12. Chapter Eleven
Chapter Eleven
Jackson
“A re you sure it’s Friday?” Isabelle reads the date on my phone again , her tiny foot tapping impatiently.
“Well yesterday was Thursday and Friday comes after Thursday. That’s a fact.” I try to convince her I’m right for the third time. “Unless someone changed the order of the week.”
She looks up at me like I just grew three heads. “Who could change the order of the week when Lissy was coming over today?”
I bite back a smile as she watches me like she’s ready for war. “I was joking, baby.”
She hums. “Lisette was supposed to meet us here when I got home from school. Why is she late?”
I stifle a laugh as she paces the living room with her arms crossed. On the table in front of us are the books and worksheets Lisette made for their tutoring sessions, and I’ve never seen her so eager to do her homework.
We decided Lisette would come over the three days I work from home. She’s taking this tutor thing very seriously and I appreciate it. Belle also looks forward to seeing her every Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, but she’s so impatient.
At the sound of the door ringing, she lets out a gasp before taking off running. I follow after her and she grabs the handle before turning to me. I give her the green light and she pulls the heavy door open.
When she sees it’s a package, she looks up to the ceiling with a sigh.
The mailman looks between the two of us. “People usually have the opposite reaction when seeing me.”
I quickly apologize for my kid. “Sorry, she’s waiting for someone.” I sign for the package as Isabelle pulls it in.
“If you see Lisette out there can you tell her to hurry?” She looks up at our mailman but before he can respond, a car pulls up. She looks past him, a smile so damn big on her face as she waves Lisette over. “You’re here!”
Lisette laughs in return as she climbs out of her car. “Well it’s Friday, isn’t it?” She passes the mailman on her way to us before leaning down to pick up Isabelle. “Oh wow, you’re heavier than you look.” She adjusts her on her hip before turning to me.
“Hey, hot stuff.” She gazes up at me and I find myself admiring how clear of a blue her eyes are. She playfully flutters her long lashes at me and I take in just how pretty she is.
Even with the tired bags forming under her eyes, the rest of her face is one that makes all her flirty comments fuck with me. She doesn’t have soft features but sharp ones instead.
Strong cheekbones and jawline. Dirty blonde brows that look as though she hasn’t had to pluck them a day in her life. Full pouty lips.
Her whole face just makes it so much harder to ignore every flirty comment she’s been throwing at me. Every other word that comes out of her mouth is a joke, so I don’t take anything she says seriously, but her words never fail to make my face heat. Even though I know she’s just looking for a reaction out of me, my body doesn’t know that and it’s giving me the wrong reactions.
“You’re late.”
Her smile morphs into a smirk as she steps into my house. “So you waited for me by the door? Did you miss me, JJ?”
I roll my eyes at her just before she turns back to me. “Belle is just impatient.”
She nods like she doesn’t believe me before she turns to my kid. “Did he miss me?”
“Yup, we both did,” Isabelle voices cheerfully and I let out a laugh as I walk past them.
“She has no idea what she’s talking about.”
“I know what I’m talking about, Daddy,” Belle counters.
“Right,” Lisette joins. “So just say you missed me, Daddy.”
I bite my tongue, but no way in hell do I turn around. I can hear Lisette’s soft laugh from behind me and I shake my head at myself when my cheeks heat. She’s my closest friend’s sister and I can’t go there. I know that and I don’t think I even want to go there, but her looks and words are messing with me.
“I need to get to work. I’ll be in my office.” I keep my back to them as I disappear to my office.
In an attempt to distract myself, I read over a contract for a client one more time before we get on a call. I’m in the middle of answering one of his questions when my phone starts ringing. I steal a glance at it, but when I see it’s Rome, I send it to voicemail.
“Sorry about that.” I turn back to the camera but I can barely open my mouth when it starts ringing again. I hit decline just as a text comes in.
Rome B
stop ignoring me. this is important.
I’m in a meeting. I’ll call you back.
are u meeting with chase rhodes???
