Page 19 of Deal Takers

“NewYork.”

“He’s had a lot of those lately, hasn’t he?” she asks.

I narrow my eyes at her. “Where are you going with this, D?”

“I’m not goinganywherewith it,” she insists. “I was just wondering if it was normal for doctors to attend so many meetings outside of the hospital.”

“They’re grooming him to be the Chief of Emergency Medicine,” I explain. “He’s learning more about the management side of things.”

“Well, hopefully, things will slow down once you guys decide to start making babies.” She bumps her shoulder to mine. “When’s that going to happen anyway? You said thirty was the magic number for motherhood.”

I take a lengthy sip to delay opening this can of worms.

“Rainey?”

I should’ve known she wouldn’t accept my silence.

I sigh. “Adam’s not exactly sold on having another kid.”

“What? Since when?”

“Since always,” I admit. “His son, Parker, is twenty—long past the dependent child phase. Adam doesn’t want to start over in his fifties.”

“Why is this the first time I’ve heard that?”

“I figured he’d change his mind.” I shrug.

“Has he given you any indication that he’s going to?”

I think back to the conversation Adam and I had only a week ago. It was more of an argument than a discussion, to be honest. I asked him if he’d at leastconsiderhaving another child, and he shot me down, point blank. He couldn’t have been any clearer that he would never change his mind.

“Nope.”

Devyn looks at me with pity. “Lorraine, you were meant to be a mom. I don’t know how many times you’ve told mehow envious you are of the women you see giving birth daily—how badly you want to experience that moment when they lay the baby on your chest. I’ve never seen someone more at ease with children than you are.”

I pick at the label on my bottle. “Yeah…well, we can’t always get what we want. I knew what I was signing up for when I agreed to marry an older man. I love him. He loves me. That’s all that matters.”

“Do you really think so?” she presses. “Can you honestly tell me you’re okay withneverhaving children?”

Not at all.

I stare at the ocean in silence, giving her the answer.

I have to fight back tears when she pulls me into a hug. “I’m sorry, hon.”

I take a deep breath and paste a smile on my face. Fake it ’til you make it, right?

“It’s all good. If it doesn’t work out, I can just focus on spoiling the shit out of Nathan and the girls. Are you hungry? I’m hungry. I think we need to take advantage of the fact that calories don’t count on birthdays.”

She offers a grin as she concedes to my horribly obvious diversion. “Well, we can’t let that rule go to waste. Let’s go show that barbeque we mean business.”

CHAPTER 13

Brody

Today has been one of the best days I’ve had in a long time. Between the massive amount of food and drink I’ve ingested, the hours of football we played on the beach, and overall tomfoolery with the guys, I should be exhausted.Shouldbeing the keyword. Instead, I’ve been lying in bed staring at the ceiling for almost two hours—while everyone else is blissfully asleep—because my brain won’t stop flashing images of Rainey on repeat.

Rainey laughing like no one was watching. Blowing out the candles on her birthday cake. Building sandcastles with her nieces. Licking barbeque sauce off her fingers. Tossing a perfect spiral like she’s the motherfucking MVP. Her luscious curves pressed against my back when she tackled me in the sand. The best one of all? The single wink she sent my way right before we retired to our rooms. I’m obsessing about a fuckingwink, people. What the hell is wrongwith me?

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