Page 30 of Giving It to the Man-Whore

“I don’t know. It’s no secret of Pea’s and my past lovers.”

Prue shrugged. “That’s your business. I’m not going to judge you. Can I be honest with you?”

“Sure.” Mel had been dealing with a lot of honesty most of her life. Nothing Prue said was going to make a difference.

“I always heard the extended rumors about yours and Pea’s marriage. Was it true?” Prue asked.

“We had an open marriage. We didn’t hide anything from each other.”

“Did it work for you?”

Mel nodded. “It worked for us because it was what we both wanted. Are you thinking of giving it a go?”

“No. It’s just … I guess it gets lonely here a lot of the time. All of the men are taken, and I’m not really comfortable with a lot of people. The guys I grew up with are assholes, so I won’t give them the time of day.”

“What about Ricky? The big guy downstairs?”

“He scares me a lot of the time. He’s always watching. I get the feeling that he’s not all he cracks up to be.” The elevator doors opened.

“Be careful around him,” Mel said. “Pea’s asked me to do the same.”

“Don’t worry. I will. I know you wanted me to agree to have dinner with him, but when he asked, I froze up. I couldn’t do it. He scares me.”

She had felt so guilty for putting Prue on the spot like that. “It was my fault. I shouldn’t have asked you to do something like that.”

“Here we are, baby section. I hope you visit me with the little guy or girl.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll be at the library a lot.”

****

“You do realize this is not supposed to be a club thing?” Vanilla asked.

Pea looked toward his club brothers and laughed. “I didn’t say you had to join me. I promised beers and steak. That was all.” Melissa was staring at different strips of color. He’d purchased six different colors.

“We have to go with neutral,” Mel said.

They didn’t know what sex the baby was yet. He moved up behind her, kissing her neck. “Did you book that appointment like I asked?”

“I booked it.” She told him the date and time, and he promised to be there. He was excited about their child.

“Why don’t you go and make everyone a drink? I don’t want you to inhale the fumes so much. Penny’s brought over some order forms.”

“I told you I don’t want to order from expensive places.”

“For me. Go and look for me,” he said.

“I do a lot for you.” She cupped his face and pressed a kiss to his lips, before leaving them alone.

“You two seem to be hitting it off,” Saint said.

“Yep.” They’d been getting to know each other for years. “She’s scared about becoming a mom. I’ve told her she’s going to be awesome.”

“So is Natasha. I know she worries all the time.”

“Does your woman have sixteen books by the side of her bed with very graphic birthing pictures?” Pea asked.

“Yep.”

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