“Back to the most exciting topic at hand.” Wendy glances at Leslie. “No offense. It’s not that your honeymoon isn’t exciting, orthat this little peanut isn’t exciting,” she rubs her belly, “but … Melissa and Bobby are dating!” She wiggles her fingers and squeals like a little girl who’s just been told she’s getting a pony.
I try to temper my smile but fail miserably. “I honestly can’t believe it.”
Wendy props her chin on her palm. “What’s your favorite thing about Bobby?”
That’s a great question, and I’m not sure how to answer. Is it the way he takes care of the people he loves, and even the ones he doesn’t love but who he works for? Is it the way he makes me feel? Is it that he doesn’t have any idea what an amazing human he is?
“It’s that dimple, isn’t it?” Leslie smirks at me. “Don’t you just want to poke your finger in there on the rare occasions it makes an appearance?”
Wendy raises an eyebrow. “I can think of something else?—”
I make a chopping motion with my hand. “Yes, I love the dimples! But I also love how much he loves his daughter … and his ex-wife, as weird as that sounds. I like that he cares about his clients and goes above and beyond to help them be better people. I love thathewants to be a better man than he is, which is already pretty dang good.”
“And he’s verrrry easy on the eyes,” Wendy adds with a decisive nod.
My entire body heats at the thought. “That he is.”
“And he’s a great kisser?” Leslie asks.
“Indeed.” My face warms even more and I hide it behind my hands.
Wendy reaches across the table and yanks my hands away. “Nothing to be ashamed of. Own it, girl. You’ve got yourself a hunk of a man.” She points her thumb back and forth between herself and Leslie. “Welcome to the club!”
“Thanks … I guess. Anyway, have either of you met Kelli? Has he ever brought her out here? Or did you take a trip to L.A. and not tell me because I wasn’t supposed to know about Bobby’s family?”
Leslie shakes her head. “We haven’t met her, but the guys didwhen they flew out to L.A. for Randall’s bachelor party in November. In fact, they stayed at Bobby’s house. Ash didn’t say much about it, which is no surprise to anyone, but Randall still won’t shut up about how much he loves the style of Bobby’s home.” She bobs her head back and forth. “Again, not out of character.”
Wendy adds, “We have some photos of the guys that were taken at the house if you want to see them. None with Kelli or her mom, though.”
I think about it for a second. “No, I’d rather wait and see Bobby’s house when he’s ready to show me.”
“That makes sense,” Leslie says. “I’ve seen a photo of Kelli, but not from Bobby. Diego is a ridiculously proud honorary uncle, and it drives him a little bit crazy that he doesn’t get to show her off to many people. Once he found out I knew about Kelli, he showed me the picture of her he keeps in his wallet.”
My hand presses over my heart. “That’s so sweet.” Then I feel my mouth pull into a frown. “But why didn’t he show me? Or why didn’t Bobby show me a picture? There’s no doubt he’s proud of his daughter.”
Leslie shrugs. “Bobby probably didn’t think about it. He’s not used to people knowing about Kelli, much less wanting to see her picture. And maybe Diego thought it wasn’t his place to show you.”
That makes me feel a little better. “OK, we’ll go with that.”
Wendy laughs. “Girl, Bobby was thinking about how gorgeous you are and how much he wanted to get his hands and mouth on you. Showing you a picture of his daughter wasn’t anywhere near his radar.”
Leslie rubs her hands together. “Now let’s talk about your upcoming Miami trip. How many hotel rooms will there be?”
The grin on Wendy’s face could be seen for miles. “We all know you two aren’t opposed to sharing a hotel room—or a bed.”
“What?!” Leslie’s gaze bounces back and forth between Wendy and me.“Whoknows this? I don’t know this!”
I tell her about our hotel experiences on the trip to her wedding, minus the part about Bobby having a panic attack. Iknow these two are aware of the accident that nearly killed Nanette, but I doubt they know about his panic attacks. They’re not going to hear about them from me.
“Even though we’ve shared a bed before,” I say, “sharing a bed now is a whole different animal. I told him I’m open to staying together, but I’m trusting him to make the decision he thinks is best for him. There’s no doubt he’s all in on this relationship, but he’s being cautious because of Kelli. I get it. He has more at stake than I do if this all goes south.”
“Mom, Dad . . .” I take a deep breath. “I’m dating someone.”
My mother jumps up and rounds the table to hug me, while my dad gives me a lopsided smile and reaches across the corner of the dining room table with his good arm to pat my hand.
“Who is it?” my mom asks as she retakes her seat. “Is it someone at work?” Her eyes grow wide. “It’s not a baseball player, is it?”
I chuckle at her obvious dismay at that thought. “What? You don’t want me to be a baseball wife?”
