Page 56 of More Than Friends

She rubs her lips together before a slow smile spreads across her mouth.

Those lips.

The ones I’m desperate to kiss again.

I want her to smile at me just like she is right now, but instead of seeing it, I want to feel it against my own lips.

I want so many things when it comes to her.

“Did I wake you up?” she asks, keeping her voice quiet.

I shake my head. The movement makes my glasses shift on my face, reminding me that I was even wearing them at all. “No, you didn’t. You just get home?”

Charlotte nods and takes a step into my office. “Yeah. It was so quiet, and I couldn’t find you. Didn’t expect to find you fast asleep at your desk with Ava in tow.”

A small rumble of a laugh leaves my chest as I look down at Ava. Charlotte’s been working hard at getting Ava on a sleep schedule, and she’s supposed to sleep in her crib, but she wasn’t having it today. “I promise I tried putting her in her bed. She kept screaming instead of sleeping, and I needed to get some work done, so I let her sleep on me instead.”

Charlotte tilts her head to the side. “Which led to you sleeping too?”

I shrug. “I was trying to at least catch up on my emails, but apparently, my lack of sleep caught up to me, and the emails finished the job.”

“Speaking of you working, I had an idea while at work today, and I want you to listen to it before you tell me no.” She steps farther into my office before leaning against the edge of my desk.

I smile, unable to resist messing with her. “No.”

Charlotte’s mouth falls open. “I told you to listen before you told me no.” She keeps her voice barely above a whisper, but even so, I can tell that she isn’t amused by me immediately saying no.

My smile grows. “If you’re telling me to listen before saying no, then I already know I’m not going to like whatever you’re about to say.”

She purses her lips and narrows her eyes. “Jude, you’re going to listen to the one thing—no, actually,twothings—I have to say before saying no.” With every word she says, she leans in closer as she continues to scold me.

God, I love messing with her. I resist the urge to point out the truth: with her this close to me, I think I’d agree to anything. “I’ll listen, but I bet the answer is still going to be no,” I finally get out. I try to ignore the way in which my heart races at our close proximity. Yet again, I’m thankful for my infant daughter being between us so I don’t do anything I shouldn’t.

Charlotte pouts for a minute before leaning back slightly. She tosses her hair over her shoulder. “So, I’ve been thinking…”

I adjust my position in my office chair, my hands resting against Ava’s back as I make sure she stays snug against my chest with the movement. “I’m nervous,” I admit with a laugh.

“I know you said you were going to look into a nanny for Ava, but you haven’t, and what you’re doing now isn’t working. You need to be able to work without worrying about Ava as well.”

I frown because I wasn’t expecting her to lecture me on this. I meant it when I said I’d look for a nanny; I’ve just been putting it off. I’ve only been in Ava’s life for almost a month. It feels wrong to hand her off to some stranger while I work. I don’t know how people find childcare, but I’m just not ready to leave her with anyone but me or Charlotte.

“Char.” Her name comes out more as a warning than I was expecting it to. I quietly clear my throat in an attempt to make my next words softer. “I promise I’m handling it. I can watch her and get my work done too. I don’t need a nanny.”

Charlotte nods in understanding. Her gaze rakes over my face for a moment before she opens her mouth to speak. “I understand you’re not ready to hire a nanny yet, and to be honest, I can’t imagine just leaving Ava girl with someone random anyway, but you still help run an entire company, Jude. You need help.”

“I don’t need help. I’ve got it.” I try to lace as much conviction as I can into my words, hoping that gets her to believe me.

“You do need help. Most weeks, I only work Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Let me watch Ava at least a few weekdays while you work.”

“No.”

She lets out an adorable little huff. “What did I say about saying no?”

“I listened to your idea and then said no. I’m not making you watch my daughter for me so I can work on your days off. You work long days all weekend and deserve your days off.”

“I spend them with you and Ava anyway.”

I grind my teeth together as I think of how to respond. She has a point. She typically spends her days off with us, butI’ve tried telling her not to. I don’t want her to feel like she’s responsible for Ava. It isn’t her job to watch her. “You’re not using your days off to watch Ava.”