Her Every Fantasy (14 page)

“Oh, Jonah, please. I know that . . .” Kayla trailed off as she looked at her friend sitting in the booth across from her. There was something different about him. Her eyes widened when she realized what it was. “You did it.”

Jonah gave her a puzzled look. “What are you talking about now?”

“You and Ellie did it.”

Jonah sat up quickly and looked around as if to see if anyone had heard Kayla. Once he was satisfied that no one had, he turned and glared at her. “Could you keep your voice down? I would appreciate it if Ellie doesn’t receive any embarrassment due to that.”

She brought a hand to her mouth. She could understand his concern over having his personal business known in public.
“Sorry, Jonah.
I just got a little excited for you.”

One corner of his mouth tilted upward. “I appreciate that.”

“I am happy for you and Ellie.”

His smile widened. “So is my mother.”

She reached over and snagged a fry off his plate. Tonight, she’d decided to go with a side salad, and as good as it was
,
she was still craving a French fry. “So your mother likes Ellie?”

Jonah gave her a look.
“Almost as much as she likes you.”

She shook her head. “Tell her that Ellie will probably give her grandchildren, and I will quickly become a second favorite.”

He laughed. “There is no way that I would put Ellie through that torture.”

She laughed before taking another bite of her salad. “Oh, come on. I am sure that having your children won’t be that bad.”

He gave her a look of displeasure. “That is not what I meant.”

She grinned. “Relax, Jonah. Ellie can defend herself against your mother just as well as I can.” Taking a drink of her soda, she shrugged. “I can even give her a few pointers if you like.”

Jonah chuckled. “That is fine. Just remember that I want her to be able to defend herself against mother, not give her a heart attack.”

She grinned as she finished her salad, and when she walked into her house a short while later, it was still there. She headed upstairs and she began to prepare for bed. She enjoyed her dinners with Jonah. It was always a good ending to a hard day. She crawled into bed as her cell phone rang. Jonah’s name appeared on the screen, and she answered.

“I was calling to let you know that I made it home safely.”

She laughed.
“Very funny.”

He chuckled. “Well, I figured that I would call you since you forgot to call me.”

“Sorry, I was a little preoccupied when I got home.”

The phone beeped letting her know that she had another call. A glance at the screen told her that it was James.

“Hey, Jonah, that is James. I will talk to you tomorrow.”

She could hear the amusement in his voice at her level of excitement but ignored him. Talking to James was one of the highlights of her day, especially if she didn’t get a chance to see him.

“Have a good night, and tell him that I said hello.”

She smiled. “You too, and I will.”

She clicked over to answer James’s call. “Hello.”

“Hey, beautiful.
How are you?”

She shivered at the husky timbre of his voice. Something about the deep baritone excited her. “I am fine. Just made it in. “What are you doing?”

He chuckled. “I just put the kids in bed, and I am getting ready for bed myself.”

She rolled onto her back, stared up at the ceiling, knowing his children as she did, she was sure that it was interesting. “I wish that I was there with you.”

“I wish that you were here with me as well,” he replied, and she knew that it was heartfelt. Unfortunately, she hadn’t had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with the children because James wanted to be sure of where they were with the relationship before he pulled the children into it.

He paused, and she knew that he was thinking. “I have a question for you.”

She heard the seriousness in his voice, and she sat up a little. “Okay.”

“Would you like to come over to the house Friday night and join us for dinner?”

That question gave her pause. Was the man psychic and reading her thoughts? Until now, the time that they had spent together was solely between the two of them, and now that the opportunity was presenting itself, and in such an intimate setting, she wasn’t sure. Yet, she knew that it was now or never. She and James were way beyond a casual relationship. After taking a deep breath, she said, “I would love to. What time should I be there?”

“Anytime that you want, but we normally have dinner around six thirty or seven.”

That time would work well for her. It would give her time to get off work and run the few errands that she would need to. “I will join you all for dinner on Friday, but on one condition.”

He paused. “And that is?”

She smiled at his hesitance. “That you let me cook dinner.”

“Only if you let me pay for it.”

She laughed, knowing that the deal wasn’t going to get any better than that.

“In that case, we have a deal, and I will be there.”

They talked a little bit longer until she yawned. He made her get off the phone knowing that she had to get up early. She told him good night then disconnected the call. As she lay there, she now knew why her sisters didn’t mind being tired. With a man like James around, she was willing to drink an extra cup of coffee or two if that was what she needed to make it through the day. As it turned out, she didn’t need any coffee. The idea of having dinner with the Feldons was enough to keep her going for the next two days.

