Asking For A Friend

by Parker, Ali

  “Right,” I replied, watching as the man turned something over in his head.

  He scratched his bearded chin and asked. “Speaking of the videos, did the first one help?”

  It was a good question. The only part of the first video that stuck by me was the bit at the end where Dad had said Marissa was part of whatever plan he had laid out for me. If she knew anything about it, she hadn’t said so.

  I placed my order when I reached the front of the line and after being handed my box of pastries and two coffees, my eyes dropped to Marissa’s coffee before I turned back to the lawyer. “I don’t know if it helped, but I think I’m working on it.”

  When I got back to the office, I found Marissa in hers. She stood up when I entered, a radiant smile on her lips. “You’re late today. You’re never late.”

  I held up the coffee and the pastries. “I brought you something.”

  “Yeah?” She rounded her desk and took the box first, opening it. Letting out an excited sound, she set it down on her desk and threw her arms around me from the side so as not to knock over the coffees. “Oh, Layton! Thank you. I’ve been meaning to try these, but the line is always so long.”

  “It’s a wait, all right. I hope they’re worth it,” I told her, putting the coffee down next to the box so I could hold her properly. “You’re definitely worth it.”

  Pink tinged her cheeks as she slid her eyes to her open office door. The blinds of her windows were already down, presumably she simply hadn’t opened them yet—because they were usually open. Reaching behind me, I felt for the door and swung it closed. “We’re alone now.”

  “Thank God,” she breathed just before I lowered my mouth to hers and pulled her in for a searing kiss. Our tongues danced, caressed and stroked like they were best friends who hadn’t seen each other in months. Hands wound into hair and bodies pressed together, we got as close as we possibly could without getting naked.

  I would never be opposed to the idea of getting naked with her, but at this hour in the office it wasn’t smart. Reluctantly I withdrew from her before things got out of hand or someone caught us. I rested my forehead against hers and sighed. “Any chance you could come over tonight?”

  Regret flashed in her eyes, giving me her answer before she even shook her head. “I can’t. Annie can’t stay at Denise’s twice in one week. I never want to take advantage. I’m sorry. There’s a reason I haven’t dated all that much in the last few years. You’re going to have to be patient with me.”

  I nodded, dropping a kiss on the tip of her nose before taking a step back. “Annie comes first, I get that.”

  She frowned, but her relief was palpable. “You do?”

  “I do.” It surprised me to find that I wasn’t lying when I made her that promise. Growing up, I’d never come first with my dad. I remembered watching other kids with their parents, wondering why those parents could make time for their kids when my dad hardly ever could.

  Having been working on building my own name in my own industry now, I understood hard work and long hours. But I still believed that once you chose to start a family, then that family should at least get to see you more often than your local barista.

  Your own kid deserved your time more than anyone else. I hadn’t gotten all that much time with my dad and I would never be instrumental in depriving another child of a parent who actually wanted to spend time with them.

  Which brought me to what I actually meant to talk to her about. Reaching for her hand, I twined our fingers together and caught her eyes. “I wanted to talk to you about Annie.”

  Marissa visibly tensed, a shutter drawing down over her expression. “What about her?”

  Inhaling a deep breath, I took the plunge. “I want to meet her.”

  Her jaw slackened. “Why?”

  “She’s the biggest part of your life, Marissa. If we’re going to be part of each other’s lives, it’s inevitable that I meet her at some point. We’d get to spend more time together, with Annie, and I wouldn’t feel like every time I want to see you outside of the office, I’m stealing time with you away from her.”

  She was quiet for too long, those blue eyes searching mine relentlessly. I was about to tell her to forget I said anything and that we could talk about it later whenever she was ready, when finally, she spoke. “I’m just not sure it’s such a good idea. Don’t get me wrong, it would be great to be able to spend time with both of you at the same time over weekends and all, but it’s too soon.”

  I smiled gently, needing her to know that I understood her protectiveness. “I’m not suggesting we tell her anything about us yet, and there certainly wouldn’t be any displays of affection in front of her. All I’m saying is that I would like to meet her and spend some time with both of you.”

  Nervous as I was, I still appreciated that she didn’t shoot me down right away and really thought about it before she asked, “What exactly are you suggesting then?”

  “She knows you work for someone, right?”

  “Right.” Marissa rolled her eyes and smiled. “You don’t know much about six year olds, do you?”

  I shook my head grudgingly. “I don’t think I’ve spoken to a six year old since I was one. Maybe when I was seven, some kids in my class might have been younger by a few months.”

  She laughed, some brevity returning to the moment. “Let me refresh your memory about being six then, we understood a lot of things by them. Annie knows I work and why I have to. She loves Denise and understands that Denise’s work is to take care of her, even if our relationships are much closer to Denise than other people might be to their nannies. She’s also my best friend.”

  I shrugged, nodding as I lifted my palms in surrender. “Okay, okay. So she knows you work. What if I took you guys out this weekend and we just told her the truth. I’m the guy you work for. You can tell her it’s a business trip. Nothing more.”

