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“You could have fooled me. All that flirting.”
She gaped at him. “Flirting?”
“‘Lucky us.’ Remember saying that? And inviting me over for dinner.”
“I was just being friendly. Brock, I invited you for dinner because I really wanted you to meet my sister,” Frankie explained. “Stef’s actually a lot of fun. And she’s closer to your age.”
He studied Frankie again. “Have you got some kind of age hang-up?”
“It’s not a hang-up. It’s just practical. I’m not looking to get into a romantic relationship, especially with someone who’s so much younger.”
“I can’t be that much younger,” he protested.
“You’re forty, right? I’m ten years older than you. I could have been your babysitter.”
“I liked my babysitter.”
Was he leering? Yes, he was! “Oh, stop that,” she said irritably, and he laughed.
“Come on, now, seriously, at this point in life what does it matter if two people aren’t exactly the same age?” he argued. “Admit it, Frankie. You’re attracted to me.”
“Any woman with a speck of estrogen left in her would be attracted to you.” Oh, good grief. Where had that come from? She grabbed a bread stick from the bowl on the table and chomped on it, but it was too late to plug her mouth. The words were already out.
He grinned. “You know, older women with younger men is becoming a trend. Lots of movie stars are hooking up with younger men.”
Hooking up. That produced an image that had her reaching for her wineglass and taking a big gulp.
“And lots of younger men end up splitting with their older woman when it dawns on the guy that he wants children.” She set down her glass and leaned forward. “Brock, I’ve got a grown daughter. I’m done having kids.”
“Okay,” he said slowly.
“Now, someone like my sister...”
“Sorry, Frankie, not interested.”
“Or Elinor,” she tried.
He made a face. “Too quiet.”
“But a good listener,” Frankie argued. Brock liked to talk about himself—what man didn’t?—which made a woman who wasn’t a big talker a good fit for him.
“You seem to listen pretty good. And I think you want to be with me.”
She’d have to have been dead not to find this man attractive.
Their pizza arrived. He took a piece and set it on her plate.
“You’re a great guy, there’s no denying that,” she said. “But I’m not interested, and even if I was, I don’t see this turning into anything lasting. Like Mitch said the other night, there will come a time when you’ll want kids.”
His eyebrows pulled together. “There’s more to a relationship than kids.”
“You’ll want them at some point,” she insisted.
She still remembered what had happened to her friend Char. Char was beautiful, fit and fun. She’d gotten together with a younger man, and their relationship had been perfect...until he wanted children. She’d tried to hide the fact that she was going through menopause from him, but in the end, he discovered the truth. And he left.
“I really don’t want kids,” Brock insisted.
She shook her head. “You don’t know that.”
