Dane’s footsteps fall behind me. “It’s the door with the glitter. Make it snappy.” He pats me on the behind as I enter Mia’s room.
“Hey, you,” I say. “Ready for bed?”
She’s snuggled under the covers. “Yeah.”
“What’s going on?” I ask, sitting on the edge.
“Well . . .” She looks at Dane standing at the door. “There’s this Manicure Day at the gym.”
“I saw the flyer. It looks like fun.” I brush her hair out of her face with my hand. “Are you excited about it?”
She throws the blanket over her head.
“Mia.” I laugh. “What are you doing?” I tug the blanket down so I can look at her. “What’s up?”
She chews her bottom lip. “I . . . You . . .” She takes a deep breath. “Will you go with me?”
My heart melts. “Yes, I’ll go with you. Of course. Why would you think I wouldn’t?”
“It’s for mothers and daughters.” She looks at Dane. “It’s okay if I ask Neely, right?”
I twist around. He’s propped against the doorjamb, looking at us in disbelief. “Yeah. It’s okay with me.”
“You’ll go?” Mia shimmies from under the covers. “It’s in the afternoon, and the girls say it’s so much fun. They do their fingernails and toenails, and they bring them little cookies and stuff.”
“Haven’t you gone before?”
She shakes her head. “I didn’t have anyone to take me.”
“Honey, Haley would’ve gone with you,” Dane says, coming into the room. “Or I would’ve gone. I don’t know how good my feet would look all polished up, but maybe I’d like it.”
Mia laughs. “You can’t go. You’re a boy. And Haley could’ve, but . . . she’s not my mom.”
“Mia,” I say, resting my hand on her lap. “I’m not your mom either. I’m your friend. Your dad’s friend. You know that, right?”
“Yeah.” She grins like she’s playing along to some game and curls back up under her blankets. “So you’ll go?”
“Yes. I’ll go.” I lean forward and press a kiss to her forehead. “Now get some sleep.”
She yawns, waving at her dad as he turns off the light. “Love you, Dad.”
“Love you, rascal.”
I step out of the room when she calls out again. “Love you, Neely.”
I look up at Dane. He touches my cheek, as if that somehow will tell me what to do. “Good night, Mia.”
He pulls the door closed. “That wasn’t what I expected,” he whispers.
“Me either.”
“Are you okay with all that?” He searches my face. “If not, I’ll work it out.”
I take a quick inventory of how I feel in this moment. I have no regrets. I don’t wish anything were different. In fact, I’m happy. I reach up and kiss his cheek. “I’m very okay with it.”
He takes my hand. “Let’s go to my room.”
“I need to do something first. Go on without me, and I’ll be there in a second, all right?”
“I don’t want to go without you.” He pouts.
“Give me five minutes.” I laugh. “I’ll be there. Promise.”
“You have five minutes and your time starts now.”
Rolling my eyes, I head across the hall to the bathroom. Once locked inside, I sit on the toilet seat and pull out my phone. My heart beats a little quicker with every second that passes.
I unlock the screen and pull up my email. Mr. Snow’s offer is at the top. I open the message and hit the “Reply” button.
Mr. Snow,
Thank you for the generous offer. However, after much thought and consideration, I don’t feel this position would be a good fit for me. I appreciate your vote of confidence and wish you the best of luck going forward.
Sincerely,
Neely Kimber
As soon as it’s sent, my shoulders completely fall in relief.
I make my way to Dane’s room and find him lying across his bed. He props up on his elbows when he hears me walk in.
“I have something to tell you,” I say, shutting the door behind me.
“What’s that?”
I walk to the side of the bed near his feet. “I got a job offer yesterday.”
“In New York?” he asks carefully.
“Yeah.” Sitting on the edge of the bed, my hand squeezing his thigh, I look back at him. I give myself a moment to panic, to wish I had taken the job. Those things never come. Instead, the longer I sit beside him, the better I feel. “I just turned it down.”
“You did?”
“I did.”
In one swift movement, he sits up and grabs me around the waist. I’m beside him on his white comforter before I know what’s happening. He strokes my cheek with the pad of his thumb and gazes into my eyes.
