Leo and Reese traded a suppressed grin. “Are you ready for our first day of work, Bernard?” Reese asked, leaning into Leo when he put an arm around her shoulder, both of them watching their daughter bond with the legendary dancer.
“Sure, sure. Put my name on whatever you want. You get started,” Bernard without looking at Reese. “I’ll babysit.”
“Just as I suspected,” she laughed.
Leo’s fingers intertwined with Reese’s and he tugged. “Come on. I’ve got something to show you.”
Reese followed. She’d follow that big, beautiful back anywhere. “You do?”
Her husband hummed, shooting her a wink over his shoulder, but didn’t say anything else. On their way under the hatch and through the shop, Reese blew kisses to Jackie and Tad who stopped bickering over how to operate the new espresso machine long enough to wave back. Normally, she would have stopped for a chat, but Leo held open the familiar swinging door into the kitchen and signaled her inside. Assuming her husband just wanted to make out now that someone was watching the baby, Reese looped her arms around his neck, moaning when their lips brushed together, pushed apart and took.
Her eager fingers were beginning to walk their way down to his waistband when she realized Leo was backing her through the expanded and improved kitchen. Past the standing mixers, past the new ovens they’d added. All the way toward the back where Leo’s new office was located.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“You’ll see,” he grunted, swooping back down and pressing their foreheads together. “I missed you all morning, sweetheart. Keep kissing me.”
She had absolutely no problem following that command. Kissing this man was her favorite pastime. But when her back touched a barrier, she couldn’t contain her curiosity and pulled away, arching a brow at Leo.
“Turn around,” he said.
When she did, Reese could only gape at the words Mentors in Manhattan stenciled to the door. “What is this?” she whispered, heart pounding.
“I know you were planning on working at the kitchen table at home for now. But, uh…” He sounded almost shy. “I’d love to have you closer, you know? Maybe I’m spoiled now that you’re not dancing at night, but I want you here with me. Lily, too.”
“Leo,” she breathed, turning the knob. “I can’t believe you did this.”
“Can’t you?” He used a finger to push open the door. “Haven’t I told you every day for the last eight years that you’re my Sweetest Fix of all?”
“And you’re mine,” she managed around the obstruction in her throat, eyes clouding.
The office was…perfect.
A feminine desk with a fringed, vintage lamp, exactly her style. A small crib tucked into the corner. Pictures of their travels on the wall. Paris, Berlin, Tokyo. Family snapshots in Brooklyn Bridge Park. A framed copy of her first headshot. A picture of them together backstage after her first performance on Chicago, staring into one another’s eyes. Playbills of the shows she’d worked on afterward. And finally their wedding day.
“What do you think?” he asked, kissing the side of her neck adoringly.
With affection overflowing in her chest, Reese turned, reached past her husband and closed the door. “I think I’ll show you instead.”
THE END