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He snorts. “Woulda sounded more scandalous if you said you’d like to do thattome.”
“Yeah…” I breathe the word out. “I know. But I’m doing what I can with the material I have. What time?”
“Now.” His tone changes as though he takes the phone from his ear and sets me on speaker so he can type at the same time. “She’s downstairs in the station’s daycare. You have clearance, I already spoke to the director. Mia likes you, so she won’t freak out when she sees you. Take her home—to your place or mine or Arch’s, it doesn’t really matter. I’ll find you when I’m done, then I’ll organize dinner and get her settled in for the night.”
“What if…” I look directly into Aubree’s appalled eyes. “What if you take all night… again?”
Fletch chokes out that dirty old man laugh of his. “I won’t. We’ll be an hour. Two at the very most, then I’ll come find you. Are you okay with this?”
“Mmhmm… And Aubree?”
She thinks she’s being invited in.
“Have you told her about Mia?” His voice comes a little lower. A little slower. “Did you tell her about—”
“Not yet. But would it be cool if she comes too?” I don’t even have to try for the double entendre for that one. “Or will I not—”
“It’s cool. It’s…” He exhales. “I don’t mind. But maybe break it to her gently, okay? We’re pretty close, so the fact I didn’t tell her something as huge as this is kinda lame. I feel like an asshole about it.”
“I’ll be gentle.”Okay, now it’s just too easy.“I promise to be cool about it. We can be done for today anyway, so we’ll head up. Want us to find you before we go home?”
“You probably won’t be able to. I’ll be in with Arch and our guys. But I promise, just an hour, okay?”
“Two at the most,” I repeat. “It’s fine. I’ve got it under control.”
“Thank you.”
The sound changes again, the rustle of his stubble against his phone, then my own device buzzes against my ear.
“Just texted you. And I promise I have three interviews set up in the next few days to find a nanny. I won’t have to ask you to do this again.”
“I don’t mind.” Pushing up to stand, I look Aubree in the eyes and flick my fingers to tell her to come with me. “Will I get to voice my opinion about those extra female additions?”
“You’re disgusting,” Fletch laughs. “Absolute filth coming from your mouth.”
“I actually wasn’t kidding,” I snigger. Shucking off my white lab coat and placing it on the rack, I hold my phone between my shoulder and ear while I grab my too-thin outside coat and slide into it. “I care about what happens with all this. So if I get an opinion, I’d like to voice it.”
“You sound like Arch.”
“I do?”
“Mm. Except he said, ‘We ain’t hiring no two-bit bitch who is more interested in her double skim macchiato and social media life than she is with the child she’s paid to care for.’”
He pauses and turns too serious. “He cares, Delicious. He cares about a lot of things and only a few people, but he struggles to use his words sometimes. And before he gets a chance to straighten them out, maybe his opportunity has passed him by. So maybe it’s on you to slow your steps and give him a chance to—”
“I see you, Cupid.” Rolling my eyes, I wait at the door while Aubree dashes around. She doesn’t even know where we’re going, but she moves fast and sprints through the door to grab her outside coat from the back of her chair. “Don’t get involved in my relationship, Fletcher. I didn’t ask for your input.”
“You involved me!” he exclaims. “Apparently,wespent the entire night fucking. And I’m just saying, he’s putty for you. And he has never, ever,everrrrrrrr,” he adds dramatically, “been putty for anyone. So before you decide to throw him in the trash and ruin everything, maybe slow down for a sec and give him time to straighten out his words.”
“He knows what needs to be said. He knows who I am and what I represent. He knows what I need in a relationship, and I know what he needs. At this moment in time, our wants and needs contradict each other. For this relationship to work, one of us has to bend. And really,” when Aubree stops at attention and gives me two thumbs-up, I start toward the elevator, “I’m not sure I want to be in a relationship when one of us has to compromise so much. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us.”
When the elevator doors open and Aubree steps inside, fidgeting in place and bursting at the seams to say something, I roll my eyes and refocus on my conversation. “We’re in the elevator now. I’ll text you when I have her.”
“Thank you, Delicious.” He pauses for a moment, then adds, “And I love you too.”
I hang up with a sigh of… I don’t even know. Consideration, maybe. Thoughtfulness. Sadness over the relationship I’m reminded can’t work. And happiness at the one blossoming between a father and his daughter.
Sliding the phone into my pocket, I remain silent and watch the lights flash for each floor we pass.
