After All - Romancing Manhattan

God, she’s amazing.

“You have to wear those black shoes with the red bows on the heels at least once a week.”

Her gaze whips up to mine.

“You like those?”

“I like you in all your heels, but the red bows are an extraspecial touch.”

She smiles and tilts her head to the side, watching me.

“I’ll be happy to wear them. You know, I have a thing for the new navy slacks you bought not long ago.”

I arch a brow. “Is that so?”

“Oh yeah. They . . . fit nicely.”

“I’ll remember that.” We sit, smiling at each other. “Are we flirting with each other right now?”

“It seems we are, and that’s against rule number one.”

“Meh, we can bend the rules a bit. I like flirting with you.”

She sets the paper and pad aside.

“Dinner,” I continue. “Tomorrow night. I would say tonight, but I promised Gabby we’d go to the movies.”

“I can do that, but I can’t leave the office early again.”

“We’ll go from here.”

“Okay.” She nods. “But what about Gabby?”

“Tomorrow’s Friday. She’s staying with Maggie. She’s been spending extra time with her grandmother lately.”

“Okay, then. Is there anything else you need right now?”

Yes. I need to pull you against me and kiss you until you can’t breathe.

But that would be blurring rule number one too much, especially for the first day.

“I think that’s all.”

“Well, then, I’ll be expecting another bouquet of flowers the next time you need to see me in your office.”

She winks as she stands, lifts her flowers, and sashays out of my office, closing the door behind her.

And I begin counting the hours until I can get her alone.

“That was so good,” Gabby says as we walk out of the theater to my car.

“I’m glad you’re not too old for animated movies,” I say as I buckle my seat belt. “Because I like them, too.”

“The funny ones are great,” she says. “Also, we should get a dog.”

I stare at her in surprise. “How did we go from movies to dogs?”

“I’m just saying,” she says calmly, making me smile. My daughter is smart, way smarter than I sometimes give her credit for. And now that her behavior issues from last year seem to be resolved, she’s fun to be around again.

She’s the best.

“Gabs, you know we’re not home enough to have a dog. They need constant care. I wish we could make it work, but it just doesn’t seem fair.”

“I’m home way more than you are,” she reminds me. “And besides, it can stay with Grandma when we’re not home. I’m at Grandma’s a lot anyway.”

“We are not saddling your grandmother with a dog she doesn’t want.” My voice is firm, the one that says this is not up for discussion.

“Dad, I talked to Grandma about it, and she said she’d be up for it. A dog would be a great companion for her when she’s alone.”

I sigh and rub my hand over my mouth as I drive us home. “I’ll have to talk with her about it, Gabs.”

“Oh my gosh, does this mean you’ll think about it?”

“It means I’m going to talk to Maggie about it. Don’t get your hopes up because I do not think this is the best idea.”

“Okay. I won’t. Honest. But if you say yes, I’ll totally take care of it. You won’t have to do anything.”

“Famous last words,” I mutter as I park and lead Gabby up to our penthouse. I owned a house with Darcy, still do actually, but I haven’t been able to live there since she passed.

There are just too many difficult memories there.

I should sell the house, but I haven’t been able to do that, either.

So Gabby and I live in this penthouse in Manhattan, which is big and modern. More than comfortable.

“Can I stay up to watch Netflix?”

“No, ma’am. You have school in the morning. Go take your shower and get ready for bed.”

“Darn it.”

“Actually, hold on a second. Let’s have a chat.”

“I swear, I haven’t done anything.”

I laugh and kiss the top of her head. “I know. I just want to talk to you for a minute.”

“Okay.” She sits on the couch and pulls her legs up under her, waiting expectantly.

“Gabby, I want to know what you think about the idea of me starting to date.”

She frowns. “Uh, I think it’s gross.”

“Because you’re afraid I’ll try to replace your mother?”

“No, because you’ll probably have sex and stuff, and that’s disgusting.”

I laugh, covering my eyes with my hand. Yep, she’s hilarious.

Then, my head snaps up. “Wait. What do you know about sex?”

Gabby rolls her eyes and sighs deeply as if I’m the dumbest man on the planet. “Dad, I’m twelve. I’m not stupid.”

“You’re the smartest person I know,” I reply immediately, meaning every word. “But you’re only twelve, and I should know how much you think you know.”

“I took health class.” She shrugs one shoulder. “They explained the basics, and it sounds gross.”