4
Cupid Has a Terrible Sense of Humor
Sloane
The scent of my mother’s perfume—a blend of jasmine and power—hits me as soon as I cross the threshold of her office.
I mentally prepare myself for the usual emergency meeting.
A PR crisis.
A billionaire client who just changed her mind about her ideal man.
An email from the press with "URGENT" flashing in red.
What I don't expect is the voice I've known forever.
“There’s my favorite girl.”
I freeze in the doorway.
For a second, my brain zeroes out.
Then, slowly, my face lights up.
“Dad?”
He turns in the armchair with his usual crooked smile—the one that makes him look like he always knows more than everyone else. He's in a sport coat, sunglasses tucked into his shirt collar, his beard slightly longer than usual.
And yes, that "sexy coach with too much self-control and too little patience" vibe still suits him perfectly.
“Dad!”
I cross the room in two seconds flat.
He opens his arms, and I fall into them, squeezing him so tight I feel his laugh vibrate against his chest.
“Hey, easy, or you’ll crack my ribs. I still need those.”
“What are you doing here?” I ask him, still holding him. “Weren’t you supposed to be traveling?”
“Change of plans,” he says, with that calm tone he uses when pretending that life isn’t a chaos of meetings, games, and hysterical executives. “I stopped by to say hi to my girls.”
My girls.
God, I hadn’t heard him say that in weeks.
I smile against his shoulder, and for a moment the rest of the world disappears.
The familiar smell of aftershave, the grip of his hands on my shoulders, the warmth filling my chest—it’s all there, as if he never left.
I pull back just enough to look at his face.
He has a few more wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, but the same blue gaze, only seemingly severe.
My mother is standing next to the window, blonde hair impeccably gathered, wearing a lilac suit, beautiful, her hands clasped, her gaze softening in the way it only does when he’s around.
Katherine Heart: elegant, precise, ruthless in meetings… but with Dad, she becomes someone else.
