“Gina?” I asked.
Her little form ran to my bed, and she launched herself at me. She snuggled under my covers and scooted her body close to mine.
“You’re supposed to be sleeping,” I said.
“I can’t sleep! I’m too excited for Playland.”
“All right, well, you can stay here for a little while, then you’re going to go back to your room.”
“Can I sleep in here tonight?” she asked sweetly. “You’re bed is huge. I can fit.”
How could I say no to that logic?
“Okay,” I said. She had me wrapped around her finger. I didn’t want it any other way.
She grinned and then kissed my cheek. “Night, Daddy.” She burrowed into the bed and rested her head against my chest.
I had to come down from my adrenaline rush with her coming into my room when I wasn’t expecting. I played with her hair, softly raking my hands through the fine strands. Within a few minutes, she gently snored next to me.
I kissed her head. “I’m excited too,” I said into her hair.
That was the truth. But it helped that we had a beautiful woman to accompany us there too.
Chapter Sixteen
Jess
“Stop thinking too much into it,” Sierra said over the phone. We rarely shared a phone conversation; our primary source of communication outside of face-to-face was to text. I needed to talk about Noah and texting wouldn’t have been fast enough for me. She had attended a show last night, so I couldn’t get a hold of her until the morning.
“It’s hard,” I said. I couldn’t explain how it felt to be around Noah. It was as if my body needed him. When he touched my leg yesterday, I nearly imploded. It was a friendly gesture, but he didn’t understand what he did to me. “All I can think about is that night.”
“Then go for round two,” Sierra said. I heard a smirk in her voice.
“Maybe,” I said. Thinking about it made me shudder. What if we weren’t as good the second time around? Maybe it had been a fluke between us. That might be the final tipping point of our relationship. Then we could either move on with our lives or it might be too uncomfortable and he’d have to fire me.
“You two need to talk,” Sierra said. And for once, she was right. Once we got it all out on the table, then I’d be able to move on. Today at the amusement park wouldn’t be the place to talk, but I had to keep it in the back of my mind for the next time we were alone.
“All right, I should get going,” I said. It was almost ten, and Noah wanted me at his house around ten-thirty. The park opened around eleven and he wanted to be there when the doors unlocked. He was even a stickler for time when it didn’t have to do with his work.
“Good luck, sweetie,” Sierra said. “And I’ll have my phone with me all day at work today.”
After we had hung up, I checked myself in the mirror one more time. While I didn’t usually dress up for work, today I went a little more casual than what Noah was used to. Light ripped jeans and a tank top with a cardigan. The weather report called for unseasonably high temperatures.
At Noah’s, I heard Gina’s voice all the way outside as I walked up the drive. It sounded like she was crying. I picked up my pace and entered the house without knocking.
Gina flew by me, screaming her head off.
I smiled. She wasn’t crying. She twirled around the kitchen like a top. I took a breath and sighed with relief. In the short time I worked for the Stone’s, I hadn’t seen Gina have a meltdown yet. She was unique in that sense. As much as I loved Ricky to death, his tantrums were to be reckoned w
ith.
“Good morning!” I called into the room.
Gina whirled around and her mouth opened in a wide O. “Jess! Are you excited? I’m excited.”
“I can see that,” I said, and she attacked me with one of her tight embraces.
“Jump with me,” she said.