She's literally whispering in the dog's ear as I finish cleaning up the kitchen, and either I'm in dire need of some loving or there's something in the air, because I swear she looks sexier and more adorable today than she did yesterday. Maybe it's the sleep, or the simple way she gathers her curly hair at the nape of her neck. She's probably dying to get home and get a shower and a change of clothes, but I wish I could keep her here forever.
God, what am I thinking?
I glance at my phone and realize I've missed ten calls and texts from Killian, and about as many from Winnie.
"Dany, you need to go upstairs and brush your teeth, pick out some clothes and get changed."
She opens her mouth to protest, but I don't have time for backtalk. "Do it," I say as I answer the phone.
"I don't want to," she begins, when Regina gives her a look, then walks over to talk to her while I dial the phone. Killian picks up on the first ring.
"Thank fuck," he mutters. "Dude, get your ass in here."
"Wait, what? Why?"
"I told you already," he says, blowing out a breath on the other end of the line. "And you would know if you actually picked up your phone every once in a while."
"Tell me again," I growl. Prince hops up into a chair and lies down, as Dany and Regina go upstairs. How does Regina seem to have the magic touch with her? What's up with that?
"You've got an on-the-spot interview with local news. Everyone wants your story, and this particular one is hard to come by. Remember the last time they were going to interview you, and the President landed in Martha's Vineyard unexpectedly? They cancelled everything."
"I remember."
"So you gotta take this, man. They rebooked and are ready to go. And bring the kid. Maybe you could go over to the smoothie shop and get the chick, too."
The chick? Regina is now the chick? I grip my phone so tightly it hurts.
He goes on, oblivious to the fact he's on my shit list. "She seems like she's good with her, could maybe get her to behave better than you could, and she has to fucking behave on air."
"Great. Great."
"It'll be fine, man, you just have to power through like you do with everything else. Just steamroll."
For some reason, those words sting. I'm not usually the type that lets anything fucking sting.
Just steamroll?
Like you do with everything else?
What does that even mean?
Should. Have. Fired. His. Ass.
I hear the girls laughing upstairs, and it warms my heart a little. Sometimes I wonder if I have a little shriveled-up heart like the Grinch.
His heart was two sizes too small.
And then Regina comes into my life, and for the first time in fucking decades, I feel… alive. Human. It's painful in some ways, but in others…
I take the stairs two at a time and stick my head in Dany's room. They're making the bed, smoothing down the comforter, when I appear.
"Hey, I just got a call. Seems we have an interview."
"We?"
I gesture to me and then Dany.
Regina groans. "Okay, I'm gonna bug out and hit a shower, then. I'll have to get home and get a fresh change of clothes."
"I'll have my driver take you after we get dropped off."
She nods. "And then later, we'll have to meet up for more intake before I do some interviews and evaluations."
"Can't today, I've got execs flying in from Tokyo to discuss a possible merger and collaboration.'
She worries her lip. "Alright," she says with great reluctance. "What do you have in mind?"
I've got my in.
"Dinner at Café Noir Tonight."
She frowns. Why a frown? It's one of the best restaurants in the city.
"Do they even have a kid's menu?"
"Why do we need a kid's menu?"
She gives me her narrow-eyed, tight-lipped look.
And then it dawns on me. Jesus, I can't admit to her that I actually forgot Dany would be with us. In my mind, we'd have pawned her off on a nanny or something, but I remember with chagrin we don't have any more nannies.
"So, you want to take Dany with us?"
"Of course, I do," she hisses under her breath. "Where else would she go?"
"Okay, settle down." Jesus.
She rolls her eyes and I imagine her laid out over my lap, kicking those adorable feet.
"I'll check on the kid's menu."
She nods, lips thinned as if she's still on the fence.
I haven't had a woman I was interested in play hard to get in so long, I've forgotten how it's played. I'll need to strategize.
"Uncle Emmett." God, my too-small Grinch heart twangs at the sound of that little voice calling me that. Dany's standing at the top of the stairs. "Why don't you drive in the city yourself?" She's staring out the window. "Your driver guy's waiting."
"I do, but for work it's easier to have someone drive me because parking's a pain in the a— butt."
Regina smirks.
She is so getting that spanking she's damn near begged for.
We manage to get out of the house in time to the waiting car, but it's a fucking feat. Prince tries to take off but we'd leashed him, Dany's got her things tucked in her arms and holds Regina's hand, and I grab my laptop bag. We pile into the car and Prince hops onto Dany's lap.
