“This is normal for him,” Gwen said. “Give him five minutes, and he’ll be back in the water.”
Normal. Ha. What I was experiencing was anything but. The supportive women in the beautiful setting. The drowsy little boy in my lap.
And the handsome man striding across the lawn toward us, looking like my very own Mr. Darcy.
20
LOGAN
Ihovered in the skybrary doorway, listening to Nina read a story about a band of thieving kittens to Noah. He was still interested in dinosaurs, but cats had been taking over since we welcomed Ariel into our lives. The kitten was his shadow, and when I peeked my head in the room, I wasn’t surprised to see her curled up on his lap.
Whatdidsurprise me was the wave of tenderness that swept through me at the sight of the three of them cuddled together. While I still wasn’t sure how to define what was happening between Nina and me, I couldn’t deny that what I was seeing was very, very real. She was good for Noah.
If I was honest with myself, I’d admit she was good for both of us.
Nina raised her eyes and met mine like she could feel me watching them.
“Hey there,” she said.
“Daddy!” Noah cheered when he saw me. “We’re readingKitten Caperswith Ariel. Come see!”
I walked over and let him explain the honor code of shoplifting kittens.
“And the next book is about how they start a gang with stray dogs,” he finished. “It’s calledBad Dogsand the Outlaw Kittens.”
“Wow,” I mused. “Street justice. I love it.”
I reached down to pet Ariel, and the kitten cracked an eye to stare at me like I was bothering her.
“Noey, do you remember Mrs. Miller?” I asked him. “She used to watch you a long time ago.”
He nodded. “Yup. She’s fun.”
She was indeed, and in another world, she would’ve stepped up to be his full-time nanny, but her grandmothering responsibilities didn’t allow enough time for the position.
“Well, she’s going to come over and hang out with you tonight so Nina and I can have a meeting.”
I’d learned the hard way that he wanted to be involved in everything Nina and I did together, unless it was work. Of course, we included him in our family-friendly PR visits to the zoo and the park, but it made him think we were a dedicated trio for everything.
“Meeting?” Nina asked, concerned. “After hours?”
I winked at her. “Consider it President’s Club for a job well done.”
Mentioning the cruise line’s reward for high-achieving employees helped her understand that I was giving her a much-deserved night off.
“Got it,” she nodded. She rubbed Noah’s back. “Yeah, bud, this meeting is going to besuperboring. You’ll have more fun here with Mrs. Miller. Maybe you two can try out those new glow-in-the-dark paints we bought?”
“Okay!”
Noah gently moved Ariel to the floor and took off running.
“President’s Club, huh?” Nina mused. “You really think I deserve it?”
“Hell yes. I think we both have earned some fun.”
We locked eyes for a moment, because the last time we’d had fun together, we wound up married.
“Well okay then. What should I wear?”
