13. Chapter 11
FRANKIE
T o say Frankie was exhausted was an understatement.
She didn’t think being asked a million questions would make her so tired, but as she got out of Noah’s truck, she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.
How was she supposed to do this every day?
Frankie imagined she wouldn’t be getting asked all those questions every single time she was there.
Not unless she was going to carry on blurting things out.
“You doing okay, Little one?” Noah asked, wrapping an arm around her as they walked up to her building.
“Just tired,” she mumbled, leaning on him.
Oliver had been insistent on talking to her about why she felt like she needed to blurt out that she wouldn’t be willing to give Noah a blowjob.
Was it embarrassing? Absolutely, but she answered all his questions with a bright red face.
Frankie hadn’t been able to look Noah or Oliver in the eyes.
How was she supposed to when they were talking about blowjobs in front of her boss?
“I want you to come in a little later tomorrow,” Noah told her. “Even though you’ve had a nap at the club, it is way past your bedtime, and you need to get some good sleep.”
She wouldn’t be able to get any. The nap she had at the club was the best sleep she had in a while.
There was no way she would be able to replicate that in her apartment.
Not a chance with where it was located and how many times people walked by her door…
or what she thought was her door. She wasn’t letting her guard down, not when she heard the stories of what happened to people who didn’t listen.
A shudder worked its way through her, and Noah pulled her closer to him.
“I don’t like you being in this neighborhood. Are you sure you don’t want to come stay with me?” he asked.
“I’m okay,” she lied.
She wanted to stay at his house, but it was a line she wasn’t willing to cross yet. He was her boss, and she knew if she spent the night with him, her fantasies about him would go wild. No. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t.
“If you change your mind at any point, no matter what time of night, call me. I’ll come pick you up.” Noah cupped her face so she was looking at him. “Understand? No matter what time, I will come and pick you up. You won’t be bothering me.”
“O-okay,” she whispered, feeling overwhelmed by his need to make sure she was safe.
No one had ever had the desire to do that, and it was putting her off-kilter. She was out of practice on how to respond correctly or deflecting it and convincing them she was okay. She had been so down recently and hadn’t been paying attention to anything.
“Good girl,” he praised her. “Now, what floor do you live on?”
“I can walk up there myself.” She pushed off him.
“That’s not what I asked.” He raised an eyebrow.
She looked at her feet, taking a deep breath. She didn’t want him to walk her up to her apartment and see how bad the building actually was. Would he demand to see the inside of her apartment? Would he see how small it was, how rundown, and decide right then that she wasn’t staying there anymore?
“You aren’t in trouble, and you don’t have to invite me in,” Noah said. “I just want to make sure you get up to your apartment and inside all right. It might not be a long walk, but I don’t want anything to happen to you. You are too precious for that.”
Her head snapped up. She was too precious for that?
“I don’t want your cars to get stolen or the tires slashed,” she pointed out. “Then how would you get home? The police won’t do anything if you call them.”
If that happened, she would feel guilty and invite him into her apartment until his ride came.
It probably wasn’t the wisest idea to tell him the police wouldn’t come.
She didn’t have firsthand knowledge of it, but one of her neighbors told her it was a bad street and the cops avoided it at all costs.
She understood why.
“No one is going to steal my car or slash the tires. We will only be but a couple of seconds to get you up to your apartment.” Noah placed his hand on the small of her back. “Now come on, you need to get to sleep.”
Sighing, she started to walk toward the stairs.
“You aren’t taking the elevator?” Noah asked.
She shook her head. “Not at this time of night. Not if you want to take the chance to get stuck and you have to wait until morning to get out.”
“Baby,” he mumbled.
Frankie dragged her feet up the stairs, every step harder than the last. How had she done this before? How had she managed to get up the stairs when she was exhausted all those times?
She waved her hand in the air. “I don’t have experience. I’ve just heard someone get stuck in there. I tried to help, but the landlord said there was nothing to be done until the next day. The firefighters wouldn’t even come to help.”
