by Lexy Timms
That had set the trend for the rest of the gossip about us. Two weeks later, people still wanted to gossip about us, which I found a little absurd, but I was getting used to it, and the articles I had seen hadn’t been bad at all. It definitely hadn’t affected anything about work.
Except for the fact that I now had to be especially punctual since Daniel was there to pick me up and drive me to work on the mornings when I didn’t spend the night at his house.
I quickly tugged on my heels, grabbed my work things, and headed down to the car to meet him. He kissed me the minute I was settled in my seat and then handed me a coffee, our usual morning routine. “How’d you sleep last night?” Daniel asked, another part of our routine.
I laughed. “Fine, fine. As always.” I winked at him. “Not nearly as good as when I’m sleeping next to you though.”
Daniel smirked at me, but I could tell his mind was already on our first meeting of the day. It would be a big one, with some of our most important clients. We had spent half of the weekend going over strategies and proposals, and even though we were both sure that we were going to knock this thing out of the park, I think we were both a little nervous.
It was still nice to know that we were so much on the same page when it came to work things. Especially since no matter how nervous the other person got, we were each here for one another, silent support to calm each other down. We made a great team.
When we got to the office, there were a few paparazzi out front, as usual, but we breezed by them. Let them take photos of us holding hands on our way into the office. That didn’t fluster me anymore.
I sometimes wondered why the hell they seemed to think they needed a new photo of us together every single day. It definitely meant I had to up my game when I was getting dressed in the morning, not that I ever wanted to look less than my best when I was coming in to work.
If you had told me a month ago that I would be so unbothered by having my picture taken with Daniel, though, I would have thought you were lying. Surely there was no way I could ever get used to being the subject of half the city’s gossip columns. But I really had gotten used to it. In part, I just didn’t care so much anymore. I loved this man, and I didn’t care who knew about that.
Not that I had managed to say those words to Daniel yet. The closest I had come was telling him that the only reason I was willing to do this was because I really liked him. It had been a last-minute cop-out. One of these days, maybe I’d have the chance to tell him the real depth of my feelings. But I wanted to wait until the time was right. Until the perfect moment.
In the office, we separated, but not before he gave me a quick peck on the lips. That was all we would allow ourselves here, though. Other than that, it was strictly professional for the entire day. Definitely not the steamy boss-employee relationship I might have imagined Daniel having from the way that the tabloids wrote about him before. I had half expected clandestine meetings in his office, those late nights turning into a little something more.
But we’d both decided that for the sake of our sanity, and for the sake of the rest of McGregor Enterprises’ employees, it was best for us to have a strictly hands-off policy while we were in the building. Otherwise, who knew what sort of complicated situations might arise? I didn’t want to put him in a position where he was seen to favor me, nor did I want to be distracted by his good looks through all of our important meetings.
However, I did stop in his office that afternoon before I headed home early. “Hey, boss,” I said, grinning at Daniel.
He smiled at me. “What can I help you with?” he asked, using his “boss voice.”
I shook my head, though. “Just wanted to remind you that Leanne and Matt and the kids are coming over to my place for dinner tonight. Leanne called me a little while ago to confirm that Matt has officially been released from the hospital, so I want to have them over for a good meal. I know Leanne’s been running all over the place lately and hasn’t had much time to cook for all of them, and Matt of course has been stuck eating those hospital rations plus whatever we could sneak in for him. So he’d probably be down to eat anything, but I thought I’d pull out some of our mom’s old recipes.”
Daniel laughed at my babbling and waved me out of there. “Yeah, don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten. Good luck with the cooking.”
“Thanks,” I said, pulling a face at him. “With the way my mom’s recipes are, I might need it. Some of her stuff is seriously, like, add milk ‘until it looks right.’ Or ‘fill to the mark on the pipe,’ which doesn’t work unless you’re cooking at the exact same stove as hers, and even then it doesn’t work if the place has been repainted after, oh, fifty years of the same grungy paint on there?”
Daniel snorted. “I knew I was lucky not to have family traditions,” he quipped. “I’ll tell you all about the meeting with Aaron tomorrow morning.”
“Thanks, boss.” I gave him a mock salute. “See you tonight,” I said as I slipped out.
It was a little strange, still, this very sharp line we drew between our work life and our personal life. But it seemed to be working, at least for now, so who was I to complain? I smiled to myself as I walked out of the building, humming quietly under my breath.
As far as I was concerned, I was the luckiest woman in the world, and I wouldn’t change a thing.
Chapter 25
Daniel
I HEADED OVER TO ABBY’S place as soon as I got done with my afternoon meeting on Monday. If I’d had my way, I would have been over there with her the moment she got started cooking. I’d tried my best to postpone my meeting with Aaron to another day. But the guy was only in town for one day, so postponement wasn’t going to work, and he had a busy agenda so he couldn’t see me any earlier in the day.