  Again, she took her time before answering me. I rubbed my thumb on her hand and her eyes dropped to the movement for a second before she raised them again. “Okay, I’ll think about it. Can we compromise on me thinking about it?”

  “We can compromise,” I assured her. I only hoped she really would think about it. I couldn’t explain why, but I really did want to meet Annie.

  Chapter 35

  Marissa

  Early the morning after Layton told me he wanted to meet Annie, I was still stressed about the answer—I hadn’t decided yet. He was right about one thing. If there was a future for us and we really wanted to see where things between us went, he would have to meet Annie at some point.

  Chewing on my lip, I wondered if it was too soon for her to meet him. A part of me thought it was, but another part of me wanted the meeting to take place.

  Annie was always going to be a part of my life. Layton might not be, but if he was serious about wanting to be part of my life for now, then I needed to know if he got along with Annie. I wouldn’t be able to make any decisions about him, and about what I wanted for us until I knew how that would go.

  A relationship where those two didn’t get along wasn’t a relationship I would be able to be in. Surely it was better to find out sooner rather than later. I already felt like I was in a bit too deep with Layton, without knowing whether he would even be willing to really try having a relationship with someone with kids. He said it didn’t bother him, but how would he know for sure?

  By his own admission he didn’t know too much about kids. He wouldn’t know what a relationship with me would really entail until he had hung out with me when I was with Annie. It was the only way this could possibly ever work.

  There were sacrifices he would have to make to be with me, such as not being able to take me to dinner whenever he wanted. Most time together after hours would have to happen at my house and with Annie. And that was only once I’d managed to ease her into the fact that Layton and I were in a relationship.

  He wouldn’t be able to spend a lot of time at our house at first and I wouldn’t be a
ble to spend much time at his. Weekends were dedicated to Annie. If he ever did want to take me away for a romantic getaway, it wouldn’t be as easy as simply whisking me away. It would never be able to be a surprise.

  Layton didn’t really strike me as the kind of guy who wanted a girlfriend, much less take her away for weekends together, but I couldn’t discount the possibility. We wouldn’t be able to spend much time together at my house for now, and he definitely wouldn’t be able to stay over. Plus, he wouldn’t be able to take me away or even take me to dinner very often, And, I was always going to have to cancel plans on short notice if Annie needed me to.

  I was always going to have to be there for her first, and for him second. I wonder whether he realized that, whether he honestly wanted to enter into a relationship where he could never move above second place.

  The only way he would really know what he was getting himself into was by spending time with us and seeing it for himself. I was jerked out of my thoughts by Denise’s fingers clicking right in front of my eyes.

  “Earth to Sissy,” she laughed, winking at Annie. “I think we’ve lost your mom.”

  “Mommy’s gone to space,” Annie agreed.

  I laughed, releasing a mock long-suffering sigh. “I need to take my silence however I can get it with all the talking you two do.”

  “Us?” Denise scoffed. “Hate to break it to you, but you’re the biggest chatter of them all.”

  “True.” I stuck the tip of my tongue out at them and grabbed a muffin off the plate in front of me on the kitchen island. We were having breakfast together before I went off to work and Annie went to school.

  Buttering the muffin, I cleared my throat and decided to run my conundrum by them. “So, Layton mentioned yesterday he wanted to take me and Annie out tomorrow.”

  “Who’s Layton?” Annie asked, after swallowing a piece of banana from the fruit salad she was devouring.

  “Layton Bridges is my boss, honey.” I told her.

  “Tomorrow’s Saturday,” she commented, clearly puzzled. “Why does your boss want you to work on a Saturday?”

  “He doesn’t want me to work,” I explained, sticking to Layton’s idea of not telling her yet he was anything more to me than just a boss. “He just wants to get to know us because I’m new there.”

  “I think that’s a great idea,” Denise interjected. “It’s important that he gets to know you.”

  I gave her a warning look by narrowing my eyes in her direction. She caught on immediately. “I just mean, it’ll be nice for him to get to know the both of you. That way, he might understand if you’re late sometimes or whatever.”

  I fought the urge to roll my eyes at her attempt at an explanation, giving her an amused smile. “Yeah, of course. That’s exactly it.”

  Turning my attention to Annie, I wondered what she would think of Layton. “What do you think, baby? Would you like to meet Mommy’s boss?”

  “Yes!” She exclaimed, her blue eyes wide and shining with excitement. “I want to meet him. I want to know what you do for work.”

  “Boring stuff,” I told her. “Nothing like the dresses we make here.”

  “But what do you do, Mommy?” She asked, her brow furrowing. “Olivia’s mom is a nurse.”

  Olivia was Annie’s newest friend at school, and as a result, the one we were hearing the most about these days. “Nurses do great work. Mommy wanted to be a nurse for a little while when I was younger, but now I’m an accounts manager.”

  I tried to explain to her once what I did for a living, but it looked like she didn’t remember. I didn’t blame her. Understanding my job was a little more complicated than understanding that of a nurse. Annie pursed her lips, thinking. “Why didn’t you become a nurse if that’s what you wanted to do, Mommy?”

  The corners of my mouth turned up and my nose scrunched. “I realized I couldn’t stand blood.”

