Brooklyn Monroe Wants It All by Karen Booth

Chapter Three

Brooklyn pacedin the stunning art deco lobby of her Tribeca apartment building, muttering to herself. Despite outward appearances, this was a good thing—the click of her heels on the white and gold marble floor and the ramble of her voice kept her from munching on her manicure. “Why in the hell did I have to use the word ‘fate’ with Alec?” She came to a halt. “Or… was it fate that I brought up fate?”

Cy, the doorman, stepped out from behind his desk to hold the elevator for another resident. “Did you say something, Ms. Monroe?”

“Ignore me. I’m nervous and overthinking everything.”

Cy hustled outside to the curb and Brooklyn went right back to worrying. Was there a reason she and Alec had run into each other? Was it a sign? She was very big on signs. When she’d been in high school, she once tripped in the hall, fell forward, and managed to ram the top of her head into the butt of her nemesis, Carolyn Felton. Brooklyn nearly died of embarrassment and considered begging her mom to let her drop out of school, but at prom the following night, Carolyn slipped on the stage when she was announced as queen, landing flat on her ass in front of the entire student body. Everyone who was there said it was hilarious, but the real good of it was that Carolyn, Miss Destined-to-be-Prom-Queen, suddenly became a much nicer person. Sadly, Brooklyn did not attend prom. High school boys were losers. But that wasn’t the point. The point was that tripping into Carolyn Felton’s butt had been a sign of better things.

Was her run-in with Alec one as well? What were the odds that they’d run into each other on the exact day she’d come to a decision about having a baby? Could she mend things? Because she didn’t have time to mess around. Most men weren’t interested in a woman who was shopping for sperm banks. But they also probably weren’t interested in impregnating someone they had a history with. And casually working all of this into conversation was not going to be easy. “If he thinks you’re nuts, it’s okay. You aren’t any worse off than you were a few days ago. And it’s a ramen house. If he leaves, you still get to eat a giant bowl of noodles.”

Cy walked back in. “You sure you don’t need a cab, Ms. Monroe?”

“No, thanks. If I get stood up, I’ll just go back upstairs, put on my pajamas, and watch TV.” Pop some tater tots in the oven. Cry a little. Google sperm banks. Or hope that my brain decides it’s a better idea to get a dog.

“How could any man stand you up?”

Brooklyn let out an unflattering snort. “This one wasn’t super happy with me a year ago. He could have easily changed his mind about tonight.”

Cy shook his head as the red Aston Martin, not a Corvette, cozied up to the curb. “Is this the fella you’re waiting on?”

“It is. Thank you.” As she stepped outside into the night air and watched Alec round the front of his car to open the passenger side door, Brooklyn’s heart broke into a full sprint. Down, girl. Hadn’t it gotten the memo? Alec was not her guy anymore. Tonight was about seeing if there was a way back into his good graces so they could mend their friendship. Anything else was going to have to wait. But not too long.

She followed him, but panicked when she realized she didn’t know how they were supposed to greet now. A kiss? A hug? She’d had a package of diapers in the way the other day. Standing only a foot or two from each other, Alec’s eyes scanned her face, sweeping back and forth. It was like he was on a fact-finding mission. Either that or her eyeliner had gone full-Hamburglar.

“Hey. Good to see you again.” He took the lead, offering her an embrace. It was nice, but very platonic, and that made it super weird. Maybe it was better that they hadn’t done this part the other day. If this was what she’d had to look forward to, it was probably a good thing she’d missed it.

“It’s nice to see you, too. You didn’t have to open my door for me, but thank you.”

“Sorry. Guess I’m too old-fashioned.” He waited while she eased into the seat, sliding her a downward glance that pulled her heart up into her throat. Even when he was being a bit stiff and unrelaxed, he was mesmerizing, especially his ever-changing chestnut eyes. They went from gold to chocolate all on their own, a reflection of the man behind them. Alec was a complicated guy, however much he wanted to think that he wasn’t.

“I love old-fashioned,” she said when he got behind the wheel.

“No, you don’t.”

“I like being treated nicely.”

“More accurate.”

Alec expertly navigated the city streets while Brooklyn tried to get her bearings. Being around him always made her a a little nervous, even though they’d dated for months. Not only was he ridiculously easy on the eyes, Alec was the guy who got everything right on the first try, whereas Brooklyn was the master of false starts and missteps. Alec had everything under control. She sometimes conjured chaos. She knew these things about herself, though, and tried to use these traits to their best effect. Someone who could whip things into a frenzy was also a good person to have around when you needed to get things done. Brooklyn could do that handily.

Alec parked on the street about a block away from the restaurant. He wasn’t merely the kind of guy who liked nice cars, he was the kind of guy who drove in Manhattan—that was a very particular kind of guy. A man who did not want to leave anything to chance.

They started the short distance to the noodle shop. “Nice night,” Alec said.

“It is.” Brooklyn choked back a sigh, feeling like she didn’t know how to talk to him anymore. It had been easier standing in the diaper aisle, completely caught off guard.

Alec opened the restaurant door for her, and she attempted to step inside, but was met by a wall of people standing in the vestibule, waiting to be seated. “You weren’t kidding when you said this place was hopping.”