"You're a good boy," Regina croons, scratching behind the dog's ears. "You need some breakfast, don't you, boy?"
"I gave him my eggs," Dany says proudly. "He ate them all up."
"Did you eat anything?"
She looks at me sheepishly. "Little bit of toast."
I grunt in disapproval. I won't have anyone saying I don't feed the kid, and she's honestly already skin and bones. "We'll get you a good lunch. Chicken tenders?"
"I like those."
"And we know you like macaroni and cheese."
She nods. "Don't you mean cavatappi with a decadent gruyere-havarti blend?"
Regina tugs on one of Dany's braids, and Dany smiles.
It's only been a few days, and it's hard to believe I didn't even know them a week ago. But things change quickly, sometimes, in the blink of an eye.
We pull up to Regina's apartment and drop her off. She lives on a humble street lined with brownstones, clean and well kept. Large potted plants and flowers line the stairs leading up to her apartment. Bikes are locked at a bike rack, and children with their parents are lining up at the bus stop. It looks so normal, so simple, but it also reminds me how out of touch with family life I am.
Do I want that? I think I want that.
Do I?
I mean, I always did, but it was way, way at the back of my mind. I haven't really given it much thought in years. I want it the way I want to cruise the Mediterranean. Something that sounds good, that I'd like to experience, but not something I'm willing to put the effort into right this very minute.
Seems I haven't been given a choice at this point.
Dany and I watch Regina go, and I imagine we're both looking the Reginae way Prince looks every time she leaves.
"I like her," Dany says. "I'm glad we get to see her later."
"Me, too."
She looks over at me and smiles, just a gentle upward quirk of her lips, but it's good to see the kid's feeling better about shit.
"Can I use your phone?" she asks as we drive toward work.
"Absolutely not."
"Fine," she says with a sigh and an eye roll. "Not like you have anything fun on it anyway," she mutters.
Oh, is that right?
"Fun, like what?"
She shrugs. "You know, games. Coloring. YouTube."
"How do you know? You shouldn't judge people like that."
She's totally right. I have my email, texts, and banking apps. I don't even know how people… color on phones?
I'll show her.
While she's looking out the window, I open the App Store and download the top-rated games and YouTube, and even find something that's called "Color Me Happy."
"Oooh," she says, looking over my shoulder when the new apps are downloaded. "Now can I use it?"
"Still no."
"You're zero fun."
I feel like that's a challenge.
Killian's pacing outside the building when we arrive.
"Thank fuck," he mutters under his breath.
"Watch your fucking language," I mutter back.
"Do you even hear yourself? Hello, kettle, it's pot calling." He steps back, his palms held upward in surrender when he catches my look. "Okay, alright, let's settle down."
He walks over to Dany. "Got to get you upstairs for the interview, now."
Dany glares. "No."
Killian looks to me.
"Ask her nicely. Why should she do what you tell her just because you bark it out?" I feel the zing in that myself, something I need to maybe keep in mind.
He looks from me to her again. "Please?"
Dany nods. "Acceptable."
This kid.
"When's Regina coming?"
I shrug.
Not sure.
Not fucking soon enough.
The conference room's been converted into a makeshift studio when we arrive, with large spotlights, video cameras, and people with microphones and the like milling about.
"I don't want to do this," Dany whispers. She turns to me, buries her head in my side, and closes her eyes. My little Grinch heart expands a little.
"You have to," Killian snaps. He crouches down on his haunches. "Come on, kid, you can do this. If you do, I'll buy you ice cream."
"No." She shakes her head. I wave Killian off.
I imagine for a second that I'm her, the kid whose parents left them, and I was thrust into a situation completely unlike anything I've ever experienced before. I may not have any experience with kids, but I do have experience actually being one. I remember how I was treated. I remember wishing someone would just understand me for once, instead of constantly judging and criticizing, and worse.
"You don't have to."
Killian's head snaps up in surprise. "Emmett…"
I know. It would be fucking awesome for my image. It would help restore my reputation, show the public I'm not the monster they think I am. But I can't do that to her.
"No. I'll do it myself. Dany, do you want to watch?"
She nods, then trots away from me and scoots herself up onto a vacant stool. I turn away from Killian, not wanting to explain myself anymore, when I see Regina watching me from the doorway. My heart gives a little thud.
Her hair's still damp from her shower, but it's begun to curl around her face and temples. I want to kiss where the curls just brush her skin. She's wearing another casual dress, this one a pale blue. Her eyes are hypnotizing as always. Between a mix of melting chocolate and the amber color of the most exquisite bourbon. She's staring right at me, and when I catch her gaze, she wiggles her fingers.
