Chapter 10

Andrew

 

When my cell phone’s alarm went off, I was ready to go. Jumping up from my chair, I killed the screen on the desktop. All day long, I’d been running on anxious energy. An evening spent with Raven. A possible run-in with the sexy guidance counselor. Both of these opportunities were strange and uncertain.

At the door of my office, I paused, hand on the knob. Something inside me wanted to go right back to my desk, back to work. The world there was comfortable, and I knew it inside and out. A foreign land lay ahead of me. How long had it been since I explored the world outside of the normal day-to-day?

I let out a long sigh. No running back to the computer. Tonight wasn’t about me. This was Raven’s night.

Going into the open-style main section downstairs, I crossed the living room and grabbed a glass of water. A noise made me turn around, and Karen popped out of the pantry.

“Just getting rid of expired goods.” She waved a can of sweet potatoes at me. I couldn’t remember the last time we had Thanksgiving at home. Usually, Karen spent that weekend with her family, so Raven and I went to the country club for dinner.

Holidays. I hated them. They were for people who despised their jobs and needed time off, a situation that didn’t apply to me at all. Since this was America, though, I had to give my employees all the expected breaks off.

“Raven come down yet?” I asked.

“No. I can go check on her.”

I looked at my watch. We had a reservation at an Ethiopian place in thirty minutes, but the spot was only about half that time away.

“She can take another minute.”

Karen’s surprised look couldn’t be missed. Before she could grill me on anything, I pulled my phone out and checked my email.

A few more minutes crawled by. What was she doing up there? Curling her hair? Putting on even more glitter eyeshadow or whatever makeup crap it was girls obsessed with now? This was a night out with her dad, not prom.

“I haven’t waited for a woman this long since Danica was alive.”

The second the last word left my mouth, I froze. Where had that thought even come from?

From across the kitchen, where she stacked cans, Karen smiled uncertainly. I gulped, hyperaware of my beating heart. I hardly ever talked about Danica. Fuck, I hardly ever stood around in the kitchen just talking, forget the subject.

What was going on with me?

The floorboard creaked, and Raven appeared at the edge of the kitchen, having snuck downstairs without me noticing. With her floor-length sundress, jean jacket, loose hair, and bare face, she looked the opposite of what I’d expected. Gone were the miniskirt and red lipstick she’d donned the last few times I’d seen her go out.

“Hi,” she quietly said.

“You look great.”

For some reason, that made her scowl. “We have to go, Dad. We’re gonna be late.”

I opened my mouth to remind her I’d been waiting for her but then closed it. This night was about getting along.

Leaving Karen to her cans of veggies and bags of flour, we went into the garage and climbed into the Maserati. I’d gotten it a few months ago but hadn’t found the chance to drive it around much. It had been in my mind to use it as kind of a weekend car, which is why I’d picked out a convertible. That seemed ridiculous now. I hadn’t taken a full weekend off in years.

Keeping the top up because of the chill, I navigated down the circular drive and took a right, toward the main road. For a few minutes, only the hum of the engine filled the car.

I worked my tongue around, looking for something to say. Fuck, this is hard. What were we supposed to talk about? I already knew about school.

Raven gasped, and I quickly looked over at her.

“What?”

“I left my phone at the house.”

“Oh.” I frowned. “We can go back and get it.” We weren’t even five minutes from home.

She didn’t answer, and I started to pull into a parking lot to turn around.

“No, it’s okay. I don’t need it.”

I stared at her, but she kept looking ahead, giving me nothing but her profile.

“Okay.”

A teenager not needing her phone for a whole evening? What alternate universe had I stepped into?

Maybe Lanie’s suggestion was working after all.

At the restaurant, our table was ready right away. Raven barely looked at the menu, picking out the entree at the very top.

“I’ll have that too,” I told the waiter, handing my menu over.

Raven wrung her hands on the table and looked all around the restaurant.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“I just don’t want to be late.”

I almost laughed at that, but the serious expression on her face stopped me. “Don’t worry. It’s an art show. The canvases aren’t going anywhere.”

Her lips twisted. “I know.”

That familiar annoyance filled me, and once again, I had to check myself. Just look for something else to talk about.

“Miss Jacobs seems nice.”

Raven’s nose wrinkled. “Who?”

“The guidance counselor.”

“Oh.” She shrugged and looked away. “Don’t know her.”

“You haven’t had a meeting with her yet?”

“Should I?” She shot me a scathing look like I was the one having behavioral issues.

“You-I—” My hands found my hair, where they itched to pull at the roots. Not wanting to completely lose my shit in the middle of a restaurant, I forced them onto the table. “Let’s just focus on having a nice time tonight, all right? Can we do that?”

“I’m not the one who brought up school.”

I chewed on that for a second. When I’d mentioned going to the art gallery, I neglected to tell Raven it had been her school counselor’s idea. Now I realized this was for the best. Her thinking this outing had been my idea was likely why she’d toned the attitude down.