* * * *

When the bell rang signaling the end of class for the day, she wished everyone a good weekend before turning to erase the chalkboard.

Jamie stuck her head into her classroom a moment later. “Ms. Smith, I need to run to my locker.”

She nodded at Jamie. “Okay. When you get finished, meet me at my car. I am in my usual spot.”

“I will meet you there,” Jamie stated and left the room.

She turned back to the chalkboard and continued erasing it. Tonight was the big night, and she and Jamie were going grocery shopping prior to heading to the Feldons’ house. She’d volunteered to bring Jamie home since they were already in the same location. That would give James more time to pick up the other kids and get them settled. She finished straightening up the room then gathered up her bag and heading to the front office to sign out. Jamie was standing by the car waiting on her, and she hit the unlock button allowing Jamie to enter her car. The teenager was all smiles by the time Kayla got into the car.

“What are you grinning about?”

Jamie shrugged her shoulders. “I am just excited that you are coming over for dinner tonight.”

Kayla started the car and drove out of the parking lot.
“So am I.”

They pulled in front of the grocery store. She pulled the grocery list out of her purse and tore it in half. Giving the bottom half to Jamie, she kept the top half for herself.

“You take that list, and find everything. Then we will meet by the sour cream.”

Jamie nodded, and they went into the grocery store. It didn’t take her long to find everything on her list, and she and Jamie walked over to the sour cream at the same time.

“I found everything on my list.”

Her jaw dropped at the amount of food that Jamie had in her basket. “Good Lord, girl,
how
many people are we feeding?”

Jamie laughed. “Don’t forget, Ms. Smith, you are feeding seven people.”

She looked at her own basket. It definitely wouldn’t be enough to feed seven people. She had never needed to feed so many, but she was up for the challenge. Looking back up at Jamie, she smiled. “Maybe I need to go back and pick up extra.”

Jamie looked inside of Kayla’s basket. “I would say yes to that.”

She picked up a family size container of sour cream before heading back down the aisles that she’d just came from. When they were both satisfied that they had enough food, they made their way for the check out. By the time they made it to the Feldons’ house, the kids were in a high state of excitement. Jana and Jenna sprinted off the porch and made their way to the car animatedly. The girls embraced her eagerly, then grabbed a bag, and headed inside the house.

Kayla’s breath caught in her chest when James appeared. He walked toward her and gave her a brief kiss on the lips while taking the bags out of her hand. He walked over to Jamie, and gave her a kiss on the forehead. She relinquished her hold on the groceries bags when he took them out of her hands. He led the way to the house. Dennis embraced Kayla warmly as he stepped aside.

“You are looking good, Mr. Feldon.”

James laughed. “Don’t tell him that. His ego is already big enough.”

At that moment, Jana came around the corner holding Josh. Kayla felt her heart melt. He was so adorable and a miniature version of his father. Josh stared up at her shyly for a moment before reaching out for her.

She took him into her arms, happiness surging though her. It had taken him longer to warm up to her last time. “Hi, Josh.”

He gave her a shy smile. “Hi.”

James continued toward the kitchen, and everyone followed him.

“What are we having for dinner, Ms. Smith?” Jenna asked as she bounced happily in one spot.

Kayla turned to look at all three girls. “Well, first I would like it a lot better if you call me Kayla. School ended a few hours ago, and we are at home. Secondly, we are having what I call nacho layer dip.”

A cheer went up around the kitchen, and James shook his head as he unloaded the grocery bags. “Did I give you enough money?”

She nodded. “You even have some change.”

“Can we help?”

She looked at Jana. “Everyone can help after I get the meat ready.”

Jana was the quietest of the Feldon kids. Kayla could tell that the child was extremely shy but intuitive. In the short amount of time that she’d known Jana, she knew that one way to get her to open up was to talk about math or astronomy. Either subject brought Jana out of her shell and quickly.

Giving Josh a kiss on the cheek, she put him down.
“Even you, Josh.”

He made his way to the table as quickly as his little legs could carry him, and Jamie put him in his high chair.

“What all do you need?” James asked as he looked over at her.

She told him, and he gave her everything she needed. When she’d come up with the idea to cook dinner, she’d asked him about any food allergies that the kids might have. She was happy to hear that they didn’t have any. A few moments later, the kitchen was starting to smell good from the seasoned ground beef. She was surprised at how at home she felt. So much so, that she was actually walking around the kitchen barefoot. When she had the ground beef ready, she put it in the casserole dish and set it aside.

“How are the refried beans coming along, Jamie?”

The microwave dinged giving her the answer that she needed. Jamie brought the beans over and sat them on the counter before stirring them.