“Turns out Lewis and I have to compete for the spot.”
Confusion marred her features. “Lewis? Why? You work twice as hard and bring in way more clients than he does.”
“I know exactly why.”
Her eyes lit up, and she leaned forward slightly. “You do?”
I leaned in as well. “I’ll tell you...if you tell me what’s going on with you.” It was probably a dick move, but I couldn’t resist.
She was not amused. She threw her hands in the air and fell back against the booth chair with a groan. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“Nope.”
Our server—I didn’t catch her name—chose that moment to sidle up to our table. She eyed Kate’s to-go cup from the previous café then cheerily asked for our orders. Kate didn’t say a word, so I ordered breakfast for us both.
When we were alone again, I leaned back and waited for Kate to start talking. She didn’t. Staring a hole into the tabletop, she nibbled on her bottom lip. Seconds turned to minutes, and still, she said nothing.
I was starting to regret pushing as hard as I had, but when I wanted to apologize and tell her she didn’t owe me any explanation, she looked up.
And fuck me, my heart twisted violently.
Her eyes shimmered, and it seemed as if the weight of the entire damn world was on her shoulders.
“There’s a very real possibility that I’ll lose my little girl.”
I was so stunned she could’ve tipped me over with a feather. “You...you have a kid?” How did I not know this about her? Come to think of it, there were a lot of things I didn’t know about Kate.
Was I that self-centered I didn’t show an ounce of interest in the people around me?
Just like my parents. And shit if that realization didn’t hit hard.
“Millie. I’ve been her guardian for the past three years.” Kate’s voice drew me from my thoughts. “But I love her as if she were my own.”
“I had no idea… You’ve never mentioned her before.”
She gave me a look. “Why would I? It’s not like you and I are friends or make small talk.”
Her words shouldn’t have stung the way they did.
“Right,” I mumbled.
Our gaze locked, and holy shit, time slowed until it rolled to a dead stop. It was only me and Kate and the damn unsettling feeling in my bones.
What the hell was happening?
Whatever it was, I needed to snap out of it. Fast.
“You…uh…said something about losing her?”
Kate nodded and proceeded to fill me in on her late best friend’s sister’s plan to get custody of Millie. I was more educated in corporate law than family law, but even I knew, the courts favored stable family homes.
Which didn’t bode well for Kate.
But as she continued to tell me about the situation, a light bulb went on inside my head. We could help each other. If she pretended to be my girlfriend, fiancée even, Mr. Livingston and the board members would see me in a different light.
And if she could convince the court she was raising Millie in a stable two-parent home, they’d have no reason to take her away from Kate.
It was a win-win.
