Page 25 of Daddy's Little Worker
“I don’t want your cars to get stolen or the tires slashed,” she pointed out. “Then how would you get home? The police won’t do anything if you call them.”
If that happened, she would feel guilty and invite him into her apartment until his ride came. It probably wasn’t the wisest idea to tell him the police wouldn’t come. She didn’t have firsthand knowledge of it, but one of her neighbors told her it was a bad street and the cops avoided it at all costs.
She understood why.
“No one is going to steal my car or slash the tires. We will only be but a couple of seconds to get you up to your apartment.” Noah placed his hand on the small of her back. “Now come on, you need to get to sleep.”
Sighing, she started to walk toward the stairs.
“You aren’t taking the elevator?” Noah asked.
She shook her head. “Not at this time of night. Not if you want to take the chance to get stuck and you have to wait until morning to get out.”
“Baby,” he mumbled.
Frankie dragged her feet up the stairs, every step harder than the last. How had she done this before? How had she managed to get up the stairs when she was exhausted all those times?
She waved her hand in the air. “I don’t have experience. I’ve just heard someone get stuck in there. I tried to help, but thelandlord said there was nothing to be done until the next day. The firefighters wouldn’t even come to help.”
Which was odd, but she figured it was just like the cops. They didn’t want to be in this part of town if they could avoid it. The person didn’t die in the elevator that night. Frankie would have passed out and probably peed herself if she got stuck in there. That was why she took the stairs, not wanting to take a chance on it.
“You aren’t helping your case,” Noah growled, picking her up.
Shrieking, she wrapped her arms around his neck to hold herself up.
“I’m not going to let you hit the ground,” he grumbled. “I’m insulted you think I would let that happen.”
“I don’t know you that well?” she mumbled in more of a question.
It was a natural instinct for her to wrap her arms around his neck, especially when he caught her off guard. What did he expect her to do?
Nothing?
Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen for anyone.
“Which one is your apartment?” he asked.
“Two hundred and two,” she replied, closing her eyes for a second as he continued to climb the stairs.
She could easily fall asleep in his arms right now.
“I’ve got you,” he whispered. “We’re almost there.”
She wanted him to continue to walk around, holding her in his arms so she could fall asleep. She knew he would grow tired, but she felt safe in his arms.
“We’re here.” he carefully placed her on the ground.
Sighing, she pulled out her keys and turned to him. “Thank you so much for walking me up. I hope nothing happened to your car.”
Noah bent down, kissing her forehead. “It’s fine.”
“How—”
“You don’t need to worry about it. Now, I want you to get inside, lock the door, and get straight into bed. Dominic will be here at ten to pick you up.”
“Oh, I don’t need to be in that late,” she pointed out. “I can come in at the regular time.”
She wanted to be in at the regular time. What was she supposed to do until then? She couldn’t play with Lita or color because she feared she’d fall into Little space and not get to work on time. Dominic was going to pick her up, but what if she didn’t hear her phone go off and he came upstairs? No. She couldn’t do that, and she wouldn’t be able to sleep in either.
