Page 123 of Playing For Keeps
Then it hits me. The intense fear I used to have about getting pregnant isn’t there. Not only that, but the thought of sharing that with Jami makes me warm all over.
“Okay, Dori. What just went through your head?” Mel stands and joins me by the window.
“I don’t know what it means, but when I tried to identify how I was feeling, I was calm. Almost…excited about the possibility.”
“You’ve had a lot of time to heal from your loss. You’ve told me you’ve talked about it at length with your therapist.Maybe you’re ready to consider it.” She pats my shoulder. “I bet it would be the best gift you could ever give him.”
And with those words, an idea forms in my mind. I need to speak with him about it first, so as soon as we’re done here, I plan on going straight to his office.
“Melanie, you’re a genius.”
“I’d like to think so, but sometimes I do stupid things.”
“Such as?”
She rolls her eyes. “It’s the biggest colossal of a fuckup. It rivals some of yours.”
“Hey!” I playfully push her arm. “I haven’t fucked up that much.”
“Okay. We can skim over the last year where you were involved with two men and wreaking havoc on everything in your path.”
My stomach drops with her reminder. “Damn. That was a mess. How did I make it out of that with the man of my dreams? I’m lucky he didn’t turn his back on me and never speak to me again.”
“You got that right.” She pulls the sliding glass door open and steps out onto the balcony.
I follow her out, walk to the railing, and bend over, resting my arms on the top of it. She does the same.
The breeze blows my hair, so I tuck it behind my ear. “Tell me about this fuckup of yours.”
She groans. “I had my phone on the couch because I had been texting Jonah. This guy I’ve been hanging with when I’m hot and bothered stopped by. We ended up messing around, and somehow my phone recorded an audio of us, and it got sent to Jonah.”
I grimace. “Oh, Mel. That’s terrible.”
“I told you it rivals some of yours.” She pretends to throw up over the balcony. “I’m sick about it.”
“What did Jonah say?”
“Nothing I didn’t deserve. He hates me now, but enough about that. Have you talked to Hunter since you left?”
I gaze out at the majestic view. “Yeah. I had to coordinate the handoff of the money he gave me so he could give it to my brother.”
“How did that go?”
“Good. We even talked about him dating again.”
She gives me a side-eye glance. “How did that come up?”
I shrug. “Jami told me he thought Hunter was seeing someone. My curiosity got the best of me, so I asked him if he was dating again.”
“What did he say to that?”
“He said he was going out from time to time, but it was nothing serious. He wants to focus on raising his son and doesn’t see where a new relationship fits into that situation.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“I think he’s right. I loved the guy and didn’t think I would be able to accept him having a child with someone other than me. Can you imagine how hard it would be for a woman who just started getting to know him?”
She faces me, studying me hard. “It would be difficult, but that’s not what I was asking. I was wondering how you felt knowing he’s dating other women again.”
