The last few months had been pretty damn amazing. Pregnancy seemed to agree with Lily—or maybe it was the therapist she’d been seeing. I wasn’t sure, but she’d been so happy and excited through it all. We’d talked a lot about our own screwed-up home lives over the last nine months and how our personal experiences had taught us so much—what not to do. We were both excited to give our child the kind of life we’d dreamed of having with our own parents. We wanted the kind of life Pia and William had given me.
I pulled the blanket up and covered my little girl’s foot. “Is it weird to say I feel different already?”
Lily smiled. “It’s only been two hours. So maybe.”
I couldn’t describe what had changed the moment my daughter was born. I looked into her eyes and saw nothing but innocence, and suddenly the gravity of being a father hit me. I wasn’t just here to change diapers and pay college tuition someday. My job was to protect her from all of the things in life that chip away at the innocence we’re all born with. My mother’s drugs and Lily’s mother’s mental illness had made us grow up too fast. But that wouldn’t happen with my little girl. I’d protect her from the evils of the world as long as I could.
Lily rubbed her nose with the baby’s. “How about Leilani?”
I’d wanted to pick out names over the last few months, but Lily said a child was like art. You didn’t name it. It gave you its name when it was complete. To be honest, I’d thought that was a load of crap. But as I looked down at my daughter, my eyes roaming her beautiful face, I realized my wife had been right.
I nodded. “Leilani. That feels right, doesn’t it?”
Lily looked up at me. “It’s perfect. Just like she is.”
I kissed the top of my wife’s head. “Like you both are. My girls. Lily and Leilani. I’m going to take care of you two forever.”
Chapter 22
* * *
Ireland
“Thanks, George.” The guy from the mailroom had just come around and dropped off a package. On top was a legal-size manila envelope with my name across it.
I kicked off my shoes and sat down at my desk to slice it open. Inside was a Notice of Hearing for my zoning variance, and there was a yellow sticky stuck to the middle of the page.
Mr. Lexington asked me to pass this along when it came in. – Millie
At first I was confused. What in the heck was Grant doing with the paperwork for my house? Then I noticed the date of the hearing—a week from today. The architect had told me the building department was months behind. Had I even mentioned that to Grant? Ahhh… I’d told Santa Grant. How the hell had he done this?
I picked up my phone and started to text him, but decided to call instead. I wanted to remind him about something else anyway.
Grant picked up on the first ring.
“Are you really Santa Claus or something?”
He chuckled. “Hang on a second.” I heard the sound of the phone being covered and then a muffled “Excuse me for a minute, gentlemen,” before a door opened and shut and Grant returned to the line.
“I’m guessing you got the paperwork from the City.”
“Yes. But how?”
“I have a friend at the building department who owed me a favor. I called it in and asked him to prioritize whatever you needed.”
I shook my head. “I can’t believe you did that. Thank you so much.”
“Can’t have my employees homeless, now can I?”
“Is that why you did it? Because I’m your employee? If that’s the case, I think I overheard Jim in Accounting say his landlord was kicking him out of his apartment so his daughter could move in. I’ll stop over and tell him you’re on it and will be finding him a new place to live.”
Grant chuckled. “Can’t let one slide, can you?”
I leaned back in my chair. “Thank you so much for doing that. It was really sweet. And here I was, thinking it was already Wednesday and I hadn’t heard from you, so you might be blowing me off.”
Grant was quiet for a minute. “Figured it might be best to give you a little space.”
“Is that what you want? Space?”
“What do you want me to say, Ireland? That I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind since the day we met? That I’ve jerked off every day this week to the way you looked when you came on my tongue the other day?”
“If that’s true, then yes.”
He blew out a breath, and I pictured worry lines on his forehead while he raked a hand through his hair.
When he went quiet again, I got up and shut my office door. “Would it help if I shared, too? You aren’t alone in this. I haven’t been able to stop thinking of you either. In fact, I thought of you last night while I was in the bathtub.”
Grant’s voice was gruff. “Ireland…”
“Remember when you told me you thought you could slip your hand into my shorts while we were outside on the boat and get me off while people watched? That I basically couldn’t control myself once we started kissing?”
He grunted a yes.
“Well, I shut my eyes and imagined that. You slipped your fingers in…but since you weren’t around, I had to use my own and pretend they were yours.”
“Ireland…”
“It’s funny—the tone of my voice while I was saying your name over and over last night was about the same as yours is right now. Almost sounds painful, doesn’t it?”
“Fuck….” He let out a loud exhale.
I smiled. “Anyway, I think I interrupted a meeting when I called. I’m sure you’re really busy. I just wanted to say thank you to Santa Claus and remind you about the wedding Saturday. I’ll let you get back to work.”
Grant groaned. “You don’t really think I’m going to be able to walk back into my meeting after you just told me you masturbated while pretending your fingers were mine, do you?”
“Oh.” I giggled. “I guess it is a little easier for me to hide my arousal than you.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
“If you want, I’ll stay on the phone and tell you more about my bath last night while you slip into the men’s room and take care of business.”
“As tempting as that may be, I think I’ll just take a quick walk.”
I smiled. “Okay. Well, thank you again for pulling the strings at the Building Commission.”
“No problem.”
“Have a good afternoon. Hope your meeting isn’t too hard.”
“I look forward to repaying the torture, Ireland. Very soon.”
After I hung up, I sat in my office smiling. I felt better than I had in days. Grant might not have called because he was trying to give me some space, but what he’d done to get my zoning variance told me lack of contact hadn’t stopped him from thinking about us. Not to mention, I was giddy hearing him say he’d done the same thing as I had during his shower.
I left for the day around one, which was technically the end of my workday since I started at five, though I rarely left before three. I needed to pick up my dress from the tailor for Mia’s wedding this weekend and run a bunch of errands. Since my workday ended when most people were heading to lunch, the lobby was bustling. Just as I was about to walk out, Grant’s sister Kate happened to be walking into the building.