Page 9 of Big Deal Sweetheart

“No problem. We were orientating ourselves with the menu and talking. Have a seat.” Keifer held out the chair next to Delilah for her, waiting for Nova to sit before pushing it in.

“Thank you,” she said once she sat, shrugging her coat off.

Keifer couldn’t help but notice how curvy she was while she wiggled in the chair as she took her heavy jacket off. She was obviously dressed much more appropriately for the weather than he was.

“Good evening, can I get you something to drink?”

Nova smiled, looking over at his cup then Delilah’s. “I’d love a water and a cup of coffee with a little milk to put in it.”

“Sure thing. You two need refills yet?” the waitress asked him and Delilah.

“We’re good, thank you.”

When the waitress left, silence descended. He was never left with moments of not knowing what to say or do in any situation. Truth be known, he was always one step ahead with just about anyone in any given situation, and that wasn’t bragging. It was how he was so good at his job and why he was one of the wealthiest men in New York, if not the country. He didn’t care to look into such things as it didn’t affect him, except when it came to dealing with women. Even then, he was the one who was in charge. Since his wife’s death, he’d had liaisons with women who knew the score. He could give them pleasure for a night or two, and they were given something substantial as his way of saying thanks for not wanting more, because he had nothing more to give other than that. If he called them again because he had a dinner party to attend and found he needed a pretty thing on his arm, then usually the women were more than happy to be the one to be seen with him.

Other men coveted what he had, but they had no clue he was dead inside, even as he smiled and said all the right things. The women, the few who tried to ask for more, they found out quickly he had nothing more to give. The exception being his daughter Delilah.

“Is everything okay?” Nova asked, placing her hand over his.

Keifer looked down at the freshly manicured hand, noticing the difference in her slightly darker skin next to his. She had gorgeous dark, almond shaped eyes with long, straight black hair, with a curvy body he wanted to trace with his hands. She was the complete opposite of his wife Rachel who’d been tall, and leanly built with blonde hair, and blue eyes. Rachel had come from a cultured family with impeccable taste and would never have run into a stranger with a coffee in hand. Well, that was until she’d become a full-blown addict. Then she’d run into a stranger and done god only knew what. Nova couldn’t be any more opposite if she’d tried. Yet he wanted her with a passion he couldn’t remember feeling.

He pulled his hand back, feeling as if he was moving too fast. “Yes,” he barked.

Regret hit him as hurt flashed across her face, quickly covered when she turned to Delilah. He listened to the two of them talk, wondering how old Nova was. She could be anywhere from, shit, twenty to thirty would be his guess. Too young for him.

At thirty-eight he was a single father, a widower, and too damn jaded to get involved with a young woman who looked as if she was as pure as the driven snow outside.

“Alright, you folks ready to order?”

Keifer was happy for the interruption. After giving the young girl his order and mentally calculating how much he was going to have to work out in order to burn off the calories, his daughter and then Nova gave theirs.

“My Nana also called in a to-go order,” Nova announced.

“I’ll be sure the cook knows to start on it when I pick up your plates. How’s she doing?” she asked, tucking the pad into the front pocket on her apron.

Nova sighed and gave a crooked grin. “Oh, you know her, she’s assured me she’s fine and will be running circles around town in no time.”

“She probably will be too. Give her my best. I’ll be back shortly.”

Keifer wanted to ask about her Nana, but that was getting too personal. He didn’t do personal. His child on the other hand, had no boundaries.

“What happened to your Nana?”

“She’s sixty-eight and thinks that just because she can, she should, and well, she took a little fall from a ladder. Mind you, she didn’t break anything, but she did injure her leg, which she’s to keep elevated and iced for the first seventy-two hours. After that, the doctor said he’d reassess things. However, if she stands on it for long periods, or monkeys around, she could do some real damage, and then she’ll be in a pickle. The doctor’s words, not mine.” Nova used her fingers to make air quotes.

“She sounds like my dad’s mother. She’s who we refer to as the General.” Delilah laughed, and then got serious. “Is your Nana going to be alright?”

Nova nodded. “She’s going to be just fine. I’m staying with her to make sure she follows orders as much as possible.”

Keifer didn’t say anything, but he thought she should’ve been keeping her eye on her Nana instead of working, but some people couldn’t afford not to work.

NOVA SAW THE CENSUREin his eyes when she mentioned her Nana, and the fact she was staying with her, but here she was, out to dinner. She could’ve explained more, but it wasn’t any of his business. Just as it wasn’t any of hers what they were doing in town.

There wasn’t much more talking after the food arrived. Stacks lived up to their name, with the pancakes coming in two and three-layer stacks of heavenly goodness. Each of them had their own little metal pitcher of syrup. Nova did opt for the sugar-free option, even though her dinner was heavy on carbs and everything else she tried to avoid in her everyday life, she still didn’t want to go home in stretchy pants because her regular clothes didn’t fit.

“These are seriously the best thing since that crepe place in Paris. You know the one I’m talking about, dad.” Delilah pointed her fork across the table with a hunk of blueberry pancake still on it. “Try mine,” she implored.

Keifer shook his head. “I couldn’t eat another bite if I tried.”

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