52

C H A P T E R 9
N O A H
I decided not to go into the o ce. I figured I could get the same amount of work done at home, maybe even more because I didn’t have people constantly stopping by my o ce to speak to me. I set myself up in the living area on the
couch with my laptop in my lap.
Tess was at school. I received a picture from her of her in front of the building. She had a grin on her face and a peace sign by her cheek. I could see some of her study group in the background. I smiled at the picture. I hadn’t punished her for skipping classes the day I’d found her at the mall but gave her fair warning that wouldn’t be the case if she did it again. She needed to be in school where she was safe, looked after, and learning to prepare for what I knew would be her bright future.
My attention was grabbed by a notification sound from my laptop from my work email. I looked at the subject and saw nothing there. I didn’t usually open emails without subjects, but this one piqued my curiosity.
I clicked on the email and it looked at first like the page was empty. But halfway down the white page was a single sentence in ominous black.
YOU OWE US. - LM
MY BROWS FURROWED IN CONFUSION. I knew a few people with the initials LM, but none that would send me an email like the one I’d just received. It was either a wrong address or someone trying to play a prank.
I rolled my eyes and deleted the email. I was about to continue working when my phone began to buzz. I looked at the caller ID and saw it was my friend, Eric. I hit the answer call button and heard his surprisingly sober voice speak.
“Hey, Noah, you there?”
“Of course I am. I answered the phone, didn’t I?”
Eric had a problem with staying sober. I was happily surprised by how sober he sounded. If I didn’t know any better, I would guess that he hadn’t drunk yet today.
“Yeah, good point.”
I grinned and shook my head. “So what’s up?”
“I just wanted to catch up with you. It’s been a hot minute since we spoke,” Eric confessed.
“Life’s been going alright,” I murmured.
“Tone of voice quiet, words vague,” he replied. “Lying!”
“Not lying,” I laughed, though I was and confessed quickly. “But I am concerned about Tess.”
“Oh man, what happened?”
“She skipped school.”
“I mean, she is almost a teenager. They start to drift from their parents.”
“I know that, believe me, but she’s still only twelve and needs to be in school. But it was on Carolyn’s anniversary. I should have just pulled her from school that day. It’s still a really tough day for both of us.”
“I get it. How’s she doing now?”
“She’s better. I’m letting her redecorate her room, so that’s been helpful.”
“You’re not always gonna be able to protect her.”
“I’m aware,” I grunted. “But I want to do so as long as possible. She’s my kid, even if she does take after her mother.”
“Thank God for that!” Eric joked. “I don’t think the world could handle two of you.”
I joined his laughter, though mine was quieter. “No, probably not. I just want her to grow up and flourish. I don’t want her to be weighed down by the loss of her mother.”
“You can only do so much, man. Especially when she doesn’t have a woman to turn to for guidance. We both know she loves you to death, but you’re a poor substitute for a mom.”
“Yeah...”
My mind drifted to Jenna. Even though she’d known Tess for a short amount of time, she’d already been an influence on her. She was happier and livelier when she’d been around the woman. Eric was right. I could do as much as I could, but I wasn’t a woman, and at Tess’s age, she needed one around.
I shook my head and tried to clear thoughts of Jenna out of my head. Before I could say anything else, the doorman rang the house phone.
“Hang on, someone’s here,” I told Eric.
The doorman informed me that Jenna was downstairs, and I frowned. Had I conjured her with my thoughts. I told him to send her up and ended my conversation with Eric, promising to call him later that week. A quick, quiet knock sounded on the door, and I opened the door so Jenna could come in. I tucked my phone away and closed the door behind her.
As she walked in, she noticed my work stuff littered around the couch. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
I could feel the tension begin to rise between us. I could barely wrap my mind around the fact that she suddenly appeared after I’d pictured her in my mind. My eyes raked down her tall, curvaceous form, my cock twitching.
“You’re fine, Jenna.” I gestured for her to sit down as I moved my laptop to the coffee table. I could tell she was a bit uncomfortable. “I wasn’t expecting you until Sunday.”
She shook her head and blushed. “I know, and I’m really sorry to just barge in. I just had a lot of ideas and wanted to show them to Tess. Well, and you too.”
“She’s going to a friend’s house tonight and won’t be back until Sunday”
“Oh.” The blush spread down to her chest, and she looked like she wanted the earth to open and swallow her.
I could have – probably should have – told her to go, but for some reason, I just couldn’t. I wanted to know more about her, and so my next question was awkward because it
seemed to come out of nowhere. “Why did you become an interior designer?”
“Oh…um…” The sudden topic change confused her a moment, but her shoulders relaxed. “My Grandma Susie. She was a huge influence on me and my biggest supporter. We would always watch home makeover shows, and I would gush over the finished products and how I wanted to do what the designers had done. I wanted to make people happy.” She paused, a beautiful smile on her face. “We would also walk around furniture stores and I’d marvel at everything available. She always supported me, no matter what. It was really her and my dad that inspired me to go to college. My mom wasn’t supportive of it all. Hell, she’s still not.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that. I never had a close relationship with my own father, and my mother had died when I was young.
“Would you like to grab a drink?”
She thought for a moment and nodded. “I think that would be nice.” She stood up and followed me into the kitchen.
I heard Jenna let out a tiny shriek in shock. I whipped around and saw her tip over the small lip at the edge of the entrance to the room. I reacted fast and grabbed her waist before she hit the floor.
Her eyes were wide, glazed with both surprise and some other emotion I wasn’t sure of. Her lips were parted just enough for me to see her straight white teeth and the tip of her pink tongue. I straighten a bit, with Jenna still in my grasp.
She stared up at me, her eyes locked on mine and I had no idea what to do.