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but—”
    Grace shook her head. “Even if you’re right, he’s not into me. He’s into the challenge I represent. He overhears me sayin’ no man has evah given me le petite mort , and of course he’s goin’ to imagine himself doin’ the deed.” It was the same reason—the only reason—he’d come after her last night—male instinct. She’d been dressed up and fleeing. He’d been on the chase. As soon as Elizabeth Parker had shown up, she’d been easy enough to dismiss. She didn’t care what scheme they’d planned beforehand. Being dismissed by Max hurt and she wasn’t setting herself up for it again no matter how much heat she thought she’d seen when she’d looked into his eyes. “It’s reflex, is all. Exactly what you’d expect from a man like Max.”
    “What’s that mean, a man like Max?” Melina asked, clearly protective of the man she’d loved like a brother long before he’d actually become one.
    Now it was Grace’s turn to pin Melina with a look of incredulity. “Says the woman who asked him for sex lessons because who else would have more experience than him?”
    Melina winced again, conceding the point.
    “Who cares if he mentally stripped you because you represent a challenge?” Lucy asked. “Now that you know that kiss with Elizabeth Parker was staged, you should do what you’d planned to do last night and ask Max to deliver the goods .”
    No way, Grace thought. Sex wasn’t her priority anymore. She didn’t care how many times she had to remind herself of that. She was not falling back into that vicious cycle again. “My priorities have changed, Lucy. I told you, I want a baby, and it’s as obvious as fried chicken and lemonade at a picnic that Max can’t help me with that.”
    “Fried chicken and lemonade...?” Melina giggled then shook her head. “Anyway, you implied that about Max before but I think you’re wrong. Yes, Max has a reputation with the ladies. His unwillingness to commit to one woman aside, he’s wonderful. He’d make a great father so long as he had a partner who could work with his unique lifestyle.”
    The sheer certainty in Melina’s voice made Grace’s belly do a weird little somersault. After all, Melina knew Max better than any of them. And last night, when he’d stared into her eyes, she thought she had seen a glimpse of the man behind the playboy mask. The loyal brother and loving son. That man would make a good father. But that kind of thinking was heartbreak waiting to happen. It was the kind of “a good woman can uncover the bad boy’s heart of gold” thinking that got women all over the world in trouble. A man with a heart of gold wouldn’t find it so easy to call in his ex-girlfriend and kiss her on a crowded street, thus capitalizing on said ex-girlfriend’s celebrity status in order to gain the upper-hand in a business situation. So Grace scoffed and looked to Lucy for a show of support. Instead, Lucy shrugged. “If we were talking life mates here, I’d agree Max isn’t a safe bet. You and he are too different. As I learned the hard way, when it comes to long-term relationships, like should be with like.”
    At Lucy’s words, Melina and Grace glanced at each other. That was Lucy’s refrain lately, her excuse for once again dating over-the-top creative souls. Grace and Melina knew it was an excuse to deal with her recent heartbreak. Lucy didn’t. At the very least, she wasn’t going to admit it.
    Lucy just kept talking though. “If we’re talking about someone to co-parent with, I don’t think it’s necessarily a foregone conclusion that Max wouldn’t fit the bill.”
    Grace instantly forgot what Lucy was fooling herself about. “You’re both crazier than a road-running lizard,” she said. “I want my baby’s father to be stable. Comfortable. Someone who has his priorities straight. Not someone who beds a different woman every night. Not someone who is lookin’ to put himself in the press even if it is only to