A Daddy for Jacoby(28)
“Why not?”
Yeah, Gina, why not?
Whoa, where’d that come from?
As if she could read Justin’s mind, she looked at him, peering beneath long, dark lashes, and that pink blush he’d seen many times before was back on her cheeks.
Bewitching and innocent, what a combination.
“I have my own bed at home,” she said softly and then broke the spell by turning back to Jacoby. “And I have my own teddy bear who will wonder where I’ve gotten to.” She smiled and touched the kid’s stuffed bear on its black button nose.
“You have a teddy bear?” Jacoby asked. “Really?”
“Really. Now, tell me what you don’t like about the room. Maybe we can do something about it.”
Jacoby shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Justin pushed away his musings about Gina. He was sure the kid had something in mind, and equally sure he wasn’t about to admit it aloud.
“Hmmm, I wonder if having curtains on the windows might make it easier to fall asleep,” Gina said, before taking another sip of her hot chocolate.
Curtains?
Justin studied the room’s two windows. They looked like all the others in the cabin. Less than a month old, double-paned for better insulation and uncovered. He preferred them that way. After spending seven years never looking out a pane of glass that didn’t include bars or security threads running through it, he needed to see the surrounding woods without obstruction.
“There’s nothing out there but trees and the lake,” he said.
“And animals,” Jacoby added softly.
“It’s going to bother you if a deer or a raccoon sees you in your pajamas?”
The kid hesitated and then jerked his head in a quick nod. Justin started to roll his eyes, but a stern look from Gina stopped him.
“The scenery is beautiful, but don’t you have a couple of sheets or drop cloths you could nail over the windows?” she asked.
Her voice was soft, but Justin didn’t miss the underlying firm tone. He opened his mouth to protest, but all it took was a simple tilt of her head and he caved.
“Let me see what I can find.”
Five minutes later he was back with his hammer and two drop cloths. After three quick whacks on the top edge of each window frame, the paint-splattered cloths were in position to block the views to the outside.
“Better?” he asked.
“Much better. Thanks,” Gina said.
Her genuine smile caught him square in the gut. He found himself holding his breath until she turned away and looked back at Jacoby.
“How’s that?” she asked. “And if you want to let the sun in during the day all you have to do is tie a scrap piece of fabric around the middle.”
“Okay.”
“Is there anything else?”
The boy opened his mouth, but snapped it shut again before he peeked over at Justin.
Okay, then.
He flipped the hammer in the air. Catching it easily by the handle after it rotated a few times, he got a swift thrill when the kid’s eyes grew wide. “I’ll just put this back in my toolbox.”
Gina’s and Jacoby’s heads were bent in a hushed conversation as he left the room. He returned a few minutes later, having no idea what they’d come up with next. Hopefully, a bedtime story and then lights out. Who knew getting a kid to sleep was such a big production?
He returned, happy the kid was lying down, tucked beneath the blankets with his bear. Their empty mugs sat on the small bedside table. He moved to the side of the bed where Gina sat.
Geez, he felt like a giant, towering over them. He dropped to a low crouch next to her. Big mistake. The move put him eye-level with her. She whirled to face him. Only a few inches separated them, and her signature scent filled his head, making him want to move even closer.
“Gina?”
The kid saying her name had both of them lurching apart. Justin fought against the instinct to physically shake off whatever spell she’d woven.
“So, are we all set?” he asked instead.
“Not quite,” Gina said. “There’s something else that needs to be taken care of.”
“You’ve got another brilliant idea?”
“Well, I am gifted,” she said, her smile a bit wobbly as she looked at him again. She paused and pulled in a shaky breath before she continued. “And you’re the perfect man for the job.”
“He is?”