Chapter 27 Octavia
Twenty-Seven
Octavia
Dinner was impeccable, of course. I’d expected nothing less from one of the pickiest men I’d ever dealt with.
The picky man that I couldn’t stop looking at or thinking about.
Paola still gave me the cold shoulder or ignored me altogether. I didn’t know what the hell her problem was or why she was making sudden assumptions about me. Catalina, on the other hand, had no problem chatting me up and even shared some of her chocolate cake with me.
After eating, Catalina and Paola decided to take a walk to burn a few calories and to sightsee. Javier, Aleesa, and I were picked up in a black car that took us to a massive bookstore on Broadway.
Javier led Aleesa to the children’s section right away. I was about to follow them when a book on one of the stands caught my eye. This had been bound to happen. Of course I was going to get distracted. I was a bookworm in a store full of books.
I wasn’t sure how long I stood at that section, browsing every romance-novel cover and debating on which I wanted to take with me.
There were so many options—too many, really.
The books I decided to grab were gorgeous and had amazing premises and plots.
At one point, I wondered if it would’ve been too much to buy six of them.
“Just one,” I told myself as I picked up one of the novels and scanned the back cover again. Besides, I didn’t have enough space in my suitcase for six.
“It’s me,” Javier called, causing me to spin around. He wove his way through the aisle with Aleesa on his shoulders. There were no books in either of their hands. “Just letting you know I’m approaching.”
I held the book to my chest with a grin. “Thank you for that.”
He gave me a nod and a half smile.
“Did you find anything for Leesa?”
“No.” A deep sigh left him as he removed her from his shoulders and placed her feet on the ground. “All she cares about are the toys.”
“Of course she does.” I laughed. “Let me give her a try.”
I collected her hand, and we made our way through the aisles until we came across the children’s section. There were so many books lined up on the shelves. I could see how this could be overwhelming for a four-year-old.
“Here, Leesa. How about this?” I plucked a book titled Night Owl Kisses.
Aleesa gave it a scan, then nodded. “Yes. I like ow’s.”
“Okay, great. What else do you like?”
“Bears,” she answered. “And candy.”
I busted out laughing. “All right, let’s see if we can find a book about one of those.”
“Me again. I’ve got a book right here.” Javier’s voice carried our way. He stood on the other end of the shelf we were near, holding up a book with an illustrated Black girl on the cover, wearing pigtails and licking a lollipop. The title was Sweet Suzie.
“Oohh! Candy!” Aleesa bolted for her dad and threw her hands up. “Lemme see. Lemme see.” She paused when Javier cocked a brow, waiting for the magic word. “Please,” she added with a playful giggle.
He handed the book to her, and she was instantly mesmerized as she flipped through the pages.
“Nice one,” I noted, approaching him.
“See. I am not completely useless.”
“I never believed you were.” I sent him a wink.
Javier studied Aleesa a moment before bringing his gaze up to mine again. “You know we are not only here for Aleesa, right?”
“No?”
“No. I saw you looking at the books and did not want to interrupt you. You can pick out whatever you want too. I will get it for you.”
“Oh—no, Javier. I won’t let you do that. You pay me enough. I can buy my own books, really.”
“I saw you trying to choose between three or four of them.” One of his eyebrows inclined.
“Well, yeah. It’s hard to choose sometimes.”
“Well, that is what I am saying. You do not have to choose. If you want them all, I will get them for you.”
“Seriously?” I deadpanned. “So if I go back over there and pluck out ten books, you’ll buy them all?”
He chuckled. “Ten seems a bit extreme, but yes. It would be no problem.”
“Ten is not extreme for a book lover. That’s us just getting started.”
He continued laughing. “I am being serious. Get as many as you want.” He caught Aleesa’s hand before she could make a dash for the toy section.
“You know books aren’t cheap, right?” I challenged. Because why was he doing this? A guy had never been willing to buy me as many books as I wanted.
“Octavia.” His voice was firm, and his eyes held steady on mine. “Cost is nothing to me, and I do not want you to worry about it either. Consider this my way of saying thanks for taking such good care of my daughter.”
“But that’s my job. And you pay me very well for it.”
“Octavia,” he scolded again. “Are you really going to stand here and argue with me about not buying you something you love?”
“I don’t mean to argue, I just . . .” The center of my chest warmed as I struggled to find the right words. “Why are you being so nice to me?” I suspiciously narrowed my eyes at him.
“Would you rather I be grumpy? Because I can be. I am very good at it. You said so yourself.”
I laughed. “Absolutely not.”
“Okay then.”
Holding on to Aleesa’s hand, he stepped closer and raised his free hand to stroke my upper arm. It was a soothing touch. Couple that with the way he looked into my eyes, and every part of me felt gooey and warm.
“I want you to have a good time, and I want you to be happy. That is all. Now go.” He cocked his head, gesturing for me to get to it. “Find me when you are ready, amor.”
That was another thing. Calling me love in Spanish. One hundred percent endearing. I’d thought he was only using it for sex, to enhance the moment, you know? But he was still calling me it . . . and I secretly loved it. Lord. He had to stop this. It was too much for me to handle right now.
I bobbed my head and walked away, because if I didn’t, I was going to jump on that man and climb him like a tree.