Page 66 of That First Night
“Who said shit about love?”
If I was taking a sip of water, I would have spit it out at the words that just came out of her mouth. My eyes go wide. “You really need to stop hanging out with Avery. She’s bad for you.”
“She’s so good for the soul and she keeps me young,” she laughs. “Stop avoiding the conversation. Does this have anything to do with that adorable boy’s dad?” I don’t even answer her because there's no point in lying to her. I turn my head as I grab the kitchen rag and wipe down the counter. “I had a feeling,” she adds when I don’t give her an answer.
“What do you want me to say, huh?” I throw my hands in the air. “It’s so frustrating, Gigi. He’s my boss. I’m technically his employee. There’re other people to think about.” I tip my head towards the living room to indicate that James is the other person. “I live in the same house as him. He does the most perfect things. I can tell he cares deep down. But what do I do? Lose my job because the guy is swoony and perfect and all the things I want in a man? He’s straight out of a romance novel, Gigi.”
“That’s exactly what you do,” she says without hesitation.
“That’s the worst idea you've ever had.”
“Peyton.” She moves to stand up. “I haven’t seen you in a hot minute. But since the last time I saw you, you’re downright glowing. I can see happiness radiating off of you. Sex does that,” she adds with a little wiggle of her eyebrow.
“Stop it.” I raise my hand to her. “I’m not talking about sex with you.”
“Listen to me, you deserve this, Peyton,” she pauses as if she’s trying to gather her thoughts. “Your grandfather, he was my boss. Did you know that?”
“I had no idea.”
“He was.” She nods. “We worked in the same bank together and he was the branch owner. We both fought our feelings off for a long time. I was so insanely attracted to him that it was very difficult. I didn’t realize his feelings were the same until he asked me out for drinks one night after work. I reluctantly agreed and sparks flew from the first night. We were inseparable and couldn’t keep our hands off each other after that.”
“But did you lose your job?”
“I didn’t.” She shakes her head. “But I did leave the job. I know it’s a different situation than you because we worked for a bank and you’re the nanny working in his house. But I did leave the job and I was the happiest I'd ever been.”
“I can’t lose this job, Gigi,” I sigh. “It’s helping me build myself back up from the hole I had to put myself in after Mom and Dad died.”
“Your situation is so different, honey,” she sounds like she’s pleading with me. “You deserve to be happy. You deserve to go after what you want. If he’s what you want, then you two need to work together to make it happen. I love you so much, Peyton. I’m so proud of you but you can’t let your past relationships dictate your future ones. Not every man out there is the same. From listening to that boy speak, I can already tell his father is different. On so many levels, honey. That boy is being raised right.”
My gaze falls to the floor. Deep down, I know she knows what she’s saying. I think there’s a piece of me that is always going to fear the next step with anyone. I know she’s right about Thomas based on her interaction with James alone. He’s a direct reflection of who he is being raised by. “Thank you, Gigi.”
“Always, sweetheart.”
“Are you all settled here?” I ask her to change the subject. “We have to get going before traffic gets too crazy. Kali and Avery are coming to the penthouse today too.”
“I’m all good, honey. The groceries and little surprises you had delivered at the crack of dawn today are more than enough. Now you give those girls big hugs and kisses for me.” She smiles. “I miss my other granddaughters.”
Groceries delivered?I didn’t have anything delivered to her today. Maybe it’s Avery. I will have to ask her about it later. “They miss you too, Gigi.”
I spent the next twenty minutes after that conversation cleaning up the place from the mess that we all made on our visit. James loved coloring with her and seeing her place. His coloring is a typical three-year-old. Messy and perfectly imperfect but Gigi loves that. She even hung all four of them on her fridge.
Grabbing our things, James puts his hand in mine and my heart melts a little more. “You ready to go, bud?”
“I guess.” He shrugs. “I had so much fun here today.”
“You’re welcome here anytime, James,” Gigi says to him.
“Thank you so much, Mrs.,” he pauses because he’s not sure what to call her.
“Gigi,” she says. “Just call me Gigi, honey.”
“Thank you so much, Gigi,” James says. His face lights up that he’s able to call her that.
I move to hug my grandma. “See you soon.”
“Love you, sweetheart.”
“Love you too, Gigi.”
