Chapter 14
Winnie
“What am I going to do, pretty girl?” Jamie murmurs through the baby monitor in Tali’s room.
My brows furrow as I wonder what he’s talking about. He can't be talking about me. He knows I can hear everything he’s saying… Right?
“Yeah, Daddy’s seconds away from making a move that might not be smart.”
Tali blabs back to him. She doesn’t care if you can understand her or not. She just likes to talk.
“Doesn’t that sound a little cliché? The single dad falling for his nanny?”
“Da-Da fall?” Tali questions, making me chuckle. “Da-Da hurt?”
“Nah, I'm not hurt, Tali Girl. But Daddy needs to figure this out before someone does get hurt. She needs time… I think. She’s getting out of a relationship… Right? Why does this have to be so difficult?”
“Da-Da,” Tali murmurs, her voice sounding quieter than before.
“Daddy loves your hugs. Thank you for making me feel better, Tali. Let’s go see Winnie.”
“Win-Win!” Tali squeals my name and it has tears pricking the backs of my eyes all over again.
As soon as Jamie’s footsteps sound down the hallway, I leap from the couch and hurry into the kitchen. The vegetables have been cooking with the roast in the crock pot all day. By now, the potatoes should be soft enough to mash. Once that’s finished, dinner will be ready.
Jamie places Tali in her high chair and grabs a drink for her. He takes two sparkling waters out of the fridge and places them on the table before grabbing plates and silverware for each of us.
“What else can I do to help?”
I jump at his voice. I didn’t realize he was right behind me. I place my hand over my heart and take a deep breath.
“You scared the crap out of me,” I breathe.
“I'm sorry, I didn’t mean to. Is there anything else I can do?” He places a hand on my hip and leans around me to grab some napkins.
“No?” I squeak, then squeeze my eyes shut. What is wrong with me?
“Hey, what’s going on?” Jamie spins me around to face him. His brows are pinched together as he searches my face.
“Tali’s monitor was still on,” I blurt out before I can stop myself. I instantly want to take the words back, but they’re already out there. My hand flies up to cover my mouth and I wince.
“Crap,” he murmurs.
“We can pretend I didn’t hear anything. I can act like I didn’t hear you basically admit you want to kiss me.” I cover my face with my hands and groan in frustration. “Stop talking, Winnie,” I mumble to myself.
“I think you should keep talking. I'm thinking if you keep going, you might admit where your head is at in all of this.” Jamie tugs my hands away from my face and stares down at me.
“I think I wanted you to kiss me,” I whisper.
Jamie leans down and gently presses his lips against mine as his hand slips around my neck and threads through my hair.
His kiss is soft and shy, so similar to how he was when we first met.
Soon it’s turning needy. He tilts his head to the side and deepens our kiss.
This is unlike any kiss I’ve ever experienced before.
“Da-Da, Win-Win,” Tali calls, making us break apart laughing.
“I forgot she was in the room,” I whisper, not moving out of Jamie’s arms.
“I didn’t, but she’s not old enough to understand what’s going on.”
“That’s probably a good thing, right?” I scrunch up my nose, giving him an easy out. He can say this was a mistake and it will never happen again. If he takes the opportunity, things will be easier and we can stay friends. It doesn’t need to be awkward.
“I guess that depends on if you want it to happen again.” He stares deep into my eyes like he’s trying to see into the depths of my soul. He didn’t bite when I gave him the out, but now he’s giving me his own.
“I think I might want it to happen again,” I whisper.
“Good, I do too.”
“Da-Da! Tali!”
“I'm coming, princess.” Jamie squeezes my hip before he returns to the table and sits down next to Tali to give her some much-needed attention. She loves getting the full focus of her daddy.
I'm not sure what’s happening between us, but we might have a jealous little girl if things keep going.
“That was the best meal I’ve had in a long time.” Jamie smiles as he pushes his chair away from the table and relaxes back, crossing his ankle over his opposite knee.
“Oh, please! You have a chef prepare all of your meals. There’s no way this is better.”
“There’s something different about a home cooked meal. Also, I'm sure it has all the stuff I'm not supposed to have in it, which automatically makes it taste better.” He winks at me and my heart sinks.
“Oh my gosh! I didn’t even think about your diet! I'm so sorry!”
“Don’t be sorry.” He reaches across the table and takes my hand in his. “I happily ate it, knowing it would be against my diet. I'm not complaining.”
“You could’ve turned me down and eaten your food,” I grumble under my breath.
“Not a chance. I wanted to know if you could cook.”
“Why?” I frown at him.
“I don’t want things to progress between us if you suck at it.”
I throw my head back and let my laughter fill the room. Jamie teases me a lot and I love every second of it. Especially because I know at the end of the day, he’s a great guy and an even better dad.
“Maybe you should’ve waited to kiss me until after you tasted my cooking then, huh?”
“Nah, I needed to know what you tasted like first,” he says in a low, deep voice. One that makes me wish I could fall into his arms and not move the rest of the night.
“Da-Da!” Tali squeals, putting both of our gazes to her. She gives us a big toothy grin and gabbers away.
“I think someone is jealous I'm stealing her attention,” I murmur.
“My full focus has always been on her and when Martha was here, her full attention was on Tali too,” Jamie says softly, his brows pulling together. “You know-”
“She’ll always come first.” I nod my head. “Yes, I know that and I understand. I want her to come first, Jamie. She’s your daughter. I'm just the nanny you’re fooling around with.”
“You’re not just the nanny and if you think what I'm doing is fooling around, then we need to have a long conversation.”
“About what?”
“About-”
Jamie gets cut off as a loud ringer fills the air. He scrambles to tug the device out of his pocket and mutters something under his breath before he stands.
“I need to take this. It’s my agent. I have to discuss Tali with him before Saturday. He’ll have a field day if he finds out about her from someone else.”
“Go ahead. I’ll clean up here and give Tali a bath.”
“Thanks, Win.”