Page 35 of A Little Naughty

She chews her lip, looking back and forth from me to where Nikki is walking on without her. “I’ll text you, and we’ll figure something out. I had a really great time last night.”

Heat spreads through my chest, causing the corner of my mouth to rise. “Me too.”

“Okay.” She blinks rapidly, her smile growing, and she turns, hustling after Nikki.

I take a few steps backwards, watching her cute little ass shake before turning and walking to Martha’s.

CHAPTER9

JEMIMA

“Your face is all red.” Nikki squints at me when I catch up to her. “You like him.”

“My face is all red because you made me run to catch up with you.”

“Whatever.” She shakes her head like she’s so wise.

I catch her hand, swinging it in mine, happy I got to see him this morning, and he doesn’t seem angry or weird about what happened with Aiden.

“He is pretty hot.” I glance over at her. “What do you think?”

She turns, very obviously looking back at him, and I huff a laugh, glancing back as well and relieved to see he’s gone. “Don’t be subtle or anything.”

I elbow her in the shoulder, and she cracks a smile. “I like his hair. He has nice blue eyes.”

Most of the kids in Eureka walk to school, but there’s still a car line for the newer families moving in, who live farther away. As we get closer, I notice a big, cream-colored Cadillac SUV with shiny chrome pulling into the lot.

“Wow,” Nikki whispers. “Who’s that?”

“I have no idea.” My voice is equally quiet.

We watch a man in a gray suit with a stern expression climb out of the SUV and go around to help a little girl out of the side door. She’s wearing jeans and a fluffy white, faux-fur coat with a white fuzzy bucket hat. I’m pretty sure she’s also wearing Ugg boots.

“I like her hat,” Nikki says wistfully.

“I bet we can find you a hat like that.” I’m chewing my lip, wondering if this girl will be in Nikki’s class.

Nikki stops walking and turns to give me a quick hug. “I’ll see you this afternoon.”

She pulls away, walking faster, and I can tell she wants me to leave her here. I kind of hate it. I also get it.

“Have a great day!” I call after her. “You look awesome.”

She gives me a little wave, and hustles on to the building. I linger a few minutes longer, watching her go and wishing being a kid didn’t suck so much sometimes.

* * *

Piper isat the front desk when I get to work. “Is that profile of Dr. Andrews ready to go?” She’s digging around in front of the large computer. “These Valentine’s Day ads look really good, by the way. What’s this one?”

She points to the screen where two blocks of text are highlighted, and I groan. “I need to ask you about these. What do you think?”

Piper reads the first one aloud. “Dear Mary, You don’t need a spoonful of sugar to make me go down. Love, Bert.” Her eyes meet mine, and we both start to laugh. “Oh-kay?”

“What about this one?” I point to the second one, reading it aloud. “Dear Albus, Souls aren’t the only thing I suck. Love, Voldey.”

She puts her hand over her nose and snorts. “Definitely not!”

“Do you think they’re real? Maybe Adam’s pranking us?”

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