Viv
For once, Henley answered his cell phone.
“Miss Marceau, nice to hear from you.” His tone had its usual smooth confidence. But then, the guy was a twenty-something multimillionaire actor, so confidence wasn’t unexpected.
“Hello, Mr. Cartwright,” I said, rubbing my eyes. “I’m working on our counter proposal for a settlement and I need to ask you a few things.”
“At this hour? Isn’t it almost nine in New York?”
“Yes.” I bumped up the size of the text on my screen since it was starting to blur after my long day. “How do you feel about letting her have the Manhattan place? She’s offering to buy it out at market value.”
He sighed into the phone. “I like that place. It was mine before we even met.”
“But we were going to sell it and divide the proceeds.”
“Yeah, I’m better with that than I am with giving it to her. She shouldn’t get to fuck her new boyfriend in my apartment.” He paused for a second and spoke again. “I’ll take market plus another million. She can decide how much it’s worth to her.”
I rolled my eyes at the ceiling. This case was never going to end. “I’ll include that in our counter, then.”
“Excellent. So I have a confession to make.”
“Uh . . . what’s that?” I wanted to get the hell out of here and meet Kane for dinner at the club.
“I looked you up on the law firm’s website. That photo of you looking like a naughty teacher is something, Miss Marceau. I had a feeling you were hot and I was right.”
“I do not look like a naughty teacher in my headshot.”
“You do, actually. In that business suit, with that come hither smile.”
This time I sighed into the phone. “You’ve got an active imagination, Mr. Cartwright. Can I email you the counter for your review?”
“Sure. Send me a naughty pic, too, would ya?”
I cringed. “No. Can you have this back to me within twenty-four hours?”
“Maybe. Can you just send it to my assistant?”
“This is important. It requires your attention.”
“Do you require my attention, Vivian?”
“Are you drunk?” I demanded.
“Nah. I’ve just got a good buzz going. Have you ever been to L.A.?”
I clicked the ‘send’ button on my email. “No. I just sent you the counter proposal, Mr. Cartwright. Please review it and get back to me.”
“What are you wearing right now?”
“I’m hanging up now.”
And I did, texting Kane as soon as the call ended.
Me: Longest day ever. You still want to do dinner?
Kane: Sorry, can’t. Bartender called in sick and I’m covering. Come sit at the bar and eat while I work.
I thought about it, but the club’s loud music and a spot at the crowded bar didn’t appeal right now. I just wanted Kane all to myself.
Me: I’m beat. I’ll just eat at home.
Kane: Come on babe. There’s nothing but an old tomato in your fridge. Get over here and let me feed you.
Me: Tomorrow night. I miss you.
Kane: Miss you too. Sleep well. Eat something besides that damn tomato.
Smiling at the phone, I pictured him standing at the Six bar with a white bar towel hanging from his back pocket. My man was one sexy bartender.
I yawned and resolved to get home as quickly as possible. Ten more minutes. As soon as I finalized this and sent it to Henley, I was going straight home. Maybe I’d pick up some Chinese takeout on the way. Kane was right about the tomato.
Kane
CORI’S NUMBER SHOWED UP ON the screen of my phone and I sat up in bed to answer it, wide awake now.
“Cori? Everything okay with Brooklyn?”
“Yeah, everything’s good. She’s at school.”
I laid back down, relieved.
“I’m off today,” Cori said. “And I wondered if you might be free for lunch.”
“Lunch?” I wrinkled my face, still out of it from being woken out of a dead sleep. Hadn’t she just said Brooklyn was at school?
“Yeah, you know . . . we can talk, decide where to go from here.”
She had my full attention now. Dinner had gone well the other night, with Brooklyn giving me a tour of her room and telling me about what she was learning at school. And now Cori seemed open to letting me see more of her. I’d figured it was too soon to ask for one on one time with my daughter, but maybe not.
“Sure,” I said. “In the city?”
“We can meet halfway.” She named a deli I knew of and we agreed to meet there in an hour.
I took a quick shower and drove there, thinking about the possibilities this opened up. I could bring Brooklyn to the club for lunch sometime since we didn’t open til evening. She could cook with the chef and made something fancy. We could get all you can eat pancakes at the diner near my place. I’d need to get a better place so she could have her own room when she visited me. We could paint it together.
I could introduce her to Viv and we could all spend time together. The thought of the two most important people in my life getting closer made me emotional. Viv would know more about what a nine-year-old girl liked, too. We’d go places together.
This was beyond my wildest dreams. I was on cloud nine when I walked into the deli and slid into a booth across from Cori.
“Hey,” she said, smiling.
“Hey. How’s it going?”
“Pretty good.”
A server came by for our orders and once he was gone, I waited for Cori to take the lead in the conversation. I wanted her to think me seeing more of Brooklyn was her idea, even if it was also mine.
“So,” she said, fiddling with her paper straw wrapper. “I sometimes wonder if I should have come to visit you. Written letters. You know, tried.”
My brows shot up with surprise. “Tried? I was in prison, Cori. You did the right thing making a clean break from me.”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I had it really bad for you, Kane. You were always so dark and mysterious. Kind of angry at the world. But there was something more there, and I saw it when we were together.”
I’d been high every time we were together. I couldn’t remember a single encounter. But I didn’t think it would be wise to tell her that.
“I fucked things up so bad,” I said. “Getting this second chance with Brooklyn means everything to me.”
“So you believe in second chances?” Her eyes were hopeful when they met mine.
“I didn’t used to,” I admitted. “But my girlfriend has made me believe in things I never did before.”
“I didn’t know you had a girlfriend. You’ve never mentioned her.”
“Yeah. Vivian. I’ve never brought her up because I wanted to keep the focus on Brooklyn at first. I like spending our time together talking about her life, you know?”
Cori nodded. “She’s so happy you’re coming around. And I am, too.”
Her gaze flicked to mine for just a second and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. I was kind of fucking clueless about women’s subtle signals, but I didn’t like the feeling I had right now.
“So . . .” I cleared my throat. “Is there anything I can do to help with Brooklyn?”
“You’ve already done a lot. I used the back child support money for the down payment on our house. I never could have afforded it without that.”
“It was nothing,” I said. “I can’t ever thank you enough for always giving her a happy, stable home. You’ve done a great job with her.”