Page 18 of A Little Christmas 4: Teller
After a moment, I pushed him back a few steps, stood, and kissed his forehead. “Good. Let’s get going. We need to go to the bank and then get you some food. We’ll make a list of groceries you want while we’re eating, and I’ll shop for you on Friday while you’re at work. I’ll pick you up after you get off from— How will you get from Bloomfield’s to O’Malley’s on Friday afternoon?”
“I’ll take the bus. The stop is in front of the store and drops me off down the block from O’Malley’s.”
God, he was going to be exhausted after working such a long day. “Okay. I’ll pick you up from the pub and bring the groceries with me to your apartment.” His brow furrowed, and I could see he wasn’t sure how to respond.
I reached out to caress the side of his neck. “You are important to me. I want to take care of you and make sure you have everything you need to thrive because I care for you very much.”
“Thank you.” Teller’s lips touched mine, and my world was exactly as it should be.
I anxiously paced the sidewalk outside Bloomfield’s as the employees drifted out at midnight. I saw Barrett’s Lexus park a few spots down from me, so I walked toward him.
“Who knew we’d be on taxi duty?” I joked.
Barrett laughed. “My little girl can’t drive. She doesn’t want me to teach her right now because she has one more semester of school, and she insists on doing it by herself.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know if Teller can drive. If he can, I’ll get him a car and the two of them can carpool together.”
Barrett returned my shrug. “Are you official yet?”
That was a good damn question. “I’m not sure. I’ll buy it through the company and issue it to you. You can do as you wish. If Teller can drive and has a license, then he can drive the two of them around. If he doesn’t, then we’ll get them a driver until one of them learns.” Seemed logical to me.
More and more employees streamed out of the building, but our two littles were nowhere to be found. “We can have brunch on Sunday, if you’re free.” Since Teller would be working, I needed something to fill my time because I was pretty sure I’d be a whiny bitch.
“Sure. Maizie works Sunday through Wednesday, and has classes on Thursday evenings, though they’re on break this week. She’s planning to do an intense study session, and I’ve already been told I’ll be in the way. I’m not doing anything anyway.” Barrett’s frown told me he also wasn’t happy about the hours Maizie and Teller worked.
“Why don’t you just pay for her schooling? Wouldn’t that free up more time for the two of you?” Again, it seemed like a logical solution.
Barrett laughed. “Oh, you think it’s that easy? I know Teller. Why don’t you tell him to quit his job at O’Malley’s and let you give him money to cover the salary and tips he makes on the weekends?”
“We just started our relationship. You’ve been seeing Maizie for a year, at least, right?” I thought that was what he’d told me.
“Yes, I have. I want to marry her, but she has threatened that if I ask before she has her degree, she’ll stop seeing me. Oh, here they come,” Barrett said as he pointed toward the side door of the store, where Maizie and Teller were exiting.
“Does Maizie happen to have a key to Teller’s apartment? I’d like to get him something he needs for Christmas, but I didn’t have the chance to really look around. Do you think she’d let me in for a little bit while he’s working so I can figure out sizes and look around to see—”
“You mean snoop?”
I was trying to be more eloquent than that, but, bottom line, he was right. “Yeah, in a word.”
“I’ll ask her. If she lets me pay for her school, I’ll buy the car, and the two of them can use it. If she doesn’t, you’re buying.”
I nodded. “Deal.”
“Hey, baby girl, how was your evening?” Barrett asked as he pulled Maizie into his arms and kissed the top of her head. She was a five-foot beauty with long blonde hair and big blue eyes. Any straight guy would follow her around with his tongue hanging out, but I could see she only had eyes for Barrett.
“Teller, how about you? How was your evening?” I asked as I pulled his coat closed. I’d gone home after dropping him off and was wearing an ivory hoodie with black jeans and a puffy vest, and Teller was wearing a navy pea coat that he’d had in his closetat his apartment. I’d prodded him to bring the coat, reminding him it was much cooler at night after the sun went down, and I was happy to see him wearing it.
“Busy. People are absolutely insane. We didn’t even get to eat anything because we were so busy. I helped Maizie clean out the dressing rooms in the women’s department so she could leave. It was brutal,” Teller explained as he pressed his forehead to the middle of my chest.
I wrapped my arms around him and kissed the top of his head. “I’ll order in some food if you want. I’m not sure if anything’s open, but if there’s a place you want to try, tell me.”
“Ordering in sounds good, Briggs. Thank you.”
“Maizie, sweet girl, will you let me pay for your school so you don’t have to work here like this. You can space out your classes so you’re not so busy all the time, and I’ll take care of the expenses,” Barrett said as he held Maizie in his arms.
“Daddy, you know I love that you want to pay for my school, but I need to do it myself. It’ll only be a few more months, I swear.” She wrapped her arms around Barrett and buried her face in his chest. He stared at me over the top of her head and smirked, the fucker.
“Can you drive, Teller?” I asked as I guided him over to my Mercedes, giving Barrett the finger behind my back. He was a cocky fucker, but he knew his little girl.
