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Jay looks away, his jaw ticking.
“I’m sorry.” I blow out a breath. “Jay,” I plead, begging him to look at me.
He shakes his head. “You’re right. It’s my fault. Keeping you and Chloe safe is all that matters. Not my fucking ego and the bruising it takes when you’re out with someone else.”
Palming his face, I force him to look at me. “It’s like a business meeting. That’s it. You and Chloe, you’re my world.Only you.”
He leans in to my touch, his lashes fluttering as he settles into my confession.
When the phone on my desk rings, we both jolt at the sound, and Jay pulls back.
With a sigh, I pick it up. “Catherine James, how can I help you?”
“Hi, Ms. James, this is Mrs. McCormick. I’m the nurse at St. Luke’s Middle School. Chloe is in my office complaining of a stomachache.”
“Oh, okay. Does she need to come home?”
Jay’s eyes dart to mine, and worry etches itself in every line on his face.
“Do you want your mom to pick you up?” Mrs. McCormick asks, her voice quieter, like she’s pulled the phone away.
I listen for Chloe’s muffled response, and then she’s on the line. “Hi, Cat. It’s okay. You don’t have to pick me up if you’re busy.”
“I’m never too busy for you.”
Jay stands and looms over me with his hands on his hips.
“I think I can make it through the day, but do you think Jay could pick me up and stay with me tonight so I don’t have to go to Sophie’s? I don’t want to get anyone else sick.”
I have to fight to keep a grin from splitting my face in two. “You want Jay to pick you up?”
I lose my battle when surprise flashes across Jay’s face, and I full-on beam at him.
“If-if he’s free,” she hedges.
The man before me would cancel a meeting with the president for his daughter. I have no doubt. “I’m sure he’ll work it out,” I assure her. “You sure you can make it through the day?” I tease.
“Yeah, I’m feeling a little better, but I don’t want to risk it with all the kids.”
I hum. “Probably a good idea.”
“So he’ll pick me up?”
I smile. “Yeah, I’ll let the school know. Give me a call if things change and you want to come home sooner.”
When I hang up, Jay is laser focused on me and practically holding his breath, waiting for information.
“She wants you to pick her up and spend the evening with her.”
That shy grin hits me right in the heart. “Yeah?”
I laugh. “Yeah, she doesn’t like you at all,” I tease.
He settles in the chair beside me again and goes back to the waffle. Then he turns to me with a smile. “Bacon and eggs walk into a bar…”
I palm my face. “Oh my God.”
“The bartender says, ‘Get out of here! We don’t serve breakfast!’”