“Can I say I’m glad you didn’t take it?” he asks.
“You can. I’m glad I didn’t take it too.”
“Can I ask why you didn’t take it?”
“They offered me five sick days.” I snort. “And it’s another six blocks from my apartment.”
He grins, but it’s not wide or joyful. “Everyone needs more than five sick days.”
“That’s what I was thinking.” I link my leg over his.
“Are you still job hunting?”
“Yeah. I mean, I have bills to pay. I just can’t find anything that checks all the boxes I need checked.”
He nods. “Until you find something, I hope you’ll let me check some of your boxes, if you catch my drift.”
Laughing, I scoot closer to him. “I thought you owed me one?”
“No, you owe me one.”
He rolls me over onto my back and smothers me with kisses. Thoughts of New York float away as I fall under Dane’s spell.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
DANE
My usual, please, Claire.” I turn away from the counter and head to a little table by the door. Grabbing a seat next to Haley, I let out a yawn.
“Tired?” she prods.
“Yeah.”
“I heard you had a little slumber party last night. According to my sources, Neely stayed all night.”
“Your source is nine years old and unreliable,” I say, taking a cup of coffee from Claire. “She left really late, so it wasn’t technically all night.”
Haley rolls her eyes. “Semantics.”
“Facts.” I take a sip of the hot beverage, hoping it wakes me up. I haven’t woken up this happy and delirious in a long damn time.
Claire bends forward. “Neely stayed all night with you?”
“No, eavesdropper. She came over. She left. If you’re gonna spy on people’s conversations, at least get them right.”
Claire laughs, shoving a pen back in the apron around her waist. “I’m a waitress. Eavesdropping is part of the job description.”
“So give us the details,” Haley suggests. “What happened? Is she moving in yet?”
My finger drags around the brim of my cup. I wish she were. I wish I could tell them she was never leaving me again, but that’s not true. Although after last night, it might be more of a possibility than I’d imagined.
“She’s not moving in, but she did turn down a job offer,” I say with a hint of smugness.
“Yes!” Haley fist pumps. “I’m so invested in this.”
Claire shakes her head. “This is the way things should be. Neely back home, living with you. Pregnant, but I’ll give you some time on that.”
“Gee, thanks,” I croak.
Claire laughs and goes back to the front of the restaurant.
“Forget babies, although I can’t wait to have another little Mia to watch. Wait,” Haley says, holding up a hand. “That needs to be a deal breaker for you.”
“I’m not following along.”
“Neely has to agree I can watch your babies. Some women come in and shove out the poor nanny, especially if the nanny was hired before she came around. Let her know I’m not, in any way, shape, or form wanting her job. I just want to watch the babies.”
I laugh, but secretly my balls are tightening. The thought of having a baby with Neely is foreplay. The idea of her swollen with my child feels so good it aches.
“I’ll put that in the deal,” I promise. “No cock unless Haley gets to watch the results.”
“That’s a gross way to put it, but it gets the point across. I think,” she says, clearly confused. “Anyway, how do you feel about things?”
“You know what? I’m feeling pretty damn good.”
“I love seeing you in love.” She sighs, cupping her cheeks with her hands. “It’s so beautiful.”
“I didn’t say I was in love. I just said I was feeling good.” I try to put in words what I feel without getting too cheesy. “She just fits right into my life. Mia loves her. She seems to really love Mia too.” I shrug. “It feels right.”
“Sounds like my kind of conversation,” Penn says. He drops into a seat by Haley. “So, what feels right? Are we doing a round-robin sort of thing?”
Haley gives him a blank stare. “You have a one-track mind.”
“So?”
“So? Don’t you think it’s time to grow up some, Penn? Maybe focus on investing money or buying a house? Something besides hooking up with the next girl you meet.”
“Right now I’m focused on hooking up with you.”
“Forget it,” she says. “Not happening.”
“Our girl Haley here has vowed not to date anyone for six months.” I look at Penn and smirk. “Looks like you’re out of luck until the new year.”
Penn furrows his brow. “I don’t see how this affects me at all.”