16. Chapter 14
NOAH
“ F rankie.” Noah walked into the apartment. “Do you have int?—”
He stopped in his tracks as he saw her asleep on her bed hugging a stuffed animal while sucking her thumb.
“Precious,” he whispered as he stared at her for a couple more seconds.
Frankie looked so relaxed, sleeping on her bed and holding her stuffed animal close. How long had she been asleep?
Noah looked down at his watch and saw it was seven in the afternoon. He needed to get back to the club and also get dinner, but he couldn’t do that. Everything in him felt like he needed to stay with Frankie and make sure she was okay when she woke up. Would she be scared if he wasn’t there?
Quickly, he pulled out his phone, clicked on a contact, and held it to his ear. “Marco?”
“Hey, man, where are you?” Marco asked.
“I won’t be able to make it in tonight. I’ve got caught up somewhere else and have to stay. I don’t know how long it will take,” Noah explained, looking over at Frankie.
Still sound asleep. Was she okay? This was the second time she was out like a light in front of him, and he was getting a little worried.
“Are you okay? Do you need help?” There was a slight edge to Marco’s tone.
“No, I don’t need anything like that. I’m just fitting on a new lock and waiting for her to wake up. I don’t want to leave her like this.” Noah sighed.
He honestly needed to take a night off as well. When was the last time he didn’t work overtime?
“Would this happen to be for the new hire?” Marco inquired.
“It is.” Noah couldn’t help but smile. He had let it be known that Frankie was his and he wasn’t backing down. “I’ll talk to you later. I have to fix the door and figure out what I can make for dinner for us.”
“Good luck,” Marco said before he hung up.
Noah looked over at Frankie one more time, taking in her sleeping form before he got to work on adding another lock to her door.
“Wh-what are you doing here?” Frankie groggily stuttered as she stared at Noah.
“You’re okay,” he gently soothed. “I was putting up cameras and adding a lock to your door, but you fell asleep. I didn’t want to leave you before you woke up, so I stayed.”
He had finished the door and hooked his computer up to his hotspot, setting up the cameras, but he still had time to kill before she woke up. So he looked in her small kitchen, seeing what she had in. When Frankie offered him water and crackers, he’d found it odd, but it all made sense now.
That was all she had in her kitchen.
Had she run out of food, or was this all the food she’d had in for a while?
Noah didn’t want to jump to any conclusions, but it wasn’t looking good for her.
What was he thinking, saying he would only take her out if something dangerous happened?
He should have had the health talk with her before he made that deal, so he could move her out right now.
But he didn’t, and now he was living with the consequences of that.
“You stayed?” she whispered, sitting up in her bed.
“I did. I didn’t want you to worry if I left. I was going to wake you up soon, but I wanted you to get a little more sleep. You looked so peaceful, and I didn’t want to disturb you,” he explained.
He had thought about staying all night to make sure she slept all right, but he figured she might not like that.
“Oh. Thank you?” She still held her stuffed animal close to her.
“We need to talk about your food,” he calmly said.
Her eyes went wide as she looked at him. She knew, yet she didn’t say anything.
“You need more than just crackers to eat,” Noah pointed out. “Your job is demanding, and you need to properly fuel your body.”
“I eat at the club.” She smiled. “Trent always gives me a lot of nuggies. Sometimes I can’t finish them, and he lets me take them home for a snack later or dinner.”
Noah was going to have to talk to Trent about giving her more options. While he didn’t want her to eat nuggies all the time, it was better than her only eating crackers.
“And what do you eat when you don’t have any leftovers or don’t have work?” Noah asked.
“Well, I eat crackers, and sometimes I can get something out. I haven’t gotten paid yet, so I have what’s in the cabinets.” Her hands started to shake.
Noah briefly looked at them before looking at her. Were they shaking because of nerves?
“That isn’t going to do.” He shook his head. “I’ll get your pay to be sent early so you can stock up.”
He was thankful Mac had agreed without asking too many questions about upping the pay. Noah wanted to ask Frankie where her money was going, but it wasn’t any of his business. He wished he could make it his business, though.
“You don’t need to do that. I’m perfectly fine.” She looked at him with alarm. “It’s coming in soon anyway
“I’m doing this no matter what. I should’ve done this a while ago.” He waved his hand in the air, dismissing her worries.
Her eyes narrowed on his before she quickly clasped her hands in front of her, stopping the shaking. Noah’s eyebrows pulled together as he looked at her hands. Something was definitely up, and he wanted to know what.
“Thank you,” she whispered, pulling his attention from her hands. “I’m good now.”
“Are you sure?” he asked.
Frankie nodded. “I really am. I’m not hungry anyway right now so you don’t have to worry about that either. Trent gave me a really big lunch, and I ate all of it.”
“If you’re sure.” He searched her face.
“I’m sure. I think I’m just going to go back to sleep.” She looked shyly down at her lap. “Thank you so much for putting the cameras in and fitting the new lock. I really appreciate it.”
Noah got up and walked over to her bed, cupping her face with his hands. “It was my pleasure. If you need anything else, let me know. I’m only a text or phone call away. No matter the time of day or night, you text or call me.”
She sighed. “I know, you’ve said it a lot.”
He smiled. “And I will say it a hundred more times if I need to. It doesn’t bother me, and it never will do.”
Frankie looked at him in wonder, and he wanted to know what was running through her head.
Had no one ever done that for her? That didn’t settle well with Noah, but when it came to Frankie, a lot didn’t.
Something was off, and he didn’t know what.
It was going to bug him until he figured it out. He just hoped he wasn’t too late.
“I’m going to leave, but if you need anything?—”
“Text or call you. I will.” She chuckled.
Noah leaned down, kissing her forehead before walking to the front door.
“I placed the key on the counter over there.” He pointed toward the kitchen. “I want you to lock the door when I leave. Can you do that for me?”
Frankie nodded, getting out of bed with her stuffie still tucked into her arm.
“Good girl,” he whispered. “Such a good girl for me.”
Her face turned bright red as she walked toward him.
Noah grabbed his bag, slinging it over his shoulder before leaving her apartment.
With every step, it felt like he was walking through quicksand, his steps getting slower and slower.
He didn’t want to leave her. He wanted to stay and make sure she was safe, but she said she didn’t need him to.
He wanted to tell her he wanted her to need him.
“Sleep well,” Noah whispered before closing the door.
He waited for her to lock the door before heading down the stairs. He was not going to get much sleep tonight.