I had seriously thought about just taking a wash on it, maybe losing the account, all so that I could come home early with Abby. But that wasn’t the way that I did business, and Abby had been the one to remind me of that.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said laughingly as I apologized again for being late. “It’s not like you’ve missed the dinner or anything. Look, Matt and Leanne aren’t even here yet.” She paused. “But if you really want to make it up to me, you can dice that onion over there,” she said, gesturing to the cutting board, upon which was an onion with a single slice cut off of it. “That’s as far as I got before I started crying too hard to see,” Abby admitted sheepishly.
I laughed and pulled her into another hug, heedless of the flour dotting her apron. “You’re adorable,” I told her. She was beaming as we pulled apart.
I diced the onion and did a few other little things to help Abby around the kitchen. But she handled most of the cooking herself, following recipes intently, her tongue poking out between her teeth as she worked. Adorable didn’t even begin to cover it. I couldn’t believe how deeply in love with this woman I was. I was just waiting for the perfect moment to tell her that.
But not right then. She wanted to concentrate, and it wasn’t like I could whisk her away upstairs afterward, as much as I would like to. Her brother and his family were coming over soon, and I wanted to make a good impression.
“What are you smirking about?” Abby asked suddenly, and I became aware of the fact that I was staring at her.
“I’m just thinking about how lucky I am,” I told her honestly.
She smiled, blushing a little. “Well, let’s hope you still feel lucky when you have to taste my cooking later,” she said. “I feel like this was too easy. I must have made some sort of mistake.”
I laughed and kissed her cheek while she perused the recipe again, running her finger along the words in total concentration. “I’m sure it’s going to be great,” I told her. “For what it’s worth, that pot roast smells amazing.”
Abby grinned at me, but whatever she was about to say, she was interrupted by the front door opening.
“Aunt Abby, we’re here!” Zach yelled running pell-mell into the kitchen and skidding across
the linoleum.
I grabbed him before he could hit the opposite wall. “Whoa there, buddy,” I said, swinging him easily up into the air. “Aunt Abby’s just finishing up the super-secret dessert, and I don’t think she wants to spoil the surprise. Why don’t you and Layla and I go play in the living room while we wait for it to be done?”
Zach tried to lift his head and peek over my shoulder, but I covered his eyes with my fingers. “No peeking!” I told him. “Otherwise you might not get any.”
“Is it a cake?” Zach asked as I carried him down the hall.
“I promised your aunt that I wouldn’t tell you,” I told Zach, winking at Matt and Leanne in the hallway. “Hey, guys. Hey, Layla, Zach, and I were thinking we’d play a game in the living room while the grown-ups talk.”
Layla giggled. “But you’re a grown-up!” she pointed out.
“Nuh-uh,” I said, shaking my head. “I am way younger than those guys.”
“Then how come you’re wearing a suit?” Zach demanded.
“Auntie Abby says you have your own shop!” Layla added. “Do you sell toys?”
I stifled a laugh. “Nope, I don’t sell toys,” I said, setting Zach down on the living room floor and sitting myself down next to him on the rug. Layla joined us.
“What are we going to play?” she asked.
I cast around for ideas in my head, but Layla was already yammering about some game she had learned in school and asking if we could play that. “Sure thing,” I said, “but I don’t know that game. Can you explain the rules to me?”
Between the two of them, they explained the rules, and we spent the rest of the time until dinner playing. I couldn’t help but smile. I had always loved kids, but I never really got a chance to be around them with the business I was in. Growing up, though, I had always been the one hanging out with the younger cousins, keeping them occupied while the grown-ups talked. And even now, I loved it when it was Take Your Child to Work Day and the office was overrun with little rascals.
Again, I thought back to the hospital, seeing Abby with her niece and nephew. Would she and I ever have kids one day? Did she even want kids of her own, or was she content with these two? I wondered.
“Dinner’s on the table,” Leanne said, poking her head in the living room. “Come on, guys, time to wash those hands.”
“Yeah, Daniel,” Zach said. “Wash those hands!”
I laughed and rolled my eyes. “I’m not the one who was playing with worms at lunchtime,” I said, referencing a story he told me at the hospital.
Zach grinned. “We found frogs today!” he told me excitedly. But before he could say more, Leanne was ushering them out of the room. I went into the kitchen to wash my own hands and to see if I could help Abby set the table. But she seemed to have everything under control, and when I finished washing my hands, I joined her and Matt at the table.
“Hey,” Matt said warmly. “I just wanted to say thanks for everything at the hospital. Again.”
I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it,” I said. “It was the least I could do. I’m just glad that you’re feeling better.”
“No, seriously,” Matt said, shaking his head. “I know that Leanne already apologized, but I also wanted to say I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure about you in the beginning, but I’ve never seen my little sister this happy before. I’m glad she found you.”
“All right, that’s enough of that,” Abby said, rolling her eyes. But I could tell she was pleased with her brother’s words. She started scooping out food onto plates, but I couldn’t resist teasing her a little more as I passed the first plate over to Matt.
