“You’re not ruining my favorite leggings. So…” She stepped over to the built-in hutch. “Game or Netflix?”
“This is still weird,” Roe said as she slipped into the passenger’s seat. It wasn’t the first time I’d picked her up at the daycare she took Kinsey to every morning.
I pulled away from the curb and into traffic before slipping my hand in hers. “It’s been three days now. Why is it weird?”
On Monday she’d been late again, and that was when the idea hit me. I knew the daycare was close, so why not just pick her up?
I pulled her hand to my lips and kissed it. “I like driving with you to work.”
“I do too. It’s just that this is New York City. You take public transportation. That’s just how it works. You don’t drive to work.” She shook her head. It wasn’t the first time she brought up my driving, but I didn’t think it was as strange as she did. To me it was odd to not drive, but it was the opposite for her, having grown up in a city with such a huge transportation infrastructure.
“Well, I do.”
“You do realize that just highlights how much of an outsider you are, right?”
I shrugged. “I rode the trains for years. I don’t need the experience or whatever you’re thinking I might be missing.”
“It’s not that. It’s just—” She waved her hand in front of her to the stopped traffic. “How can you stand the stop and start?”
“The train does the same.”
“I suppose, but the only thing I have to pay attention to is which stop is mine.”
A thought occurred to me. Having lived in Manhattan her entire life, had she ever left the city? Not only that, did she even know how to drive?
“Have you ever driven a car?”
She shook her head. “Never been a need.”
“Have you ever left the city?”
“I’ve been to Italy once, and I went on a Caribbean cruise a few years back. Then there was the time we went to a family reunion in Iowa, but Mom drove.”
I almost wanted to say she’d led a sheltered life, but New York was the original concrete jungle.
“When we go to North Carolina, I’ll teach you to drive. You never know when you’ll need it.”
“We’re going to North Carolina?” she asked.
“I hope someday. Maybe next summer, we can spend a week at the lake house. There is a sandy shore that I bet Kinsey would love to play at,” I said, smiling as I envision us making sand castles. She seemed stunned. “What is it?”
“I just… I guess I hadn’t thought that far into our future.”
“Would you not want to go?”
She shook her head. “No, no, that’s not it.” She reached over and placed her hand on mine. “I would love to go, and you’re right. Kinsey would love it too.”
I was happy she agreed, and suddenly my mind was awash with all the things we could do. I couldn’t wait for my family to meet her.
Twenty minutes later, we pulled into the parking garage and headed to the elevator.
“What can I cook my girls for dinner tonight?” I asked as we walked.
“Well, that’s not something I’m used to hearing.”
I shrugged. “My dad worked a lot and before my mom came into our lives, I kind of had to fend for myself. Luckily, the neighbor that watched me a lot taught me. She always told me that there wasn’t much a woman found sexier than a man who could cook.”
Roe leaned in and whispered so that none of the bystanders would hear her while we waited for an elevator. “She was right. And you really don’t need to get any sexier. I promise you’ve reached sexy enough. In fact, you blew right past it.”
A chuckle left me. “Am I too sexy for my shirt?”
That earned me a laugh, and she leaned against me. There was another guy watching us, or rather, staring at Roe. I wrapped my arm around her waist and held her close to ward him off.
When the hell did I become the jealous type? Probably from the moment her hazel eyes met mine.
“We should get some coffee on our way up,” I said in an effort to avoid the bitter brown water from the break room.
“We’ll be late.”
I grinned down at her. “I don’t think your boss will mind.”
“Abusing your status again, I see,” a familiar voice said from behind us.
I turned and shrugged at him. “Morning, James.”
He smiled as he looked at us, noting my arm around Roe’s waist. “Two months ago, I would have never imagined you two would get together.”
“Because I’m an arrogant ass and she’s the queen of wit smacking me down at every turn?”
He chuckled. “Pretty much.”
The elevator arrived, and at least twelve people loaded in. I pulled Roe close to me as we crammed in.
When we arrived on the lobby floor and squeezed out, James waved at us. “See you at ten.”
I looked down at Roe as we moved to the line for the coffee shop. “Do I have a meeting with James at ten?”
She shrugged. “Do I look like your assistant?”
My lips formed a thin line. “There is a likeness, but you are much prettier than Crystal.”
“Bias. She’s married and I’m your girlfriend, so you have to say that.”
Pride filled me when “I’m your girlfriend” flowed from her easily as she spoke.
For over a week, I spent all of my free time with Roe. I was happy, ecstatic. But every night I went home to my cold condo, missing the warmth of her tiny apartment. After some time alone, I couldn’t help texting her or calling her.
Our working relationship was running smoother than ever, but the banter wasn’t completely gone. Now it was laced with innuendos of what we would do to each other that night.
I hated at the end of the day when Roe left without me. I often had to stay late, sometimes only half an hour, but other times it was a few hours. I was trying to keep down the longer nights because I wanted to spend my evenings with Roe. Have dinner together.
We’d fallen right into a routine of sorts, and I was fairly certain it had to do with our proximity. Being two blocks away, there weren’t really any barriers to spending even an hour together.
“Are you sure you want to come over every night?” she asked with a scowl as she answered the door.
I froze mid-step, and my stomach clenched. Was I overdoing it? I’d admitted to myself earlier in the week that I was acting like a lovesick puppy, but I didn’t give a fuck because I’d never felt this way before. “Do you not want me to come over so much?”
She rolled her eyes before grabbing my hand and pulling me in for a kiss. “It’s not that. I just thought you’d want some you time.”
I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight to my chest. “I’d much rather have us time.”
“You’re going to get sick of me.”
I’d sensed for a while, especially after our run-in with Pete, that Roe’s trust issues were deeply ingrained. Only time would earn her trust, and I’d have to show her that I wanted her.
A grunt followed by “Mamama” drew our attention to the toddler crawling toward us. Seemed she wanted to be part of the action. I scooped her up and held her high in the air, a drooly smile filling her face.