“The best. The fact that he’s gorgeous doesn’t hurt, either.”

“I must admit it’s nice to be around a man who doesn’t tower over me. I’m so short that most of them do. That’s one of the best things about my job. Everybody’s smaller than me.”

“What do you do?”

“I’m a nursery school teacher.”

“Do you like it?”

“I love it. Not that I don’t look forward to the end of the day. Kids are cute, but exhausting.”

They’d reached a bend in the hallway. As much as Phoebe didn’t want to watch the action, neither did she want to be too far away, and she turned so they could retract their steps. “My sister Molly baby-sits for a set of twins who live next door. Sometimes she brings them over to our house when they’ve gotten cranky and she’s having trouble controlling them. They’re little stinkers, but I love playing with them.”

Sharon regarded her curiously. “You don’t look like the type of—” Breaking off, she dropped her eyes in embarrassment.

“I don’t look like the type of woman who enjoys children?”

“I’m sorry. That sounds like an insult, and I didn’t intend it that way. You’re just so glamorous.”

“Thank you, but you’re not the first person to think that about me. Not even people with good imaginations seem to be able to see me as a mother.” She bit her lip as all of her anxieties about her future with Dan crept back.

“Is something wrong?”

A collective groan echoed from the nearby skyboxes, all of them held by Star fans, and Phoebe picked up the pace. “Children are very important to the man I’m sort of involved with. They are to me, too, but he hasn’t discovered that yet.” She smiled ruefully. “I’m afraid it’s easier for him to picture me popping out of a cake at a bachelor party than as his children’s mother. Since he hasn’t actually stated his intentions, it’s tough figuring out how to let him know I feel the same way he does about having a family.”

“Believe me, I understand from personal experience.”

“Are you involved with someone?”

“Yes.” She suddenly looked shy, and Phoebe gave her an encouraging smile. Sharon sighed. “It’s a strange relationship. All my life I’ve attracted ordinary guys—brothers of my girlfriends, quiet, sweet men, not too exciting, but steady. And then this Greek god pops into my life out of nowhere, the kind of man who always passes up ordinary women like me for glamorous women like you. He’s been subtly feeling me out about marriage and children for weeks, and I’m fairly certain he’s going to get around to proposing any day now, but I still can’t figure out what he sees in me.”

“Maybe the same thing I do—a very nice woman who’d make a wonderful wife.”

“Thanks, Phoebe. I wish I could believe that. He’s making me crazy. In this day and age— I mean, if you were ready to propose marriage to somebody, wouldn’t you expect—” Sharon turned red and blurted out, “He treats me like the Virgin Mary!”