Page 149

The way he kisses me is somehow both familiar and new. It’s exciting and intoxicating. I never want it to end, but it has to. As much as we both want to spend the rest of the day making up right here in my dad’s office, we have other things to attend to. There will be time to make up later.

And I plan on really making up.

He pulls back and leans his forehead to mine. “I can’t believe it,” he whispers.

“Can’t believe what?”

“Somehow I’m ending up with the dream. All of it.” His voice is quiet, but I can hear the wonder within it.

I feel his words square in my chest. Maybe I haven’t had the dream as long as he has, but it’s still the dream nonetheless. Things felt pretty bleak as little as ten minutes ago, and it’s sort of incredible how quickly life changes.

It’s a roller coaster, and there’s no one I want to ride it with as we scream our lungs out and toss our joined hands up in the air than Cooper Michael Noah.

And then he kneels down. He presses his lips to my stomach where our baby is growing. “Hi little one,” he says softly. “I’m your daddy.” He presses his cheek there and holds me for a beat, and then he lifts to a stand. His gaze is hot when it finds mine. “And I’m your daddy, too,” he rasps.

I giggle, but the truth is his words send a wave of need through my entire system that seems to land with a needy ache right between my legs. It’ll have to wait, though.

When we arrive in Mike’s office, he gives me a hug.

“Congratulations,” Mike says.

I look over at my dad. “You told him?”

My dad laughs. “I’m excited, okay?”

“Okay, but let me make the announcements from here on out.”

Cooper chuckles at the exchange between us and somehow it makes me feel like everything’s going to be okay—even between the two of them. Maybe my dad didn’t like the idea at first and that’s okay. He doesn’t have to like it. Maybe me standing up to him was what he needed to see I’m not just a little girl. I’m an adult capable of making my own decisions—and he got to watch as Cooper chose me, too. He can see for himself how right this is. How right we are together.

“When are you due?” Mike asks, and I can’t help but find it sort of funny that he’s the one who asks first…not the father or the grandfather.

“September ninth.”

Cooper’s jaw slackens at the realization.

“That’s a month before the regular season ends, and then we’ll have the postseason we’re going to plow through,” my dad says.

Cooper glances at him, but before he gets the chance to say a word, my father speaks first.

“I’m not letting you walk away, Noah,” he says gruffly. “You’re part of my daughter’s life, and that means you’ll be part of mine. I fucked up, you fucked up…we all fucked up. But this is where we make things right again. We should probably sit down and set some ground rules for how this will shake out. Obviously we’re not going to share our conquests the way we might once have…”

I wrinkle my nose at the thought, and my dad laughs.

“Sweetheart, if we’re all adults here, don’t make me point out that you’re carrying his baby, so we all have a pretty good idea of how that happened.” He holds up both hands as if he’s just stating the obvious.

“Dad!” I screech, covering my blushing face with both hands.

“I believe it’s safe to travel up to thirty-six weeks barring any complications,” Mike says. “So if we hire you as our social media manager, we’ll need a solution for what to do from August through the end of the year.”

“Hire me?” I echo.

Mike nods. “You were head and shoulders above the rest and you weren’t even fighting for the position. I knew I needed to find a way to get you to stay.”

“I appreciate that more than I can say. And I can think of somebody who might have a good solution for the whole maternity leave thing,” I say pointedly.

“Joanie?” Cooper suggests, his tone full of absurdity as if no one else considered that.

My dad draws in a deep breath and closes his eyes for a beat, and then he nods. “Let’s go.”

When the four of us show up in Joanie’s doorway, she looks somewhere between surprised and shocked.

“What’s going on?” she asks. She sits behind her desk, and her eyes move to my dad’s. His are on hers, too. The tension in here is palpable.

Mike sits in a chair across from her desk. Cooper stands back, and he tosses his arm around my shoulders while my dad glances at me and offers the other chair facing her desk with a nod. I shake my head, so he makes his way onto the chair, and Joanie looks epically confused.

“I believe my daughter would like to throw her hat back into the ring for the social media management position,” my dad says rather formally.

“I can speak for myself, Dad.” I roll my eyes. “Joanie, I would love to be considered for the social media manager position.”