I give her a little wave. Dany sees her and runs to her, giving her a huge hug when she gets there. Wow. Why don't I get a greeting like that?
"I braided your hair," I say, half joking, unable to keep all the petulance out of my tone. "Why don't I get a hug like that?"
Dany turns and smirks, then twirls a strand of hair as she looks shyly at me. "You want a hug?"
Do I? "Yeah."
She grins, then saunters over and gives me a huge hug. "There," she says in her little voice. "Is that better?"
My little Grinch heart grows another size.
"Much," I say, all weirdly choked up again. When I look up, a camera flashes right in my face.
"Put that away," I tell the photographer, but he doesn't heed the warning in my voice. He takes another picture, then another. I clench my fists so I don't punch him, can't do that in front of the kid. I pick Dany up, place her to the side, then reach over and yank the fucking camera straight out of the guy's hand.
Twist.
Crunch.
Snap.
It shatters with satisfying cracks. I toss it to the side. Glass shatters and breaks. I take a step toward the photographer, who literally turns tail and runs.
"Anyone else want to take pictures of my niece without my permission?" They stare at me, and no one responds.
"Jesus," Killian says with a grimace. "There's another bill because of another one of your damn tantrums."
Regina looks at me from across the room, and is that panic in her eyes? She blinks, then looks away.
"My tantrums do not look like that," Dany mutters.
I give her the side-eye. "That wasn't a tantrum, and they'd better not."
She shakes her head and waves her hand. "I've outgrown that."
Is the kid mocking me?
A few minutes later, Regina escorts Dany to the shop and I give the interview I've promised. I answer the questions, but I'm preoccupied, my mind elsewhere. Yeah, this is supposedly really good for publicity, but that's the furthest thing from my mind. All I can think about is the woman that escorted my niece back to her frou-frou smoothie shop, and does she do Bikram yoga with her friend? Pretty sure that's the one you do in the nude, not that that has anything at all to do with my curiosity.
When we're finally done, I don't find myself going up to my office like I should. Instead, I'm scrolling through my phone trying to figure out which smoothie flavor I would like to try today.
I snort out loud at some of the names. Ménage-a-trois-berry? No thanks, not my speed.
When I enter the shop, the chatter stops. Seriously. Am I scowling again? Women supposedly have "resting bitch face." What's the male equivalent? Because apparently my facial muscles lapse into whatever that is.
The woman who single handedly took on all of their DoorDash orders stands at the smoothie counter, washing out a blender. "Can I help you, sir? I mean, Mr. Swan?" She flushes, as if the 'sir' part was an accidental flirtation.
I wonder what Regina told her about last night.
"Yes, please. I Like You a Latte."
She blinks. "But you don't even know me."
I look at her in confusion for a moment. "I… mean the smoothie?" I point to the cappuccino booster smoothie at the top of the menu.
"Oh," she says, turning a deep shade of pink that resembles boiled lobster. "I… yes, of course." She picks up her phone and taps something on it.
Jesus, it's a good thing I didn't order the ménage one.
She tosses things into another blender and presses the button as the door to the back opens and Regina comes out.
"Hey," she says, jerking her chin at me like we're old buddies.
I like that.
"Hey," I say back. "Dany staying out of trouble?"
She snorts. "Of course not, but it's kind of her personality type."
She sits on a stool next to me. "She's in the back brushing Prince, which is perfect because I need to speak to you privately."
There's a lot of things we need to do privately, and not very many of them involve speaking.
I toss a tip into the tip jar and sip my smoothie. Yeah, this one's good, too. No wonder this place is always hopping.
"Right. Want to head back up to my office?"
She looks to the back room.
"Go," her friend says. "I'll keep an eye on the two ankle biters."
"Thank you," I say to her, stepping down from the stool. By instinct, I offer my hand to Regina to help her hop down, and she takes it.
I like the feel of her hand in mine. I like how she smiles bashfully and ducks her head a little, as if she's never been shown this kind of courtesy. When she's standing in front of me, I don't let go.
"You're still holding my hand," she whispers, as we walk to the exit.
"You've got a problem with that?"
She pauses, as if thinking it over for a moment, then shakes her head. "Now that you mention it, not at all."
Maybe this could work, I think to myself.
I was supposed to be running these women off the premises so I could get the place to myself.
I was supposed to be declaring war.
Instead, I'm walking out of here, hand in hand with the enemy.
And I have zero regrets.