poised hazel eyes.
“I understand congratulations are in order,” she said. “You have to be so happy.”
“Do you know something I don’t, Tia?” I said.
“She’s talking about the adoption.”
Chief was framing the doorway to the back hall, making no attempt to hide a grin. The beast. Now I was sweaty and blotchy-faced: the perfect combination for romance.
“I knew that,” I said.
Tia nodded without moving a single hair.
“We’ll need about an hour, Tia,” Chief said.
“Yes, sir.”
It was my turn to grin. He’d told me no less than sixty times how much he wished she wouldn’t call him sir. But she would probably rather come to work without her pumps than address him as Chief. I was glad there were people like her in the world. It made up for there being people like me.
Chief led me into his office, which was as streamlined and masculine as the man himself. It was all I could do not to pull him onto the leather couch and, as India so often put it, get a little neck sugar. I made a deliberate beeline for one of the high-backed chairs in front of his desk, but he curled his fingers around my upper arm and pulled me in for a quick kiss.
“I came here to talk business, Mr. Ellington, sir,” I said.
“Just greeting my client,” he said close to my mouth.
He let me go so I could sit before my knees jellied completely. I was already saying, “So we’ve agreed I can’t be your client when it comes to my personal finances.”
“Your personal shambles,” he said.
“My point exactly. So you have any ideas?”
“I have one thought.” He was clearly all contracts and depositions again. “But I really want you to think about it before you decide.”
“Do you think I’m going to hate it?”
“Not at all. Just the opposite.”
Chief tilted his head. “Would you consider Kade?”
I stared. “Do you think he’d do it?”
“He seemed okay with it.”
“You already asked him?”
“I told him I wanted to mention it to you.”
“And he was all right with it?”
I stopped before I completely turned into a forty-three-year-old rendition of a tween with a crush on Justin Bieber.
“He believes in what you’re doing. He wants to help.” Chief leaned forward, forearms on his thighs. “I think more to the point, Classic, is whether you are all right with it.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “He’s going to be smack in the middle of your personal affairs.”
“You mean he’s going to know that I’m hopeless with money.”
“There’s that.”
“You could have at least pretended to argue with me there.” I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s a secret to anybody. I’ve got nothing to hide. What’s the other thing?”
“This is going to mean spending some time with him.”
“I want that. You know I want that.”
“I do. Just be aware that he’s probably going to be strictly professional about it.”
“So I shouldn’t count on a mother-son bonding experience.”
Chief’s eyes softened. “Maybe not. But who knows?”
“Certainly not me.” I sank back in the chair and felt my wet back adhere to the leather.
“I don’t suggest him just because it would give you a chance to get through some of this,” Chief said. “But if it helps …”
“Okay,” I said, “I’ll make an appointment with him. How weird is that?”
His eyes crinkled. “No weirder than anything else about your life, Classic.”
After the three-day Labor Day weekend, I was only able to get Desmond vertical and out of his room to go to school by promising I would take him to school on the Harley. Then the only obstacle was making him actually get dressed before he donned what he was now calling his D.C. jacket.
“That stays with me when we get there,” I called to him the second time I sent him back to his room to get out of the T-shirt he’d slept in.
“Ain’t nobody gonna gank it,” he called back. “Imma keep a eye on it.”
“What exactly
“I understand congratulations are in order,” she said. “You have to be so happy.”
“Do you know something I don’t, Tia?” I said.
“She’s talking about the adoption.”
Chief was framing the doorway to the back hall, making no attempt to hide a grin. The beast. Now I was sweaty and blotchy-faced: the perfect combination for romance.
“I knew that,” I said.
Tia nodded without moving a single hair.
“We’ll need about an hour, Tia,” Chief said.
“Yes, sir.”
It was my turn to grin. He’d told me no less than sixty times how much he wished she wouldn’t call him sir. But she would probably rather come to work without her pumps than address him as Chief. I was glad there were people like her in the world. It made up for there being people like me.
Chief led me into his office, which was as streamlined and masculine as the man himself. It was all I could do not to pull him onto the leather couch and, as India so often put it, get a little neck sugar. I made a deliberate beeline for one of the high-backed chairs in front of his desk, but he curled his fingers around my upper arm and pulled me in for a quick kiss.
“I came here to talk business, Mr. Ellington, sir,” I said.
“Just greeting my client,” he said close to my mouth.
He let me go so I could sit before my knees jellied completely. I was already saying, “So we’ve agreed I can’t be your client when it comes to my personal finances.”
“Your personal shambles,” he said.
“My point exactly. So you have any ideas?”
“I have one thought.” He was clearly all contracts and depositions again. “But I really want you to think about it before you decide.”
“Do you think I’m going to hate it?”
“Not at all. Just the opposite.”
Chief tilted his head. “Would you consider Kade?”
I stared. “Do you think he’d do it?”
“He seemed okay with it.”
“You already asked him?”
“I told him I wanted to mention it to you.”
“And he was all right with it?”
I stopped before I completely turned into a forty-three-year-old rendition of a tween with a crush on Justin Bieber.
“He believes in what you’re doing. He wants to help.” Chief leaned forward, forearms on his thighs. “I think more to the point, Classic, is whether you are all right with it.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “He’s going to be smack in the middle of your personal affairs.”
“You mean he’s going to know that I’m hopeless with money.”
“There’s that.”
“You could have at least pretended to argue with me there.” I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s a secret to anybody. I’ve got nothing to hide. What’s the other thing?”
“This is going to mean spending some time with him.”
“I want that. You know I want that.”
“I do. Just be aware that he’s probably going to be strictly professional about it.”
“So I shouldn’t count on a mother-son bonding experience.”
Chief’s eyes softened. “Maybe not. But who knows?”
“Certainly not me.” I sank back in the chair and felt my wet back adhere to the leather.
“I don’t suggest him just because it would give you a chance to get through some of this,” Chief said. “But if it helps …”
“Okay,” I said, “I’ll make an appointment with him. How weird is that?”
His eyes crinkled. “No weirder than anything else about your life, Classic.”
After the three-day Labor Day weekend, I was only able to get Desmond vertical and out of his room to go to school by promising I would take him to school on the Harley. Then the only obstacle was making him actually get dressed before he donned what he was now calling his D.C. jacket.
“That stays with me when we get there,” I called to him the second time I sent him back to his room to get out of the T-shirt he’d slept in.
“Ain’t nobody gonna gank it,” he called back. “Imma keep a eye on it.”
“What exactly
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