I don’t reply as I turn back to Chase and my phone rings again.
“Is everything okay?” Chase looks around, his brows furrowed in concern.
“Yeah, kid, I’m sorry. Give me five minutes.” I quickly mute the call and turn my camera off before answering Rome’s call. “What the hell is your problem?” I bite out.
He lets out a scoff on the other end. “Why are you meeting with the enemy ?”
I feel my face morph in confusion as I glance over at Chase’s innocent smile. “What are you talking about? You guys are teammates,” I remind him.
Rome lets out a huff as he tells me about them fighting for the same girl and how Chase wasn’t being a team player at last night’s game.
“Rome, are you kidding me right now? He’s my client. I don’t care if he outshined you yesterday for a chick’s attention. If this girl wanted you, you’d have her.” I rub my temples when I feel a headache coming.
“He did not outshine me. I got the game ball and I do have her. He can’t take a damn hint.”
I’m truly at a loss for words.
“Did you know the Dodgers sent him an offer? Is that what you’re meeting with him about right now? Did you help him?” He nearly yells now.
“You’re joking right?” I can feel the veins in my temple about to burst. “I cannot discuss this with you because he’s my client. This isn’t a competition.”
“It quite literally is. The Dodgers are only taking one person this year.”
“Who told you that? That’s not how it works, Rome.”
I can hear him pacing from how loud he’s walking around his dorm.
“Don’t let him sign with the Dodgers. I just—”
I hang up on him before blocking his number and returning to my meeting with Chase. His mom is on the call with us and she looks so proud of her son as we discuss his offers.
“You don’t have to decide now.” I step in when he asks his dad for his opinion. “You all can take a few days to think about it.”
His mom turns to me, tears in her proud eyes. “What do you think he should do?”
“Well, it depends on what you care more about. Everyone wants the Dodgers, but if we’re being realistic, with the lineup they have now, you won’t see much pitch time. Griffin and Cane never see the bench.” I know Rome would probably do a backflip if he heard my words, but I don’t voice them for him.
Chase lets out a short laugh. “I think I’ll gladly be a bench warmer for Sire Griffin and Noah Cane.”
A laugh escapes me at his words. “The Yankees are—”
“No.” Chase shakes his head. “I’d be such a hypocrite if I played for them.”
I nod in understanding. “I get your loyalty, but in a few months you won’t be a fan cheering in the stands or booing the Yankees, you’ll be playing beside these guys. If their pitcher really is injured, there’s no doubt you’ll be pitching half the season.”
His shoulders sag as he weighs his options.
“The Cubs are lowballing you though,” I admit. “You said you wanted to move back to Chicago for your grandparents and you’d have a great season with them, but I can get you a better offer and you can have everything you want.”
His parents express their gratitude, and I’m emailing Chase about a brand deal when my eyes land on an email from Rome.
Subject: DID YOU BLOCK ME?
Jones I need you’re head in the game right now. I understand he’s your client but I was you’re client first. Do you know no loyalty??? I thought we were closer then this? Your being so selfish!
I genuinely can’t help but laugh at him. “It was great talking with you Chase. I just emailed you a few endorsements to look over. I’ll see you on Tuesday. Keep in touch.” I end the call before replying to Rome.
Subject: Yes, I blocked you.
Then= Sequence. Ex: You were being a brat and then you pissed me off, so I blocked you.
Than= Comparison. Ex: I prefer Chase rather than you.
You’re= You + are. Ex: You’re the one being selfish.
Your= Ownership. Ex: Your attitude is getting old.
We are not close. Hope this helps!
Coldest regards,
Jones.
He doesn’t reply for a while and I let myself believe he’s working on his grammar rather than sitting in his anger.
When I hear the door open quietly, I can see Belle peek her head in from the corner of my eye.
She walks over to me quietly and I feel a smile grow on my face as I pretend I don’t see her sneaking into my office. She walks over quietly, her hand covering her smile as she laughs.
