My Mr. Manny (8 page)

“Here, wipe your mouth, silly girl.” I handed her a napkin with a laugh.

“But,
Mo-om
, I like my mustache. Look — he has a little one,” she said, pointing. Lucia was right. Dominic had some slight stubble on his lip and down his jaw. It was kind of sexy.

“Don’t point. And that’s enough. Clean yourself up and finish your milk, please,” I said, putting an end to her growing silliness.

Dominic wiped his mouth and placed his crumbled napkin on his plate. His stood to walk his dish around the bar to the sink, but I stopped him.

“No, I’ll do that.” I gently took the plate from his hand.

He tried to pull it back, but I wouldn’t give in.

“But I need to learn my way around here,” he said with determination, and it sounded quite sexy.

I laughed because he was so cute. “Don’t worry. You’ll find everything in no time. The place isn’t that big, and you’ll be here all day. But today, I want you to relax. I’m sure you were up early to catch your flight.”

With the plate in my hand, I felt smug for getting my way. Who knew how it would go after he’d been here for a while and got comfortable? Resigned, he sat at the bar again. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught him watching me while I worked around the kitchen. I didn’t look him in the eye, because I didn’t want him to know I’d seen.

“Yeah, I guess. I hate flying, though. Remind me to not do that too often. Oh, and by the way, I had some boxes shipped here a few days ago. Just a few things I didn’t want to leave behind. I hope that’s okay.” When he rubbed his chin with his knuckles, I noticed his hands were almost feminine. His nails were well manicured, and his hands looked callus-free.

I scoffed. “This is your place now, too, so I want you make yourself at home here. Put your stuff wherever you want.” I stopped cleaning the kitchen and stood across from him, leaning against the bar. Reaching into the basket on the bar, I pulled out his keys. “I have keys and a gate card for you here, and soon, I’ll take you to Lucia’s school with me so we can put your name on the paperwork. I want you to feel comfortable here.” Then I looked at Lucia, who was sitting next to Dominic and watching us. “We’re happy to have you here.”

Chapter 11

Pin the Tail on the Donkey

Lucia’s sixth birthday was approaching like a shot, and I had nothing planned. After some thought, I decided that the easiest solution would be a small gathering at Chuck E Cheese. Lucia was excited when she found out where we were having her party. We invited some of her friends from school, plus Danielle, Gary, Gabe, Susan, my dad, and Dominic and me.

I found a wonderful bakery near our house that made the most amazing cakes and ordered one for Lucia that was decorated with pink ballet slippers and lots of pink frosting.

Lucia wanted to wear a dress that looked like a ballet costume. We searched high and low and found an adorable dress with a white bodice covered in pink polka dots and a big puffy skirt with lots of pink and white tulle. She wore little white shorts underneath the dress since she would be climbing in and out of the tunnels and I didn’t want her showing her undies to everyone. Her hair was up in a tight ballerina bun, and she sported a pair of old ballet slippers.

Sometimes when Lucia needed to run around and let off steam, we would go to Chuck E. Cheese so I could sit and relax. I would bring a book and sit in a booth, and she could come and check in with me every few minutes. It was a great playground for allowing the kids freedom to play without the parents suffering from fear of kidnapping. The system was genius. At the entrance, an employee stood stamping the hands of families that entered together. The stamp had a number for each family and was invisible on the hand. When it was time to leave, the employee would place the parent and child’s hands under a black light to see if the numbers matched. If they did, they could all leave together, but if the numbers didn’t match, they could not leave. It made it a safe place for kids to play.

The staff had set up a long table in the party room. The room had a stage filled with some mechanical characters — friends of Chuck E. himself — holding band instruments, and every hour on the hour they would break out into song and dance. Every few minutes, a parent would come into the party room and drop off their child and ask what time they needed to come back for them. Almost all of her friends were there.

Susan and my dad arrived at the same time with their hands full of bags.

I took a good look at what they had in their arms. “What’s with all the bags?” I pointed to them.

“They’re Lucia’s gifts.” Susan smiled like the little devil she was.

“What? No way, Susan,” I said shaking my head back and forth “That’s too much. You can’t give her all of that.” My voice was adamant. She was going to spoil her.

“It’s just one big gift that comes in a lot of small packages. Relax.”

