they can get you anything you need. They’re also preparing dinner for us as we speak. Tonight, I just want you to relax and enjoy being here. I promise I’ll be on my best behavior.”
I nod, taking in his words.
“I know you said you didn’t want to fall for the role I was playing, so this is me not playing any role. I’m not your boss. I’m not some guy who’s tricked you into spending time with him. I’m just me, Matt . . . or Matthew, as you so like to call me.”
I giggle. “You don’t like it when I call you Matthew?”
He glances over at me with a serious edge to his expression. “Only my grandmother calls me Matthew.”
I smile wider. “Your grandmother and me. I think Matthew is much softer and kinder.”
He looks over at me again with a smile. “Call me whatever you wish.”
That sentence right there makes my stomach muscles tighten. In an attempt to push away the passion suddenly flooding my body, I turn it into a joke. “Can I call you Daddy?” I bat my lashes and grin.
He lets out a deep laugh. “If you wish,” he agrees. “I can only imagine what the clients would think at work.” His smile doesn’t fade, as if he’s seriously considering it.
“I think I’ll stick with Matthew,” I state, not even able to imagine the looks we’d get if I really did call him that.
“I think that’s a good call,” he agrees.
There’s a long, drawn-out silence as we both watch the water and the skyscrapers we pass. I loll my head to the side, watching him and finding him more entertaining than any city scene before me. “Tell me something about your childhood. Did you like spending time on the water like this?”
He takes a sip of his drink. “I did. I preferred sailing to traveling around in a yacht. But sailing takes time to learn, and I didn’t want to put either of us in danger with you being untrained. The lake can get pretty rough when the winds pick up. And salt water is more dense than fresh water. Boating here and in Florida are two completely different experiences.”
“So you took sailing lessons?”
“Yes, my father thought that anyone who was anyone knew how to sail. It was mandatory in my household. I was also on the rowing team in high school. I’ve just always found myself drawn to the water. I’ll admit, the first few lessons were pushed upon me, but I quickly fell in love with the water and the lifestyle, so every class I took from there on out was because I wanted to.”
“That sounds nice. I always wanted to take lessons, but my parents couldn’t afford it.”
“What kind of lessons did you want?”
I snort. “Almost anything. I felt a little too ordinary, so I wanted to be different—special in any way, really. I remember begging for piano lessons, gymnastics, dance, painting . . . but I was told ‘no.’ That is, until I found a youth center nearby that did these things for free. I quickly found out that I suck at almost everything. I hurt myself too many times in the dance class, and I even sprained my ankle and had to go to the hospital. After that bill, my parents forced me to quit dance.” I laugh. “But I enjoyed the art classes and the few piano lessons I took.”
“I didn’t know you could paint and play the piano.”
“Oh,” I laugh, “I can’t. I suck at drawing and painting, but I still like to do it from time to time just to get the creative juices flowing. Piano was fun, but I only learned one song. The class was supposed to teach you the basics so you could teach yourself after learning to read music, but we didn’t have a piano at home, so I never got to practice.”
“Well, there’s still plenty of time to learn,” he says. The sun shines against his face and creates a little twinkle in his eye. I can’t help but look at him in awe as I marvel at how it must feel to think everything is within reach.
Twelve
Matthew
After hearing her talk about her lower-class upbringing, I know the one thing I want to do for her more than anything is get her a piano. I know the perfect place to put it too: in the living room, right in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows on the far wall. There’s nothing there now