The Pairing (The Proposition #3)(8)

“Do you really think you might be interested in dating Pesh?” Emma asked, as she moved Noah to her shoulder to burp him.

With a shrug, Megan replied, “Dating him or just having some fun with him. Sounds like he could use some.”

Emma grimaced as she wiped Noah’s face off. “This is exactly why I told Aidan not to try and fix you two up.”

“What do you mean?”

“Pesh needs a relationship, not a hook-up after all he’s been through. Besides his wife’s death, he hasn’t had it easy on the dating front.”

“What happened?”

When Casey snorted, Emma shot her a death glare. “Nothing. It’s just he doesn’t need to get involved with someone who isn’t interested in a long-term relationship.”

“Em, you might as well tell her,” Casey urged.

Megan glanced between the two of them. “Tell me what?”

“Fine,” Emma huffed resignedly. She handed Noah to Casey. “Make yourself useful by changing his diaper.”

As Casey got busy cleaning up Noah, Emma turned to Megan. “When Aidan and I broke up—”

“What you meant to say is, after you left Aidan when he didn’t show up for Noah’s gender ultrasound because he was cheating on you?” Casey interrupted, waving around the wet wipe in her hand.

Emma closed her eyes for a moment before shaking her head. “Yes, that’s right. Thank you so very much for bringing up that aspect of our break-up on today of all days.”

Casey gripped Noah’s ankles and hoisted up his little butt to slide on the new diaper. “You’re welcome.”

“Anyway, as you were saying,” Megan pressed.

“Right. So it was when Aidan and I were broken up that I met Pesh. I was with your Papa Fitzgerald the day of his heart attack at the VFW, and Pesh was the doctor who treated him.”

“So…you both struck up a friendship then?” Megan asked.

Emma grimaced. “Not exactly. You see, Patrick wanted to force Aidan to really fight for me, and he felt the best way to do it would be for him to have some competition.”

Megan felt her eyes widening in surprise. “Papa wanted Pesh to date you?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you?”

Emma was momentarily distracted by Casey blowing raspberries on Noah’s stomach. A smile spread across her face as Noah kicked his legs and giggled at Casey. “Want me to get him in his dress?” Casey asked, as she glanced up.

“If you don’t mind.”

Bringing her hand to her hip, Megan huffed out an exasperated breath. “Um, could you please focus for just a minute considering the bomb you just dropped on me?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to tell you at all. I mean, whatever was between us is all in the past. Neither one of us really cared for each other like we thought we did.”

“Did you…” Megan said. At Emma’s confused expression, she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Emma’s face flushed. “No, of course not!”

Casey eyed Emma as she took the baptism gown off the hanger. “You did make out with him though.”

“One time. And he certainly didn’t get to second base,” Emma argued.

With a wicked grin, Casey added, “Pity. Wish you could inform us on what he has going on below the waist.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “You’re impossible.” She snatched the gown away from Casey and then started wrestling Noah into the yards of fabric. “It wasn’t like we were in a relationship. We didn’t really even go out together. He came to the house once to bring me dinner and check on me when I was on bed rest, and then he took me to the opera. That was it.”

“Was there no chemistry between you two?” Megan asked.

Without responding, Emma pulled Noah up into a sitting position and started fastening the row of buttons down the back of the gown. “Em?” Megan pressed.

She gave a heavy sigh before picking Noah up. She stared into his face before she responded. “We had great chemistry together. He was an amazing kisser who got all my senses up and running in all the right ways. Besides the physical part, he is smart, kind, and intelligent—any woman’s dream.” She shook her head. “But it didn’t matter because he wasn’t Aidan. I could never, ever love another man like I do him.” Giving Noah a kiss on the cheek, she added, “Neither one of us were really in a good place—I was trying to make sure that Aidan really was the one, and after being pressured by family and friends, he was trying to date for the first time after his wife’s death.”

Megan crossed her arms over her chest. “I get that he doesn’t need to be hurt, but who is to say that having a fling is going to hurt him? Maybe it could give him the confidence he needs to go out and find the real woman of his dreams?”

Casey snorted. “How could a man that looks like that have any self-confidence issues?”

Megan shrugged. “You never know. If he was married a long time before his wife died, he might find it hard to get back into the dating world. Especially if the last woman he cared about loved someone else.”

Emma shook her head. “Trust me, he isn’t the fling kind of guy. He wants a wife and children.”

Although Megan had a son, she wasn’t quite ready for marriage. Maybe in a few years but right now she just wanted to date and have fun. She’d willingly sacrificed so much to ensure that Mason could have all of her attention since he was short a father. After all, he was the greatest hurdle in her having a committed relationship. She didn’t want to open her son up to any hurt that might come from him getting attached to a man she dated only to have them disappear when they broke up.