Counting the Days (Counting the Billions 1)

“That’d be great,” Abby said.

I poured out coffee and put the omelets on plates, adding some fresh fruit on the side. “I hope these are okay?” I asked. “I didn’t know what you would want.”

“Anything is great,” Abby said brightly. She took a bite of her omelet and her eyes widened. “Oh wow, this is better than okay!”

I laughed and settled in across from her at the table. “Good,” I told her.

We ate in companionable silence. My phone chirped with a message at one point, but I ignored it for now. I’d rather just enjoy this strangely domestic breakfast with Abby, strange as that might sound. Normally, I was such a slave to my work.

After breakfast, though, as Abby cleared the plates at her insistence, I glanced at the message. And groaned.

“Something wrong?” Abby asked from over by the sink.

“My friend Austin just wanted to give me a heads-up about something,” I said. “Hold on.” I had been so sure, the previous night, that we weren’t going to end up in the papers. I had been

careful about choosing the restaurant, and I had booked the private room in the back. I had gotten the restaurant to sign a form saying they wouldn’t go to the press themselves for the sake of publicity. I had done everything right.

So why was I back in the papers now? It was anyone’s guess.

I quickly brought up the latest news on myself, my hands clenching into fists the minute I saw what the stories were about. “It seems,” I told Abby, “that everyone thinks I fired Gerrard so that I could replace him with a sexy new blonde.”

“What?” she asked in surprise, coming over so that she could look at the articles over my shoulder. There was even a picture of me escorting Abby into the office building the other day, the day the press had crowded her and were asking her all those questions.

“This is the price for being with me. Or working with me,” I said grimly. “Your brother was probably right when he warned you against working for me. My reputation forces people away.” I couldn’t help the bitter note to my voice.

Abby’s hands, to my surprise, came to rest on my shoulders, lightly kneading the tension away. “A little media gossip isn’t enough to scare me off,” she said firmly. “And besides, I’m not looking for a new job just yet anyway. Doesn’t matter what the other businesses think about me.”

I gave her a small smile, still feeling horrible for dragging her into all of this. I really should have hired a male advisor. The press would still have found plenty to say about me, but at least they would never have found out about Abby.

Abby bent down, though, a serious look in her eyes as she kissed me gently. “It’s okay,” she murmured as we pulled apart. “I’m not running away.”

Chapter 22

Abby

LAYLA SHRIEKED AS HER brother and I both ganged up on her, tickling her until she was practically crying with laughter. Leanne smiled at the three of us as she came into the living room. “All right, you tickle monsters,” she said. “Dinner’s ready. Go wash your hands, Zach and Layla.”

The two kids ran off, and Leanne shook her head as she looked at me. “Thanks again for keeping them entertained,” she said. “I’ve been trying to let them help out in the kitchen sometimes, but tonight was not the night for it.”

I laughed. “No worries,” I told her, hauling myself up off the floor once I had finally caught my own breath again. “You know I love playing with them.”

I loved listening to them chatter at the dinner table too. Would I ever have anything like this? I found myself wondering. Oh, maybe not with Daniel. But with anyone?

Daniel would make a great dad, though, I was sure. He was patient and kind. Clearly athletic too. I smiled a little to myself as I thought of him and then hurriedly turned my thoughts back to the kids’ babbling, hoping no one had noticed my lapse in attention.

After dinner, though, the topic of Daniel came up. The kids were already in bed, and the adults were in the living room with wine, a normal cap to these dinners we shared. “So Leanne said you went on a date,” Matt said.

I glanced over at Leanne. I knew she must have told Matt everything about the date, who it had been with. I couldn’t have asked her to keep that from him. But at the same time, I didn’t want them to interrogate me about it. It had been a good date, and I’d had a lot of fun. Daniel and I had shared breakfast the previous morning, and then I had gotten dressed and let his driver take me home.

The whole thing had left me wanting more. I hadn’t heard from Daniel since I had left, but he had definitely been hinting at a second date later that week.

And I wanted that.

Matt was shaking his head, though. “Do you really think it’s a good idea to get involved with him?” he asked. “The media follows him around like a plague.”

I glanced over at Leanne again, but she was biting her lower lip and looking just as worried about me. “I think he’s right,” she said. “There’s just something weird about the whole situation, don’t you think? He’s your boss. He knows what could happen to you if the two of you date. It’s like he doesn’t care about your career at all.”

“I’m still working for him,” I pointed out.