I look up from my laptop but don’t turn to her, and she goes still. I glance to the side she isn’t on before shrugging and looking back at my laptop and she giggles harder.
When she gets closer, she crouches in front of my desk before popping up. “Hi, Dad!”
I jump back in surprise, and she fills the room with her precious laugh.
“Where did you come from? You scared me.”
She laughs harder and I smile down at her as she folds her hands on my desk and rests her head down. “Watcha doin’?” She fiddles with a paperweight as her pretty eyes gaze up at me, and I want more than anything to shut my laptop and go hang out with her.
Instead, I raise my brows at her. “The real question is what cha doin’? I thought you were supposed to be working with Lissy?”
She lets out a sigh as she rolls the paperweight between her hands. “We’re taking a break ‘cause she’s on a phone call.” She shrugs. “So whatcha doin’?” She gets on her tippy toes as she tries to pull my laptop into her view, but I gently push her hand before she bends the screen back.
“I’m working on a proposal to negotiate a client’s pay with a contractor.”
Belle nods in understanding. “Yeah, I was working on that yesterday. It’s a lot of work, huh?”
“Not really. Writing the proposal is easy, but the back-and-forth negotiating is a lot of work sometimes.” I know she doesn’t understand what I’m talking about, but watching her pretend she does is my favorite thing.
“Yeah,” she shakes her head this time. “That part is a stress.”
I bite back a laugh and she peeks up at me from the side of her eyes.
“What’s nego ate ?”
“Nego tiate. ” I correct her and she tries the word on her tongue twice before she gets it right. “It’s like when I say it’s time for bed and you say one more movie and we agree to ten more minutes.”
She nods.
“That’s us negotiating.”
I see it click in her head as she stands up straight. “Oh, well, that reminds me of a negotiate I have.” She turns to her small desk in the corner of my office and sits in her pink chair before opening her toy laptop.
She types a bunch of nothing before nodding to herself and turning to me. “So how do I write the prosal?”
“ Proposal. ” I help her again. “You just say what your client wants and what you’re willing to agree to. Then talk about how this will be a good agreement for the other person.”
She nods before typing. “Okay.” She grabs her laptop and puts it on her lap as she turns to me. “My client wants to have a sleepover at KC’s house.” She looks up at me as she waits for my reaction. “This will be a great agreement for you because you can scream at the TV with her dad. You guys had fun doing that yesterday.” She smiles proudly as she shuts her laptop.
“That was a great proposal.”
She nods excitedly.
“I’m going to have to decline your offer, though.” I shrug as I turn back to my laptop.
“ What ?” I see her shaking her head as she opens her laptop again. “You can’t do that.”
“I actually can. You can write another proposal, and if I like it better than that one, I’ll agree.” I look over at her and she looks like she doesn’t understand. “This is when we negotiate and come to an agreement in the middle. You can have another playdate with KC but you’re not sleeping there.”
“Why?”
I look back at my laptop as I see her getting upset. “You know the rule. No sleepovers. You can have a playdate. That’s my proposal. Final offer.”
At the sound of footsteps, I look up and Lisette is walking in. At the smile on her face, I know she heard most of that.
“I’m her business partner and we’ll be drafting that prosal together.” She rolls her eyes at me playfully. “Shame on you for taking advantage of my rookie partner.”
I bite back a smile as I lean back in my seat. “She shouldn’t be in this field if she doesn’t have the experience.” I shrug.
She leans down to my daughter and whispers loud enough for me to hear. “We’re going to get you that sleepover.”
Belle lights up and my smile is gone as I turn to Lisette. “No, she isn’t. I’m being serious.” I turn to Belle when I see her pouting. “Don’t start,” I warn.
She pouts her lip further and it truly pains me, but I stay strong and look at my laptop.
“Please, Daddy?” she pleads.
I don’t respond and I feel my chest tightening when she walks closer to me.
“Daddy, please ?”
I look down at her and she bats her long lashes at me.
“We can get ice cream with her, then have a playdate by the pool, but no sleepover.”
