Free Playing All the Angles by Nicole Lane Page B

glad you’re doing so well,” she said, laying a light touch on his arm. “And I meant what I said about Evie. Once she finds out you’re back, you won’t have any excuse.”
    He sighed, shaking his head. “You’re the one I’d like to catch up with,” he said. “Do you think we could have lunch?” He held his hands up. “Just old friends.”
    Isabelle considered and then nodded. “Sure. You ring me when you’re free.” She took the pen from the clipboard and wrote her number on the card he handed her. “I’ll be out of town from next Wednesday for two weeks, but after that.”
    “Brilliant.” He grinned. “Really, really good to see you. You look fantastic. Better than ever.”
    She smiled and teased, “You look like you need a nap and a sackful of sandwiches, but that’s still quite nice. Thank you for your help with Olive.”
    “My pleasure, but—”
    Isabelle halted on her way out.
    He lowered his voice. “Who the hell named that child?”
    She snorted out a laugh. “The older one’s called Una, and if this next one is a girl, she’ll be Yulia. Alora did it because of vowels. She’s A. Evie’s E. I’m I. So, now she’s got O and U, and if this one’s a girl, sometimes Y. If it’s a boy, I have no idea what they’ll do. Doyle Junior.”
    “Ah, like I said, she hasn’t changed much, has she?”
    Isabelle shook her head. “Gotta love her anyway. Bye, Dr. Goodwin.”
    “Bye, Miss D’Amico.”
    Alora was waiting for her when she came out. “Patrick’s a doctor! A single doctor. A single doctor who was staring at you like he was starving and you were a ham. Dump Dominic and go get yourself a doctor.”
    Isabelle laughed. “Lora! That’s horrible. I love Dominic. I thought you loved him too.”
    “I do. It’s just that you and Patrick were always such a golden couple. You and Dominic are a lovely couple, but not the same magic you were with Patrick.”
    “Who left me for God, remember? At least I know that won’t happen with Dominic.”
    “From one extreme to another. But you have to admit, Patrick was something special.”
    “And Patrick thought his God was more special than I was. I know where I stand with Dominic—no invisible men hiding up his sleeve. Now hush. Take Olive home and be glad she only swallowed the one thing. I’ve got to get finished up with some work before I head to Paris.”
    “What’s in Paris?”
    “Dominic has a race.”
    “Oh, see, if you decided to take Patrick back, you wouldn’t have to worry about him killing himself all the time.”
    “Goodbye, Alora.” Isabelle sighed. “I’ll see you soon.” She gave Olive a quick peck on the head and then hurried off toward her car. She didn’t check her watch until she was safely inside and saw that it was already the middle of the afternoon. She had to get moving and go pick up the paperwork for the trip.

Chapter 7
    T HE L ATE A FTERNOON S UN was filtering into the workshop where Eve and her favorite seamstress were working on a dress Marcus had designed. He was long past putting his own patterns together and simply did his designing and then handed off the rest for Eve to deliver. They worked well together, Eve and Marcus, almost like one person in two bodies.
    Today, he was sitting and watching, sketching as the three of them chatted. When Eve rose from the hemline she’d been fussing over, stretching with a yawn, Marcus laughed. “You’ve popped,” he said. “It’s like overnight—over lunch even. You’re suddenly really preggers. Like you’re smuggling a melon.”
    “Yes, well—” Eve petted her bump “—it wasn’t overnight. It was over two days. The last two days, I can’t snap my jeans or zip my skirts. Where are all those fabby maternity clothes you promised me?”
    “Bitchy.” Marcus sniffed. “You finally lay the neighbor, and you’re back to bitchy. Look at you!” He laughed.
    She had turned pink at the mention of Tad. “For your information, I started sleeping with