Chapter 7 #2
“Hey, my love. Are you ready for movie night? I’m going to video call you.”
“Nicholas, why would you send me all this money? I’m not with you for your money. I keep telling you that you don’t have to buy me.”
“I’m not trying to buy you, Jameela. I like taking care of you. I take care of the things I care about, but that’s not for you anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
“First things first, I had to take care of my obligation. I sent my first monthly payment.”
I shook my head. “I’m not following.”
“That’s my child support payment. Now can I see our daughter, Jameela? I shouldn’t have to go through all this to see my child.”
“Wow! Do you know how crazy you sound right now?”
“Now, call what’s his face and tell him he can keep his little money and go on with his life.”
I scoffed. “Nicholas, be for real right now.”
“Twenty thousand ain’t enough? How much do you need, Jameela?”
“You gave me twenty thousand dollars?” I yelled, almost dropping the phone when I looked back in the envelope.
“How much do you need me to give you for you to make the call? I’m trying to pick up the slack and show you that you never have to beg another man for a dime as long as I’m here. Tell him to kiss your ass if he doesn’t want to be in your baby’s life. You don’t need him anymore.”
His words sounded good and all, but I couldn’t just take them at face value. I would be crazy to give Tremaine what he wanted by letting him off the hook, based on the words from a man I barely knew. He was showing and proving, but how long would this last?
“Nicholas—”
The spicy words on my lips dissipated when the curly-haired little princess popped up on the screen. She was literally dressed like Cinderella in a baby blue ball gown.
“Hi!” she waved.
“Hey, sweetheart. What’s your name?”
“My name is Amira. It means princess. I’m six years old.”
“You’re very pretty, Amira. You must look like your mother.”
“I’m smart too. My daddy said anybody can be pretty, but your brain will make you powerful.”
“Well, isn’t he disheartening?”
“What’s that?”
“It means smart,” I lied.
“My daddy says you have a little girl, just like me, but she’s a baby. Where is she?”
“She’s right here.”
I pulled Bella into my lap, allowing her to take the phone. She loved looking at herself on camera. It was adorable to see Amira’s face light up when she saw Bella.
“I want a little sister. She is so cute. What’s her name?”
“Bella.”
Nicholas picked that moment to plop down on the couch next to Amira. “Hey, Bella. It’s daddy. Can you say daddy?”
“Nicholas, don’t start.”
“Have you logged into the app I sent you, baby?”
“I didn’t know what that was.”
“Listen, me and Amira are already all set for movie night. We need you and Bella to catch up. First go back to the door and get your pajamas and your snacks from the delivery guy, get changed, then log in so we can get started.”
I shook my head. “What in the world, Nicholas?”
“Me and Amira always wear matching outfits that she picks out for movie night. She didn’t want you two to feel left out, so I let her pick something for y’all too. Call me back when you two get changed.”
“Changed?” I frowned, wondering what he meant.
“Yes. Change into your pajamas and call us back when you get situated,” Nicholas instructed.
“Bossy,” I mumbled, making him cock a half smile.
“Make sure you call on video so I can see your little baby. She’s so cute,” Amira requested.
“And I want to see mama because she’s so cute.”
“Ooo, my daddy likes you, Miss Jameela.” Amira giggled. She laughed even harder when Nicholas attacked her, tickling her stomach until she fell over on the couch.
“What do you know about liking somebody?” he asked, mushing her hair but not looking all that amused.
“I think you’re onto something, Amira. I think your daddy likes me too.”
“Mmhm.” She nodded her little head and continued to grin, despite her father’s apparent agitation.
“Well, I’ll call you guys right back. Let us get changed.”
We ended the call, and I followed his instructions. I went to the door and was almost surprised to find the delivery guy still standing there. I accepted the bags from him, then headed back inside to empty them.
There was a huge bag of Smartfood popcorn, gummy bears, peach rings, chocolate covered peanuts, string cheese, cheese puffs, little squeeze bottles of apple juice for Bella, a Coke, a bottle of one of my favorite cabernets, an oversized blanket, and just in case I didn’t have one, there was a corkscrew.
Fuck it. I was impressed.
Nicholas mentioned us changing, and now I saw why.
There was a frilly blue nightgown for Bella to wear, similar to the one that Amira was wearing, and a maroon and gold pajama set for me similar to the blue and gold one Nicholas wore.
