“Either way, one thing I know for sure is you are too young to be this serious about falling in love.”
“It’s not for me,” Annie blurted out. Her eyes widened and she slapped her hand over her mouth.
Jo knew hot gossip when she saw someone trying to hold it in. She dove at Annie, tickling her on the spot low on her side that made her shriek and giggle. “Who’s it for then, huh?” She caught Annie around the middle and pulled her down into the grass with her, tickling her side and armpits, the sensitive spot behind her knees, while Annie gasped for air, laughing. “Is itfor your mom and Miles? Kat? Come on, kid? Who did you wish would fall in love?”
“You and Daddy!” Annie shouted between bursts of laughter.
Jo’s hands fell away and she sat back on her heels as shock ricocheted through her. Annie scrambled to her feet, dusting grass off her rainbow-striped leggings and nervously glancing at Jo. But what was Jo supposed to say? How did Annie know there was anything going on between Jo and Derek in the first place? They’d been careful—hadn’t they?
She supposed she shouldn’t be so surprised. Kat and the Midnight Storm boys had gone out of their way to orchestrate two nights where Derek and Jo could be alone together. And she’d be lying if is she said she thought she’d done a good job of not ogling Derek every time he was within sight. It was naive to think Annie wouldn’t have noticed.
But more than that, Jo supposed she was surprised Annie was so invested, that she cared enough to make a wish in the fountain. A whole handful of wishes.
God, this is exactly what Derek was worried about.
“Annie—”
“It’s just a wish,” Annie said, brushing it off as though she didn’t care. As though Jo couldn’t see straight through her seven-year-old deception. “Mama said I shouldn’t get my hopes up.”
Jo’s gut twisted. Derek wouldn’t like that Chelsea knew there was something going on between them. “You talked to your mom about this?”
Annie’s mouth pulled down at the corners. “Last night. Was I not supposed to?”
“You can talk to your mom about anything you want. I’m—your Dad and I...”
The little girl cocked her head to the side. “Don’t you like him?”
Jo nodded. “I like him very much.”
Annie grinned. “I knew it.”
“It’s not that simple, Annie. People don’t fall in love so fast.”
“Why not?”
Jo grasped for a way to answer her question, but the more she hunted for the right words to say, the fewer answers she had. Peopledidn’tfall in love in three days—did they? This hurricane of emotions whirling through her body, the wild, out of control sense that if she didn’t hang on for dear life she’d be blown away, that wasn’tlove.
Was it?
She was such an idiot. She’d gone and fallenin lovewith him? That was not part of the plan. And this sweet little girl—hisdaughter—looking up at her with her big, sad puppy dog eyes, wasn’t supposed to have any clue. This was supposed to be sex, just banging the hot single dad on her work trip. It was not supposed to be love. How could she have let herself fall in love with him?
No one can know about this…His words from the other night rushed back to her, knocking the air from her lungs. How had she let herself fall in love with someone who wanted to keep her a secret?
“It’s complicated,” Jo managed to get out.
Annie rolled her eyes. “Why do grown-ups always say something is complicated when what they mean is they want you to stop asking questions?”
Jo’s heart swelled and she fought the urge to wrap her arms around the young girl. “I’ll never tell you to stop asking questions. But I don’t have any answers for you right now.”
Annie seemed to consider this. Then, as though she’d come to a decision, she held out her hand to help Jo up and gave a firm nod. “Don’t worry. That’s what the wish is for.”
Chapter 16
The bridge of “Hurricane” reverberated through the events center, the members of Midnight Storm barely audible over the screams of the crowd. From Derek’s spot in the wings backstage, he could see Jackson kneeling at the edge of the stage, singing directly to a woman in the front row who was desperately reaching for him over the stage barriers, Gideon hovering nearby. While the crowd at NostalgiCon was generally well behaved, Midnight Storm had seen one too many fans rush the stage over the years not to keep their security detail close at all times.
“You have to admit, they know how to work a crowd,” Kat said, her hips swaying to the music absentmindedly.
“The tour’s been greenlit,” Derek said.