Page 34 of Daddy's Little Worker
But Frankie’s finger didn’t hit the call button. She knew he said to text or call him anytime, but she didn’t want to be a burden. What if something happened to him or Noah and she didn’t know about it? What if she interrupted something really important?
She groaned and looked up from her phone. Now she couldn’t call Noah. Not when she could be interrupting something or bothering him by calling.
Frankie sat down at the bus station, waiting for the bus to come. She should text Noah and let him know she would be late. She owed him at least that. But before she could text him, his name popped up on the screen.
“H-hello?” she whispered.
“Frankie, where are you?” His panicked voice came through the speakers. “Tell me where you are and I’ll come pick you up.”
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“Frankie. Where are you?” he asked again.
“I’m at the bus station close to my apartment,” she told him.
What was going on? Why did he sound worried?
“Stay right there. I’m almost to you,” he said and hung up.
Frankie looked down at her phone, confused. Did she miss something? Why did he want to know where she was?
“Frankie.” Noah sounded urgent when he arrived in his car. “Get in the car.”
She did as he’d said, putting on her seatbelt before turning to him. “What’s wrong?”
“Dominic had an emergency this morning and couldn’t come pick you up. When I got to your apartment, you weren’t outside, so I knocked on your door, but someone told me you had already left. I checked the cameras and you had. I didn’t know where you were,” he explained, tenderly touching her face. “I was worried about you.”
“Oh,” she whispered, not knowing what else to say.
Silence filled the car as they stared at each other.
“Why didn’t you text me? Call me?” he asked.
Guilt festered in her stomach. “I was going to, and then I didn’t want to bother you. I thought Dominic’s not coming was important and you were probably helping.”
“Darling, never. No matter what you call or text me when you need or want to, understand? I will stop everything for you,” he gently said.
Noah was confusing her. He was acting all sweet and caring toward her, but he was her boss. He hadn’t said anything about not dating employees or the owners, but she figured it was an unspoken rule.
Did he want a relationship with her? Or was he always this worried about everyone who worked for him?
Frankie hadn’t seen him interact with many other employees to know.
“I want you to need me,” Noah confessed. “I want you to call me when you need something. Or even just when you want to talk to someone. I want you to call me when you are unsure about something. I want to be there for you.”
Frankie blinked several times as she stared at him. Did he really just say that, or were her ears playing tricks on her?
“I know that was a lot to listen to, but just know you can call or text me at any point. You will not bother me,” he reminded her. “Now, let’s get to work.”
And just like that, he turned around and started to drive. She must have heard him wrong. There was no way he’d just told her he wanted her to need him and then said they were going to work. It was like he was dangling a carrot in front of her, and when she reached for it, he’d taken it away.
Frankie relaxed in her seat as much as she could. Noah was giving her whiplash, and she didn’t know how to cope with it. What was she supposed to say?
They drove to the club in silence the whole way. She could see him looking at her out of her peripheral vision, but she didn’t dare look at him.
“Are you okay?” Noah asked.
She nodded. “I’m fine.”