The hostess looked past Brooklyn and made eye contact with Alec, rushing over. Of course—Super Handsome Guy always got attention of the good kind. Somehow that never worked for women. “Mr. Trakas. We’ve been waiting for you. Right this way.”

Brooklyn could hardly keep up as she and Alec were whisked off to the back of the restaurant where two seats at the end of the bar were marked RESERVED. It wasn’t quite a corner table, but there were a good dozen women and a few men standing back by the front door who probably wanted to stab Brooklyn with a chopstick.

“How did you do that? They don’t take reservations.” Brooklyn got settled on one of the barstools.

He shrugged it off. “Made a phone call.”

She would’ve bitched about his seemingly effortless perfection if it didn’t also show some effort on his part. It was downright sweet. “Thank you for doing that. It was nice.”

“I wanted us to have a good time tonight. There’s too much history between us to not enjoy ourselves.”

He grinned at her, and it sparked something in his eyes—a familiar warmth and closeness. She just sat there, trying to figure out what exactly they were doing. Was he thinking romance? She wasn’t opposed to it; it was just that she did better when she tamped down her expectations. “Can we order some beers?” she asked, needing to take the edge off. She’d stop drinking as soon as she started her pursuit of pregnancy in earnest, but until then? Softening of reality was a good thing.

Alec flagged down a server, ordered their drinks and two bowls of the Tokyo-style ramen with seared salmon. “I hope it’s okay that I ordered for you,” he said when their waiter left.

“I thought about protesting your patriarchal bullshit, but since you picked the exact thing I wanted, I decided not to rip you a new one.”

“I’m so relieved.”

“You should be.” Shut your ramen hole, Brooklyn.

“So, tell me the latest with Posh Post.”

Brooklyn gave him the abbreviated report—lots to do, not enough employees, and a few new initiatives, including Posh Male.

“You really need to hire a CEO, so you can step back a bit and spend more time looking ahead to the future,” Alec said, shaking his head in dismay.

Brooklyn tried to ignore the annoyance running through her. Alec had foisted a lot of business opinions on her when they were dating. “I don’t think we’re there yet. We’re still a young company. And we’re managing.”

The waiter brought their drinks and the steaming bowls of ramen, a heavenly brew of ginger, chicken broth, and soy. “This smells amazing.” Alec dug right in with his chopsticks. She watched as his tongue swiped the tail ends of the strands from his lip and into his mouth. This was a first. She had never before wanted to be a noodle.

Brooklyn took a much smaller bite. If anyone was likely to spill a volcanic bowl of ramen on her lap, it was her. “Delicious.”

“Please tell me you aren’t still working fourteen-hour days.”

“It’s closer to twelve now. So I guess that’s good?”

He nodded, but he didn’t truly understand the demands of her job. That had always been a bone of contention between them. “You need to do something about that, Brooklyn. It’s not sustainable. You’ll burn out and then what?”

“You know me. I have tons of energy. I don’t need much sleep.”

“Well, sure, but the question is what are you pouring that energy into? You can’t just work. You need more in your life.”

Bingo.Brooklyn could hardly believe what he’d said. It was like the universe was not only dropping this on her doorstep, it had offered free same-day delivery. She sucked in a deep breath and told herself to stop thinking so much. Just go with it. “You’re absolutely right. I do need more in my life. I want more.”

The look of surprise on Alec’s face was more than a little adorable. “Excuse me? Do you mind repeating that first part?”

She swatted his arm. “You heard me, mister.”

“I could’ve sworn you said I was right.” He leaned closer and spoke right into her ear, putting all of her nerve endings on high alert. Tiny zaps of current connected with her skin. “But since I didn’t hear it once when we were a couple, I thought I’d make you repeat it.”

Brooklyn flashed back to the night she and Alec met, when he’d asked if he could kiss her. Even though she’d distinctly heard him the first time, she’d asked him to repeat it because there were a few spectacularly hot women within earshot and Brooklyn wanted to squeeze every bit of goodness from the moment. God, that kiss had been one for the ages—it was like Alec had been given the Brooklyn Monroe instruction manual ahead of time and had studied it like she was the SAT. One hand at the nape of her neck, one at her waist with a tug of fiery possessiveness. Major bonus points for conveying I want you with a flick of his tongue.

“You, Alec Trakas, are right. I need more in my life than work. I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.”

“Really?” He seemed genuinely interested, another blissful instance of everything feeling like kismet.

“Yes. I’ve been thinking about what else is out there for me. I’d like to add a charity component to our work. I want to travel the world.” Stop stalling. Just say it. “And I want to commit myself to building a better life. Find the things that will make me happy and fulfilled. Things that are outside of my career. I’ve even been thinking about becoming a mother.”

Alec smiled warmly and reached out for her shoulder, caressing it softly. “Wow. Sounds like you have a whole new mindset. I’m impressed.”

Brooklyn wanted to splash cold water on her face to make sure she was awake. Was she dreaming? How could this night be going so perfectly? Was this what fate felt like? “It makes me so happy to hear you say that.”