My dad made quick work of pulling the small wrapped gifts out of the bags and setting them on the table.

“Hi, Dad.” I reached up and pecked his cheek.

“Hey, kiddo. Where’s the birthday girl?” He looked around for Lucia. I laughed because he’d never find her in that crowd of little heads running around. The place was packed, and all of her friends had arrived. Even though the kids were running around playing in the game room, they’d stop what they were doing and run back to the party room to watch the performance on stage. It was always the same song, but the kids loved the show regardless.

I answered my dad: “She’s around somewhere playing. I gave all the kids their coins, so I’m sure they’re hitting up the machines for tickets.”

He nodded and took a seat.

“Do you want a beer?”

His eyes lit up. “They serve alcohol in this place?” he asked with hope in his voice.

“Yeah, how do you think the parents survive all of these kids? They need a little bit of help.” I laughed.

He gave me a deep laugh in return and said he’d take a beer ASAP. I looked around for Dominic and saw his head in the sea of games. He was surrounded by a ton of little children, who were screaming and jumping up and down with pure excitement while they played.

While I stood in line for my dad’s beer, I felt someone barrel into my legs from behind and looked down to see Lucia.

“Momma, you should see all the tickets Dominic won me. So many! I can pick a good prize!” she screeched with excitement.

“Wow, baby. That’s wonderful. Make sure you thank him for playing with you guys.” I brushed back the wisps of hair that were falling out of her bun. She was wearing a small princess crown that I hadn’t seen before. “Where’d you get the crown?”

Lucia touched the top of her head as if she’d forgotten it was there. “Oh, Dominic gave it to me. He said I was the princess today.”

My heart just swelled. He was so sweet to us.

“That’s because you are.”

My eyes roamed the room until I found Dominic at a machine, surrounded by Lucia’s friends. I wanted to go to him. Over the small amount of time he’d been living with us, I was drawn to him like we were magnets constantly pulling toward one another.

I paid for my three beers and delivered one to my dad. “Thanks, kiddo,” he said taking a huge gulp after I placed his mug on the table. I’d found him sitting in the party room talking to Danielle, who had just arrived. I gave her a big hug. “Hey, girl. Thanks for coming.”

“Excuse me, guys. I’ll be right back. I need to deliver this.” I held up one of the mugs while taking a sip from the other.

Walking toward the last place I’d seen Dominic, I found him a few machines over. I could feel my face light up when I looked at him. He was so sexy, and yet, there he was playing with a bunch of six-year-old girls and having a great time doing it. I began to rush over to him, and then, all of a sudden, shyness washed over me and I slowed my pace until I reached him.

I cleared my throat. “Hey, having fun?”

He looked over his shoulder and smiled wide.

I felt myself blush. “Thirsty?” I croaked.

Turning around to face me, he reached out for the beer. “Thanks. This is perfect.”

My eyes were glued to him while he gulped down his beer. Going through the motions without thinking about it, I followed his example and guzzled mine as well.

“
Sooo
, are you going crazy yet?” I teased, trying to flirt a little without seeming obvious.

He let out an incredulous gasp. “No way! I’m having a blast. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a Chuck E. Cheese before, and this is incredible for the kids. Plus, I’m trying to win Lucia a ton of tickets. She said she gets to pick a toy with them,” he whispered the last part as if it were a secret. Lucia knew how to work it; she could coax anyone into winning tickets for her.

“Well, that’s super nice of you.” We placed our empty mugs on the empty table behind us and stood side-by-side playing games together. I was having a lot of fun myself.

Dominic dragged me, Lucia, and some of the kids who were playing near us to the Skeeball lanes, at which he turned out to be really good. My own Skeeballs were bouncing all over the place — half the time ending up in his lane. Full body laughs wracked us, and he’d hip check me every time my ball would interrupt his game.

“Wow, Mia. You’re pretty bad at this. Here, let me show you.” I gasped, pretending to be hurt, because he was laughing at me. When he lined his body up behind mine, placed his left hand on my hip and his right hand over mine, I forgot everything else. With the ball in my hand, he showed me how to swing and aim at the hole for the highest score. And what a team we made; the ball made it in every single time he helped me. When I tried on my own, I didn’t do as well, which was quite all right with me since I loved the feel of him pressed against me.

