Page 15 of Beneficial Misfortune

“I won, Daddy!” She beams up at him, seemingly unfazed by my scolding.

“That’s fantastic, princess. I guess playing against your brother really paid off,” he says with a smile that tells me how fond of both of his children he is.

Ugh, my damned ovaries; I swear they’re crying right now. I’d never really wanted kids of my own, but since leaving Carter, I’ve found that might not be true. I don’t think it was so much not wanting kids, more so knowing he wouldn’t have been the best father.

What a time to realize that.

“Did you thank Ms. Kat for hanging out with you?”

“Thank you, Ms. Kat! I had so much fun!” she says, her words slightly muffled from the sucker in her mouth.

“Any time, sweetheart,” I tell her with a smile, pushing to stand and smoothing out any wrinkles from my long skirt.

I can feel Nathaniel’s eyes on me. Not for the first time, I wish I had dressed up a bit more this morning. I’m grateful he doesn’t say anything about it, at least.

“Shall we?” He nods toward the door, and we head out. Addison skips with her little fingers, happily gripping her father's. Neither of them seems to notice Anna's glare as we pass right by her desk and to the elevator without so much as a word.

Shit, the elevator.

It’s not tiny, but it’s also not huge, and I somehow end up right in front of Nathaniel. The second the doors close, I swear he feelscloser. It's crazy because I’m almost positive he hasn’t moved, but it’s as if I can feel his body heat seeping into me.

I stand still, unable to do much more as I fiddle nervously with my grandmother's ring on my pinky, slowly turning it. It’s the only real piece of jewelry I wear at all times, and right now, it’s soothing my need to turn around and look at him. But there’s no proper way to do that without appearing like I’m crazy or just ogling him.

I swear the ride didn’t take this long on the way up!

When the elevator finally dings, and the doors slide open, I take a breath before stepping out, not wanting it to look like I’m running away. No matter the fact that that’s exactly what I’m doing.

The air in the lobby is much cooler, and it feels fantastic on my heated face.

“I’ll be leaving for the day,” Nathaniel says to one of the men standing by the wall, dressed in all black, that I assume to be security.

He doesn’t respond, and Nathaniel doesn’t wait for him to, instead making his way across the lobby.

If I thought people moved out of the way for Addison, with Nathaniel, they part like the Red Sea. They don’t just make room; they clear a whole path.

Damn.

I scurry to catch up when I realize I’ve lagged behind. The last thing I want is for the gap to close and get swallowed up in the crowd. No, thank you.

Emily calls a good day, to which Nathaniel wishes her the same, and Addison smiles and waves. We exit through the glass revolving door, and the heat is damn near suffocating even before we’re out.

I love the summer, but the humidity the last few days has been insane.

Not surprisingly, the limo is once again parked out front, with Vincent waiting at the door.

“Vince,” Nathaniel says with a nod that Vincent returns as he pulls open the door, allowing Addison to climb in.

I stop on the sidewalk and look around as they talk, not really hearing what they're saying.

Crap, I have no idea where I am.

I may have lived in New York for almost six months now, but I have yet to really explore outside of that one night. I’d looked into the subway as far as getting to the school for work and shopping. I drove sometimes, but the traffic was terrible, and I easily got turned around. I know the subway runs just about everywhere with lots of stops, but I have no idea where one is relative to where I am.

“Excuse me,” I say, interrupting their conversation, and they both turn to look at me. “Sorry, I was just wondering if one of you could point me in the direction of the subway.”

They share a look I don’t understand before turning their attention back to me.

“I’d planned to give you a ride back to the school. You don’t have to take the subway,” Nathaniel tells me, and while I appreciate that, it seems silly.

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