Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 121576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
“Hi,” she said, her voice husky and soft.
Holy Lord. I could eat this girl up.
“Mama, she’s so cute!” Olivia tickled her feet and Marley giggled.
“She’s breathtaking.” I tucked a bundle of blond curls behind her ear while Marley plucked at the chain I wore around my neck. “I’m going to take her back to her daddy. You two stay here, okay? I’ll just be a couple minutes.”
“Okay,” Olivia answered. Oliver leaned over his drawing and kept coloring.
“Oliver?”
“Yeah, Mom. Got it.”
I made my way to the back of the restaurant.
“Where are your shoes?” I asked Marley as I walked between tables, dropping my head close to hers. Her soft hair tickled my nose. “You need shoes. The floor is dirty.”
“No, no shush. No shush.”
“Mm. Does somebody like the word ‘no’?”
“No, no, no. No!” Her voice grew louder and broke with a giggle.
“You’re cute even when you’re talking back. How’s that possible?” I asked her, shifting Marley to my right side when I reached the manager’s door. I knocked on it even though it was partially open already and peered inside the office.
Toys littered the floor. Blankets. A crib mattress. It looked more like a nursery than a workspace. There was even one of those round gated play yards in the corner of the room with one of the sides unlatched and open.
I guessed that was how Marley had made her great escape.
“Hi. Remember me?”
Nate was seated at his desk, concentrating hard on one of the papers in front of him. He lifted his head when I spoke. Recognition narrowed his gaze. “Men’s room, right?”
“Good memory.”
“You’re hard to forget.”
My back straightened. Whoa. What? Is Tori’s boss hitting on me?
Not that I would object. This guy was crazy attractive. I’d be thrilled if he was hitting on me. I’d be surprised too. I didn’t think I’d made a good first impression that day.
Nate cocked his brow, as if to read my confusion. “I’ve never been asked what I’m doing while I’m in there.”
Ah, right. Now that comment made more sense. “Well, now if it happens again, it won’t be weird,” I joked, smiling.
His gaze lowered to my mouth, held for a breath, then fell away. “Did you need something?” he asked, putting his attention back on the paper.
He was busy. That was clear. I should probably get to the reason why I was bothering him so he could get back to work.
“A couple of things,” I said, pushing the door open further and moving inside the room. I sidestepped a few stuffed animals. “First, I believe this belongs to you.”
Nate looked up again, saw Marley in my arms, and cursed, rushing to his feet. “God, how do you keep getting out?” He rounded the desk and took her from me.
“They’re like little escape artists at this age.”
Marley pushed against Nate’s chest and squirmed in his arms, fighting his hold immediately. When she started whining and going red in the face, he sat her in the play yard, closing the latch so she couldn’t walk out. He dropped a handful of alphabet blocks in her lap to occupy her.
“Sorry if she bothered you,” he said, returning to his seat.
“She didn’t bother me. She’s adorable. I miss that age.”
Nate’s brows ticked up as if he couldn’t understand my response.
“I also wanted to apologize for the other day,” I began, moving closer. “I don’t know if what I said insulted you, about creeps being everywhere. I know it sounded like I was alluding to them being here, and I didn’t mean it like that. Ever since my son turned eight, he’s been adamant about not going into the women’s room with me, and I just…well, you get it. You’re a parent.”
Nate stared at me, his face expressionless.
Okay, maybe he didn’t get it yet.
“It’s just hard to turn off the side of me that panics whenever I don’t have eyes on my kid,” I explained. “Your restaurant is really nice. I’m sure perverts don’t gather here.”
His mouth twitched. “That’s a relief to hear. Putting security in the men’s room might’ve caused some alarm.” Leaning back in his chair, he adjusted his glasses and looked ready to say something else, but turned his head when Marley started whining again.
She was standing at the gate now, gripping it and giving it a good shake.
I watched Nate get to his feet and drop nearly every toy she had into the play yard. He spoke under his breath, too low for me to hear, but I could tell from his tone how exasperated he felt.
Marley kept whining. She stomped her foot and shook her head at him when he held out a stuffed giraffe. He swapped it out for a book, turning to a page and pointing at one of the pictures. She wasn’t interested. Marley fell back onto her butt as tears hit her cheeks. Her legs kicked against the floor with fury.