Cassie paged through magazines, trying to stay busy. There wasn’t a lot she could do while sitting on a table in a paper gown, but if she wasn’t distracted, her thoughts flipped back to Patrick.

It was still dizzying to realize he wasn’t the man she’d thought he was. She’d only seen his wealth and cavalier behavior, but there was so much more to him, so much he hid behind his mask. And after last weekend she couldn’t help feeling like the stakes had changed. It was still just sex, but they’d become more to one another. Deeper friends, maybe? Perhaps when their arrangement came to an end, there’d be a newfound understanding between them.

She frowned at the magazine. She didn’t like the thought of this ending. They hadn’t put a date on it, so she guessed it was her call when it did. He’d promised to see out all her fantasies, and she still had plenty left to play with.

The door to the little room she was in opened. “So, Cassie, how are you feeling?”

Cassie smiled at her ob-gyn. Talking about her menstrual cycle wasn’t what she wanted to be doing, but at least the appointment would be over quick. She’d ordered her plane tickets to Florida this morning, so once this was over, she’d be home in time to FaceTime with Elísa during her final dress fitting, then head to Patrick’s for some late afternoon fun.

Fun that maybe wouldn’t involve condoms after another month.

“Mostly fine. Although my periods have been a little wonky.”

“Describe wonky.”

“They’ve been coming every three weeks and lasting around four days. It’s one of the reasons why I wanted to go on the pill. I’m hoping it will make me more regular.”

Her doctor opened her file. “How long has this been going on?”

Cassie shrugged. “Six to eight months.”

Luckily her period hadn’t gotten too much in the way of their sexy times, but she’d been counting her cycle to schedule their time together around it, and to be sure she wasn’t late.

Another reason for wanting the birth control. What a cluster fuck that would be.

“Any irritability?” her doctor asked. “Moodiness?”

Two words that described Cassie well. “Yeah, but that’s nothing new.”

“What about a reduced sex drive, or vaginal dryness?”

Hah. Not so much a problem lately. “No, none of that.”

“No hot flashes or sweating?” Cassie shook her head. “Okay, just the irregular periods. You’ve recently turned thirty-nine, correct?”

“Correct.” Thanks for the reminder.

Her doctor closed the file, then made a face. Cassie did not like that look at all.

“It’s possible that you’re in the first stages of perimenopause.”

Cassie liked the sound of that even less. “What’s that?”

“It’s a completely normal stage that comes before menopause. Most women don’t know it exists because it happens while you’re still menstruating. The actual change could be several years off. Typically it starts in the mid-forties, but for some women it can start in the late thirties.”

“And it means what?”

“Your estrogen and progesterone levels may be in the beginnings of their decline. Your fertility will be decreasing, but pregnancy could still be possible, if you want it to.”

Oh. So, basically, it was her body’s way of saying, Hey, we’re closing up shop soon! Are you suuuuuure you don’t want a baby?

“We could do some blood work to be completely certain, but it’s nothing to be worried about. Think of it as an opportunity to take stock of your life—a time to consider what changes you’d like to make, if any.”

“Meaning, the clock is ticking.” She could hear her mother’s voice in her ear.

“If having children is something you want, then yes.”

Well, fuck. She’d come here hoping to go on birth control, not to find out it was time to make a decision about growing a tiny human. She could only imagine what Patrick’s response would be to this.

Not that he was the one she was going to have babies with. He’d said it himself—kids weren’t for him. She wasn’t sure they were for her either, but she thought she’d have more time to figure it out. Now her body was making the choice for her.

Her doctor stood. “Let’s get the exam going, okay? And I’ll write you up that script. Then you can let me know if you have any more questions.”

By the time she’d picked up the prescription for birth control and gotten home, a chilly rainstorm had started. She’d just gotten her coat off when her phone started vibrating.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” she yelled at the incoming FaceTime request. She found her phone in her bag, plopped down on the couch and accepted the call.

Elísa’s face filled the screen, a myriad of voices behind her.

“Cassie, look.” Her sister held the phone out so Cassie could see her in the mirror looking radiant in a veil and a sparkling white gown. “¿Qué piensas?”

What did she think? She blinked back tears. “I think you look amazing, honey.”

“Thank you! I wish you were here.”

For the first time in ages, Cassie wished she was there too. She wanted the bright southern Florida sun and gentle sway of palm trees and the exuberant feeling of her little sister’s tight hugs. She wanted life to slow the hell down for a minute, so she could figure out what she wanted.

Elísa turned the phone around. Her face immediately fell. “What’s wrong?”

Shit. What had her sister seen in her expression? “Nothing. It’s nothing.”

“Cassandra,” Elísa warned. “Dí me.”

Tell her? Tell her what? That she’d found out that her eggs were slowly dying inside her, and the guy she was seeing for some casual sex wasn’t at all husband material?

Before Cassie could answer, her mother stole the phone.

“Hola, mi vida.” She walked to a line of couches. Squished onto them were Cassie’s sister-in-law and niece, along with several Flóres-Allbright aunts and cousins, and Elísa’s future mother-in-law. “Everybody say hello to Cassie.”

A chorus of voices greeted her. Annalisa climbed into Cassie’s mother’s lap.

“Tía Cassie, when are you gonna get married?”