  Denise laughed, but Annie looked horrified. “I don’t like blood either.”

  “Then you probably wouldn’t like being a nurse,” I told her and she nodded her agreement before turning pensive again.

  “What does a counts manager do?” She asked finally between the last bites of her breakfast.

  “Accounts manager.” I corrected her gently. “I work with numbers. Basically, I look at how much money people have to build the buildings they want, and I try to see if we can get the building built with that much money.”

  It was a complete oversimplification, but the child was only six. She frowned, but nodded. “I think I understand.”

  “So, back to your boss.” Denise said, prompting us back to the actual conversation we needed to have. “What did he want to do with the two of you tomorrow?”

  I shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’ll have to talk to him about it today if Annie’s sure she wants to meet him.”

  “I’m sure,” she said, the bright smile from earlier replacing the frown on her face. “You work so hard. I want to know who you’re with when you’re at work.”

  “Okay, I’ll make it happen then,” I told her, still not sure if I was making the right decision. But Annie was excited to meet Layton now and I didn’t want to disappoint her. I only hoped he wouldn’t disappoint her either. It was going to be hard to explain it to her if he’d rethought the whole thing overnight and decided he didn’t want to meet her after all.

  If he’d changed his mind, I was going to have to cross that bridge when I got there. For now, a quick look at my watch told me it was time to get to work.

  After giving Annie a hug and saying goodbye to Denise, I raced to work and arrived with only a couple of minutes to spare. The office was bustling already. Phones were ringing, and several of the conference rooms were already in use for meetings. My coworkers were busily tapping away on their keyboards while drinking their morning coffee.

  Unsurprisingly, Layton was already in his office when I got there. He had his back to the door, sitting at his drafting table with his pencil in hand.

  I rapped on the door frame as I entered, causing him to turn to face me. When he saw who had interrupted his thoughts, his scowl transformed into a wide grin. “Good morning.”

  “Hey,” I said, returning his smile with one of my own. I couldn’t help it. All my lips wanted to do when I was around him was kiss him or smile. Kissing wasn’t an option this morning though.

  There were people everywhere and Layton’s office had significantly less privacy than mine. Instead, I settled for giving his hand a very quick squeeze.

  Layton looked good this morning. He always did, but I liked the green tie he was wearing. It brought out his eyes.

  “Did you have a good night?” He asked, tilting his head to the side and giving me his full attention. The chair behind his drafting table was higher than an ordinary office chair, and his feet were propped up on a rung near the bottom. His knees were slightly apart, his hands hanging between them. He seemed relaxed, happy even.

  I desperately wanted to step between his knees, to wind my arms around his neck and press my upper body against his while kissing the daylights out of him, but that wasn’t an option. It was definitely going on the list of things I still wanted to do with him someday, maybe one night when the office was quiet again.

  Instead, I nodded to answer his question. “Our night was fine. Uneventful. I did talk to Annie about meeting you actually.”

  “You did?” He perked up, his eyes locked on mine, and I could see the anticipation in them. Quite unexpectedly, there was nervousness there too.

  “I did,” I told him, reaching out to graze his knee reassuringly. “She loved the idea. She wants to meet you.”

  “Yeah?” He broke out a relieved smile and his knee started bouncing. “That’s excellent news.”

  I lifted my hand, raising a finger. “Just one thing, before you get too excited. Wherever we go has to be child friendly. We can’t stay out too late and we’re absolutely not telling her there’s anything more between us yet.”

  His li
ps twitched into a smirk. “You’re adorable when you’re being protective.”

  “I’m not adorable.” I objected, shaking my head. “I just don’t want you to think we can do anything or stay out half the night. We’re going to have to eat, too. I try to keep Annie’s junk food intake as low as I can.”

  “I don’t know much about kids,” Layton said, clearly amused by my attempt at lecturing him. “But I remember being one. You don’t have to worry about a thing. I have a plan and it’s completely appropriate for a child her age. I wouldn’t dream of keeping you out too late, letting the poor child starve or taking her to a smoky bar.”

  When he said it like that, I realized I might have sounded just a little ridiculous in trying to protect Annie. “Sorry. I’m just—I’m not used to introducing Annie to people in my life. I’ve never—”

  I didn’t know how to explain it without sounding totally pathetic, so I trailed off, but Layton nodded anyway, taking my hands and cradling them in his. The angle I was standing at shielded our hands from prying eyes. I was glad for the contact to remind me why we were doing this.

  “I get it, Marissa. You have nothing to worry about. I’ll make sure we have a good time,” he promised, stroking the backs of my hands with his thumbs in a way that undid the knots of tension forming in my stomach. “All you have to do is make sure you’re both ready to go at noon.”

  Chapter 36

  Layton

  Marissa’s house was a small, single family home in the suburbs. It was exactly what I might have expected from her, with bay windows and colorful flower pots on the front porch. There were wind chimes hanging from the roof over three steps leading up to the front door.

  The front yard was small, but well cared for. The weather was getting warmer and some of her plants were starting to come alive again after the miserable winter.