Joanie’s face breaks out into a wide smile. “That’s why I had you interview, Gabby. I knew you were perfect for the position and I had to get you in the lineup just in case you changed your mind.”

“You knew?” I ask. I walk over toward her and she stands so she can take my hands in hers.

“I had a feeling. I knew everything was going to work out the way it was supposed to, but it got hard to keep the faith for a while.” Her eyes move toward my dad, and I’m certain the unfinished business between them is about to just be business again. She sits back down.

Mike picks up from his spot across from Joanie. “If Gabby is our final decision, which I want to confirm with the team before we officially announce, we’re going to need coverage from August onward.”

Joanie’s brows draw together. “Coverage?”

I sigh. “I guess it’s getting out. I’m pregnant, Cooper’s the father, I’m due September ninth, and I know Zelda left this position because she was pregnant but her baby daddy isn’t a player and this just seems to work out.”

Joanie’s jaw drops at my speech. “You’re p…p…you’re pregnant?”

I nod and smile, and Cooper tosses his arm around me to draw me in close again.

She presses her lips together and glances at my dad, and then she looks back at me. “So am I.”

Four heads whip in her direction at the same time.

“You’re…” my dad begins, and he stands.

Joanie nods.

“We’re…” he tries again, and Joanie nods again.

“But how…well, I know how , but when…” My dad trails off his line of thinking.

“I just found out,” Joanie says. “I’m not due until mid-November.”

“The off-season,” my dad says softly. He looks around in wonder, and then his eyes land back on Joanie. “Just like we planned.” He walks around the desk and takes her in his arms.

“Just like we planned,” she whispers, and he drops his mouth to hers.

“I’m sorry, kitten,” he says softly, and he doesn’t seem to care that the rest of us are watching.

“I’m sorry, too, boss,” she says back.

Boss and kitten? I wrinkle my nose with a bit of disgust again.

“So let me get this straight,” Cooper says, breaking into the sweet moment of reconnection. “My baby’s aunt or uncle is going to be two months younger than he or she is?”

Everyone in the room laughs. “That sounds about right,” my dad says, and he kisses Joanie once more before he moves back around the desk. “One big messed up but hopefully happy family.”

She draws in a deep breath and turns all business again. “I have a solution to the replacement substitute for Gabby while she’s on maternity leave.”

We all glance over at her to hear her proposition. “The marketing department has seen the benefits of these interns, and I would like to propose an assistant social media manager who can step into that role. I’d also like to propose an additional content creator who can assist the assistant while Gabby is out.”

Mike narrows his eyes at Joanie and steeples his fingers under his chin. He thinks it over, moving his two pointer fingers in front of his mouth for a beat, and then he nods. “I think it’s fantastic. Justin and Chloe?”

Joanie nods. “Justin as the assistant. Chloe as the creator.”

“Get the proposal on my desk and I’ll sign off my approval.”

I look back and forth between Joanie and Mike during this conversation like it’s a tennis match. Mike’s tone is professional as always, yet there’s some merriment there as he makes this happen. He’s like another father figure in many ways, and I’m both ready and excited to work for him, and with my father and Cooper and Joanie, too. Permanently.

“Justin’s going to be my assistant?” I ask.

“Spongebob?” Cooper asks, and I can’t help but laugh at his original nickname for the guy who has become one of my best friends.

Mike looks a little confused at Cooper’s nickname, but he says, “As it turns out, Justin knocked his interview out of the park. He didn’t want to follow in his father’s footsteps, and he isn’t. He’s in a totally different division and he’ll bring a fresh perspective to the marketing department. He has proven his talents over the course of this internship, and we’re excited to bring the three of you on board.”

“Does he know?” I ask.

Mike shakes his head. “We haven’t made any of this official yet.” He glances at Joanie, and she nods. “But I’d like to officially offer you the position of social media manager.”

I put my hand to my chest and feign shock. “Me? This is such a surprise.”

Everyone laughs. “It’s a dream team,” Mike says.

Cooper reaches over and grabs my hand, and I look at him and can’t help but think all of this is just that.

A dream.