Page 80 of The Billionaire's Virgin

“Fuck.”

“Yeah… my sentiments exactly,” Jennifer sighed. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for her. It’s just that I’m going to have a tough time at her wedding. I may have my career, but all everyone will see is that I’m thirty-eight and still unmarried with no children. Both my younger sisters are all settled now with their husbands and their idyllic suburban lives, and I’m the crazy career-driven pariah who couldn’t hold a man.”

“Okay, I can see how this wedding is going to be hard on you,” I said. “But I have one question for you?”

“Shoot.”

“Do you actually want to get married?”

“It’s not on my bucket list.”

“Then why let anyone else make you feel bad about that?” I asked. “You chose your career, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Jennifer smiled. “Yeah, but I also sacrificed motherhood in the process.”

“The two things don’t always go together, Jen,” I pointed out.

“My biological clock is ticking, Reed,” Jennifer pointed out. “If I were to get pregnant now, it would be referred to as a geriatric pregnancy.”

“There are other options,” I pointed out. “Surrogacy, insemination, adoption?”

Jennifer nodded and looked at me curiously. “Being a single parent… how hard was it?”

I took a deep breath. “I’m not going to lie to you: it’s hard. But I was never sure I wanted children. And after Jenna came into my life, I couldn’t imagine never having a child.”

Jennifer smiled. “So you think you’ll do it again?”

I raised my eyebrows. “Kids?”

“Yes.”

“It would be nice for Jenna to have siblings,” I said.

“Sounds like a yes to me.”

I laughed. “One step at a time.”

We were interrupted when Jeffrey rang in on the intercom to inform me that Frank Shrewry had just arrived to meet me. Jennifer stood up and headed for the door.

“Good luck,” she said.

A moment after she left, Frank stepped into my office and looked around in appreciation. “This is a nice setup you have here.”

“Thanks,” I said. “You can take a seat.”

“What do you do exactly?” Frank asked.

“I run a publishing house.”

“Books?”

“Yes.”

“Interesting.”

“Do you have any new information for me?” I asked, cutting right to the chase.

“I think I’m getting closer.”