Page 66 of Designs on You

“Hey, yourself,” she said. “No, I’ve never been to New York. Why?”

He pushed back from his chair and stood, stretching his back. “I need to fly up there for a couple of days to check out a game design company we might want to bring on to assist with this project. I thought you might want to come with me. We could do some sightseeing, eat a lot of good food, maybe see a Broadway show.”

“Oh. That would be fun. When?”

He told her the dates. “I have to be there on Thursday. I thought we could stay over the weekend and fly home Sunday.”

“Sean has the kids that weekend. I’ll need to see about the other days. When do you need to know?”

“It’s in a week, so I’ll need to make reservations. So, as soon as you can?”

“Okay. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Sure.”

“And, Eugene?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for asking.”

He grinned even though she couldn’t see. “Always thinking of you. Of us.”

She went silent for a few seconds, then said, “Talk to you soon. Bye.”

He hung up and continued staring out the window, feeling that familiar warmth he always felt after hearing Natalie’s voice. Getting away alone with her for a few days would be great, would give the two of them more time to get to know each other better. And have some fun, too.

Hopefully it would all work out.

• • •

Natalie buried herself in work, pushing down the aggravation from her conversation with Sean. She was flipping through fabric books with angry intent when Delilah walked into the room.

“Something piss you off about that book?” she asked. “Or just not finding what you’re looking for?”

Realizing she was about to rip pages from a very expensive sample book, she smoothed her hands over the pages and gentlyclosed it, then turned to Delilah with a smile. “No. Sorry. The book is amazing.”

“Okay, so it’s not design related. That’s a relief.” Delilah studied her. “I’m going to guess it’s either the ex or the current boyfriend.”

Breathing in slowly before letting it out on an exasperating sigh, she said, “Definitely the ex.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

“No. It’ll just make me angrier. But thank you for the offer.”

“Sure, honey. If I might offer a suggestion, talk to someone about it. That always helps.”

“You’re right, of course. Thanks, Delilah.”

“Hey, I have two exes and three kids. I know all about it. And I’m always available to chat.”

After Delilah left, Natalie went back to work, this time without the anger, deciding to push it aside until…well, until sometime after work, at least. When she finished for the day, she was grateful to have tomorrow’s work schedule front and center on her mind instead of her selfish ex.

But first, Grizelda had a vet appointment. She gathered up her things and drove toward home, grateful that Sean had the kids tonight so all she had to deal with was the dog.

Grizelda wagged her little tail with excitement when Natalie opened the door. She laid her things down and picked up the pup to give her some love. Her dark little eyes shined with adoration. Nothing like puppy love.

“It’s good to see you, too, baby girl. And, guess what? We’regoing for a ride so the vet can give you a checkup. Hopefully there won’t be any s-h-o-t-s.”

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