Kendrick shook his head. “You dirty sons of…” He trailed off.
“I’m going to Auntie Athena’s today,” Jack said after laughing. “Iris wants to play. I figured Athena could use the help, too, with all the increased holiday traffic around there.”
“Lots of Littles coming in for Christmas?” Isaiah asked.
“Yeah. Some people are off work so they have more time. Some Littles are even using Christmas break to travel here from other parts of the country. She said it’s an all-hands-on-deck situation over there.”
Kendrick thought about it. “I can come later this morning. First, I’m going to go take care of some stuff around Samantha’s apartment.”
“Already doing honey-dos,” Isaiah said with a chuckle. “Man, you got it bad for this girl.”
Kendrick didn’t argue. It was true.
He had it bad.
Chapter Fourteen
Samantha stared in the mirror and saw… Tonya.
The blonde wig was styled nicely. Her makeup was a bit garish but on point for the type of person Tonya was.
The contacts that changed her brown eyes to sparkling blue completed the look. As did her “designer” outfit. Of course the padded bra that made her boobs appear huge helped, too. It certainly caught people’s attention.
That could be good and bad, she realized.
What if it caught Kendrick’s attention? Would he even be at the nursery today? He’d offered to take her—therealher, Samantha—but she’d politely declined saying she had too much to do.
They were set to meet up later that evening for dinner at the mansion. That alone would be nerve-racking enough. What if Iris and the other Littles recognized her?
If she was going to date Kendrick, then she’d be around those women plenty. If it was going to happen there wasn’t much she could do about it.
But if all went as planned, things wouldn’t come to that.
Today would be Tonya’s last appearance. She was moving to New York City. Some rich guy had swept her off her feet and was whisking her away.
Some of the girls were friends with Tonya at the nursery, but not so close that they would want to keep in touch or anything. The story should be plausible enough.
Soon, the bratty Tonya would just be a distant memory and once she was out of sight and out of mind, the risk of anyone identifying her and Samantha as one and the same was low.
Just make it through today, Sam. You can do this.
She finished examining herself. The goal wasn’t to make sure she looked perfect, as it normally had been. Now, the objective was to make sure she looked different enough as to not be recognized.
A thought struck her and she smiled. Iris and her friends hadn’t met Samantha yet. They only knew Tonya. So, the only thing she had to do was stay out of Kendrick’s line of sight today—if he was even at the nursery.
She wouldn’t have to worry about Iris and them until that night when she was around them. Still, it was important to look radically different now so she didn’t arouse their suspicions later.
A loud banging noise interrupted her thoughts. She ran to her door and threw it open, stepping out to turn and go down the stairs.
That’s when she saw Kendrick.
Oh crap! He was there! Working on the stairs.
Crap! Crap! Crap!
He was at the bottom, starting his project there, probably with the intent of working his way up. That made sense, she realized. Stabilize one stair, then stand on that one while you fixed the next.
He was so lost in his hammering that he didn’t seem to realize she was even there.
