Page 57 of The Workaholic Down the Hall

I'd taken a longer than usual shower, but it had still been less than half an hour, and Noah was already gone. Sophie had started screaming and he'd passed her off to May and left. I shouldn't have been disappointed, but I was. I still kept hoping…And I needed to move on, to get over it.

I hurried to May, already lifting my shirt, and took Sophie from her. The tiny baby latched right on and started eating. I held her tight and sat on the couch, getting as comfortable as I could. “Do you think she's not getting enough to eat?”

May shook her head. “She was three pounds heavier at her appointment yesterday than she was the day she was born. She's getting enough to eat.”

I nodded, wishing I knew someone who'd been through this. Nora would help, but I hated to bother her when she was busy with a full house at the bed and breakfast and getting ready to have the whole family over for Thanksgiving. “Thanks for taking her. I guess Noah had to get back to work?”

May smiled, her eyes lighting. “No, he's in the kitchen. He's putting away the groceries and cleaning up. He said something about fixing something for dinner, too.”

“Wow. That's nice of him.” I stomped down the flare of hope that this meant something, that he was sticking around.

May nodded. “I'll just go see if he needs any help.”

She left and I laid my head on the back of the couch. I could close my eyes for a minute while Sophie nursed.

I woke in my own bed, the room dimly lit by the setting sun. I glanced over to see Sophie asleep in her bassinet, her little hands closed in tight fists as she slept. The only explanation was that Noah had moved us. I considered getting up and finding Noah, if he was still there, but I had an opportunity to sleep and I was going to take it. I had things I needed to work out with Noah, but Sophie would need me in a couple hours and I wanted to be awake and alert for her.

I snuggled down, rolled over, and went back to sleep.

***

I'd finally gotten Sophie to sleep and was about to roll over and go to sleep myself, when someone knocked at the front door. I groaned at the clock. It was barely eight in the morning. Who the hell was at the door?

My heart leapt with something like hope that it might be Noah, but I stomped that down. He was probably back in Atlanta already.

Except, he wasn't. He was standing on my porch. And he walked right in when I opened the door. “You look exhausted,” he said. “Did you get any sleep?” Of course, he looked amazing, well-rested and comfortable in jeans and a button-down shirt, the sleeves rolled to reveal his strong forearms.

“No. Sophie decided to stay up all night.” I didn't move out of his way or gesture him inside, I needed some answers. “Why are you here? Shouldn't you be in Atlanta?”

“I'm moving to Catalpa Creek.”

I must have been way more tired than I'd realized because I was hallucinating. “What?”

“I'm moving to Catalpa Creek. I guess you could say I've already moved, though I don't have a permanent address, yet.”

“But, I thought…What about the company?”

“You should go to bed. Is Sophie sleeping?”

“Yes, but—”

“Just go to sleep. We can talk when you wake up.” He gave me a little shove. “Go, before she wakes up.”

I couldn't argue with that logic. I shrugged and went back to bed

I woke to Sophie's cries three hours later. I changed her diaper and carried her out to the living room where I found Noah and May talking quietly. At least they were until I walked into the room with a screaming infant. I sat on the sofa and stuck my boob in her mouth as quickly as I could. I had no shame at that point, besides Noah had seen me naked before.

“How was your night?” May asked.

“Sophie's a bit confused about when it's daytime and when it's nighttime,” I said. “The books said that could happen.”

“You can't keep going on this way,” Noah said. “You should try her on the bottle again so May and I can help out.”

“Right,” I said. “Because you're moving to Catalpa Creek?”

Noah's smile did things to my insides and my outsides. Dangerous things. “That's right. I've got a lot of free time so don't hesitate to ask for help.” He glanced at May. “In fact, I was just telling May I should probably move in here.”

He was joking. He had to be joking. Except, he wasn't smiling and May didn't look amused. “I understand that you want to see more of Sophie, but you're welcome here any time. There's no reason for you to move in.”

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