Page 22 of Good as Gold
“Wow, my reputation precedes me.”
“Benito thinks you’re hot, too.” He gives me a playful nudge with his toe.
I laugh, but it makes me feel awkward to hear him tease me. It’s the same as when we were in high school. I spent my entire junior year trying to impress him, but he remained the kind of guy friend who ruffled my hair and helped himself to my french fries. And I had to watch him date every other girl in the entire school.
Now I’m stretched out on a bed with him, wishing I didn’t have to go home.
“You staying?” he asks. Maybe Matteo can read my mind.
“You need me to?”
He shrugs. “I’ll muddle through. But I like your company. And Zara says my niece thinks you’re the most glamorous woman alive.”
“Well, she’s right,” I tease. “I lead a very glamorous life making bread and playing circle games with four-year-olds.”
“Aww.” His grin turns sweet. “I never pictured you as a preschool teacher.”
“Yeah, but what did we know about anything? I was sure all three of us would be snowboarding champions. That turned out about as well as my marriage.”
He gets up off the bed. “You like the job, though? You like the kids?”
“Oh, Ilovethe kids. In fact…” I stop myself just in time.
“In fact…?” he prompts, gathering up our wine glasses.
“Uh, never mind. It’s kind of a long story.”
Matteo puts the glasses right back down and sits on the edge of the bed. “I’m listening.”
Gulp. I hadn’t meant to share my big plan. Except with my mother. But Matteo’s patient gaze is ready and waiting. “Pretty soon I’m going to try to have a child on my own.”
His brown eyes widen. “Wow, really? How does that work, exactly?”
I laugh nervously. “With a sperm donor and a fertility specialist. I’ve just started to do the research, but I’m not getting married again, and I’m running out of time.”
He frowns. “You’re notold, buddy.”
“Actually, I am. Thirty-five is the cutoff point. Older than that, and you’re referred to as ageriatric pregnancy.”
“What the…? Really?” He looks alarmed.
“Yessir. But it only applies to women. Men can father babies forever.”
He puts a comforting hand on my knee. “Wow, big news. So this is going to happen fast?”
I actually laugh. “Well, I’ll try. The truth is that I waited too long to end my marriage.”
“Did he not want kids?”
“Not really, no. We used to fight about it. He kept putting me off—saying next year would be better.” I shrug, like the memory isn’t killing me. “When I was getting really fed up, he eventually said, ‘Fine, have a damn baby if you want one so bad.’”
Matteo’s face falls.
“Yeah. And that’s when I realized that having kids with him would be a mistake. So I dropped it. That was two years ago. It took me that long to get fed up enough to leave. But the minute I did, I started googling fertility clinics.”
He whistles under his breath. “That’s brave.”
“Is it? Women raise kids alone all the time. And my mom will help out. She’s desperate for grandkids.”
