A sound that vibrates inside of my soul.
“Go, Nova! Run!”
I jump from my chair, watching Nova kick the ball down the field. She’s laughing, her little legs carrying her as fast as they can go.
“Run, Nova, run!” She skids to a stop several feet from the goal, rears her leg back to kick, and the ball goes flying into the goal just as the whistle blows.
“They won!” I turn to Charlotte and then back toward the field.
Throwing her hands in the air, Nova runs straight into Noah’s waiting arms.
“Well, if that isn’t the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” Charlotte says, popping a Starburst into her mouth.
“So sexy.” I drop back onto my chair, watching Noah twirl his daughter. After a few seconds, she wiggles out of his hold and takes off to celebrate with her friends, leaving Noah and a few other men to clean up the bench after the game.
“So…”
I glance over at Charlotte. “What?”
“So how’s it going with naughty Noah and the kid?”
“Charlotte,” I hiss, looking around to make sure no one heard. “I never should’ve told you about that.”
It’s been five days since Noah and I made love. Late that night I snuck out of his room and out of the house. Noah wanted me to stay, but neither of us wanted to take the chance of Nova finding us in bed the next morning.
We’ve spent every evening together since.
We’ve had dinner, watched movies, played soccer. Nova and I gave each other manicures and, much to her delight, had an evening of playing dress-up. So while I’ve gotten to know Nova on a much deeper level, I haven’t been able to touch Noah. Turns out, the ultimate cock-blocker comes in the form of a five-year-old girl.
I’m not usually one to kiss and tell, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t squeal a few sexy details to Charlotte, who has been taunting me with them ever since.
“You’re right. You shouldn’t have. I’ll never look at that man the same way again.” Charlotte makes a purring sound, which turns into a chuckle when I shove my elbow into her arm. “Okay, fine,” she concedes, rubbing her bicep. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll stop.”
“Thank you.”
“So how are things with the cock-blocker?”
“Charlotte,” I hiss again. “Are you going to repeat every little thing I tell you?”
“No.” She shakes her head, tossing another Starburst into her mouth. “Not every little thing.”
“For the record, things are going fine.”
“So you’ve told her about the two of you?”
“No,” I say. “Not exactly.”
“There is no ‘not exactly.’ Either you have or you haven’t.”
“It’s not that easy,” I explain. “Nova is five, and she’s never seen her father date, so we’re going to take things slow. Plus, we’ve only known each other a few weeks. I’m sure there’s some sort of rule about these things.”
“There is no rule,” she proclaims around the sugary goodness in her mouth.
I snag a Starburst out of her lap. “Why do you only eat the pink ones?” I ask, popping a red one in my mouth.
“That’s a stupid question.”
“There is no such thing as a stupid question.”