Page 36 of Dancing in the Dark

“But you called me before three.”

She curls a lock of Mia’s hair around her finger. “Yeah. My agenda had been destroyed, and lunch quickly turned into afternoon tea. Justin’s hosting them in a nice restaurant downtown tonight, so although I could have attended, I didn’t have to. I didn’t want to.” She shrugs. “He gave me his blessing to skip out, which happened to be right around the time Mia’s school day ended, so I ran toward her, cupcakes, and salad with you, rather than squeezing my bloated self into a dress I didn’t want to wear anyway.”

“Bloated?” I look her up and down. Searching, but not finding. “I thought it was because of the three cupcakes you gorged on before I got home.”

“Shut up!” She gently smacks my shoulder and snickers. “I had one cupcake, Mia had three. Regardless, I have some other evening commitments with the delegation this week, and I didn’t feel like adding another tonight when I didn’t have to.”

“And your carefully structured agenda?”

Content and completely fucking happy about it, she looks down at my baby and tucks soft curls behind her ear. “I’ll go home soon and see what I can move around to make the new schedule work. I’m not worried about it. We’ll pick up tomorrow where we left off today.”

“That easy?”

“Mmm. Justin’s an amazing man to work for, so he takes what could’ve been a really stressful event and makes it just…” She shrugs. Considers. “Work, ya know? It’s a schedule. It’s steps one, then two, then three. If two takes longer to get through, that’s okay. Three will still come soon.”

“He removes all of the emotion and drama. I guess he got that from a lifetime of arguing inside a courtroom. And raising two hellhound daughters,” I chuckle. “You’ve met them, right? They’re exhausting.”

“Jen is exhausting,” she clarifies. “Tabby’s a total sweetheart. If not for Justin’s chilled demeanor today, I probably would’ve stressed about the schedule going to shit, but…” She gently extends a lock of Mia’s hair, then releases it so it bounces back into its soft curl. “He’s pretty awesome.”

“Unlike that time you worked for the esteemed Chief Medical Examiner Mayet, right?”

She snorts. “Minka, as a friend? I like her. Minka as a boss? That woman exasperates me so friggin’ much, she would’ve sent me gray before my next birthday if I’d stayed.”

“So then I guess it all worked out.” I lay my head back and tilt it to the side. I’m too tired to do anything else, but I’m definitely not done looking at her yet. “I’m really glad you called today.”

“Yeah?”

“Mmm. Mia needed this. She needs you.” I draw my bottom lip between my teeth and thrill in the way her eyes follow the movement. “I don’t say that stuff to pressure you. I don’t say it to make you feel obligated to her or me. I just…” I reach across and finger the silky material of her blouse.

She looks down.

I look down.

She looks up.

I follow.

“Let’s not pretend there’s no elephant in this room; my daughter has some pretty vicious mommy issues, and although I’m not saying it’s your responsibility to step in and fix them, I am saying that of all the really cool, really strong, amazing women in her life, she’s picked you to be her favorite. You’re her person, Sera. You’re healing a heart you never broke. So yeah… I’m really glad you called. I’ll always be grateful you’re still here, even when I show my ass almost every single time we’re in the same room together.”

“You haven’t showed your ass yet today,” she counters playfully.

“I shouted at you. Berated you. Made you eat bag-o-salad for dinner.”

“You walked into an apartment soaked in blood and girly screams,” she snickers. “Honestly? I feel you handled it all quite well.” A warm blush fills her cheeks and travels up to dance in her eyes. “Very authoritative. Very sexy.”

I think she intended her words to be funny. Silly. Fuck knows, I doubt she was going for serious. But I can’t help the way my stomach flips, anyway. At the way my heart stutters and my lungs squeeze.

I drop my gaze to her heavy bottom lip and wish… God, I wish for just one chance to taste and not feel like doing so will end with tears in her eyes.

Just one chance to go back in time and heal the heart I would inevitably, eventually, scar.

“I should go.”

And there it is, the bucket of icy water I knew was coming.

“Would you mind…” Slowly, she slides Mia’s finger free of her necklace and lays her hand on her lap. “Could you help…” Inching forward, she’s careful not to jolt her awake. “Help me?”

“Yeah.” I don’t exhale the groan sitting precariously at the base of my throat. I don’t grumble about the things I can’t have or how unfair life feels. I don’t even try to explain away, again, the myriad of fuckups I’ve caused since knowing this woman. I simply do as I’m told and maintain the relationship my daughter deserves with such a beautiful, amazing woman.