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“Excellent. I’ll see you both then.” Gigi said her goodbyes and left.
No sooner had the door closed than he pulled out the clips holding Leah’s hair up. He raked his fingers through the strands, content to stand there and do nothing else but touch her hair.
“She’s not exactly what I expected,” Leah stated. “Is she always so full of life? I thought my grandmother had a lot of energy, but I think yours could run circles around mine. I got tired just talking to her.”
“More or less.” Gavin pulled his hands from her hair, reached for the top button of her blouse, and released it. “If you’re tired, I can tuck you into bed now too.” He unfastened the second and third buttons.
Tonight in his office was the first time they’d been intimate since Erin arrived. But not making love to Leah again now might kill him. “It’s up to you.” He slid his hand across her chest and into her bra.
Before she answered, he grazed her nipple with his fingertip and lowered his mouth to hers in time to catch her groan.
Chapter Thirteen
Leah loved art. She always had. Some of her favorite childhood memories were of strolling through art museums with her mom. She didn’t care if the pieces were completed during the Renaissance period or the late twentieth century; she enjoyed it all. Of all the museums she visited, the Metropolitan Museum of Art was at the top of her list, followed closely by the National Gallery in London and, of course, the Louvre. What art lover didn’t like the Louvre?
Somehow, today, going through the various collections housed in the museum was different. She’d seen many of the paintings and sculptures countless times, but this morning with Erin it’d been like seeing them for the first time. Gavin’s daughter reminded Leah of herself when she’d visited museums with her mom. She pointed out her favorite pieces and had no qualms about telling Leah which ones she thought were hideous. Oddly, many of the ones Erin disliked, she didn’t care for either. Leah wisely kept the opinion to herself. They’d already earned more than one disgruntled look thanks to Erin’s comments.
After a few hours of strolling through first the modern and contemporary art, and then the medieval displays, they made their way to the American Wing. Judging by Erin’s comments, it was her favorite of the three. They finished their visit to the museum with lunch at the café and a quick stop at the gift shop. As a kid, no visit to the museum had been complete for Leah without a stop there. Erin felt the same way.
She took her time walking through the store and checking out the various items offered before picking out two posters to hang on her bedroom wall. Once finished, they left for the only store in the city Leah visited when she wanted to add or change something in a room but didn’t want to wait for anything to be custom made.
“What do you want to look for first?” Leah asked. When she shopped, she liked to have a plan rather than wandering around aimlessly until she spotted something she liked.
Aside from painting the walls and buying new furniture, Gavin had given them permission to change anything they wanted in the room. If it were her bedroom, the dark gray comforter would be the first thing to go, along with the matching curtains. Even now she tended to stay away from anything in the gray family, and it had definitely never appeared in her room when she’d been younger. Considering the colors she’d seen Erin wear, Gavin’s daughter preferred fun, vibrant colors, and gray was not vibrant no matter the shade.
“Stuff for my bed. I hate gray; it’s super boring. Everything on my bed at Mom’s is yellow. And at dad’s other apartment I have a lot of rainbows and mermaids in my room.”
“Is yellow your favorite color?” Some shades of yellow were nice, but when it came to decorating, it wasn’t a color she went with. But this wasn’t her bedroom, so if Erin wanted yellow, they’d look for anything and everything in yellow.
Together they stepped off the escalator and walked toward the bedding section of the store. “It used to be. Now I like purple and pink more. Mom said when she decorates the other bedroom for the baby she’ll let me change my room too. She promised I can help pick stuff out, but we have to wait until we know if the baby is a boy or a girl.”
The woman she’d met at the airport hadn’t looked pregnant. If she was expecting, she couldn’t be much further along than Callie, who’d told her over the weekend that she was pregnant with her second baby.
“Do you want a brother or a sister?” Leah asked. The sex of a baby might not matter to parents or grandparents, but all children had a preference when it came to new siblings.
Erin proved to be no different.
“A sister. My cousin Spencer is a year older than me, and he’s so mean. He always picks on me. I’m glad he lives in Florida so I don’t have to see him much. Do you have any sisters?”
They entered an area filled with sheets, pillows, and comforters designed with children and preteens in mind. Nearly everything was covered with cartoon animals, superheroes, or emoji symbols, including a giant pillow in the shape of poop. Whatever else Erin picked out today, Leah hoped that pillow wasn’t among the items. Or anything else with a poop emoji on it, for that matter.
“No, two older brothers. But I have a lot of female cousins and we’re close. Almost like sisters.”
Erin walked down the aisle looking at the various sheet sets, and Leah was relieved when she walked by the ones sporting the crazy emoji symbols.
“Are your brothers mean like Spencer?” She picked up a sheet set decorated with panda bears, considered it for a moment, and then returned it to the shelf.
“Nah, annoying sometimes but not mean. If you have a brother, I’m sure you’ll get along.” Spotting a comforter with a unicorn print, Leah grabbed it. Erin had a unicorn-shaped backpack, so it was a safe guess she liked unicorns. “What do you think?”
Erin was about to pick up a tie-dyed sheet set but her hand dropped back to her side when she saw what Leah was holding. “I love it. Can we see if they have stuff to match it?”
Leah nodded and together they went in search of anything and everything unicorn. She didn’t know Gavin’s opinion on unicorns, but she assumed he’d prefer it to many of the other options on display.
“A baby brother might be okay. I’ll be older than him, so he won’t be able to pick on me like Spencer. But I still really want a sister.” Gavin’s daughter grabbed three unicorn-shaped throw pillows, each with a different-colored mane, and added them to what they’d already selected. “Are you and Dad going to have a baby like Mom and Todd?”
Curt was right. He’d told her to be prepared for some entertaining conversations while Erin was around. Getting asked if she planned to have children was more embarrassing than entertaining, but considering what they’d been discussing, maybe it shouldn’t surprise her.
Yet it did. And now she had to answer the question.
