Egomaniac - Vi Keeland Page 0,75

then the reward was ice skating.

I had an afternoon full of patients, and even at almost six-thirty in the evening, I felt a renewed hopefulness that there was a solution for every couple’s problems. My optimism had spilled over into my sessions in a good way.

I was packing up my laptop when I heard the front door open and then little feet flying toward my office.

“We got all the stuff for movie night!” Beck yelled. His chubby cheeks were red from the cold, and he was bundled like a little snowman.

“Oh, really? What are you planning on watching?

Beck held up two fingers. “We got two movies. One is for dinner food and the other is for dessert.”

I didn’t quite understand what he meant, but his excitement was contagious. “That sounds great. Which movie will you watch first?”

Drew appeared behind his son. “He made me drop him off at the curb instead of going under to the parking garage so he could run in and tell you first.”

Beck smiled so wide, I could almost count his tiny little teeth. He held up a CD jewel case. “For dinner, we got Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.” Then he pointed up to his dad, who held up a takeout bag.

“Mamma Theresa’s makes the best meatballs in the city.”

Beck nodded fast, then held up a second jewel case. “And for dessert we got Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”

Beck pointed up to his father. It was like they were doing a little skit.

Drew held up another bag. “Gooseberry pie from The French Pastry.”

I smiled. “What is gooseberry pie anyway?”

Drew shrugged. “Hell if I know. But we had to go to three bakeries to find it, and the thing cost twenty-six bucks, so it better taste good.”

Beck added, “I’m going to have mine with vanilla ice cream. That’s not part of your movie party though.”

“My movie party?”

“Dad said you liked movie theme parties. Can you come?”

Another little piece of the wall I’d built around my heart because I was afraid to fall for this man chipped off.

Drew watched me, assessing my reaction. I couldn’t have hidden it if I wanted to.

My hand went to my chest. “You are the sweetest. I can’t believe you made a movie theme night for me. I’d love to come.”

Anxious to get started, Beck took off yelling down the hall, “I’ll get the elevator.”

“Don’t get in it until I’m there,” Drew warned.

I finished packing up my stuff and went to the doorway. Pushing up on my tippy toes, I gave him a soft kiss on the lips. “Thank you.”

He winked. “You got it.”

Drew scooped me up—because I apparently wasn’t allowed to walk until this air cast was off—and walked toward the elevator.

Lowering his voice, he said, “Think I’m gonna like this dinner and a movie theme thing—finally put my porn collection to good use.”

Chapter 34

Emerie

The rest of the week was just as amazing as movie night. Spending time at home with Drew and Beck showed me so much more about the man than I would have learned on dozens of dates. Come to think of it, that should be part of the dating ritual. On the second or third date, the man should have to bring a child, perhaps a niece or nephew if he doesn’t have children of his own, so you can see the relationship he has with them. It would cut to the bottom line better than six months of dating.

Whether we had breakfast or dinner together each day, Drew always managed to carve out time for all three of us together and for the two of them alone. It was starting to feel like my own little family. But in the back of my mind, I realized things wouldn’t always be this way. Alexa would be returning tomorrow, and I wasn’t sure what that would add. I was definitely curious about her.

This afternoon I would be watching Beck alone for a few hours while Drew had a deposition he couldn’t reschedule. He’d planned on asking one of the assistant teachers from Beck’s school who sometimes watched him, but I insisted I could handle it.

Drew had a stash of movies that we could watch upstairs in his apartment, and I’d bought some old-school Jiffy Pop popcorn to make on the stove. Babysitting would be a piece of cake.

Or so I thought.

Then I had to call Drew’s cell phone and interrupt his deposition ten minutes after it started. To tell him we needed to go to the