Three hours later, after a song and dance from Chuck E. Cheese, pizza, the happy birthday song, tons of sugar-filled cake, and gifts, Lucia was wiped out. So were Dominic and I. Lucia was very appreciative of all her gifts, but her favorite was what Susan brought for her. She’d screamed and squealed while she opened every single one of the little packages to reveal a beautiful three-story dollhouse with all of the accessories: furniture, people, decorations, paint, and small sheets of wallpaper. It was a thoughtful gift that would keep her busy for a long time. At the end of the party, my dad looked like he was going to have a nervous breakdown from being around so many crazy kids. He was good at entertaining with adults, but he didn’t have much patience for so many children. He loved Lucia to death, but he was only putting up with her antics for this long because she was his family.

The wonderful thing about having a party at an establishment like Chuck E. Cheese was there was no clean up for me. And once it was over, I was done.

Chapter 12

Double Dutch

September arrived before we knew it, and school started for Lucia. Dominic went with me the first day so he could learn the routine and the location. He had purchased himself a car to get around the first week he was here, a nice BMW 328i.

I imagined it wasn’t what he was used to compared to his previous experience in high society. The more I thought about it, I didn’t even think he drove too much in New York. He seemed well adjusted, not just to what he drove, but to his new life. In all the time he’d been here, I couldn’t picture him in his old life at all. He fit with us.

I told Dominic to drive so he could get a feel for where everything was. When we arrived at the school, we all piled out, Lucia was excited to have Dominic with us, and she dragged him to her line. She pointed out all of her friends and the location of her classroom and the lunchroom. Dominic took it all in, and even asked her questions to encourage her even more. I loved how much he nurtured her outgoing personality.

Once the kids had gone into their classes, we went to the office to add Dominic to the list of authorized people for emergencies and pickup. Even though he was my employee, something about these changes and additions made me tingle with excitement. In my mind, it was as if he was inching his way into our lives more and more, one change at a time — and I was very happy with that.

On our drive back to the house, he asked, “Not to get personal but, where is Lucia’s dad?”

I glanced over at him for a moment, trying to judge his expression. I wondered why he was asking. “Um . . . he’s not around.” I looked at Dominic once more to gauge his reaction.

He snuck an encouraging look at me, and then flashed his eyes back to the road.

“We were married, but he was never around. He worked all the time. Lucia didn’t even know him. He told us he was working to give us a better life. It was a crock of shit.” I snorted, shaking my head. “I mean, we had known each other as kids. And once we met up again and got married, I think we mistook our common past for love. Things changed when he started his job; from then on, it was always about work. The attentive, sweet man I knew was gone. I kept hoping he would settle down and put us first, but he never did. I realized he never would,” I said. “He was having an affair. I kicked him out, and he just walked away without looking back.” I shrugged.

Dominic nodded and met my eyes again.

“I suppose what stings most is that I have a failed marriage on my record. I mean, that’s the one thing I wanted to do right. My parents divorced when I was young, and I wanted to find ‘the one’ and prove that I could stay married.” I snorted at the absurdity. “The other thing — and this hurts more than anything in the world — is that he relinquished his parental rights with Lucia.” I shook my head in disgust.

“I don’t understand how he could just walk away.” Dominic’s lips were set in a grim line.

He was quiet, and I noticed the lines on his forehead were pulled tight like he was thinking. His clenched jaw made him look angry, but he didn’t say anything more.

I figured this would be a good time to get the exes out of the way. “So, Lori told me a little about your fiancée. What happened with you two?”

His eyes flickered to mine. Taking a deep breath, he then released it with a quick puff.

Shrugging, he said, “She left when I lost my job. She was more interested in my connection to the social circles in New York and my money than in me. When I told her I was not going to look for another job in that field, she packed up and left without a word. She didn’t even want to hear me out or try to understand why I wanted a new career. I was burned out, tired of the fast pace without the rewards. I mean, I gave my life to that company, and they kicked me to the curb the moment things got tough.” He rubbed his knuckles across his chin a few times and continued. “The thing was, I had my career all worked out. We were going to get married, and I wanted to start a family. I wanted that, and I thought I was going to have it with her. I should have known she was shallow. I should have seen it, but I suppose being on the inside blinded me, and I couldn’t see what was going on.”