Cassie couldn’t hide her grimace. On the screen, her mother kissed her niece’s cheek. “Good question, niña. I’ve been asking her that for ages.”

Cassie ground her teeth as the Spanish chatter in the background turned on her.

“Trabajas demasiado, Cassandra. ¡Necesitas encontrar un marido!”

“¿No quieres tener un bebé?”

Yes, she worked too much. No, she didn’t need to find a husband.

No, she didn’t know if she wanted to have a baby.

And this wasn’t what she wanted to deal with right now.

“Okay, everyone. It’s not my day, it’s Elísa’s. ¡Entonces porque no me dejan sola, carajo!”

She didn’t often curse in front of her niece. Or tell her family to leave her the fuck alone.

Elísa snatched her phone back. “Okay, everyone lay off Cassie. And you—” her sister stared into the screen, “—call me later and tell me what’s going on.”

Cassie nodded. “Sure.”

She wasn’t going to. Not about this, not when her sister had so much to celebrate.

Elísa ended the call, and Cassie stared at her phone. Her first thought was to call Lilly. But the person she wanted to talk to was someone who knew her deepest desires and all her nervous habits, and could soothe her in a way no one else had before.

She dialed.

“Hi,” she huffed after Patrick picked up. “I need to come over, now.”

---

Patrick watched the darkened sky as he waited for Cassie’s arrival.

He’d been more than happy to cut his lunch with his mother short when she called, especially since they’d been sitting there saying nothing to one another. Plus it was pouring out—the kind of ugly, cold rainstorm that sucked the warmth straight from your bones.

He didn’t know what was on her mind. Maybe she’d found out about him sending Hudson her way. Maybe she’d decided they’d gone too far last weekend and she didn’t want to do this anymore. Perhaps she’d come to terms he couldn’t, and knew it was time to put that escape clause into action.

The elevator dinged. Patrick waited as the door rolled open.

“Hey,” he said.

She stepped inside and ripped off her coat. “Hey.”

He took her coat, shook off the raindrops that had beaded up on it and folded it neatly over one of his barstools. Cassie stormed past him into the living room. She was her own violent, windy squall, full of power and fury. But for once he didn’t want that ferocity unleashed on him.

She collapsed on the couch and he sat down beside her.

“Tell me what happened.”

His voice sounded stern, but he was experimenting with his tone. He’d seen her struggle to get words out before. She’d probably stew forever in her head if he let her. Even if this was about them, he wasn’t asking her to talk to him right now. He was telling.

“It’s my fucking goddamn family.”

His anxiety dissipated. She wasn’t mad at him. This he could work with. “And what did your fucking goddamn family do?”

Humor. Element number two in battling Cassie’s anger. She glanced at him, and her scowl morphed when she caught his smile. He opened his arms and she crawled into them.

“Today was my sister’s final dress fitting for her wedding, and when I FaceTimed to watch, my mother started harassing me again about being single.”

Jesus. What was the big deal? He reached up and ran his fingers over the back of her neck.

“Your sister is getting married?”

“Yup. You’d think that would be enough, since my little brother is married with two kids, but no.” She shook her head and exhaled heavily. “It’s gonna be worse when I go down for the wedding. All my mother is gonna talk about is why her eldest daughter is still shamefully unhitched.”

Patrick stroked gently up and down until her eyes closed. Yeah, he enjoyed soothing her as much as he liked tormenting her. And right now, he wanted to calm her. To take care of her, and make her problems go away.

“When is the wedding?” he asked.

“Thanksgiving.”

“Is that the only thing bothering you?”

Cassie stiffened, then relaxed into him. “It is right now.”

Okay, that was enough. He wanted to make sure there was nothing else upsetting her before he suggested a solution.

“I could go with you to Florida. Be your human shield, so to speak.”

She looked up at him. “You’d do that?”

“Take a trip to a warm climate in the middle of this disgusting weather? Get to see a gorgeous woman in a beautiful dress, and maybe a bikini too?” He grinned at her. “Why wouldn’t I want to do that?”

It was the perfect plan: protect her from her family’s questions, and go someplace luxurious and tropical where they could act out her fantasies.

But Cassie didn’t smile. She looked…flustered.

“Because you’d be pretending to be my boyfriend.”

And that wasn’t what he was. The reminder was a punch to his rib cage. His unease over that sent off all kinds of alarm bells in his head, but he ignored them. Making Cassie happy was all that mattered.

“I don’t usually have something to look forward to this time of year,” he said. “Spending Thanksgiving with your mother who you barely speak to isn’t as much fun as it sounds. And I was thinking I needed a vacation. So we’d be doing each other a favor.”

Her eyes went from hard to glittering. Maybe a little scheming too. “You’d be a great defense. My mom would eat you up.”

“Then count me in. On two conditions.”

She raised an eyebrow. “And they are?”

“We go on that tour of Miami you promised me, and you let me take care of the hotel.”

“Couldn’t we split it?”

“No.” He wanted to know the space. To plan it out. To be completely in charge of it. “I know that’s a boyfriend thing too, but technically we’ll be dating while we’re there.” He leaned in and grazed his nose along hers. “Which means I can spoil you a little.”

Pink stole across her cheeks, and fuck, there it was, that smile he’d come to adore. No longer angry, her eyes were bright—sparkling, real and authentically Cassie.

“Good argument, counselor,” she said. “I believe you’ve won your case.”