Counting On You (Counting the Billions 2)

?See you soon,” I echoed, hanging up the phone. I would have preferred for it to be just the two of us tonight so that I could really talk to her about Daniel and my confusions. But I was already smiling at the thought of seeing Zach and Layla, so I figured that in terms of cheering me up, this was just as good.

Leanne gave me a huge hug when we met up at the movie theater. I could tell from her searching gaze that she was worried about me, but the kids were all over me before she could say anything. “Auntie Abby, can we get popcorn?” Zach asked, tugging me over toward the concession stand.

I laughed and glanced back over my shoulder at Leanne. “I think that’s a question that you have to ask your mom,” I reminded him.

“I did,” Zach insisted. “But she and Layla are going to get chocolate drops, and I want popcorn. Mom said that if you’d share it with me, then we could do it.”

I grinned and knelt down next to Zach, leaning in to whisper. “I’ll share popcorn,” I told him conspiratorially, “but only if we can put marshmallows in it.”

“Yeah!” Zach cheered. I could see Leanne shaking her head fondly at me.

“I’m never going to get him to bed tonight,” she sighed.

I shrugged, entirely unrepentant. “You knew that was going to happen when you told him to ask me,” I pointed out.

She grinned back at me and stepped up to order. Eventually, we went into the theater with our goodies, finding it mostly empty. Zach chose our seats, practically dragging me up the steps with him while he chattered about the movie we were going to see.

“Have you seen this one already or something” I asked Leanne as we took our seats.

She rolled her eyes. “Only three times,” she said.

I snickered and tried to settle into my seat as the opening credits started to roll.

But all through the movie, even though I was having fun and enduring Zach’s whispered commentary the whole time, I couldn’t stop thinking about Daniel.

What was he up to tonight, if not working late? Suddenly, I got a sick feeling in my gut. I had been so sure that the reason he didn’t want to work late tonight was because he didn’t want to be caught in the office alone with me. But what if there was a different reason for it? What if he had a date tonight?

It was one thing to think of him as having moved on. Which I was sure he had, given how entirely cool and professional he had been all day. But it was another thing to realize that he was already dating other people.

I sighed heavily and shook my head a little as Leanne looked questioningly over at me. “I just ate too much popcorn,” I lied.

Leanne didn’t look convinced, but fortunately, she didn’t choose to start that conversation right in the middle of the movie.

My thoughts swung back around to Daniel. I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about him. Was it possible that he was thinking about me as well? I doubted it. But I guessed I’d see the truth of things in the paper the next morning. If he had had a hot date tonight, surely someone from the paparazzi would have found out about it. There would be photos.

I couldn’t decide if I was looking forward to seeing evidence of his night out or not. I should just forget all about him. And what would it mean if there was no evidence? It didn’t necessarily mean he hadn’t been out with someone.

I swallowed hard, trying to forget about all of that bitterness. I was the one who had told him that we couldn’t be involved with each other. This was for the best. The way that things needed to be. Who cared what Daniel McGregor was up to tonight? He was just my boss, and that was none of my business.

Chapter 7

Daniel

I LIKED THE PUB THAT Austin had brought me to, I finally decided, glancing around at the place again as I took another sip of my beer. It was comfortable. Casual. Kind of grimy, to be honest. Definitely not the kind of place I would normally go to, not with the kind of money I had.

Not that I always had to be seen at the most trendy places around town, but I tended to avoid places like this for the simple fact that I usually came out drinking after work and was thus often at least in a button-down and slacks. This was more of a jeans and t-shirts kind of place. But no one really seemed to care; they were all minding their own business. I appreciated that.

Fuck, it seemed like I never found a place where people would just mind their own damned business anymore. Here, people didn’t seem to recognize me, and I was free to just sit there with Austin and have some drinks and cheap pub food. Everything kind of tasted like grease, but honestly, it was delicious just knowing that I didn’t have to pretend like $15 for a half-rate, twice-frozen appetizer was worth it.

“All right, you’ve had your couple of drinks. Talk to me,” Austin finally said.

I sighed, but I had known it was coming. Not that I was any more prepared to talk about Abby than I’d been before, but I knew Austin would get the truth out of me sooner or later.

“I think I kind of got in over my head,” I admitted to Austin. Because really, that explained a lot of things with regards to me and Abby.

Austin nodded sagely. “I was wondering if you’d realized that or not,” he said. I blinked at him in surprise, and he shrugged. “Hate to break it to you, but you’re not exactly a mystery, man. I knew you were putting a lot of pressure on this relationship from the moment you wanted me to meet her. You’d only known her for, what, three weeks by that point?”

I gaped at him. “You never told me that it was weird,” I protested, hating the defensive note that came into my voice. I knew that Austin wasn’t saying it to be mean. He was just stating the truth. I had always liked that about him. But now, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hear the truth or if I wanted him to sugarcoat things a little more.