New York, Actually: A sparkling romantic comedy from the bestselling Queen of Romance

She was so used to hiding herself, it shook her that he’d seen through her veneer.

“I need to go. Thanks for the tea.” She tossed the cup in the waste bin, grabbed Valentine and ran back through the park, taking a shortcut that led to her apartment.

He was right of course.

She was scared.

If you fell, next time you were more careful where you stepped. And she’d fallen hard.

Five (#ulink_f17ff513-8fc6-53b1-a039-af6e78179150)

“Daniel! Thank goodness you’re back. I need to talk to you about the summer party and you need to sign these.” Marsha, his assistant, met him at the door with a file full of papers and a list in her hand. “And Elisa Sutton is in your office.”

“Elisa? Happy birthday, by the way.”

“Happy would be a day at a spa. Instead, I’m here.” She pushed the file into his hands. “I hope you appreciate my loyalty.”

“I do, which is why a ridiculously extravagant bouquet of flowers is currently on its way to you. Now tell me about Elisa.”

“She turned up half an hour ago, desperate to talk to you.” Marsha lowered her voice. “I’ve sent out for more tissues. Last time she used a box and a half.”

“You’d probably cry a box and a half if you were married to her husband.”

“He’s a box and a half kind of guy. You’re the only man I know who is good with crying women. Why are you so patient?”

He’d had plenty of experience.

A vision of his mother flashed into his mind and he pushed it away.

He wasn’t a man to wallow in the past. He dealt with it and moved on. So why the hell had that image sneaked into his mind now?

The answer was Molly.

Molly, with her searching questions about his childhood.

She’d dug around in a wound and now it ached.

That, he thought grimly, was what happened when you went deeper than the superficial. There was a lot to be said for not getting to know a person better.

Annoyed with himself for allowing the situation to intrude on his day, he focused on work. “Divorce is always emotional. Handling it is my job.”

“It’s Max Carter’s job, too, but he just abandoned a client who was crying a river in his office. He said he was giving her time to ‘compose’ herself. If I didn’t know for a fact that the guy is a brilliant lawyer, I probably wouldn’t believe it. Are you mad that I let Mrs. Sutton into your office without an appointment? You can fire me if you like.”

“The day you leave is the day I leave. We’ll walk out of here together, clutching our dead houseplants.”

“Hey, I water those houseplants.”

“Then you need to stop watering them. They’re dying.”

“Maybe the clients have been crying into them. Or maybe they’re depressed. If I had to listen to all the sad stories you’re told, I’d be depressed, too.” Marsha had started working for him when her youngest daughter had left for college. The same day her divorce had become final. The divorce he’d handled.

Her maturity, humor and air of quiet calm made her invaluable.

“Do you know why Elisa is here?”

“No.” Marsha glanced toward the closed door and lowered her voice. “Last week she was in here crying over that lazy, cheating, no-good husband of hers, but today she’s smiling. Do you think she’s killed him and hidden the body? Should I refer her to one of our colleagues in criminal law?”

Daniel gave a flicker of a smile. “Let’s hold the decision on that.”

“Maybe she’s here to tell you she’s taken a lover. That might be the best revenge.”

“Maybe, but it would make the custody battle more complicated so I hope you’re wrong.” Whatever the reason for the sudden visit, Daniel was sure it wasn’t going to be good. “Why do you want to talk about the summer party?”

“Because I’m in charge of it and last year was a fiasco. We used Star Events and I had to deal with an awful woman with a power complex. I can’t remember her name, but I do remember wanting to punch her. Cynthia. Yes, that’s it. Can I use someone different?”

“Use anyone you like. As long as the alcohol flows, I don’t care.”

“There’s this fresh, young company called Urban Genie…”

“Owned by three very smart young women who were previously employed by Star Events. Paige, Frankie and Eva. Good idea. Use them.”

Marsha gaped at him. “Do you know everyone in New York City?”

“Matt Walker designed my roof terrace. He’s Paige’s older brother. And Urban Genie has done a lot to support my sisters’ dog-walking business. Not only that, they’re good. And they were fired by that ‘awful woman,’ which makes this karma.”

“You don’t believe in karma.”

“But you do. Call them.”

“I will.” She crossed it off her list. “Just a couple of things before you talk to Elisa—you’ve been invited by Phoenix Publishing to cocktails at the Met in a couple of weeks. Do I make your excuses?”

“Definitely.”

She crossed that off her list, too. “The interview you gave is published today. Do you want to read it?”

“Will I like what I read?”

“No. They call you a heartbreaker and New York’s most eligible bachelor. They should have interviewed me. I would have told them that no sane woman would date you.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. So do you want to read the interview?”

“No. Next?”

“Next is Elisa. Oh, and congratulations.”

“On what?”