island.” Gilbert finally spoke up. “But I convinced her that would be too much.”

“Uh, sure.”

“Gilbert wants us to call our house ‘The Gables’ but I think that’s too grand a name for a one-bedroom condo in Silver Lake.” Diana continued and I could see Zane holding back a grin from the side of my eyes.

“So, are you guys having a baby?” I decided to change the subject.

“Not yet.” Diana whispered. “But don’t tell anyone. I don’t want to get kicked out of the class.”

“You guys decided to come to the class and you’re not pregnant?” Zane finally spoke up and gave them a look.

“Gilbert and I are extreme couponers, like the TV show.” Diana said excitedly, her reserve fading. “We want to get a head start on the items we’re going to need when we finally do have babies.”

“It’s never too early.” Gilbert nodded.

“Well, I guess that’s true.” Zane gave me a look as if to say, ‘these are your people,’ and I gave him a quick glare.

“Can we sit next to you?” Diana said eagerly as she plopped herself down next to me. “If you want some help couponing I can tell you how to start. We have so much stuff, it’s awesome. We just got a garden shed for $100, and it was originally $500.”

“I thought you said you lived in a one-bedroom condo?” Zane asked puzzled.

“Oh we do.” Gilbert sat next to Zane and continued. “We had to get a storage facility to put it in, but it’s a great investment for the future, when we are able to buy a house.”

“How much is the storage facility?” Zane frowned.

“It’s only $50 a month.” Gilbert nodded eagerly. “We got a deal. It’s meant to be $150 a month, but we signed a contract for 5 years, so now we only get it for $50 a month.”