Maybe Baby by Kim Golden Page A

repointed, the stamp-sized garden full of hydrangea in full bloom. They'd hung a seasonal flag outside the front door, which they'd painted a shiny red. I nodded at the house. "I grew up here," I told Niklas. "But it didn't look so nice when we lived there."
    " It's... small." He nearly grimaced then seemed to remember why were there and that I was watching him. He winked at me like it was an inside joke we shared, but his initial reaction stayed with me and haunted the rest of our stay.
    My hometown lost its luster, and all I could see were its faults. We never went back to Philadelphia together again. I didn't want to be reminded that Niklas was ashamed of where I came from. He liked the nice, shiny version of me. The version of me with no gritty past, just a pristine present that revolved around him and the gil ded trappings of his life.
    *      *      *
    Drottninggatan was crowded with tourists, so my progress was slow. I'd had to slalom my way through clots of Swedish and foreign tourists alike. Getting past them proved difficult and frustrating. It reminded me why I hated coming to Drottninggatan. But there was nothing to be done about it. It was the street all of the tour guides instructed tourists to visit first, despite the fact that it was not very interesting and was clotted with the same stores you could find in just about every shopping mall in Sweden.
    I dodged my way to PUB and took the elevator up to floor three, where Andreas and Eddy had their boutique. Eddy was busy with a customer when I arrived. I could tell this was a big-money transaction; one of those trust fund babies who would buy all the most expensive vi ntage dresses she could find, without caring where anything came from or how beautiful it was. While Eddy schmoozed, I browsed. On one of the racks was the most gorgeous slip dress I'd ever seen. It was so light, so fragile, made of blush-pink silk and, when I held it in front of me and imagined wearing it, a little shiver went through me. I would wear my hair down, the lace edging would frame my cleavage to perfection. The price tag fluttered. Four thousand kronor. More than I wanted to spend, but I had to have it.
    But the Trust Fund Baby saw it in my hands, and a nnounced that she wanted it. I flashed Eddy a warning look—it wasn't so often that I became so attached to clothing, so she knew better than to try to separate me from this wispy piece of magic. She made an excuse, found a similar dress, and convinced the Trust Fund Baby to buy that one instead. Once she'd gone, Eddy called Bring Express to pick up the rich girl's purchases.
    Eddy eyed me with interest. "Buying a sexy dress. An expensive, sexy dress. Things must be getting better with Niklas."
    I shrugged. "Not really. He found my phone."
    " And?"
    " Eddy, it was full of messages from Mads."
    Saying his name, even when it was getting me in trouble, felt so good. I could almost melt just thinking of the sound of his voice and the slow, easy way he stroked me when we lay in bed together.
    "Who's Mads, sweetie?"
    " The man I met in Copenhagen."
    " Whoa—hold up now, I thought you said nothing happened there. You've been holding out on me."
    " I wanted to tell you."
    " Oh, Jesus. Did you sleep with him?"
    I nodded, trying to feel contrite but instead an ove rwhelming sense of joy bubbled inside me. "Eddy, I was so attracted to him. I haven't felt like that with Niklas in so long."
    Eddy shushed me. "Sweetie, you were just supposed to go there for information on Super Sperm, you weren't supposed to go hog wild."
    " Well, now I think Niklas knows."
    " You told him you fucked someone else? Sweetie, you're never supposed to admit to that. You always say 'There was this guy who was really laying it on thick, but I said no'—even when you actually did do it."
    " I didn't tell him I slept with anyone," I said quickly. "I only told him about the sperm bank, but then I couldn't find my phone and it was full of messages from Mads."
    Eddy