Treat Me (One Night with Sole Regret 8)

“What kind of a monkey is that?” Jacob asked Margie as the small dark brown animal climbed down from her perch and settled at Amanda’s feet. Jojo curled her long tail around her body. She looked up at Amanda and then glanced at Julie before finding the tip of her tail uncommonly interesting. The monkey began to pick at her fur with tiny black fingers.

“She’s a capuchin. They’re very intelligent.” Margie patted his back. “And friendly.”

Amanda sat on a cement step inside the cage and Jojo climbed into her lap, immediately settling into Amanda’s arms and snuggling into her chest for a hug. Amanda stroked her thick fur and murmured to her in soothing tones. “Do you want to meet Julie?” Amanda asked the monkey.

As if the animal could understand her, she lifted her head and peered at the child waiting just outside her cage. She reached toward Julie with a paw that looked remarkably human and vocalized softly. Julie smiled and mimicked the sound. “Ooo.”

“You can come in now, Julie,” Amanda said.

Margie helped Julie through the cage door and shut her inside.

Chapter Eight

Amanda kept a soothing hand on the back of Jojo’s shoulder as Julie took timid steps in her direction. She didn’t fear that the monkey would bite or scratch, but she might get excited enough to jump in Julie’s arms and accidentally knock her over.

“Come sit beside me,” Amanda instructed as she patted the patch of bare cement next to her hip. She glanced at Jacob, who’d stepped forward to stand just outside the cage, watching his daughter walk closer to where Amanda sat with Jojo on her lap. She could sense his anxiety even though she couldn’t see his eyes through his sunglasses, but it meant a lot to her that he trusted her with Julie. She knew how much Julie meant to him and how important it was that she was safe and happy. If not for his desire to make Julie happy, Amanda wasn’t sure Jacob would have allowed her into a cage with a baby bunny.

Julie sat on the cement step, her blue eyes wide and fixed on Jojo, who had shifted away from Amanda so she could examine the newest intruder in her dwelling. Julie lifted a trembling hand toward Jojo, and the monkey scurried onto her lap. Julie’s eyes widened when Jojo wrapped both arms around her narrow chest and hugged her. Jojo’s fluffy cream-colored eyebrows rose expressively, as if to ask Amanda, “Am I doing this right?”

“You can hug her back,” Amanda said. “She likes you.”

After a lengthy embrace from Julie, Jojo scurried up her tree and grabbed something from her platform. In an instant she was back on the ground and dropping a slice of apple on Julie’s lap.

“She’s giving you a gift,” Amanda explained.

“Don’t eat it,” Jacob warned as Julie picked up the slice of apple and eyed the browning piece of fruit with disgust.

“Jojo, get your ball,” Amanda said.

Jojo had been trained to retrieve lots of objects while caring for her human in her former role. She ignored all the other objects in her enclosure and picked up a small red ball, racing back toward Amanda on her hind legs as she carried it between her front paws.

“Give it to Julie,” Amanda said. Jojo paused and glanced at the child who was watching intently. “Yes, that’s Julie.”

The monkey vocalized a soft ooo ooo, and deposited the ball in Julie’s lap.

“Good girl!” Julie said.

Jojo moved to stand behind Julie and began grooming her pale-blond hair. Julie giggled and scrunched up her neck. “What is she doing?”

“She thinks you have bugs in your hair,” Jacob said from outside the cage.

The sound of his voice danced along Amanda’s nerve-endings. God, the man had an amazing voice. She couldn’t wait to get him alone later.

“She’s picking them out.”

“I don’t have bugs in my hair, silly.” Julie lifted her face to Amanda’s, the corners of her mouth drawn down. “I don’t, do I?”

Amanda tugged one of her silky curls. “I don’t think so. Jojo’s just checking to make sure.”

Julie giggled, melting her Aunt Mander into a pile of sappy goo. “Monkeys are silly.”

Julie certainly enjoyed Jojo’s silly antics as she retrieved the items Amanda and Julie requested. The capuchin watched them put objects inside different compartments of a small box. Amanda closed all the doors of the box, and Jojo had no problem opening the correct door to reveal whichever item she requested.

