“I consider my sister my closest friend,” Calliope admits as we near the bank of elevators. “She’s a few years older than me. I love hanging out with her and her kids.”
“Including the burgeoning artist with the tiny hands.”
She laughs. “Tabitha. Her name is Tabitha. Bodhi is my nephew, and there’s another baby on the way.”
“Three kids?” I raise three fingers on my right hand to punctuate the question.
She nods. “I doubt she’ll stop there.”
As the elevator doors slide open, I take her hand in mine. “I bet you’re the best aunt in this city.”
Her gaze trails from our joined hands to my face. “I try to be. Are you an uncle? Does Declan have kids? Do you have other siblings?”
“As far as I know, I’m not an uncle,” I murmur as I tap the button on the panel for our floor. “There’s Decky, me, and Ava. She’s twenty. Living her best life in London at the moment.”
She squeezes my hand. “Is Ava anything like you or Decky?”
“No.” I chuckle. “She’s innocent and wants nothing to do with men’s underwear. At least I hope to hell she doesn’t because she’s way too young to be thinking about that.”
“Newsflash, Saint.” She gazes up at me. “Twenty-year-old women aren’t too young to be thinking about men in their underwear or out of it.”
“Quiet down, Champ.” I plant a soft kiss on her mouth to shush her. “The only thing I want to talk about for the rest of this date is you.”
Her gaze lingers on my lips. “Our date isn’t over yet?”
I kiss her palm as the elevator signals its arrival on our floor. “Not by a long shot.”
* * *
We’re on the roof.
I planned on taking Calliope to my apartment, but I could feel her hand shaking in mine when we rode the elevator up to our floor.
I want this woman more than I’ve wanted anyone in my life, but there’s no way in hell I’m going to rush her.
I still don’t have any sense of what happened in her last relationship, so I want to tread carefully.
She’s not looking for anything serious. I can’t say I am either, but I want our time together to be a good experience for her.
“Are you scared of heights, Champ?”
Her gaze floats past my shoulder to the lights of the city beyond. From this vantage point, it looks like they go on forever.
She laughs a little. “Why would you ask me that?”
“Why would you answer the question with another question?”
She mumbles something I can’t quite make out, so I close the distance between us with a few steps.
“I didn’t quite get that,” I say, cupping a hand over my ear.
“I like the view from right here.” She points to the concrete beneath her feet. “Why wander that close to the edge?”
“Because the glass that borders it is a reminder that the edge is a dangerous place.” I hold out a hand to her. “You can come closer to get the full view. Right now, you’re only enjoying part of it.”
With a slight bit of noticeable hesitation, she drops her hand in mine. “Do you like being close to the edge, Saint?”
“We only live once, so I want to experience as much possible.” I squeeze her hand. “If that means taking chances sometimes, I’m all in.”