Page 121 of Is It Casual Now?

It didn’t take long for Harley to fall back asleep. Siena uncurled herself from Harley’s body, waiting to make sure her daughter remained peacefully asleep, and slid out to find Jamie. She found her in the kitchen, leaning against the island counter and flipping through a gossip magazine.

“You really are obsessed with the tabloids, aren’t you?”

“Of course. Who couldn’t love the drama?” Jamie looked up, a smile wide but natural over her face. “Is Harley okay?”

“Yeah. Are you sure it’s okay I stay in there tonight?”

“Of course,” Jamie said, eyebrows narrowed as though trying to work out why Siena would even question that. “And I know she didn’t mean Mommy Jamie when she said it before, but it sounded so adorable.”

“Look at you liking kids.”

“Nope.” Jamie shook her head as she wrapped her arms around Siena’s body, Siena’s arms instantly going around Jamie’s neck. “I don’t like kids. But I do like Harley, and Rebel is a total hoot.”

“Rebel is crazy.”

“I know.” Jamie laughed. “That’s what I love about her. My mini me in the making.”

“You can only hope. God, I love you.”

“I love you, too. Now go make sure that cute kid of yours is okay. She needs her mommy, and she needs to know she’s never second place to anyone.”

Siena hadn’t really understood how amazing Jamie was about her parental responsibilities, but that one sentence made things fit into place a whole lot more.

“You aren’t second place, either. You know that, right?”

“I know.” Jamie smiled. “You’ve never made me feel like I am.”

“Good.” Siena returned to Harley’s room, curling around her daughter and ensuring she got some nightmare-free sleep.

thirty-eight

“Shit, Jamie’s home early. This is definitely the way to go. All right, you’re the best. Bye.”

Jamie heard Siena’s rushed words as she opened the door. Despite how easily Siena had brushed Jamie’s concerns away without making her feel unheard, something was definitely going on, and the panic building in Jamie’s chest threatened to overwhelm her.

Today of all days. And work had gotten weird and even a little uncomfortable. Jamie loved her job, most of the time, but there was something going on between Ingrid and her business partner and Jamie got the impression it wasn’t good. The tension between the two of them was filtering through the office, and the vibe had gotten harder to ignore.

“Babe.” Siena’s face bloomed into excitement to see Jamie, but her words still echoed through Jamie’s head.

“Who were you talking to on the phone?”

“Work stuff, nothing important.”

“It didn’t sound like work stuff.” Jamie knew she sounded like a petulant child, but today had been harder than she had expected.

“I promise, I’ll tell you all about it after dinner, but right now…” Siena walked over to the couch and from behind it she pulled a beautiful bouquet of flowers. “Happy birthday, babe.”

“Oh my God.” Jamie laughed at the sheer size of the bouquet. “It’s as big as my head.”

“Well, it’s a rose for every month.”

“Every month of my life?” Jamie laughed again, struggling to hold the weight of the thing when Siena handed it to her.

“No.” Siena wrapped her arms around Jamie’s waist, leaning back from the flowers between them. “Every month since we first met.”

“Oh.” Jamie blinked and stared at the arrangement of different colored roses she held in her arms.

“I love you, Jamie, and ever since that moment, my life has changed.”

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