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“You had a lasso.”
“It was supposed to be a whip. I would have put more effort in had I known you were going to memorize the entire outfit.”
My cheeks burn as I clear my throat. “Well, I’ll let you get back to …”
“Wanna come over? I’m about to leave the office.”
“That’s …”
“A great idea? I know. I’ll text you my address. See you soon.”
He hangs up before I can respond.
23
“Hey, Monty.”
Collins glances up from her phone at the sound of my voice. She swallows twice before replying, “Hey.”
She looks tired, leaning against the wall across from the elevator. And beautiful. So, so beautiful. Always, but especially waiting in my building’s lobby. For a few seconds, I let myself fantasize, pretending this is a regular occurrence.
“You didn’t have to wait down here.” In addition to my address, I texted her the elevator code and where Ikeep a spare key.
“I didn’t want to … invade your space.”
“It’s not an invasion if you’re invited.”
She bites on her bottom lip. “I’m not sure this is the best idea …”
So,that’swhy she’s down here. Talking herself out of this.
“We said boundaries, Kit,” she adds.
That was part of my pitch to convince her to stay in New York and at Kensington Consolidated. So far, it’s been pretty successful. But …
“We also have a lot to talk about, right?”
All our last conversation established was that she was keeping the baby, remaining as my assistant—at least for the time being—and that I wasn’t going to skip off into the sunset solo. We haven’t discussed her moving. Her changing jobs. Telling my family. Not to mention what happens after the baby is born. Child support and custody arrangements and day care and holidays and birthdays and weekends.
It’s one of the reasons I asked her to come here rather than offering to meet Collins at her apartment.
I want her to move in with me. Being in the same place will make co-parenting a lot easier. I have plenty of space. She’ll save money on rent.
Practically, it makes sense. Realistically? I’m not anticipating an easy agreement.
Collins has focused on the paper bag I’m carrying.
“Hungry?” I ask, nudging the Up button on the elevator with my elbow. I’m not above luring her upstairs with the promise of food.
“Starving,” she admits.
“Cocktail wasn’t very filling?”
That comment earns me a dirty look. I don’t miss the slight upward curve to her lips though, which tells me she found my question alittlefunny.
“No, it wasn’t.”
I chuckle as the doors slide open, stifling a sigh of relief when Collins follows me inside. The doors shut, and the elevator starts to ascend a second later.