“You’ve got a pretty special sister, you know,” I told him gravely. “She deserves the world.”
He laughed. “She does,” he agreed. “So I expect you to give it to her.”
“Matt,” Abby protested again, but she was laughing as well.
Leanne and the kids joined us at the table, and Abby finished dishing out the food. “Well, dig in,” she said.
I couldn’t help smiling, still amazed that they had let me into their families like this, so easily. As if I belonged there. For the first time in my life, it felt like I really was part of a family. As scary as that was, as worried as I was that I might do something to mess this up, I really couldn’t deny how happy that made me feel.
Chapter 26
Abby
I WAS SMILING AS I looked around the table at everyone. The kids were telling Matt all about the things that they had done while he was in the hospital, even though I was sure he’d already heard the stories a half dozen times while he was in the hospital as a captive audience. But he smiled good-naturedly at the two of them, just letting them chat and asking questions every once in a while.
Leanne, to my surprise, struck up a conversation with Daniel, asking him how work was going and then asking him about his weekend, his hobbies, and everything else. The conversation was natural, and I couldn’t help smiling as I listened to them. She made it sound like she really wanted to get to know Daniel.
Like she was accepting that he really was going to be part of my life. For good?
The thought surprised me, but I liked the idea of it. What if Daniel really was part of my family for good? What if we managed to keep this easy relationship going between us? He was good with the kids, and Matt and Leanne seemed to have come around. Daniel didn’t have family of his own, I knew, but I could suddenly picture holidays with all of us plus his friend Austin.
But no, before we got to that point, I had to figure out a way to tell Daniel that I loved him.
Watching him chat with my best friend, though, his hand warm against my thigh, suddenly it didn’t seem so difficult.
Daniel smiled over at me and brought me into the conversation with him and Leanne. Apparently they had both played tennis in high school, and they were talking about going to the court together sometime.
I rolled my eyes. “Just don’t try and beat Leanne,” I cautioned Daniel. “I’ve seen her smash a racket before.”
Daniel gave a surprised laugh and turned back to see Leanne’s reaction. “Not in front of the kids,” she said, but she was laughing as well. She hurried to explain. “It wasn’t because I had lost. But I lost because three of my strings snapped in a single match.”
“Because you were absolutely wailing on the ball,” I reminded her.
“No, because the racket was old and I needed a new one,” Leanne countered.
“Half your serves went sailing over the, what, twelve-foot fence?” I reminded her.
“I remember that match!” Matt chipped in suddenly, looking amused. “I didn’t go to a lot of your guys’ tournaments because, let’s face it...” He trailed off, looking at the kids, and I knew exactly what he was about to say: kids’ sports leagues could be boring. But obviously he wasn’t about to say that in front of Zach and Layla. He hurriedly covered for himself. “Anyway, we couldn’t tell if you were purposefully throwing the match or what.”
“She was only in tennis because her mother thought she had some anger issues to work out,” I told the table, grinning as I remembered how irate Leanne had been at the time. “So she decided to prove her right.”
There was laughter all around. “I don’t understand,” Layla complained.
“Don’t worry,” Daniel told her, giving her a wink. “I bet you’ll hear this story again as you get older. Especially if history repeats itself.”
Leanne rolled her eyes again, but she was still smiling. “Well, just make sure you don’t ever try to play tennis with Abby,” she countered. “I tried to practice with her one time, and that was enough. I think my black eye is still healing.”
“It’s why I don’t play ball games with the kids,” I confessed, sighing. “My hand-eye coordination is terrible.”
We continued chatting as dinner went on, and I still just couldn’t stop thinking about me and Daniel. I was still shocked that we had somehow managed to end up here together. Things had changed s
o much since I had been hired by him. And not just in the sense that now I had a great job.
But I had gone from being a woman who never wanted another relationship, who was dead set against finding love, and yet it had fallen right in my lap. Not only that, but I had always thought that I didn’t want kids, that I was going to have to be okay with being the cool Aunt Abby for the rest of my life. But here I was, considering the possibility of having children with Daniel.
Of course, I wasn’t seriously thinking about that now. We had a long way to go before then. But the thought didn’t bother me the way it had in the past. No, having a family of my own with Daniel by my side sounded pretty great.
It wasn’t just that he was a great guy or that he was starting to get along with the rest of my family. It wasn’t just that he was charming, or that he was good at business. No, it was really just the fact that he completed me somehow. We worked together as a perfect team, whether it was in the conference room or here in my house, cooking dinner together. I could only imagine the life we could build together.
But I was getting ahead of myself. For now, I just wanted to enjoy what we had. To enjoy this incredible happiness.
After dinner, Leanne helped me in the kitchen with the dishes while Matt and Daniel headed into the living room with the two kids. I couldn’t make out what they were chatting about, but I liked the sound of it, the two of them bonding.
Leanne grinned at me. “You are so in love with him,” she proclaimed, looking at my face.
