worried—”
“No,” I said firmly. “It has to be this baby.”
He sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Fine, I’ll stop trying to convince you otherwise. I just hope everything goes into your favor. I have to say, man, none of us thought this would be the woman to have something over you.”
I merely grunted and took a sip of my wine. “Did you get a look at the dark sky calendar?”
Golf wasn’t the only thing we had in common. Merrick had persuaded me to go stargazing one night with him at the Cincinnati Observatory on Mount Lookout. Since then, it became somewhat of a hobby that very few but the two of us knew about. I wasn’t so much ashamed of this hobby as that I didn’t want to let the world in on it.
It was the one thing I’d left that wasn’t corrupted. There was such pureness about staring up at the night sky through the right lenses. It gave a sense that we were just one in a billion, but blessed with such a view, the knowledge brought peace.
The experience was always humbling.
“Yes, it’s a couple of days before the new moon. Perfect, really.”
“So, are we on?”
“Unfortunately, I can’t. Tomorrow my wife and I are visiting my sister, who’s getting married over the weekend.”
“Too bad. I’ll take pictures.”
“That would be great.”
I hadn’t rented my usual room at the observatory as I’d planned to do a setup outside, for which I’d found just the right spot on Mount Lookout.
“Your wife’s here,” Merrick announced.
The same hostess guided Poppy and her lawyer to our table. Both Merrick and I rose to our feet and greeted them. I frowned at her sleazeball-looking lawyer.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Poppy said, air-kissing me. She was smiling and looking quite pleased with herself. I didn’t know whether to be worried or relieved she was in a good mood tonight.
“That’s fine. You being here is all that matters.”
She laughed and touched her belly. “You mean, the baby being here is all that matters.”
I ignored her comment and seated her, then shook her lawyer’s hand. Shawn Choto didn’t come cheap, but I didn’t care to speculate how she got him to represent her. Poppy had her ways. She’d snagged one of the wealthiest men in Ohio and was about to embark on the deal of a lifetime.
I felt like Rumpelstiltskin, and everyone already knew how that story ended.
“Mr. Choto, how are you?”
“Fine, fine. How’s the business? Heard your son got married recently.”
We delved into small talk about the business, a little bit about Declan’s happy marriage while we ordered our meal. Poppy was quite pleasant, much like the woman I’d met when we just started dating. The woman who had fooled me for a brief moment that maybe the marriage would last this time.
Good grief, what had I been thinking?
Even though she behaved pretty well, she wasted no opportunity to flirt with both Merrick and her own lawyer. She almost had the waiter dumping soup into my lap.
The dinner had been Merrick’s idea, and by the time we were lingering over coffee, I hated it. This meeting should’ve taken place in an office where we could get straight to it. I hated the pretense like we were all friends just hanging out when the briefcases that stood beside the tables were evidence that this was no friendly dinner at all.
This was potentially a war.
Poppy excused herself to use the restroom, and Merrick took the opportunity to strike.
“What’s the deal, Choto?”
“I’d rather not say anything until my client comes back.” I wasn’t pleased at all by his calm smile. I hated that they had the upper hand. At least they knew what I wanted, but I had to wait to find out just how far Poppy would go.
“Okay, I’ve powdered my nose,” she said as she approached the table. I climbed to my feet, held the chair for her, and helped her to sit slowly. “I think I feel fabulous enough to get to business now.”
“Yes, let’s,” I agreed.
“It’s quite simple.” Choto retrieved his briefcase, popped it open, and took out a few papers. He handed them over to Merrick instead of me. “You want something that my client wants, and you have something that she needs. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
While Merrick read through what I supposed was the contract, I frowned at Poppy. “I want to hear it from you. What is it you want?”
She placed her hands on her belly. “First of all, I’d like