Chapter Fifteen
Noah
On the way out of the building on Friday afternoon, I stopped into Marcel Jordan’s office. He was closest to the elevators. He had only been with us for about a year but had quickly climbed the ranks in the sales department.
I knocked on the door even though it was open. Marcel’s chair swiveled around, and he stood up when he saw me.
“Noah,” he said, crossing the room to give me a handshake. “What do I owe the pleasure?” Marcel was shorter than me, but his handshake was strong.
“Allison told me you had a meeting with the Mansfield Nursing Home group this morning. I wanted to see how that went.”
Marcel cracked a wide grin. “I nailed it.”
“That’s fantastic,” I said. Mansfield was a tough account since they relied on the resident’s monthly payments to determine their budgets. But Marcel came through for us as I knew he would when I gave him that account. The others on the sales team were apprehensive about the new guy handling such a big account, but I had the final say. And challenging Marcel would benefit him by showing his worth to everyone else. It was great news for the company and a big account since they owned several properties in the area.
“I know,” he said, shaking his head. “I can’t thank you enough for assigning me the job. It was hard work, but I think we can help them out with pricing and getting them the best supplies for the residents.”
“Let me know if there is anything I can do,” I said. “My door is always open.”
“Thank you, sir,” Marcel said.
“Have a nice weekend.” I turned to the door and headed out. I had a little pep in my step since I knew I would see my two favorite girls in a short time.
On the ride home, I thought about Jess. As I did every day this week on my ride into and out of work. Seeing her every morning and afternoon since Saturday night gave me the opportunity to feel her out about that night. I buried Brandon’s advice deep down in my brain. Neither Jess nor I were the one-night-stand type of people. We both knew what we did that night, and the only thing I wanted to know was when we would do it again.
I couldn’t rush into it again. I wanted to approach her slower this time. Show her I wanted her in my life as so much more than just Gina’s nanny. And that would take time. The longer it took, the sweeter the reward. And there would be less of a chance of her leaving me right after if we agreed that everything would remain the same with our relationship.
My cock was semi-hard by the time I got home. I wish Jess knew how much she turned me on, both physically and mentally. She was the perfect package, and now I needed to convince her of that. And the next opportunity I had to show her, I was never letting her go.
I cooled down before I went inside. Jess and Gina were in the family room. It looked as if a fabric store had exploded inside of my house.
Jess leaned over her piece of fabric while she hand-stitched one side while Gina sat cross-legged next to her.
I propped myself against the door frame to watch them for a moment. I’d never seen Gina so still in my life. She sucked on her lower lip while Jess moved the needle and thread through the fabric. Her stitches were precise and small enough that I couldn’t see the marks even from the short distance.
A few moments later, I cleared my throat. Jess didn’t move, but Gina jumped up.
Her shock turned to glee as she ran over to me. “You scared me, Daddy.”
Jess glanced over her shoulder, smiling at Gina. She turned back to her work without a look at me.
I hoped it was her concentrating and not ignoring me.
“Come see,” Gina said.
I sat between the girls. “What are you working on?”
Jess lifted her eyes to mine. “I’m showing Gina how to hand-sew. Until I can get my hands on a sewing machine.”
I leaned forward, our faces nearly colliding. Jess moved back.
“Sorry,” I said, reaching into my back pocket for my wallet. I handed her my home credit card. “Buy whatever you need.”
“Are you sure?” Jess asked.
“Buy two!” Gina said jumping up and down. “So we both can have one.”
Jess hesitated before taking the credit card. “I’ll buy one for now. These things can be a little dangerous to little fingers.”
“Okay,” Gina conceded.
Jess and I shared a look and smiled at each other. Okay, we were making progress.
“How was your day?” Jess asked, getting back to her sewing.
“We closed a big account today. One of my new guys, Marcel, crushed it.”
“That sounds great,” Jess said. “I’m sure he’s going to get a big raise, huh?”
