Page 42 of Hired By My Rich Baby Daddy 3

I opened my eyes and looked over at her. “You sure?”

“Yeah. I don’t want people thinking you’re a cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater… well, at least in this situation.”

I couldn’t do anything but burst out laughing, and she joined right in with me. Oaklynn came running over, clapping and laughing too, even though she had no idea what was actually going on. I scooped her up off the ground, kissed both her cheeks, sat her back down on her feet, and she took right back off across the living room.

“No, but seriously,” Noree said once we settled back down. “I got your back. It’s the least I can do after you let me record a song with you. Annnd, something tells me you put in a good word for me with your manager,” she added, glancing over at me.

“I did.” I smiled. “You got that it factor the industry’s missing. So, I’ll pass your number along to him so y’all can handle business. I don’t gotta be the middleman. You feel me?”

“Yeah, but… what about my size, though?” she said, quieter now.

I paused for a second and made sure she heard me clearly. “Ain’t shit wrong with it. I love it. So many fans gon’ love you just as you are. I swear, you got it. You’re pretty as hell, and your vocals can blow some of these OG vets out of the water.”

She smiled. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

She leaned in for a hug, then caught herself halfway. “Oop, there I go again, reaching for a hug without even checking if it’s okay.”

“You good,” I told her.

She leaned in anyway, and our faces got close, closer than either of us probably meant for them to get. Our eyes caught each other for a second before I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her the rest of the way in, her arms going around my neck and holding on tight for a good lil’ minute. When we finally pulled apart, I grabbed my phone off the coffee table.

“Let me hit him up,” I said, “so he can make sure all that’s scheduled and squared away with my assistant, the stylist, and the station too. Plus, we can get them questions ahead of time and know how we wanna answer them.”

“I’m nervous,” she admitted.

I reached over and took her hand. “Just like you got my back, I got yours, love.”

“Thank you.”

After a minute, she stood up while I was already dialing Derez, the phone pressed to my ear as I waited for him to pick up.

“You hungry?” she asked, heading toward the kitchen.

“What you got?”

“Noodles.”

“What kind?” I quizzed.

“Soy sauce.”

“I don’t think I ever had them.”

“Boy, you don’t even know what you’re missing,” she said, laughing a little.

“I’ll try it, though…you gon’ hook it up?”

“Uh… hook it up how?” She placed her hand on her hip.

“Like boiled eggs, green onions, shrimp, a lil’ seasoning, all that shit.”

“Boy, no. I don’t do all that. I just eat the noodles as is.”

I laughed. “Cool. Well, I’ll take a bowl. And then I gotta dip, get back to King, make sure he’s straight, and handle a few other things.”

“Understood.”

She headed into the kitchen, and I watched her from where I sat as she moved around, grabbing bowls out of the cabinet, then filling a pot with water and setting it on the stove to boil.