Chapter Two
Hannah’s laugh was more breathtaking than her smile, Dan thought as he tapped a pencil against his desk. It had been a long time since he’d laughed, and longer since he’d made someone else laugh. Unless you counted Tess, but somehow, a teenager laughing at her dad didn’t count in his mind. He’d been awkward, but somehow Hannah hadn’t seemed to mind. Or at least she hadn’t shown it. Best lunch he’d shared in a while. And she was beautiful. Auburn, shoulder-length hair that curled at the ends, blue eyes that could make him jealous of men who had been in her past. Her skin was pale, and her hands were small, delicate-looking.
He took a deep breath as Lisa, his co-worker, popped around the door of his office. “Hey, I’m having trouble with the analysis. I can probably have it to you later this afternoon. Is that okay?”
He raised his brows. “Yeah, that’ll be fine.”
He had a ton of work and needed her analysis before he could move forward with his project, but Lisa was a dedicated employee. If she said she needed more time, he wasn’t about to deny her.
“Take a break and get a bite to eat,” he added. “Maybe it’ll help.”
Lisa nodded. “Want to join me?”
He paused before answering. “No, I already ate. Thanks, though.”
She saluted. “You know what they say about all work and no play. You should get out more, like maybe with whomever caused you to smile and stare off into space.” With a wave, she left.
He jerked in his chair. Hannah had lightened his mood. Was it so obvious? He let himself dream a little as he thought about her. Maybe he should listen to Lisa and ask her out.
But as soon as the thought entered his mind, he dismissed it. He was a dad, focused on his daughter. The rest of his time was dedicated to his job. Eating lunch with Hannah was a spur-of-the-moment thing. He didn’t do spur-of-the-moment. He planned, made lists, and weighed positives and negatives. He had no list prepared of reasons why asking Hannah out was a good idea. He had no plan formulated guiding him how to date.
The list not to date? That was easy. He was a single dad. His calendar was jammed with Tess’s afterschool art classes, doctor appointments, and tutoring sessions. And even when she didn’t have a social life to rival the Queen’s, his primary responsibility had to be to her, his secondary to his job. His knee had a bad habit of flaring up at the most inopportune times. The rest of the time, it hurt like a sonofabitch. Except…those reasons sounded stupid, even to him.
He frowned. Beth died seven years ago. There had been plenty of opportunities to date, but he avoided them all in an effort to be the best dad he could be, and to make up to Tess for…everything. In the beginning, he’d been recovering physically and mentally. Then there were the aftereffects. He massaged his knee with a wince. Things were under control now. He was under control. Could it work? Maybe. Did he want to? Kind of.
He juggled the pencil through his fingers as he cobbled together a new list, a list of what he knew about Hannah. She was younger than him. If he had to guess, by about ten years, which put her in her late twenties. Did age matter? He hadn’t thought about her age when they’d eaten hot dogs. Maybe the age difference didn’t matter.
He’d enjoyed her company. For a few minutes when they’d laughed during their hot-dog lunch, he’d felt carefree. Was relaxing so bad? Everyone needed to feel that way sometimes. And he hadn’t in a long time. Maybe it was time. He reached for his phone and stopped, hand halfway in his pocket.
He didn’t have her phone number. Maybe he should take it as a sign. If seeing her again was that great of an idea, he would’ve asked for it. He should accept his life as it was and forget about her. Returning to his desk, he reached for a folder.
He knew her last name. She was in PR. It couldn’t hurt to do a little research. If he were unsuccessful, he’d put her out of his mind. He swiveled toward the computer and searched for Hannah Cohen. Multiple upon multiple options popped upon the screen. Maybe he should stop now, before he did something he’d regret. But an internal voice whispered not to give up.
The voice was a pain in the ass.
He scrolled through until he found her name listed as the media contact on a press release. Bingo. He apologized in silence for offending the voice in his head. He’d found her. He’d come this far, might as well see it through. Now all he had to do was hope she hadn’t changed firms in the last six months.
Hannah stared at her computer as she put together the third round of media contacts for the client, based on the latest non-news news angle. This was ridiculous. Unless they had something earth shattering to report, few of her client’s target media wanted to cover a personnel appointment, even when the person was the CEO of a corporation. And those who did didn’t want to run huge articles on him—at most, they’d get a blurb on the business page. At least not without an interesting hook, which she was unable to produce at present.
Her phone rang and she grabbed it. “Hannah Cohen.”
A throat cleared on the other end. “Hannah. This is Dan Rothberg. We had lunch together today.”
Until she heard his voice, she hadn’t realized she’d hoped he’d figure out a way to call. Her pulse raced and her neck heated. “Hi, Dan. Don’t tell me, you’re calling to gloat about the mustard.” Because why else would he call?
A deep rumbling chuckle sounded on the other end. “Not this time.”
This time. She smiled. “Well, that’s a relief.” Adam flashed in her mind. She grimaced as she thought about the reasons he’d call.
“I wondered if you’d like to go for a real lunch sometime. One without hot-dog vendors or wayward mustard.”
Her stomach flipped, sank, and flipped again. He wasn’t like Adam, was he? “Yeah, I would.”
