“Oh, yeah. I really played that up. We are the world’s happiest couple. Except for our one heartbreak.” She frowned but kept on eating. “You know, in the beginning I was starting to feel pretty bad about stringing her along. I knew it was a job, an important job, but it just seemed so calculating. She was nice, friendly, and I felt uncomfortable the way I was setting her up.”

She reached for the chips again, nibbling as she worked through her own thoughts. “Then, once I brought up the baby business, I could practically see her go sharp, you know? All those soft edges just cleaved away. She was still smiling and sympathetic and friendly as hell, but she was clicking it all into that brain of hers and figuring the angles. So I didn’t feel bad about letting her pry more information out of me. I want her, Donovan.”

“You’ll be seeing her again soon?”

“Day after tomorrow. At the beauty parlor, for the works.” With a little moan, Mel pushed her plate away. “She thinks I’m a woman trying to fill the time on her hands.” She grimaced. “Shopping was mentioned.”

“How we suffer for our work.”

“Very funny. Since you spent the morning hitting a little white ball around.”

“I don’t suppose I mentioned that I detest golf.”

“No.” She grinned. “Good. Tell me how it went.”

“We ran into each other on the fourth tee. Quite by accident, of course.”

“Of course.”

“So we ended up playing the rest of the course together.” Sebastian picked up her half-finished drink and sipped. “He finds my wife quite charming.”

“Naturally.”

“We discussed business, his and mine. He’s interested in making some investments, so I made a few real estate suggestions.”

“Clever.”

“I do have some property in Oregon I’ve been thinking about selling. Anyway, we had a drink afterward and discussed sports and other manly things. I managed to drop into the conversation the fact that I hoped to have a son.”

“Not just a kid?”

“As I said, it was a manly sort of event. A son to carry on the name, to play ball with, slipped more seamlessly into the conversation.”

“Girls play ball,” she muttered. “Never mind. Did he pick up on it?”

“Only quite delicately. I fumbled a bit, looked distressed, and changed the subject.”

“Why?” She straightened in her chair. “If you had him on the line, why’d you cut him loose?”

“Because it felt right. You’ll have to trust me on this, Mel. Gumm would have been suspicious if I’d taken him into my confidence so quickly. With you and the woman it’s different. More natural.”

She mulled it over, and, though she was still frowning, nodded.

“All right. I’m inclined to agree. And we’ve certainly laid the groundwork.”