Page 132 of Dancing in the Rain

She named a restaurant on West Webster not far from both of them.

“Fine,” he bit out. “See you then.”

Chapter 30

“I know you’ve talked to a lawyer, but I’d rather not get lawyers involved if we don’t have to. I’m hoping we can come to an agreement that’s best for Chloe.”

Drew narrowed his eyes at Peyton across the table in the busy, noisy restaurant. Nothing intimate or personal about this place.

He studied her, so beautiful and yet so brittle, he worried she might snap with a sudden movement. Her fingers kept moving, touching things, arranging cutlery, her hands rubbing together; her jaw was tight and her eyes cool.

She’d taken the wind out of his stubborn sails with this news of quitting her job and moving to Chicago. When Chloe’d told him that last night, his knees had damn near given out. He’d been so pissed that Peyton had taken Chloe to New York, terrified that they were never coming back, relief had turned his bones to liquid. He was almost afraid to believe it was true, but apparently it was, as Peyton had just confirmed. He’d also been relieved that he wasn’t going to have to bail on the Hawks after gaining their support for trying out his ideas.

“Agreement about what?” he asked.

“Custody.”

She was willing to share custody of Chloe? “It’s not called that anymore. It’s parental responsibilities.”

“What?” Her forehead creased.

He shrugged. “Apparently these days parents don’t share custody. They share parental responsibilities.”

“Oh.” She hesitated. “Is that what you want?”

“Of course. I thought Ihadbeen sharing responsibilities.”

“Yes. You have.” She swallowed. “Do you want more than that, though? Do you want her to live with you?” She was clearly fighting for control, but the words came out stiffly.

“Maybe.”

Her face tightened even more. “All the time?”

He closed his eyes. He knew what he wanted. But how had things gotten so fucked up?

“I’m not trying to take her away from you, Peyton,” he said quietly. Should he tell her that he’d already decided he couldn’t go through with a custody battle? That he’d been trying to reach her so they could talk about things? Yeah, when he’d found out they’d gone to New York, his flare of anger had made him determined to take action, but again, he’d known he couldn’t go through with it once he cooled down.

“That wasn’t the impression I got the other night when you specifically said you’d consulted a lawyer about getting custody of her.”

“I didn’t handle that very well.”

She gave a mirthless laugh. “No shit.”

He swallowed a sigh. “I didn’t expect you to quit your job.”

She lifted one shoulder in a tiny movement. “Whatever.”

Christ, she was killing him. “What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.” The words came out clipped, between clenched teeth. “But don’t worry. I can afford to support Chloe.”

“Jesus, that’s not what I’m worried about.”

“Look, I asked Chloe to think about whether she wants to live with you. I think we should take her wishes into consideration.”

“Of course.” Maybe Chloe wouldn’t want to live with him. They’d only met a few months ago. He would totally understand if she didn’t. Maybe one day she would. “I don’t want to rush things. I’ll continue taking her to dance class on Wednesday nights and…and taking her out on weekends.” He looked down at his own hands, clasped on the table, and realized he was almost as tense as she was, his knuckles pale. “I’ll take what I can get, Peyton.”

“I think we should have something more structured than just a vague plan to ‘take her out.’ ”

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