Page 37 of Kiss Me Forever

"But he is single, right?" Kate pressed.

"He appears to be, but there are dozens of women around him all the time."

"You can handle the competition," Julie said. "You've always liked a challenge."

"I like my job more, and right now my focus is on writing a good story. Unfortunately, Alex seems better at getting me to talk than I am at getting him to open up."

"How do you mean?" Julie asked.

"Well, last night at a party that Alex took me to, we ran into Doug."

There was a collective groan from her girlfriends, all of whom at one point or another had heard her sad story and either cried with her, hugged her, or shared gallons of ice cream with her.

"How did that go?" Maggie asked with compassion. Maggie was the nurturer in the group, the one who usually mothered them when they were down.

"It was thankfully brief. Doug made some snarky comment, but I think he was a little taken aback to see me with Alex. I didn't bother to explain just what I was doing with him."

"Good," Liz said approvingly. "That man treated you horribly. He should know that he made a huge mistake."

"I doubt he cares. He's married and has a baby now. It's weird how fast things can change. Anyway, enough about me; I want to hear about all of you." She turned to Kate first. "Is my mother driving you to a nervous breakdown?"

"She's not that bad. She knows what she wants, of course, but so far I've managed to keep her happy."

"You'll have to tell me that secret sometime. Okay, on to the bachelorette party. Does anyone have any ideas?"

"I do," Kate said tentatively. "I thought we could do a spa day at the Stratton next Saturday. Maggie said she could get us some rooms at a discount."

"As well as reservations at the most exclusive restaurant in Napa," Maggie put in.

"But only if you want to do that, Andrea," Kate said. "I don't want to overstep."

Andrea looked around at her friends and realized that they were picking up the slack for her again. "It sounds perfect. Laurel loves going to the spa, so I know she'll enjoy the trip."

"We can mix in some wine tasting," Elisa added. "My friend works at a winery and could get us a private tasting if we want."

"Sold. You are all amazing."

Kate nodded. "Does next weekend work for you?"

"I'll make it work," she promised.

"Great. Let's put it on the calendar then. Don't anyone make a date for that night," Kate ordered.

"I'll try to keep my schedule free," Liz said dryly. "But you know I'm really in demand on Tinder these days."

Andrea laughed. "You are not doing that dating site again. I thought you got off of it after the last loser made you pay for dinner and a very expensive cab ride."

"I was bored," Liz said. "I had a weak moment. I'm getting off today."

"Have you met anyone interesting?" Julie asked.

"No. I don't know where the interesting men are, but they certainly aren't on there."

"I think Andrea has found the most interesting man in San Francisco," Kate said.

"Yeah, if you don't want him, maybe you should throw him our way," Julie said with a laugh.

"Sorry, girls, Alex is all mine—at least until the story is done."

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