“That’s not a thing. Brekky?”
“I can’t,” I groaned, pulling away from her. I narrowly avoided her grabby hands as I stood and walked over to the window, pulling the shade to let in the light.
“You always leave so early for work. Can’t they spare you for one morning?”
“Donovan set an early meeting. It’s probably a new case, which means?—”
“You won’t be home for supper,” she sighed, flopping back in bed.
“Probably not. But I’ll make it up to you.”
“You always say that.”
Striding over, I sat next to her, my arms caging her in as I lowered my lips to hers. “And I always make it up to you,” I whispered.
The disappointment on her face killed me, but what was worse was how frequently I saw that expression lately. Work was taking over my life, and what I thought I wanted somehow didn’t seem as great as it used to. Bianca didn’t move here to warm my bed. She needed more, and I knew that.
“I have to go,” I whispered, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. “I’ll see you tonight.”
She gave me a faint smile, but I knew what that really meant. She didn’t think I’d make it home before she was asleep. And she was probably right.
But I didn’t have a choice in the matter. This was my job, and I’d worked my ass off to get where I was. After my lastcase, I was up for partner, but I didn’t tell Bianca that. The last thing I wanted was to get her hopes up, only for them to be dashed if they didn’t offer it to me.
If she thought my schedule was hectic now, it would be even worse if I made partner. Yet another reason I kept that information to myself. I quickly showered and dressed, disappointed when Bianca was already back to sleep by the time I was ready to go. After a quick peck on the cheek, I headed downstairs, giving a quick nod to the doorman before rushing out into the warm New York air.
The town car was waiting for me as usual. It was one of the perks of being one of the top lawyers at Hanson and Walther. They took care of their employees, and the car to drive me around was one of the lesser perks.
“Straight to the office?” Simon asked.
“Yeah. No coffee this morning.”
He glanced in the mirror, raising an eyebrow. “I thought you might say that.” Reaching over the seat, he handed me a black coffee from the coffee shop next to his apartment. This had become a regular thing between us. He knew I hated the fancy coffee at the shop near the office, and brought me just a regular black from time to time.
“How did you know?”
“You got home late. You took Bianca out to dinner last night, even though I know you just wanted to have a night in. And you have an early meeting. Figured you’d need the good stuff.”
Grinning, I took a sip, sighing at how good it was. It might seem silly. Black coffee was black coffee, but this stuff reminded me of home, and that was something I was desperately missing right now.
“I can’t slip anything past you.”
“That’s because I’ve known you for so long.”
He did. It was strange that I had a better relationship with my driver than I did with my own family. But they were back in Montana, somewhere I desperately wanted to get away from after college. It had been a great place to grow up, but I was determined to get off the ranch and carve out a life for myself.
But sometimes I missed it.
There were times when the sounds of the city and the constant people surrounding me became too much. Days like that, I wanted nothing more than the open blue skies of Montana. I hadn’t been back there since I left, and my parents refused to come to the big city after their disaster of a first time.
We pulled up to the building fifteen minutes later, and I thanked Simon once again for the coffee. He didn’t realize how much he saved my sanity this morning.
“Morning, Virginia,” I said as I passed the front desk.
“Morning, Ryder,” she grinned, shooting me a flirtatious wink. “Got any plans tonight?”
“You know I have a girlfriend,” I called over my shoulder.
“Girlfriends can be replaced!”
