“I love you, too, Suit. I think I fell in love with you before I even met you.”
I smirked. “It must have been my incredible charm over text.”
“Actually, you were pretty much an asshole. It was the pictures you kept on your phone that made me realize that there was a beautiful man underneath that heart of steel.”
“I like the pictures that I received this morning much better than the ones that were there before we met. Perhaps I should make daily snapshots like that part of the restitution you owe me for the grief you’ve put me through.”
“I can do that. You’re easy.”
“I didn’t say that was all your restitution.”
“Let me guess, you’ll take additional payment in the form of blowjobs?”
“That sounds like a start.”
Her eyebrows jumped. “A start? How long will I be indebted to you to make amends exactly?”
I cupped her cheeks. “I’d say sixty should do it.”
“Sixty days? I think I can handle that.”
“Years, Soraya. I expect sexy snapshots and blowjobs for the next sixty years.”
Her face turned serious. “There’s nothing I would actually like more.”
“Good. Because you really didn’t have a choice in the matter. This was the first and last time you’ll leave me.”
EPILOGUE
SORAYA
CHLOE SLURPED HER FROZEN HOT CHOCOLATE as we sat together at Serendipity 3. Graham kept texting me. He was freaking out because he was stuck in traffic after taking Meme to her first day back at Jazzercise class this morning. I knew he wanted tonight to go perfectly, but I reassured him that Chloe was content and that there was no reason for him to rush.
Of course, I understood why he was nervous. To Chloe, though, it was just like any other night having dinner out with us.
“Can I have a sip?” I asked.
She nodded and repositioned the straw to face in my direction.
“Mmm. That’s so good. No wonder why you like it.”
Chloe rested her chin in her palms and confessed, “My mom got mad at me this morning.”
“Why?” I asked with my mouth full of the beverage.
“I wanted pink hair like you.”
Genevieve must love me.
“Uh oh. What did you do?”
“I was painting my hair with my watercolors.”
Trying not to let her see me laugh, I smiled inwardly. It touched me that she wanted to be like me.
“Chloe, don’t try to color it again. It doesn’t work anyway as you probably discovered, right? Someday, I’ll do it for you the right way if you still want pink hair by then.”
She was beaming. “You will?” I loved when I could see Graham’s expressions in her face.
“Yeah. But not anytime soon.”
I made a mental note to look for some hot pink clip-in extensions for the next time we’d play dress up. Chloe and I had a ton of fun on weekends when she stayed with Graham and me. She loved to put on my dresses and attempt to walk in my heels. I was sure Genevieve would have flipped if she knew half the things we did. To Chloe, I was more like a fun big sister than a disciplinarian.
A few months after reuniting with Graham in Hermosa Beach, I moved out of my Brooklyn apartment and into his condo. While I liked having my own space, it didn’t make sense to keep the apartment when my insatiable man insisted I spend every night in his bed. So, I gave in, and honestly, it made life easier since now he only had to go back and forth between two places—Chloe’s house and ours.
When Graham walked into the restaurant, he was weaving around tables, looking flustered.
“You made it!” I smiled.
“Damn traffic.”
“Damn is a swear, Graham Cracker,” Chloe chided.
“Give me some sugar, Sugar Cookie,” he said to Chloe as he leaned his cheek in for a smooch.
Graham gave me a chaste kiss on the lips then sat down. He was sweating and took a napkin to his entire face. He looked at me, and I placed my palm on his knee.
“I love you,” I mouthed.
Fresh beads of sweat formed on his forehead. After the waitress brought him a water and a menu, he began nervously ripping apart a different napkin. When he started to click his watch back and forth, I knew he was about to do it. Then, he began to speak.
“So, Chloe, there’s something I need to talk to you about tonight,” he said.
Chloe just continued to sip her drink while she looked at him innocently with her big doe eyes.
He continued, “I’ve been keeping something from you.”
“Did you take one of my toys home by mistake?”
He laughed nervously. “No. It’s about your dad.”
“What about Daddy?”
Graham inhaled slowly then exhaled. “Your father, Liam…he loved you very much. I know losing him was hard. He’ll always be your dad. But there are different kinds of dads. Sometimes, children can have more than one. Like your friend, Molly, for example. She has no mother but two dads who are married. What I’m trying to say is…I’m actually one of your dads, too.”