Keeping that in mind, I changed the subject. “How is Caitlin? Have you seen her lately?”

“Caitlin goes to school in Colorado,” she quietly said.

“What?”

“A private school.”

“Since when?”

“Two years ago.” Raven made a disgusted face, and this time, she couldn’t be blamed. “Do you listen to anything I say?”

“You never told me she moved to Colorado,” I sharply answered.

She rolled her eyes. “That’s because she didn’t. Her parents sent her there. They thought she’d grow up to be a crack whore or something if she went to public school.”

“Don’t say crack whore.”

Raven snorted. “Okay.”

Holy shit, I can’t say anything right.

Out of the corner of my eye, our waiter walked by. Quickly extending my arm, I caught his attention. “I’ll take a bourbon. Top shelf.”

One hour and a drink later—the latter which would have been more if I wasn’t driving—we emerged from the restaurant and drove deeper into downtown. Raven’s attitude hadn’t gotten any better during dinner, and I could tell she probably wished she’d brought her phone. No better way to tune me out than by staring at a screen.

On the gallery’s block, I found parking on the street, and we walked briskly down the sidewalk. With each step, my pulse picked up. Lanie was so close, just a minute away. Would she be as excited to see me as I was her?

“Uh, Dad? Wait up, will you?”

“Oh. Sorry.” I stopped so Raven could catch up.

“You’re acting so weird,” she pouted. “What’s wrong with you?”

My face flamed. “Nothing. Let’s go.”

I’d finally met a woman I was attracted to that didn’t seem like a total nutcase. That’s what was wrong with me.

Now I had to make sure she possessed the rest of the necessary criteria.

Arriving at the corner gallery, I opened the door for Raven, letting her enter first. Automatically, my eyes swept the space, looking for Lanie. At the sight of her, standing near a wall talking to a woman, desire rumbled deep in my core.

How had I gone so long without getting a woman in my bed? The last few months, being alone had seemed fine. Looking at Lanie then, I figured I must have been out of my fucking mind.

It was the flowing skirt, the tight leggings. The headband holding back that short hair. The way her eyes lit up when she looked around the room and noticed me. It was just everything about the girl.

She strode over to us, making my palms itch. God, to touch her. She probably felt like silk and not only on her lips but all over.

“Hi. You guys came.” She smiled first at Raven and then at me. Long, dangling earrings swept against her neck, kissing the spots that should have belonged to me.

Dragging my gaze back to Lanie’s face, I saw her smile fading. She wasn’t the only one looking uncomfortable. Raven stared at me as well, her upper lip curled.

“Yeah,” I quickly said, pulling myself back to reality. “We’re happy to be here.”

“You must be Raven,” Lanie said. “I’m Miss Jacobs, the new counselor at school.”

I held my breath as Raven connected the puzzle pieces. The thought had slipped my mind before, but me bringing her to a place without letting her know a teacher would be there was a recipe for disaster.

“Oh. Nice to meet you,” Raven said, but that was all. No blow-up. No attitude.

Lanie smiled at me as if to say, See? It’s working.

I grinned back, willing to do anything to see that gorgeous face glow.

“Raven, do you want to ...” My questioned died before it was fully out. At some point, while I’d been staring at Lanie, Raven had wandered off. She now stood a few yards away, inspecting a colorful painting.

“She seems happy,” Lanie offered.

“Yeah.” Seeing Lanie still watch Raven, I took the opportunity to quickly look her up and down. She was petite but just the perfect size. The top of her head probably came to the bottom of my chin, which meant her laying her cheek on my shoulder would be no problem at all.

“Thank you for inviting us,” I said.

Lanie blushed and bit down on her luscious bottom lip. “How is she doing?”

“Tonight? A little better than usual.”

“Good! That’s great!” Lanie’s eyes sparkled, showing she meant it.

“How are you?”

“Oh. I-I’m good.” She tugged at her sleeves. “Thank you.”

“Dad!” Raven called. “Come here.”

I glanced at Lanie.

“Go ahead,” she nodded.

“You’re not going anywhere, are you?”

She took an audible inhale, making the beast in me roar with pleasure. “No,” she whispered.

I kept my eyes on her for a purposeful amount of time. “Good.”

“Look at this one,” Raven said when I approached her. She pointed at an abstract painting that I guess was supposed to loosely resemble a giant flower.

“Hm,” I commented. “Kind of Georgia O’Keeffe warped.”

Raven looked at me in surprise. “You know who that is?”

I laughed. “What kind of art did you think I know about?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “Old stuff.”

“Cause I’m so old?”

“No.” She laughed, and it took me a second to realize the sound came from her and not someone else in the gallery. It had been that long since I’d heard Raven’s lighthearted giggle.

It felt damn good to have it back.