She smiles at my words. “Okay!” She skips out of the room, and when I look up at Lisette, she’s shaking her head at me with her arms crossed.
“She just played your sorry ass. She was talking about getting ice cream with KC earlier.”
“No, she wasn’t.”
“She sure was.” Lisette laughs at the shock on my face, and I shake my head at myself.
I notice Lisette glance at my laptop before her eyes meet mine. “Are you busy?”
“Nope.” I lean back in my seat. “I sit at this desk for hours on end to get away from my manipulative child.”
She breaks into a laugh as she walks over to my desk. “My sarcasm is rubbing off on you.”
“Eh, just a bit.” I give her a shrug.
“Well, this is serious.”
I focus on her for a beat. “Is anything ever serious with you?”
“Nope.”
I bite back a laugh as I push my laptop aside. “What’s up?”
She sits in the chair in front of my desk before looking down at herself.
“Uh uh.” She shakes her head before standing up. “I don’t like this, let’s switch.”
“What?”
She’s already walking towards me and gesturing for me to stand. “Switch.” She pulls my arm, and I rise to my feet before she sits in my chair. I watch her as she spins to face forward and folds her hands together at my desk.
“This is a big chair.” She glances down at it.
“I’m a big guy.”
Her eyes cut up to mine, and when a smile grows on her face I shake my head at her.
“How many inches are we talking?” She glances between my legs before looking back up at me, and I bite back a laugh as I take a seat in front of her.
“What is wrong with you?”
“Surprisingly, a lot.”
My eyes cut to hers and she’s just sitting there with a gorgeous smile.
“You really believe there’s something wrong with you?” I study her for a beat and her smile doesn’t waver, but I see how she forces it more.
“You haven’t seen what’s in here.” She taps her head. “Back to what I wanted to talk about.”
She continues before I can counter and keep the conversation on her and I notice she does that a lot, deflects when I ask about her.
“It’s about Belle.”
I feel my brows furrow as I slightly sit up in my seat, but she puts a hand up, her smile slowly returning.
“Chill, Daddy bear. She’s fine,” she tries to reassure me. “She had a red card in her folder though.”
I let out a groan as I cover my face. “Jesus Christ,” I mumble.
“Yeah,” she treads lightly. “She was apparently being disruptive during quiet time and wouldn’t stop laughing, but coming from a teacher and knowing she isn’t a disrespectful child, that’s a ridiculous reason for a red card.”
I throw my hands up. “ Thank you,” I exclaim. “I feel like I’m walking on eggshells with these people. God forbid a child behaves their age.” I understand needing to correct her behavior if she was truly being disruptive, but a red card for laughing? These cards are apparently a last resort, and her getting two in one week is absurd to me.
“I also read over her assessment and I think they have something against you.”
Hearing her words are incredibly reassuring because I was starting to feel like I was going crazy. “So you don’t think she’s behind?”
She takes a beat to respond and I study her closely before she shrugs. “I don’t think it’s fair to label her as behind. Kids develop at different ages,” she says exactly what I told them. “She could be more advanced, sure, but she turned five in August which was barely two months ago. She’ll reach the milestones soon enough.”
I nod in return.
“What exactly did they tell you? I don’t understand why they’re giving you such a hard time. She’s honestly a great kid.”
I sink in my seat as I rant. “They’re incredibly invested as to why her mom isn’t in the picture and it’s not in a mandated reporter kind of way. They’re simply nosy.” I roll my eyes as their comments come to mind. “When I was registering, I overheard them comment about how I probably cheated on her.”
Her brows raise before she lets out a scoff. “I hate private school teachers, especially those kind.” When she smiles this time, I know a joke is coming. “On the bright side, you can go to their higher ups if they kick her out of school for failing her next assessment. I know private schools have different rules, but it sounds like they’re breaking some.”
I offer her a smile, but her words don’t make me feel better.
“She’s not going to fail,” she reassures me. “Change your face and have more faith in me, asshole.”
I let out a low laugh. “What did I say about the language?” I tease.
