Page 152 of Mr. Aster
“Huh?” she looked at me.
“She eats what the chef prepares her: roast chicken, beef, fish. You know,” I admitted with some embarrassment.
“Oh, dear,” she looked at Charlotte. “Well, then youmusttry tacos. And chips and salsa?”
“Um,” Charlotte looked back at me.
“If you don’t like them, you can eat dead bugs?” I said, knowing that would change her mind.
“Gross,” she said, wrinkling her nose.
“I’m sure you’ll love them,” Darcy said. “And if you don’t, you can just eat the meat. It’s meat like you’re used to eating, but it has a lot of different flavors. I’m sure you’ll love it.”
As it turned out, Charlotte loved every taco Darcy had her taste, and the chips and salsa were a huge hit for my girl. Things were turning out better than I’d hoped for, but now, I needed to address the boundary line Darcy had drawn earlier and figure out how far she and I would be able to go.
“So,” I said, sipping on my tequila and staring over at where Darcy sat, enjoying the final hours of the evening with me on the balcony. “How long must we remain friends before we can go further?”
Darcy smiled over at me. “Char is so adorable. And so very intelligent,” she answered me, avoiding my question. “I love how cute you two are with each other.”
“I’m learning as I go with her,” I said. “Putting her to sleep tonight was a first for me because the nanny always does that.”
“Where is your nanny?”
“She’s here in a suite, but I wanted to give her time off while we are here,” I said. “The poor woman hasmanynanny vacation days stored up, and she needs this after picking up all the slack in this house since Melissa passed.”
“You never gave her a vacation?”
“She’s always been able to take whatever time she’s needed, but since Melissa has been gone, she’s been with Char every day,” I answered. “I feel horrible about not taking this initiative sooner, but trust me, a lot has changed in the months I’ve been out of contact with you. I’m learning to be like a real human being instead of some asshole who’s allowing a nanny to raise his daughter alone. I’m trying.”
“I can see that. I’m very impressed.” She sipped her margarita. “You’ve grown as a man, you know?”
I laughed, “Well, I knew you would want a man in your life and not some wimp afraid to leave you a voicemail.”
“I’ve truly missed you,” she said with a sincerity that made my mind stop in its tracks. “But thisnew youthat I find so damn attractive might mean trouble if I’m not careful.”
I grinned, thankful that the changes I’d made for myself and my daughter when I was away had made a positive impact.
“There’s no way you and I will get into any trouble unless, of course, we go back to the days when we were afraid to contact each other,” I chuckled. “Whatever we do, we can’t allow fear to get between us again.”
“What if I say I’m afraid to be more than friends with you?” she questioned, showing me the fear in her eyes.
“Come here,” I said, taking her hand and guiding her to stand with me and stare at the ocean sparkling in the moonlight. I stood behind her and wrapped my arms around her. “Many people fear that ocean, you know?”
“Oh, please,” she said.
“Hear me out,” I said, kissing her neck and smelling a new fragrance that smelled like peaches. “People fear the ocean, and because of that, they will never experience the beauty of what I saw on our dive today. It’s a whole other world filled with life and intrigue, something they will only see in pictures and readabout in books. Fear keeps them from an amazing experience they will never know.”
“I know, but?—”
“Baby, what we have can only be painted in portraits and hung in the Louvre.” I grinned at how dumb that sounded. “Or read about in novels, leaving the reader wanting to obtain that profound love. All I know is that we’ve been blessed with this opportunity to have the rarest kind of love, something most people will never experience. If we allow fear of the unknown to stop us from pursuing this timeless love, imagine what we will miss?”
She turned to face me. “I was fearless with you before,” she said, her eyes studying mine while her hand ran over the stubble on my cheek. “Because of that, I got hurt.”
“I understand,” I said. “All I can give you is words until my actions prove otherwise.”
“Exactly,” she answered.
“Have you ever trusted your scuba gear only to have it fail on your diving excursions?”
