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“Jenna, I’m so sorry.” I reach out to take her in my arms but catch myself before making contact.
“It’s okay. It’s not like you are intentionally making people do this. I guess it just comes with the territory of being associated with someone famous.”
“It does but it shouldn’t have to be,” I mutter, disgusted with people.
“It is what it is. At least I’m growing thick skin,” she responds before walking over to help Avery.
Jenna already has walls guarding her heart. I don’t need her to become hard and bitter as well.
We spend another hour exploring the museum and then stop at a pizzeria so I can experience what true Chicago deep dish pizza tastes like. After that, we had some time to kill before our water taxi, so I took the girls on theCentennial Wheelat Navy Pier.
“Look Mommy, there’s our building.” Avery points out the window as we reach the top, giving us a 360-degree view of Chicago and Lake Michigan. Jenna’s views from her condo are magnificent and I make a mental note to try to find a house on the lake if I can. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by what I’ve seen so far of Chicago, and I’m convinced that the permanent transition here from London will be easier than anticipated.
Once the ride is done, we make our way through Navy Pier to the dock for our water taxi. A manager is waiting by the entrance to greet us and escorts us to our boat. After we board, Jenna looks around the empty vessel before asking, “Where’s everyone else?”
I smile sheepishly at her and give her a boyish smile. “I might’ve called ahead of time and reserved a private boat for us.”
She shakes her head, a small smile playing on her lips. “Of course you did,” she mutters but her smile fades, and she looks around once more. “Actually, it will be nice to not have people filming us for once while out and about, so thank you. That was a really thoughtful thing to do.”
“I would do anything for you, Jenna. You just say the word.” I stare into her eyes, holding her gaze for a moment before she swallows, nods and looks down at Avery, asking where she wants to sit.
“Cal’s lap!” she exclaims, and I can’t stop the big, satisfied smile that spreads across my face. Jenna chuckles and tells Avery to pick our seats. We get settled and the captain proceeds to steer the boat away from the dock.
For forty-minutes, we get enraptured with the captain talking about the city’s history and pointing out landmark buildings. As the boat circles back to Navy Pier, I feel Avery’s arms go limp and I tighten my hold around her.
“She’s asleep,” Jenna whispers and looks up at me with a smile. I grin back at her and put a kiss on top of Avery’s head.
“This has been one of the best weeks of my life, Jenna. Thank you for that.”
“You don’t need to thank me, Cal. I’m happy to see you want to be involved.”
“Of course I want to be involved. I wish I could spend every waking moment with her…and you.” A gust of wind whips off the lake, causing Jenna’s hair to blow in her face. I move my hand, grabbing the hair between my fingers while I caress her cheek before gently pushing her hair behind her ear.
“Cal,” she whispers in a small warning. I drop my hand and give her a sad smile, hating this barrier between us. I take a deep breath, figuring this is the perfect moment for me to ask about next week.
“I want to ask a huge favor from you. Can I keep Avery home from school all next week as well?”
She doesn’t say anything at first. Just bites her lip and looks down at Avery, contemplating my request. “What do you have in mind?”
“I can come get her before your first appointment in the mornings and take her to the Aquarium, the Zoo...basically all her favorite places that I can experience with her. We would be back in time to meet you for dinner. Unless you want to join us and take the whole week off as well? I know Robert can run everything with his eyes closed.” I give her a mischievous grin that would rival The Grinch’s and she laughs. Watching Jenna laugh makes my fingers twitch with the urge to tangle them in her hair and crush her pretty little mouth to mine.
She shakes her head at me with a smile. “While I can’t take the whole week off, I might be able to make it a long weekend and take Thursday and Friday off. Let me just check my schedule and confirm with Robert first.”
I’m fucking ecstatic to see that Jenna is willing to take any time off to be alone with us. I nod at her with satisfaction and know that with a little bit of time, Jenna will start trusting me completely.
