Page 58 of Love Me Forever

"Uh-huh," she said between croissant bites. "You do realize that you just told me you've interviewed a lot of people and none of them were good enough. Kind of tells me that you're the exact opposite of laid-back."

I grinned. "They weren't you."

"Oh, you know how to make a girl feel special. Well, I have to admit, I'm thinking about this really seriously. I'll have an answer for you by the end of the week, okay?"

I hadn't expected this reaction, but I was pleased.

"And since we're talking about you knowing how to make a girl feel special," she continued, "how are things with Bonnie? How do you feel about being a dad? I know we ambushed you back at your penthouse. I'm really sorry about that."

"And this isn't an ambush?" I asked, laughing.

"No. I’m just checking in about how you're doing, how you're feeling."

I was confident in all aspects of my life. There had never been anything I didn’t succeed at if I put my mind to it, but this was beyond anything I'd experienced.

"I don't want to screw it up" was all I said because it was the truth.

Reese frowned. "Can you be more specific? Screw what up? Your relationship with Bonnie or with your future kid?"

"And this isstillnot an ambush?" I double-checked.

"No, it's advising." She held up a finger. "Actually, you know what? I'm going to call Kimberly. We're always better at advising you together."

I chuckled. "Of course you are. Should I point out that I didn't ask for your advice?"

Reese sighed. "Then we'll just be giving our opinions out loud. I'm sorry, I need to talk about it. It's a big thing to get used to," she said, and I didn't argue with her because she was right.

We looked around, but there weren't many customers at this time of the day. Reese took out earbuds, giving me one of them before putting her phone on the table and calling Kimberly. While the phone rang, she finished her croissant as if afraid someone would take it away from her if she didn't eat it quickly. Kimberly answered after a couple rings.

"Hey, sis. Can I call you back a while later when I have more time?"

"Sure. I was just hoping we could bounce some ideas off each other.Travisis here too."

She emphasized my name. I instantly knew it was some sort of code between them.

"Oh, okay. I have time. Yeah, sure. Just wait a second."

I almost burst out laughing. She made time instantly, huh? I was curious how this was going to go.

"Okay, now I'm in our meeting room. Hey, Travis."

"Hi, Kimberly."

"So what are we talking about? What are we doing exactly?"

"It's an ambush, only Reese doesn't want to call it that," I said.

"No, it's not," Reese insisted.

"Yeah, Travis, it's not," Kimberly said. "I'm guessing we want to know how you plan to get in Bonnie's good graces."

"Iamin her good graces," I clarified.

Reese looked at me intently. "Yes, but I saw your face at your party. You clearly want more than to be friends who raise a kid together."

I stared at her.

"I can feel you gawking at Reese," Kimberly said unhelpfully.

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