Girls Only: Moms' Night Out Read Free

finish because
the door to the bathroom swung open. Both women froze, wide-eyed, hearing the
bang of the door of stall beside them. They covered their mouths, trying not to
giggle as Jaime struggled back into her bra, letting Caroline help her with her
shirt. By that time, their interrupter was washing up at the sink. They waited
for her to leave before slipping out of the stall together.
    The women
washed their hands, drying them with paper towels. Jaime patted at the
waistband of her skirt with paper towel. She’d soaked it with milk.
    “I’m all
sticky.”
    Caroline
helped her, both women straightening clothes, fixing hair. “We’ll eat dinner
fast so we can get you home and…” She hesitated, meeting Jaime’s bright blue
eyes in the mirror, feeling herself flush, seeing the redness creeping into her
cheek as she finished her sentence. “Out of those clothes.”
    Jaime met
her eyes and did something that surprised Caroline far more than anything that
had happened so far that night. She leaned over and kissed her, soft and sweet
and lingering.
    “I like that
idea,” Jaime breathed. Then she smiled, licking her lips. “Mmm. I do taste
good!”
    “Yeah, you
do.” Caroline grinned and both women jumped as the bathroom door swung open
again.
    “Everything
okay in here?” Nicki eyed them, frowning. “We were getting worried.”
    “Fine!”
Caroline sang, grabbing Jaime’s elbow and steering her toward the door. The
last thing she wanted to do was make Sergeant Nicki suspicious. She already
looked down on them both for being single mothers. Caroline waggled her fingers
as they passed. “See you back at the table.”
    Caroline’s
ravioli was as cold as death, but she wasn’t that hungry anymore anyway and
smiled when she realized why—she had a belly full of breast milk. Jaime, on the
other hand, was starving. She scarfed down her own fettuccini alfredo and then
Caroline’s entrée too. They didn’t talk at all during the rest of the meal,
listening to the other moms complain about carpool and soccer games and husbands
who came home late and never helped with the dishes, but all the while, their
eyes kept meeting, a secret heat between them.
    “We’ve got
another Moms’ Night Out scheduled next month at P.F. Chang’s,” Nicki reminded
them as Jaime and Caroline stood to leave. They weren’t the first to go—another
pair of mothers had left just a few minutes earlier, claiming they both had a
nine a.m. soccer games to take kids to—but they had both silently agreed that
it was time as soon as the first mothers began to disperse. “Are you two
coming? Remember, you have to commit to at least two events a month—”
    “We’ll let
you know,” Jaime said, stopping Caroline’s unuttered reassurances. “Thanks,
everyone, it was fun, but I’ve gotta get back to my babies before I burst!”
    A few of the
mothers smiled in understanding, but Nicki rolled her eyes, muttering, “That’s
what bottles are for, right?” as the two of them started away from the table.
    “Don’t
bother.” Caroline squeezed her friend’s hand, feeling Jaime tense and start to
turn back. “Not worth it.”
    Back at
Jaime’s apartment, Caroline paid Jeanie and inquired about how the night went
while Jaime slipped into the bedroom to feed the twins. Kyle was asleep on his
belly in the pack’n’play, thumb stuck firmly in his mouth. He’d kicked his
covers off and Caroline covered him up, glancing over at Jaime in the rocking
chair, a baby cradled in each arm.
    “They
sleeping?” Caroline tiptoed over. Jaime smiled, kissing the top of Hannah’s
nearly-bald blonde head, and then Harry’s. They were fraternal twins, but they
looked so much alike it was startling.
    “Help me put
them down?”
    Caroline
took Hannah—she was the one in the pink and brown sleeper—her belly tightening
as she saw Jaime’s exposed, milky nipple. She fought her own reaction, chiding
herself as she put the baby gently down in the crib.