“It will.” I took another sip of water. “I’ve missed her.”
She looked at her glass, running her finger around the rim like she was hesitating before asking, “Do you think she’ll be okay with me staying here?”
“Are you kidding?” I asked, letting out a small chuckle. “She’ll be thrilled. Pretty sure she likes you more than me.”
“There’s no way that’s true!” She laughed, shaking herhead. “But as long as she doesn’t mind me staying here, that’s all I care about.”
“Well, just remember that it’s okay for you to say no to entertaining her when you’re off the clock,” I told her, realizing that particular boundary might get a little blurry for Charlotte. “Otherwise, she’ll probably try to monopolize all your time. Dragging you into our movie nights, walks, bedtime stories…”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Nora said with a grin. “But I’ll have you know movie nights, evening walks, and bedtime stories have always been favorite pastimes of mine.” She leaned forward slightly and cupped a hand beside her mouth. “You know, as long as the movie nights include popcorn, candy, and fuzzy blankets.” She winked.
“Popcorn and fuzzy blankets are a given,” I said, finding myself grinning back at her playfulness because she really was too cute. “But candy depends on whether or not I’ve already raided my private stash.”
“Daddy Theo has a secret sweet tooth?” she asked, her brown eyes sparkling.
Daddy Theo?
Was that what she called me in her head? Because if it was…
Well.
That suddenly conjured up a very different image than what came up when Charlotte called meDaddy.
Which, yeah, I probably shouldn’t be thinking about that right now.
I cleared my throat and shrugged. “Nobody’s perfect.” Then, needing to get my head back on track, I added, “We’re actually planning on watchingTangledtonight, if you want to join us.”
“I’d love to,” she said immediately. “That’s actually one of my favorites.”
“Well, good.” I nodded, already looking forward to the evening more than usual.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw the notification from the delivery app.
Your order has arrived.
Right on cue, there was a knock at the door.
“That’s probably our dinner,” I said, slipping the phone back into my pocket as I headed for the front entry.
The driver was already walking back toward his car by the time I opened the door. I grabbed the bag from the step and lifted a quick hand in thanks as he pulled away from the curb.
A minute later, I was back in the kitchen dividing up the takeout containers. The smell of fajitas hit me the second I opened the lid, and my stomach reminded me I hadn’t eaten much since breakfast. I pulled out a stool and sat down kitty-corner from Nora at the island.
As we started eating, the conversation drifted to the hot air balloon ride we had coming up.
“Are you looking forward to it?” I asked, wanting to get a read on how she was feeling about Miles after everything that had happened yesterday.
“I hope it’s fun,” she said.
I frowned slightly as I scooped steak and peppers into a tortilla. “You don’t sound very enthusiastic.”
Nora gave me a look like I was missing something painfully obvious. “Well,” she said, arching a brow, “wouldyoube excited to hang out with a date who only invited you to a wedding to make someone jealous… and then ditched you?”
“Oh. Right.” I cleared my throat. “I suppose you do have a point.”
What did it say about me that part of me was almost glad she seemed a little disillusioned by Miles?
Probably not great things.