Page 87 of Loving the CEO

"Are you hoping you'll get back together with your ex?" That came from Meredith. She'd already drunk half of her mojito, yet she seemed far more alert than me.

"Hell no. If I never see him again, I'm not going to be sorry about it. No, this isn't about wanting to get back with him. I just... You know, I've always dreamed about getting married, even as a little girl. I wanted to have three kids and a dog, yada, yada.” My hands flew about as Iexplained. “And now I'm having a bit of trouble accepting that it might never happen."

"Don't say that," Natalie whispered. "Look, we've all been through our share of heartbreak. If I'm honest, before we met the Whitley guys, we... well,I, at least, really didn't think happy relationships could exist. But the Whitley men are in a league of their own, aren't they?"

That was a very bizarre thing to ask me.

Meredith groaned. "Very sneaky, Natalie."

Natalie looked down at her glass. "Well, shit. That was anything but stealthy, wasn't it?"

"What’s going on?" I asked.

The girls went completely silent. I looked at each one, trying to gauge what they were all about. Was I overthinking this, or had she meant I’d have the same experience with Leo as they had with his brothers?

"You should have paced yourself, because you sort of blurted it out," Diane chastised.

"I could hear myself saying it, but I couldn't stop." Natalie pouted. "We ruined our strategy."

"Strategy for what?" I pushed.

Diane gave me a sheepish smile. "In our defense, this wasn't our idea. But when Jeannie caught wind that we were meeting with you, she sort of gave us a mission."

I started to laugh because it did sound like Jeannie Whitley.

"Yeah, we might as well fess up," Meredith said. "Did Leo tell you that his grandmother considers herself a great matchmaker?"

"He did. And as far as I can tell, she is, huh?" I said.

Cami nodded. "The woman has skills, I have to say, and also very good instincts."

Meredith zeroed in on me. I felt as if she could see through my deepest secrets. “And her instinct tells her that you and Leo could be happy together."

Oh no, no, no. I didn't need that image in my mind. Yes, Leo and I were very happy right now, but the kind of happiness Meredith was talking about was different. It spoke of deep love and growing old together. I could never bring myself to think about that again. Especially not with Leo. I knew how he felt about that.

I wasn't sure how to tell the group without sounding rude, though. I decided for honesty, or at least the best I could lay it out.

"Look, I've known Leo for a long time. He and I have different ideas about what we would want in a potential partner. And I don't think that’s changed.”

“Hmm...,” Meredith said. “We’ll tell Jeannie to shift her focus. She keeps threatening Leo and Nick to introduce them to some of her friends’ daughters or granddaughters. I’ll tell her to do that.”

Then she said, “Actually, next time we have some sort of group event, I’ll tell her to invite Monica.”

Natalie added, “She could be a match for Leo.”

Zoey nodded. “I think so too.”

I felt all my blood pool to my feet. I was a little bit lightheaded. I wanted to stop them right here, right now.

I want Leo!

But I couldn't have him, could I?

Meredith took out her phone and said, "Look, I even have a picture of Monica."

To my dismay, she got up from her chair and came down to sit next to me on the floor. She held the phone so I could see it, and there was a gorgeous bombshell brunette on the screen. She looked like an A-list Hollywood actress.

"She's beautiful," I said. “Who is she?”

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