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this morning?”
    “I think he’s in his office.” The receptionist gave him a flirtatious smile. “You want a cup of coffee before you head up? I just made a fresh pot.”
    He groaned inwardly. Every female employee without a ring on her finger had been flirting with him ever since word got out that Courtney left him. He’d never be stupid enough to date one of his employees, but that didn’t stop them from trying. “No, I’m good. Thanks.”
    Nodding to a few employees he passed, he tried to avoid engaging anyone. He wasn’t ready to talk business yet. He wanted to get his old man’s take on his decision to go into business with Katie. His dad hadn’t been around a lot while he was growing up, but since they went into business together, they’d developed a bond.
    He smiled at his father’s receptionist when he stepped off the elevator. “Is he busy, Nadine?”
    Nadine wasn’t much younger than his father. She had an ailing husband at home, two grown kids, and four grandchildren under the age of twelve. She and Chris’s mother had become fast friends almost from the day they’d hired her eight years ago. “He just got in a few minutes ago. Can I get you a cup of coffee?” She gestured to the pot behind her.
    That was an offer he wouldn’t mind accepting. He knew it came without strings attached. “Sure, that’d be great.” He perched on the edge of her desk while she poured coffee into a Styrofoam cup and handed it to him. “Thanks.”
    “How’s that gorgeous little girl of yours?” Nadine asked.
    He couldn’t wipe the smile off his face whenever someone mentioned Bianca. “Getting prettier every day, just like her mama.” He and Courtney may be divorced, but he counted her among his friends. He’d made the effort to let go of his hostility toward her for his daughter’s sake. He didn’t want her to have parents who couldn’t stand to be in the same room together.
    “Do you have any new pictures?” Nadine clasped her hands in front of her.
    “You know I do.” He set his coffee down as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He tried to take new pictures every time they were together. He had folders of pictures on his computer, marking every month of Bianca’s life. Sometimes when he needed a pick-me-up, he scrolled the images. They never failed to put a smile on his face. He pulled up his favorite picture from the previous weekend and handed the phone to Nadine. Bianca held a dry paint brush, and she was pretending to paint one of the walls in her bedroom at his house. The room consisted of pink, pink, and more pink. When he’d tried to coax her into choosing a more neutral color, he received an emphatic “No!” complete with her hands fisted on her hips and a head toss that made her curls bounce.
    “Oh my God, isn’t she just the cutest little thing,” Nadine cooed.
    “She sure has her old man wrapped around her finger,” Chris said, chuckling.
    “You spoil her.” Nadine handed the phone back with a smile. She was like a second mother to Chris, so she felt free to scold him.
    “I know. She turns those big blue eyes on me, and I’m a goner.”
    Nadine laughed. “Now you know how women feel when you turn your baby blues on them, young man.”
    Rolling his eyes, he stood and reached for his cup. “I thought we weren’t gonna go there again.” Nadine always teased him about the fact that every time she walked into the lunch room, the single women were talking about how cute his tight butt looked in the jeans du jour.
    “I just thought someone should let you know that when you’re ready to start dating again, there’s a long line of eager volunteers.”
    “I’ll keep that in mind.” Chris wasn’t interested in eager volunteers to fill his empty nights. He wanted a woman who was strong but sweet. A woman who loved his daughter almost as much as she loved her own and had a body that made a grown man weep when she slipped into her favorite pair of jeans. Only one