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“I know.” She nods briskly. “But that lady was your old friend. She said you went on a date.”
She did say that, and I have no reason to doubt her. Whatever happened between us didn’t involve my dick, though, because I have never been the fuck and forget type. I remember every woman I’ve taken to bed and Michelle is not on that list.
“I knew her a long time ago.” I glance at my watch. “We need to race to catch the next train. We’ll talk about this more, though. It’s good to be friendly, but we have to be careful.”
“Yes, Daddy.” She sighs. “If you do go for a root beer date with Mishelly, will you tell me?”
I don’t need my five-year-old this invested in my personal life, so I let her down easy. “Daddy won’t be meeting her for root beer.”
“Okay.” Her gaze darts behind me. “Maybe you and I can have one when we get home?”
“That works for me.” I point at the concrete steps. “Are you ready, Kirbs?”
She lets out a laugh that sounds like music to my ears. “That’s what my best friends call me. Not you.”
I fake a frown. “I thought I was your best friend.”
She spreads the fingers on her right hand. “You’re my fifth best friend right now.”
Damn. I’ve dropped two spots in the past month. I need to up my friendship game with the little lady in my life.
“I’ll take it,” I say what I always do when I rank behind her school buddies.
With the smile still on her face, she says the words that make everything right in my world, “I love you, Daddy. With every part of my heart.”
I pinch her chin. “I love you with every part of my heart, too.”
“I’m a lucky ducky.” She laughs. “You are, too.”
She’s got that right.
CHAPTER THREE
Carrie
“If I could rearrange the letters in the alphabet, you would always be by my side.” Telford sighs. “Wait. No.”
I glance to where he’s on bended knee, less than two feet from where I’m standing. “I think you meant to say you’d put you and I next to each other forever.”
I punctuate that by miming writing the letter U followed by a capital I in the air.
“That’s it!” Glee lights up his expression. “That’s the winner, Carrie. It is, right?”
“Wrong,” I burst his happiness bubble with one word. “It’s not you, Tel.”
“It’s I,” he jokes. “See what I did there? You and I?”
I look past him to the kitchen in my apartment. “Are we cooking tonight, or should I order in?”
His gaze tracks the same path as mine. “You have that fancy stove, and I know you bought groceries yesterday, so cooking wins.”
“All I bought was milk, cereal, and some fruit,” I point out. “I thought Abby and I would get together after work today, so I didn’t plan a dinner menu.”
His hands jump out to his sides. “So I’m second choice? Again, Carrie?”
I laugh. “As if you’re surprised. She has dinner plans with Declan tonight, and she mentioned after that, they’re going to see our folks to share some big news. She asked if I wanted to tagalong for the big news portion of the evening, but I passed because I want all of the focus to be on them. We rain checked until tomorrow, so in the end it all worked out.”
He ignores me in favor of the screen of his phone, which he’s staring intently at. “Mr. Black wants to see us tomorrow morning.”