“Probably.” His contribution the business was well deserving of a pay increase. And it would put a fire under the others on the sales team to catch up.
“I thought about going to Playland tomorrow to celebrate,” I said to Gina.
She sucked in a big breath. “Really?”
“Yes, really,” I said.
“Can Jess come?” she asked.
“Oh, um,” Jess stammered.
“Jess might have plans, honey,” I said then turned to Jess. “Though you’re invited if you don’t have anything to do.”
“She doesn’t have plans,” Gina said. “She told me.”
Jess chewed on her lower lip. “She’s right. But I don’t want to intrude.”
“You won’t be,” I said, touching her arm.
The feel of her soft skin under my fingers stirred something inside of me. I quickly moved it away and looked at Gina. She hadn’t noticed whatever spark had occurred between Jess and me.
“Then I’d love to come,” Jess said, still staring at her arm where my hand had been. She was clearly as affected by me as I was her.
That was a good thing. Knowing her feelings made my plan much easier to fulfill.
“Well, I should get going,” Jess said, gathering the swatches of fabric and layering them on top of each other.
“I’d offer to help, but I don’t want to mess anything up,” I said.
“That’s okay,” Jess said. “Gina and I dedicated this room to quilting, so we’re leaving it all here.”
“We don’t use this room anyway,” Gina said.
She was right. Whenever I had time to watch television with Gina, it was always on the big screen in the living room.
The doorbell rang, and Gina bolted out of the room shouting, “Pizza!”
I followed her out of the room before she could open the door.
After I had tipped the delivery guy, Gina took the pizza into the kitchen.
“Bye, Jess!” she said, scurrying away.
“See you tomorrow,” Jess said. “At least now I know that I come second to pizza.” She shook her head and laughed softly.
And then we were alone again. Over the past few days, our alone time had improved. The awkwardness left that first day, though I sensed Jess was still a little off about everything.
“Let me walk you to your car,” I said.
“That’s okay,” Jess said.
I leaned in. “I insist.”
She licked her lips and nodded, turning away from me.
She had no idea what that little gesture did to me. How I wanted to draw her mouth into mine and taste her again. I brought myself back to reality as Jess opened the front door.
Dark clouds gathered in the short time I was inside. And a cool breeze whooshed passed me. I closed the front door, wanting to keep that chill out of my house.
I caught up with Jess and walked side-by-side with her. “That was nice of Gina to invite me to the amusement park.”
“She’s really getting close to you.”
“I know,” Jess said. “I’m lucky to spend time with her every day. She keeps me on my toes. And she’s quite the little spitfire. You’re going to have a lot on your plate when she’s older.”
I laughed. “I know. I’m not looking forward to it.”
“I suppose I have you to thank for bringing us together.”
“It wasn’t a hard choice for me. And it’s turned out well. I’m happy she has someone like you to spend time with.”
She smoothed an invisible wrinkle from her shirt. As much as I wanted her to stay with me forever, I had to let her go home.
“Well,” I said at the same time she said, “Congrats—”
I put my hand out for her to continue.
“On the deal…” she finished. She opened her car door. “See you tomorrow.”
“I’ll text you the details,” I said.
She smiled and got into the car.
I took a few steps away to allow her enough space to back out of the driveway. And without another glance, she drove away.
I couldn’t help but think that less than a week ago, we’d had sex. The visceral images flashed in my mind as if they just happened. I could still feel her under me, surrendering to me.
“Daddy!” Gina called from the front door.
“Yeah, honey. I’m coming,” I said, turning away from Jess and headed inside to spend some quality time with Gina.
Later that night, after putting Gina to bed, I went straight into my bedroom to change. This week kicked my butt, and I wanted to get to bed early, knowing tomorrow would be another long one.
After getting into bed, I flipped on the television to the news. Within minutes, it was hard to keep my eyes open.
Movement from the other side of the room caught my attention. I sat up and squinted through the darkness
“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.