Unexpectedly, my eyes burned, filling with tears. I quickly looked away and blinked fast. Holy shit, Lanie had been right. All Raven needed was a little one-on-one time. What a dumbass I’d been not to see it before.

Glancing across the gallery, I tracked Lanie. She stood near the front, talking to some hipster guy in plaid. Jealousy burned its way up my esophagus.

“That one’s pretty,” Raven murmured, almost to herself.

I followed her to the next painting. I’d deal with hipster guy in a minute.

We made our round along the walls, giving each painting a moment. At the refreshment table, one of the artists loitered, telling a mini-audience of a few people a story about one of the pieces. Raven hung at the edge of the group, her head cocked in interest.

Seeing my opportunity to claim my turf, I poured two plastic cups of wine and carried them to where hipster still talked Lanie’s ear off.

“Here you go, babe,” I said. “Got your wine.”

Lanie’s mouth fell open, and the guy looked at me in surprise.

“How’s it going, bro?” I asked, using a word I might never have uttered.

“Good, good,” he nodded. “Just checking out the scene.”

“Nice.” I took a sip of wine and gave him a long look.

“Nice talking,” he told Lanie, giving her a little wave and walking off.

Lanie was all pink. “Um, thanks for the wine.”

“You’re welcome.”

Now that the guy was gone, the full realization of what I’d done hit me. I’d never been the jealous type. Ever. But seeing that guy making his move on the one woman I’d been curious about in years had my blood boiling.

Lanie popped her lips. “That was interesting.”

“Sorry. I just really wanted to talk to you. That wasn’t your boyfriend, was it?”

“No,” she breathlessly answered.

I pierced her eyes with mine. “Good.”

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. “How is, um, how is Raven enjoying the show?”

I glanced over my shoulder, at where Raven now talked to the artist from earlier. It had been a long time since I’d seen her interact with anyone other than Karen or me, and it seemed to signify a real step.

“She seems to like it a lot,” I answered. “I was thinking about something.”

Lanie nodded eagerly. “Uh-huh?”

“What do you think if I got her one of these paintings? For her room. She said a while ago that it’s a little kid room. It still has the wallpaper she got when she was five.”

“That sounds like a great idea to me. Why wouldn’t you do it?”

“I want to make sure I’m not ...” I dropped my voice, not even liking saying the word. “Spoiling her.”

Lanie smiled. “I don’t think giving Raven some control of her space will spoil her. It might make her feel more empowered.”

“Right,” I agreed. “She might enjoy redecorating it.”

“Yeah,” Lanie softly said. Our gazes were attached again as if an invisible string linked my eyes to hers. Looking away became impossible.

“Which one do you like?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she murmured again.

I burst into laughter, and Lanie, realizing what she’d said, covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh god. Sorry. Uh. That one.”

She pointed at the pink and red painting. It was another of the kind of abstract ones. From what I could tell, it mostly resembled a pink rose covered in dew. Though I didn’t quite understand it, it did make me feel calm.

“That’s my favorite too.”

“Really?” She looked at me in surprise.

“Both you and my daughter.” I smirked.

“What?”

“You don’t take me for an art man?”

Lanie smiled and rolled her head. “Mr. Marx—”

“Andrew.”

Her lips parted, and a heavy beat followed. “Andrew,” she softly said, sounding like she was testing the name out.

“Yes?” I evenly asked.

“I forgot what I was saying.” She frowned.

“Don’t worry about it.” I chuckled.

She dropped her face, looking into her wine, and I looked for something else to say but then realized there was no need. The silence, surprisingly, was comfortable. Standing around with a beautiful woman, surrounded by the murmur of other people, was simply nice.

“Dad.”

I jumped at Raven’s voice, coming from only inches away. When had she gotten so damn stealthy?

“I’m tired. I wanna go.”

“We just got here.”

“Yeah, but I’m exhausted.”

The bags under her eyes told the truth. I checked my wristwatch. Almost ten. How had the time gone by so fast?

“We need to go,” I apologetically told Lanie.

“Of course.” She smiled. “See you at school, Raven.”

“See ya,” Raven unenthusiastically answered.

I lingered for a moment as Raven went out the door.

“Thank you. Again.”

Lanie’s brown eyes went soft. “Don’t mention it. It’s my job.”

“Dad,” Raven complained.

“Go,” Lanie encouraged. “I’ll see you, Andrew.”

With my name coming off her tongue, each inch of my skin came to life in a new way. I was born again, pulled into the light I didn’t even know existed. I still hadn’t gotten the straightforward information I’d wanted about Lanie Jacobs. Was she the kind of woman who would date a man for his money? Did she care about success more than deep connections?

From the small amount of time we’d spent together, the sense I got was she wasn’t that kind of person. The young woman was sweet, sincere.

It was enough. That girl was who I’d been holding out for. She would be mine. Soon.