Which was odd, but she figured it was just like the cops.
They didn’t want to be in this part of town if they could avoid it.
The person didn’t die in the elevator that night.
Frankie would have passed out and probably peed herself if she got stuck in there.
That was why she took the stairs, not wanting to take a chance on it.
“You aren’t helping your case,” Noah growled, picking her up.
Shrieking, she wrapped her arms around his neck to hold herself up.
“I’m not going to let you hit the ground,” he grumbled. “I’m insulted you think I would let that happen.”
“I don’t know you that well?” she mumbled in more of a question.
It was a natural instinct for her to wrap her arms around his neck, especially when he caught her off guard. What did he expect her to do?
Nothing?
Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen for anyone.
“Which one is your apartment?” he asked.
“Two hundred and two,” she replied, closing her eyes for a second as he continued to climb the stairs.
She could easily fall asleep in his arms right now.
“I’ve got you,” he whispered. “We’re almost there.”
She wanted him to continue to walk around, holding her in his arms so she could fall asleep. She knew he would grow tired, but she felt safe in his arms.
“We’re here.” he carefully placed her on the ground.
Sighing, she pulled out her keys and turned to him. “Thank you so much for walking me up. I hope nothing happened to your car.”
Noah bent down, kissing her forehead. “It’s fine.”
“How—”
“You don’t need to worry about it. Now, I want you to get inside, lock the door, and get straight into bed. Dominic will be here at ten to pick you up.”
“Oh, I don’t need to be in that late,” she pointed out. “I can come in at the regular time.”
She wanted to be in at the regular time.
What was she supposed to do until then? She couldn’t play with Lita or color because she feared she’d fall into Little space and not get to work on time.
Dominic was going to pick her up, but what if she didn’t hear her phone go off and he came upstairs?
No. She couldn’t do that, and she wouldn’t be able to sleep in either.
Bad things happened at night, but around here it seemed to get worse in the daytime. It didn’t make sense, but she didn’t want to be here when it got light.
“You will come in at ten. It is not up for discussion,” Noah instructed firmly.
Nodding, Frankie turned around and walked the rest of her way to the door.
How was she going to argue with him? She had no standing on this matter, not when he could tell her off if she came in earlier.
But would he know? What if she didn’t tell Trent or John that she’d come in earlier?
She could get a lot done before they even knew.
Dominic.
How was she going to get him not to tell Noah she came in earlier? He definitely wouldn’t lie for her.
“This weekend we’ll go over how your week went, and if anything went wrong. I’ll also be coming over to put the new lock in and some cameras.” Noah took a step toward her. “Stay safe. If anything happens, you call me immediately and I’ll be here in a couple of minutes.”
“Understood,” she whispered.
Would he have to come into her apartment to put the cameras in, or was he just putting them on the outside? He would have to open her door when he put the new lock in. What was she going to do then?
She could clean everything in the one-room apartment and make sure it looked the best it could, so he didn’t say anything. It would suck for her to make it this far. She wanted to do this on her own.
“Good night, Little one,” he whispered, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “I’ll stay here until I hear the door lock.”
Nodding, she unlocked the door, opening it just a little to slip through before closing it behind her and locking it. How was she going to survive working with Noah and not falling for him?
“Lita, there’s a problem.” She pulled her stuffed animal out of her bag. “Sorry you had to be in there all day, but I couldn’t take you out. I didn’t want to get fired and have to get rid of you.”
Frankie walked to her bed and got under the covers, yawning as the exhaustion weighed down on her more.
“I think I’m going to have to quit when I fall in love with him,” she mumbled. “We can’t be together, and I know that, but every single thing he does at work makes me want to fall in love with him more. I don’t know whether he’s trying to make me fall in love or if he’s this way with everyone.”
Lita stayed quiet, but Frankie wasn’t surprised.
“Only one day in and I’m already exhausted.” She closed her eyes and fell asleep.