Page 26 of Gator

The door opened, and Gator came out. “You ready to go?”

“Sure.”

Gator glanced over at Caden. “Can you make sure the apartment is all ready for him?”

“Of course.”

“Thanks.” He turned back to me. “We’re going to take one of the company SUVs. No one will be looking for you in one of them.”

It didn’t take us long to get to my place. Gator insisted on my waiting to enter until he’d checked to make sure it was secure, just like the other night.

“You don’t have to worry about Trixie screaming at you. She’s at my sister’s house.”

“Why?”

“My niece, Lainey, loves her, so on Saturdays, I usually drop her off and let them hang out.”

“Makes sense. You just wait here, I’ll be right back.”

When he came back out and told me it was all clear, I went inside. I headed upstairs and pulled my suitcase out of the hall closet. “So how long do you think I should plan on being away?”

“Let’s start with a week.”

“Okay.” I reached in and grabbed another bag.

He raised one eyebrow but didn’t say anything.

“What?” I asked. “You don’t think three bags will be enough?”

“Three?” He looked down at the large suitcase in my hand and the oversized duffel bag he held.

“Yeah, this is a set. The smaller one fits inside for storage.”

“I said a week, Jules, not a month.”

“A week that includes the weekend. I have places to go and people to see, Daddy.”

I knew I shouldn’t tease him. He was helping me, but I couldn’t help it. The way his eyes darkened and his jaw tightened everytime I called him Daddy was too much to resist. One of these days, when the timing was right and no one wanted to kidnap me or worse, I planned on exploring that look in detail.

“We’ll see about that,” he growled.

I chuckled and put the suitcase back in the closet. “I was just trying to decide if I need the big suitcase or if the duffel would do, silly.”

“You’re a brat.”

“So I’ve been told.” I spun on my heels and headed for the bedroom.

It didn’t take me but a few minutes to put enough clothes in the duffel for a week.

“Is that it?” he asked.

“That’s everything here. I need to go by my sister’s place and grab Trixie. Lainey will be at cheerleading practice, so if we hurry, we should be able to pick her up before they get home.”

“She can’t just stay with her?”

“No, I never leave Trixie that long. She gets separation anxiety.”

“Okay, then I guess we’ll go to your sister’s.”