“I meant we have a limited time during which we can get pregnant. Men can father babies much longer. I didn’t want to wake up the day I turned fifty only to realize I was never going to have a family. I have plenty of support, I can afford it, and I want to be a mother.”

“Like I said, brave.”

“You’re giving me too much credit.”

“I think it’s just enough credit, but we can argue about that later.”

She wanted him to kiss her. She wanted him to do a lot more. She wanted touching and all kinds of man-woman things that she hadn’t experienced in far too long. The man was a musician. Didn’t that mean he would be extra good with his hands? She wanted them naked and... Okay, while she was wishing for the moon, she wanted a Micah-induced orgasm. Which meant she really had to get out of here before she did something stupid, like tell him that.

“I should go,” she said, coming to her feet.

He rose. “Thanks for stopping by.”

“I promise not to make a habit of it.”

“Don’t say that. I like your company.”

He did? Great. Only what did that mean, exactly? As a friend? As a friend he’d like to give an orgasm to?

“You’re a guest,” she said, hoping her tone was light rather than breathy with a big dose of desperation. “You need your privacy.”

“You have too many rules.”

“Plans,” she corrected him. “I have plans.”

“Same thing.”

They looked at each other. For one brief second, she would have sworn his gaze dropped to her mouth. Anticipation swelled up inside of her and she—

“You have a good night,” he said, walking toward the door.

She deflated like a popped balloon. Micah didn’t want her. He considered her a friend, nothing more. She really had to remember that, because if she didn’t, she was going to do something they both would regret, and that was not how she wanted him to remember her.

Ten

“This is good,” Reggie said, her words creating fog in the cold night air. “If we walk enough, dinner will settle, and then I can eat leftovers.”

Beside her, Toby laughed. “You can’t be hungry. We just ate the equivalent of six meals in a single sitting.”

“Hey, no judging. I’m not hungry now. I’m less stuffed, which is progress.”

He patted his stomach. “It was the second piece of pie that did me in.”

“And you would be a man who appreciates pie in all its forms.”

He chuckled, and she smiled in return.

This was nice, she thought. Comfortable and easy—kind of a trick, considering their past and all the talk about it at the dinner table. Still, she and Toby had worked as a team, deflecting and changing the subject.

“This was a good day,” she said.

“Thanks for inviting us.”