Page 37 of Winter Vows

“Oh, really?” Trish said. “With a woman?”

The telling question popped out before she could stop herself.

Laurie grinned. “No, alone. Anyway, we got to talking after one of my sets. I suppose I was prying a little too much. It might have made him skittish.”

“Prying? About what?”

“The two of you.”

“There is no two of us,” she said vehemently.

Laurie chuckled. “Funny. He denied it, too. Almost as emphatically as you just did. Makes me wonder, especially since you seem to be so fascinated by whether or not he was by himself.”

“What exactly are you wondering about?” Trish asked warily.

“Why you’re both protesting so hard. What would be wrong with the two of you getting together?”

“Hardy is not interested in a serious relationship,” Trish said. “He likes chasing women, plural. I’ve just gotten out of one relationship with a man of similar inclinations. I don’t intend to jump back into that particular frying pan.”

Laurie nodded, her expression thoughtful. “Yes, I can see how that could be a problem. Then just be friends. Nothing wrong with that, is there?”

“I don’t think a man like Hardy is capable of being just friends with a woman.”

“Try it. He might surprise you.”

Trish recalled that he had said much the same thing. “I’m at the point in my life where the fewer surprises I have, the better.”

Laurie looked horrified. “Oh, don’t say that. If there are no surprises, you’re settling. You’re not living. Trust me, you’ll be bored to tears in no time.”

“After the past few months, boredom sounds downright refreshing,” Trish countered. She chuckled at Laurie’s downcast expression. “Don’t look so glum. My life is exactly the way I want it to be right now. I have a beautiful baby girl. I’m about to open a new business. What more could I possibly want?”

“Someone to share it all with,” Laurie suggested, clearly undaunted.

“I have all of you,” Trish said. “I feel as if I’ve found a whole slew of new friends.”

“Well, of course, you have, but—”

“No buts,” Trish insisted. “This is for the best.” The door opened, and her gaze swung toward it.

Laurie chuckled at her obvious disappointment when it turned out to be Val and Slade.

“You’re deluding yourself,” Laurie told her with undisguised amusement. “But far be it from me to destroy the illusion. If you don’t mind, though, I think I’ll just sit back and see what develops. My money’s on love.”

Between the conversation with Laurie and a flurry of innuendoes from every other person who dropped by, Trish was downright cranky by the time she got back to Jordan and Kelly’s. She was also convinced that she needed to put some distance between herself and the meddling Adamses.

She headed straight for the portable bassinet Kelly had set up in the living room and picked up her daughter. Thankfully there was at least one person she could count on who wouldn’t be badgering her with questions about Hardy.

“How’s mama’s darling girl?” she asked the sleepy baby.

“She’s been a little angel,” Kelly assured her. “No fussing. Drank every last drop of her bottle and went right back to sleep. I kept hoping she’d wake up so I could play with her, but no such luck.”

“Thanks for taking care of her.”

“It was my pleasure. Besides, I had some help.”

“Oh?”

“Hardy dropped by.”

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