“Right.” She nods before giving me a once-over. “We wouldn’t want you withholding the big guy from me.”
“ Lisette .” I feel my face heat and her loud laugh fills the room as she rises from my seat.
“You seriously need to stop with the inappropriate comments, especially in front of my kid. I don’t care if she doesn’t catch onto them,” I tell her more seriously.
She rolls her eyes at me as she makes her way around my desk. “Your blush is so cute though.” She ruffles my hair. “I’ll stop saying them in front of your kid since she’s a sponge.”
“Stop them all together.”
She studies me for a beat before leaning against my desk with her arms crossed. “If I don’t stop, will this count as sexual harassment?”
“What?”
“Well, you’re telling me to stop, but I can’t tell if you really want me to stop because I’m making you uncomfortable or if you want me to stop because it’s simply inappropriate.”
I almost tell her they’re making me uncomfortable to put an end to this, but I don’t want her to stop. Her comments get more creative each day and they’re harmless, but it’s messing with my head and making me see her as more than Sire’s little sister.
“It’s not sexual harassment.”
She nods once before opening her mouth, but the sound of something loud falling has us both going still. I wait for a beat, but when I don’t hear anything, I race out of my office.
“Belle?” My heart is fighting to get out of my chest as I search for her because the house is still silent, which is scarier than hearing cries after a crash that loud.
“Isabelle!” I call out to her, and when I don’t see her in the living room, I turn on my heels.
“I’m okay,” she voices and I let out a breath of relief when I see her in the kitchen unharmed.
“Jesus Christ , kid.” Lisette holds her chest as she walks into the kitchen. “You gave me a damn heart attack. What the hell are you doing?” She helps Isabelle stand from where she is on the floor before looking at her head and a smile touches my lips at her worry for my kid.
“So you are serious about things.” I pick up the two chairs Belle managed to knock over and Lisette turns to me with her brows pulled together.
“Well, your petrified face scared me more than she did, but yes, I take some things seriously.” She rolls her eyes at me and I bite back a laugh before turning to Belle for an explanation.
“I fell and the other chair fell with me when I grabbed it.” She rubs her head and I move her hand to examine it, but she’s fine. “We should get new chairs, those aren’t safe.”
“What were you doing to fall?” Lisette asks for me, and I keep my gaze on Belle, but she doesn’t answer.
“Right,” I start. “The chairs are safe. Please don’t do whatever it was that made you fall.” I kiss her head before scooping her into my arms.
“Daddy, you don’t have to carry me. I’m fine.”
“Well, you scared me, so let me carry you.” I hold her tighter and she doesn’t fight me on it as we settle on the living room couch. She’s in my lap for half a second before she’s crawling away.
“I’m not a baby .”
I scoop her into my lap again. “You’re my baby.”
“I’m a big girl,” she counters as she pushes me away harder and I let her go this time.
“You look like a baby to me,” Lisette voices from beside us and Isabelle turns to her slowly before staring at her like she’s a terrorist.
“You must not know what a baby looks like.”
I break into a laugh.
“Whatever.” Lisette flops beside me on the couch. “I’m not arguing with a baby .”
“You’re not . I’m a big girl.” She raises a brow, and when Lisette doesn’t have anything else to say, triumph covers Belle’s face.
“Your kid’s a brat,” Lisette mumbles as Isabelle turns to her worksheet.
“You know she’s not,” I counter before turning to Isabelle. “You were red carded today?” I watch her carefully, but her brows furrow.
“No, I had such a great day. We’re having a pizza party next Friday. I also think it’s Sofie’s birthday. We have to get her a present.”
I have no clue who Sofie is, but I grab her folder and when I pull out the card she genuinely looks confused. “Did you not get a warning?”
“No?” She sounds even more confused. “Will I still get to go to the pizza party?”
“You will, kiddo,” Lisette reassures her. “Are you sure Ms. Rose didn’t give you any warnings today?” she asks from beside me, but I know my kid isn’t a liar and I make a reminder to call her school.