Counting On You (Counting the Billions 2)

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.