“You know, looking at you and resisting the urge to punch you is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”
“Be my guest,” he says, opening his arms, daring me.
I raise an eyebrow. “And have your daughter hate me before she even knows me, because I hit her father?” I shake my head. “I’m smarter than that, Montgomery. And Cecilia deserves more from me than acting like a man with a bad temper and no control.”
I turn again, but I stop to add one more thing, my voice sounding amused. “I’m glad Mark got a couple of good punches in when he had the chance.”
“Of course that asshole is still bragging about it more than a year later,” he mutters behind me.
I huff a short laugh as I step out of his penthouse and head for the elevator.
I close my eyes and draw in a breath to gather myself. I hear the door open before I finish inhaling. When I open my eyes, Cecilia is standing there, watching me with a curious, amused expression.
“Admiring the door handle,” she asks lightly, “or wondering if you have time to get back in the car without anyone noticing?”
I step closer, balancing the bouquet and the wine in one hand as I lift the other to her face, my thumb brushing her cheek.
“Never.” I smile at her. “I’ve been counting the minutes for this dinner.”
Her smile spreads. She glances over her shoulder, then rises onto her toes to press a brief kiss to my lips.
“I couldn’t wait for you to get here either,” she whispers, taking my hand. “Come on, they’re just finishing setting the table.”
We step inside together, and I close the door behind us.
I hand her the bouquet—the same flowers I’ve been sending her—and she accepts it with a smile, setting it on the coffee table beside the wine.
Cecilia leads me toward the dining area, where Alicia is adjusting the centerpiece and Ethan is finishing setting out the glasses. He says something to his sister that makes her wrinkle her nose, then leans in to poke at her side. They both dissolve into laughter, leaning into each other.
“When Ethan is with his sister, they look the same age,” Cecilia murmurs. I turn to her and find her smiling. “And I love that they’ve always had that bond. That him getting older never pulled him away from Alicia, if anything, it only strengthened it.”
I smile and give her hand a gentle squeeze.
They notice us then and stop laughing. Alicia blushes, smoothing the sleeves of her dress. Ethan steps slightly in front of her as they walk toward us, one hand hovering at her back. It’s a protective gesture that seems to come to him so instinctively, it almost pulls a smile from me.
Cecilia releases my hand and steps forward.
“Alicia, Ethan—you remember Alexander.” Her voice is calm. “But I’d like to introduce him to you... as my boyfriend.”
She gets the words out and smiles, looking right at them.
I try, and fail, to hide the smile that curves at the corner of my mouth. I know I’ve failed when she glances at me, eyes narrowing just a touch, reading me perfectly.
We talked about this. About how she wanted to introduce me to them. I told her she should do it in whatever way felt most natural to her.
She once asked me how I would introduce her to people.
“My Cecilia,” I’d answered without thinking.
“Just that?”she’d asked, skeptical.
“Yes,”I’d said, smiling. “Girlfriend is too small a word for everything you are to me. But you can call me your boyfriend. I’ll gladly accept every title you give me in what I fully intend to be a very long, very happy life together.”
She’d held my face in her hands and kissed me then.
Standing here now, watching her with her children, I know that I meant every word.
I bring my attention back to the present just in time to shake Ethan’s hand. His grip is firm for someone his age, not an attempt to intimidate, but to assert himself. I respect that instinct.
