Baby Be Mine (Spinsters & Casanovas Series Book 1) by Wanitta Praks

on her first date.

CHAPTER 9
     
     
    Clarice woke one week later with an
ultimatum for herself. She was going to have a baby. Forget about
love. She had all the love she needed right here. What she wanted
was a family, and what better way than to have a baby?
    Being a single mother was perfect. She could
give all her love to the baby. She had enough to spare and enough
laughter to share around the world. She didn’t need a man. What
with every single man around her acting like jerks and Casanovas,
she hadn’t time for the emotional rollercoaster of love and
heartbreak. And thank the Lord, because when that glasses guy
Darcy, or Rarcy, or whatever ditched her, there was no heartache.
Yes, it was better to have no feelings involved at all, just a
clean and sterile transaction, like her dental instruments.
    But where to find this sperm that wouldn’t
involve relationships and heartache? Then the proverbial light bulb
flashed above her head, and she scrambled off her bed in her pink
pajamas and went straight towards the phone.
    A few minutes later, Clarice had an
appointment for a consultation at the fertility clinic.
    “Yes, thank you. I’ll pop in at lunchtime.
Thanks,” she said before placing the receiver down.
    At last, her first goal had been decided. By
the end of this year, she was going to get herself pregnant by way
of artificial insemination.
     
    * * *
     
    Fluffy blue coats or fluffy pink coats? Blue
socks or pink socks? To scan or not to scan? Which room should she
put the cot in? How long should she breastfeed? What color should
the blanket be? What name should she give her baby? Dorian? No, too
Casanova-like, like that Dorian Grey from that movie. Dori? No, too
much like Nemo. Sally? No, too simple. Cassandra? Hmmm, sounds
nice.
    “Clarice?” A voice poked through her
thoughts.
    “Yes.” Clarice jerked up her head, realizing
she had just walked into the dental surgery.
    “Clarice,” Gracey said, shaking her head at
her little boss who was once again daydreaming about who knows
what. “Wake up from your daydreaming, dear. We have a new
representative from the Silverton Hotel asking to speak with you
about the upcoming hygiene conference being held in Queenstown this
year.”
    “Conference? Queenstown?” Clarice asked, not
registering what Gracey had said.
    “Clarice, my dear, are you getting any sleep
at all? Where are you today? Off to La-la Land again?” Gracey
asked.
    This was the usual case for Clarice. If she
had a certain thought in her mind, it showed right on her face. She
had never been good at hiding emotions.
    “Sorry, I was thinking about some
things.”
    “Mind telling me? I’m all ears.” Gracey
loved hearing gossip from her colleague, but Clarice wasn’t ready
to spill the news yet. Well, not to Gracey anyway. No matter how
good the woman was, she was like a wildfire. Give her one small
piece of bacon, and she’d turn it into a full-on roast pork.
    “Ah, not at the moment. Still sorting stuff
out. When I’m ready, I’ll let you know,” she said.
    “Great, darling. I’ll be waiting, then. Now
for this…” Gracey turned her attention back to the information at
hand, which was the Dental Hygiene Conference being held in
Queenstown, and all the representatives. “The representative of the
Silverton Hotel wants a word with you about the conference.”
    “Why would the representative of the
Silverton Hotel want to talk to me? I’m only one of their guest
speakers,” Clarice asked.
    “Because you’re the all-time important guest
speaker, that’s why. He said he needed to go over some stuff with
you about the layout and things.”
    “But the event is being held in Queenstown.
Why am I going to the Silverton Hotel in Auckland, then?’
    “Because they also own the Silverton Hotel
in Queenstown and it’s exactly the same layout. Plus, it’s just to
meet the representative.”
    “Right, fine then. Where do I meet him?”
    “At the Silverton Hotel,” Gracey told