“She’s so smart,” Julie said. “I want to take her home.” She turned to her father. “Please, Daddy!”

Before Jacob could deny his daughter her request, Margie spoke up. “She has to stay here with us, sweetheart. But you can come with your aunt and visit her again. How does that sound?”

Julie’s lower lip quivered, but she pressed it against her upper lip and nodded. “We have to come here to be with Jojo all the time, Aunt Mander. She wants me as her best friend.” Julie reached her little hands out to the monkey, and Jojo dashed into her arms to give her another hug, picking imaginary nits out of Julie’s hair over her shoulder.

“We’ll come visit when we can. School will be starting soon.”

“I love school,” Julie said.

Amanda glanced over her shoulder at Jacob. She had yet to bring up Leah’s class to him. She wasn’t sure if he’d be grateful or annoyed that she’d weaseled him onto the roster. He looked kind of lonely outside the enclosure without them. Or maybe he was just interested in what they were doing. How could she tell with his eyes hidden behind his shades? Those things needed to go.

“Jojo,” Amanda said, “go get glasses.”

Jojo knew this command well since her previous owner had often requested her glasses. Jojo hopped off Julie’s lap and looked around for the requested object. Amanda pointed at Jacob, who was standing against the fence, clinging to the wires with both hands. He was so close that the tip of his nose was actually inside the cage. Jojo dashed toward him, climbed the cage, and before he could stop her, reached through the fence and pulled the sunglasses off his face.

“Hey,” Jacob protested.

Jojo offered a sheepish grin and raced off holding his sunglasses over her head. She promptly dropped them in Amanda’s lap.

“Good girl, Jojo!” Amanda said, stroking her head. “He looks much better without them.”

Julie laughed. “She took Daddy’s glasses.”

“Little thief,” Jacob accused, but he was smiling.

It took them a long while to coax Julie out of the cage. She didn’t want to say goodbye to her new friend. “I will miss her so much,” Julie said.

Jacob swung her into his arms and tugged her against his broad chest, one strong, masculine hand gently cradling the back of her head. Amanda tripped over her feet as she watched them. What was it about daddies protecting their little girls that Amanda found so irresistibly sexy? When Julie had been an infant, Amanda’s ovaries had practically exploded every time she’d seen the man with his baby in his arms.

Suddenly, music declaring life in plastic as fantastic blared from Amanda’s cellphone and she scowled at the sound of her sister’s ringtone. It was as if Tina knew Amanda was coveting her family and needed to put a stop to such thoughts at once.

“What’s up?” Amanda answered.

“Brenda can’t make it to lunch, so I thought maybe you’d like to join me. Get out of the house for a while.”

Tina was under the impression that Amanda left her house only to jump at Tina’s whims or, during the school year, to go to work.

“I can’t make it. I’m busy today.”

“Is that Mommy?” Julie asked. She must have recognized the “Barbie World” ringtone. Crap!

Amanda grimaced and cupped her hand around the bottom of her phone to muffle sound.

“I want to tell her about Jojo!” Julie squealed excitedly.

And when Julie did tell told her about Jojo, she’d undoubtedly mention she’d been with Amanda. And that Jacob was with them both.

“Is that Julie?” Tina asked.

Amanda’s grimace deepened. She wondered if it would be

better to come clean now or to convince Julie to keep a secret. Amanda was sure the child would try, but Julie was much too excited about the monkey to keep her trip to the zoo from her mother for long.

“Yeah. I was volunteering at the zoo today.” Amanda decided on the fly that a partial lie would be best. “And Jacob just happened to bring Julie by. I think she wants to talk to you about the monkey she saw. I’ll put her on.”

She handed the phone to Julie, who told her mother all about her adventure with Jojo, but didn’t—thank God—mention that Jacob and Amanda had arrived at the zoo together. Or that her aunt had a strange way of getting dirt in her eye whenever her daddy was near.