“Yes!” she responded excitedly before moving back to the mirror to look at herself. I smiled as I watched her, before using the remote to play another upbeat song.
We spent the next hour just dancing and resting before we did it again. I found myself thoroughly enjoying her playful antics.
* * *
By the timeJensen was due to pick Elodie up, Elodie was sitting beside me in the receptionist’s room, munching on a snack Jensen had given her before he dropped her off.
I tried to follow her conversation, but it was mostly about people I didn’t know at her daycare, and she was mostly mumbling her words, which made it pretty hard to understand some of it. I smiled and nodded along. She seemed so happy telling me, I couldn’t bring myself to do anything more than sit there and listen.
“And Millie, guess what?”
“What?” I answered, looking at her.
“Ensley is my best friend in the whole wide world.”
“The whole wide world, huh?”
She nodded, smiling widely and showing a perfect straight row of tiny little teeth. God, she was cute. “Yes!”
I patted her head. “Well, that sounds wonderful. It’s good to have a best friend,” I told her, thinking about my best friend, Cameron, who was still in Boston. He was in the midst of graduating from dental school. He was the boy I’d taken ballet lessons with, the one who had been with me throughout every important milestone, and the one who was there when I moved back to Massachusetts… again.
I didn’t have any friends here, and I was just feeling some of the loneliness.
And with our busy schedule, I hadn’t really talked to him in a long while. It felt like I was trying to fight against an impossible current that was pushing me away from all the people in my past, and there was nothing I could do about it.
“Do you have a best friend, Millie?”
I nodded. “Yes, but he lives very far from here. I don’t get to see him much.”
She looked sad over that. But it wasn’t long before she perked up again, light entering her eyes. “Daddy could be your friend, too!”
She looked way too happy for just thinking of this. I didn’t tell her that being friends with Jensen was the last thing I wanted to do. Especially when I had been having not so “friend-like” thoughts about him.
I felt eyes on me then, and when I looked up, Jensen was standing by the doorway, watching us. I didn’t know how long he had been standing there, but it must have been long enough. He was casually leaning against the wall, his hands in his pockets, and there was a small, soft smile on his face that I didn’t completely hate.
He met my eyes and held my gaze, keeping me immobile. I didn’t even think I was breathing properly. He smirked, and it told me he knew the effect he was having on me.
Elodie noticed him a few long seconds later, and she jumped out of the chair, her Rice Krispies treat forgotten in her hand. It dropped to the floor as she ran toward her dad, laughing.
“Daddy! You’re here!”
Jensen bent down and lifted her up. She looked so small engulfed in his arms, I couldn’t help the way my heart pinched at the sight. Looking away, I bent down and picked up the snack she dropped, throwing it in the trash can nearby.
I didn’t have any right to feel protective over any man’s daughter, but certainly not this man.
It was obvious Elodie didn’t need my protection when Jensen was doing such a good job at it already. I wondered what that would be like. To be protected by a man as strong and as capable as Jensen Pierce. To never have to worry about anything because you knew he could carry any weight the world threw at him.
I shook away the whimsical thought just as Jensen made his way over to me. His eyes were smiling.
I didn’t like the look on him very much.
“You’re late,” I muttered. I had meant to sound like the strong, independent woman I wished I was. Instead, I just sounded lost.
His lips twisted. “Sorry. The meeting ran a little later than I expected. Did you miss me?”
My eyes widened. “No.”
I answered that way too quickly. I heard it, and I was sure he heard it, too. His smile widened, and I wanted to either slap or kiss it off his face. I still couldn’t decide which.