Walking over to where he still sat on my bed, I hugged him. “Would you mind ordering something in for dinner while I talk to my dad?”
“Got anything particular in mind?”
“Nope. Surprise me.”
I joined my dad on the couch. He’d been surfing through my tablet but put it aside when I sat.
“I’m sorry about what I said earlier,” I began. “I didn’t mean it.”
“Yeah, you did.” He scrubbed wearily at the back of his neck. “And I don’t blame you. I’m not proud of myself right now. And I have no excuse. I knew better. She knew better.”
Pulling my legs up, I sat facing him with my shoulder resting against the back of the sofa. “You guys have a lot of chemistry. I know what that’s like.”
He shot me an examining glance, his gray eyes stormy and serious. “You have that with Cross. I saw it when he came over for dinner. Are you going to try to work things out with him?”
“I’d like to. Would you have a problem with that?”
“Does he love you?”
“Yes.” My mouth curved. “But more than that, I’m … necessary to him. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for me.”
“So why aren’t you together?”
“Well … it’s complicated.”
“Isn’t it always?” he said ruefully. “Listen. You should know … I’ve loved your mother since the moment I saw her. What happened today shouldn’t have happened, but it meant something to me.”
“I get it.” I reached for his hand. “So what happens now?”
“I head home tomorrow. Try to get my head on straight.”
“Cary and I were talking about coming out to San Diego the weekend after next. We thought we’d drop in and just hang out. See you and Dr. Travis.”
“Did you talk to Travis about what happened to you?”
“Yes. You saved my life hooking me up with him,” I said honestly. “I can’t thank you enough for that. Mom had been sending me to all these stuffy shrinks and I just couldn’t connect with any of them. I felt like a case study. Dr. Travis made me feel like I was normal. Plus I met Cary.”
“Are you two done talking about me?” As if on cue, Cary walked into the room waving a take-out menu. “I know I’m fascinating, but you might want to save your jaws for the Thai food we’ve got coming. I ordered a ton of it.”
MY dad caught an eleven o’clock flight out of New York, so I had to leave it to Cary to see him off. We said our good-byes before I left for work, promising to make plans for the trip to San Diego the next time we talked.
I was in the back of a cab on the way to work when Brett called. For just a moment, I debated letting the call go to voice mail, and then I got over it and answered. “Hi, you.”
“Hello, gorgeous.” His voice rolled over my senses like warm chocolate. “Ready for tomorrow?”
“I will be. What time is the video launch? When do we need to be in Times Square?”
“We’re supposed to arrive at six.”
“Okay. I don’t know what to wear.”
“You’ll look amazing no matter what you’ve got on.”
“Let’s hope. How’s the tour going?”
“I’m having the time of my life.” He laughed, and the husky, sexy sound brought back memories. “It’s a helluva long way from Pete’s.”
“Ah, Pete’s.” I’d never forget that bar, although some of the nights I’d spent there were a bit hazy. “Are you excited about tomorrow?”