I shook my head when I realized it was from that movie that he mentioned.
I guess he really was into that wizard crap.
When I picked up the gown to switch out the one Bella was wearing, a little white box fell out. My eyebrows snapped together as I sat down on the couch to open it. My mouth dropped when I saw Bella’s name engraved in a tiny gold necklace, just her size.
What the hell was Nicholas thinking? The necklace was adorable, but I didn’t want to start accepting gifts from him.
What would he expect in return? I laughed at my own thoughts because I had already fucked the man six ways from Sunday.
Hell, what else could I give him? My time, my attention, my heart.
I shook my head, hoping to ward off the bad thoughts. I wasn’t sure if it worked, but I finished getting changed and discarded the pajamas Bella and I were wearing. When I made it back to the living room, I propped my tablet up on the table and called Nicholas and Amira back.
“Did Bella like her necklace? I have one just like it,” Amira raved.
“I think she loves it,” I said, forcing a smile.
“I told my daddy to get her one just like me so we can match,” she explained as she held up her necklace for me to see.
“Oh, wow! That was sweet of you, Amira. Thank you for that and thank you for the snacks. Me and my greedy girl love to snack.”
“Can’t watch a movie without snacks. Can you, Amira?” Nicholas mentioned.
“Nope. My daddy said you never saw Harry Potter before.”
“You’re talking about the kid’s movie about magic and stuff?” I asked just to confirm.
“Don’t.” Nicholas sighed and closed his eyes. The frustration on his face as he pinched the bridge of his nose made me smile.
“Don’t tell me you go to all the festivals and everything, Mr. King! I can’t even imagine you in one of those capes.”
“For your information, I have gone to a few conventions, and I took my baby to the theme park. I can’t help you don’t respect the arts.”
That made me cackle. “The arts? Are you serious? So, are you like a comic book nerd too? That would be so cute!”
“There’s nothing cute about collectibles,” he countered.
“This is hilarious!” I howled.
“Laugh now, but some of the pieces in my collection are worth five figures.”
“Dang, I’m in the wrong business.”
“Right. Now stop laughing and log in so we can watch the movie. You have a lot of catching up to do.”
For the next hour, I half watched the movie while I listened to Nicholas give me a play by play of how everything worked.
It was absolutely adorable to listen to how enthusiastic this serious ass man, with more money than I could imagine, was when he talked about a kid’s movie.
He talked about the characters like they were people he knew and had personal vendettas against. Nicholas made sure to tell me how the books were way better than the movies, but the movies were good too.
Amira lost interest in the movie quickly and gave herself the duty of teaching Bella to walk. So far, my girl had taken a few steps, but she was an arm baby more than anything. That didn’t mean it wasn’t a blast to watch. They were so precious together.
Shortly after that, the girls went down for the count.
Amira was knocked out on his lap, and Bella was sprawled out on the couch, having gone down before her.
I watched as Nicholas stood from the couch and carried Amira out of the room.
I took that as an opportunity to put Bella to bed too.
I made it back first but decided to wait for him to return rather than hanging up the phone.
When he sat down in front of the camera, a sly smile spread across his face.
“For a Gryffindor, you’re alright, Jameela.”
“A what?”
“I knew your ass wasn’t paying attention to the movie.”
“That’s because we’ve been talking the whole time.”
“So, you don’t like talking to me?”
“I do, that’s why I haven’t been paying attention to the movie, silly.”
“So, you do like talking to me. I knew I was wearing you down. I’m going to go out on a limb and request that the next movie night be in person.”
“Can I think about it?”
“What’s there to think about? You like talking to me, and I love talking to you.
I’m not trying to get back between your thighs, Jameela.
I’m trying to show you that I’m genuinely interested in you.
I want you to come to my home and meet my daughter.
I want you to feel comfortable here. I want to incorporate you into my life. ”
“I hear you.” I nodded.
“I’m glad your ears work. Now let me tell you something. Just because I’m not trying to get back between those big, pretty thighs doesn’t mean I don’t miss being there, Jameela. Does she miss me?” he asked, cocking a brow.
My breathing hitched before I caught it; the glint in his eye said that he caught it too.
“Good thing you’re not trying to get back there.”