“Any chance you’re free Monday?”
She opened the calendar app on her phone. “Wait, let me double check…” She had three deadlines and a nail appointment, but maybe she could work ahead. “Yes, I’m free.”
“Excellent. What are your thoughts about Italian?”
Not innovative, but safe for a first meal with someone. “Love it.”
“Okay, how about Piccolo Café on Madison between 37th and 38th. It shouldn’t be too far from you.”
She’d been there a couple of months ago when she and her best friend, Aviva, moved from the Jersey City office to the Manhattan one. The place had been full of hipsters with bad acoustics and squished together tables. Not great for conversations, but maybe he didn’t know about the atmosphere. He was considerate, trying to make their lunch convenient for her. “No, it’s not far. I know it well. They make a great fettuccini a la Bolognese.”
“I’ll meet you there at noon.”
She mentally crossed off her manicure while rearranging her to-do list, hung up the phone and stared out the window. He’d spent time figuring out how to get in touch with her and put effort into finding a convenient place for her. She hugged herself as a warm glow suffused her.
Dan intrigued her. She wasn’t sure what it was about him, but she didn’t think he was good at the dating scene. Maybe it wasn’t a “scene” for him, which was refreshing. Unlike most of the other guys she’d dated. Unlike Adam. Thinking about him put a damper on her mood. She shook her head to change the direction of her thoughts. She’d much rather think about Dan.
Hannah stopped by Aviva’s office. “You ready to go?”
With a jump, Aviva turned around. “It’s six o’clock already? I haven’t gotten half of what I wanted to finish done. Ugh.” She pushed away from her desk, picked up her purse, and followed Hannah out of the building.
The autumn breeze was chilly, especially with the sun low in the sky and blocked by buildings. Hannah shivered and rubbed her arms as they walked to the PATH station.
“Jacob and I are going to skate in Central Park this weekend, maybe see a movie as well. Want to join us?”
Hannah took a deep breath, stopped, and faced her friend as the PATH train whizzed toward Hoboken. “I appreciate how often you invite me to join the two of you, but I don’t like to play the third wheel. Plus, I may have to work.”
Aviva’s face scrunched. Hannah knew she’d hurt her. She bit her lip.
“You’re not a third wheel. You’re my best friend. And I don’t want to leave you out because I have a boyfriend and you don’t at the moment.”
Hannah gave her a hug. “You are the most accepting friend I’ve ever had. Inviting me along sometimes is fine. But don’t be surprised if I don’t come along all the time. It’s painful sometimes. Doesn’t Jacob mind?”
“Well…”
Hannah flashed a shrewd look at Aviva. “See?”
“Okay, I get your point. And his too, but don’t tell him I said that. He’s been right way too often of late, and it’s driving me crazy.”
Hannah nodded. “I promise. And, I have a date.”
Aviva stopped in her tracks and pulled Hannah off to the side. “Really? Way to bury the lead. Who?”
“His name is Dan, but I’m not sure if it will last more than one time. Not to mention I should focus on getting a promotion. I don’t want to sound superficial, but he’s older than I am.”
“How much older?”
She thought about it for a few seconds. “It’s hard to tell because although his hair is gray, his face is young. But he has a teenage daughter, so maybe ten years? Is he too old, do you think?”
“Age matters a lot less now since we’re older. It’s not like we’re still in school. How’d you meet him?”
Hannah told her about their meeting in the JCC and again at the hotdog stand.
“He sounds like he has potential.”
She couldn’t stop the smile from forming on her lips. “I never expected him to call. He’s a little bit awkward about it so it’s cute. We’re meeting for lunch Monday, despite a part of me that thinks we shouldn’t. I’m not sure how I feel about getting involved with someone who has a kid.”
At the corner, Aviva gave Hannah a hug. “Nice to see you’re optimistic. I’ll see you Monday. And dress pretty!”
Hannah laughed at Aviva and walked the rest of the way to the apartment she shared with her grandmother. With a nod to the doorman, and a quick stop at the mailbox, she rode the elevator to the seventh floor and let herself in.
“Bubbe?”
“Hannahla! How was your day?” Her grandmother, Sylvia, waddled over and gave her a rib-cracking hug before she returned to the kitchen. “I have stuffed cabbage ready for dinner. Go change and we can sit down.”
Hannah changed into sweats and a T-shirt before she returned to the kitchen to set the table. When she was finished, they lit the white Shabbat candles, sang the blessing, and sat down to eat. Hannah told her about her day.
“And how about you, Bubbe? What did you do today?”
“Oh, I played mah jongg with the girls in the morning and got my nails done this afternoon.” She displayed her hand across the table. “Do you like the color? It’s called Passion Fruit.”
“Very pretty. Sounds like you had a nice day.”
“I did. Do you have any plans tonight?”
“No, I’ll relax, maybe work ahead a little. Unless you’d like to go see a movie?”
“No, there’s nothing playing I want to see. Besides, you don’t want to hang out with me. You need to find a handsome man your own age.”
Hannah concentrated on her stuffed cabbage. What would her grandmother say if she knew about Dan?