Page 91 of Play For Keeps

Everly starts to laugh. “I’m not sure there’s anything you can do to make it look like we didn’t just have sex.”

“You should have thought about that before you decided to torture me with that skirt.”

“You have no self-control,” she says, buttoning up her blouse. “Now get out of here, I have work to do.”

I give her a kiss before leaving her. Walking past my office, I grab my jacket from the closet and head out the door. I have somewhere else I need to be.

EVERLY

Jake must be working late tonight. I’ve tried to hold off dinner, but Birdie is hungry. I am starving too. I haven’t seen him since he seduced me in my office earlier today, which was incredible, but made for a very awkward afternoon. I hid in my office for the rest of the day, too nervous to show my face around the team. I felt like it was written across my forehead— my boyfriend, your boss, just fucked my brains out on my desk. Thankfully, no one in the office gave me the side-eye or acted weird around me when I finally snuck out to grab a cup of coffee.

Birdie and I are sitting at the kitchen table at Jake’s house—correction, our house—when we hear the front door open. We moved in when we returned to Reed Point, and living with my two favorite people has been even better than I could have imagined.

“Jake?” Birdie hollers from the kitchen.

“It’s me, Birdie-girl,” he answers as she takes off running towards the hallway. I peak my head around the corner in time to watch him scoop her up into his arms and twirl her around. Birdie giggles. My ovaries explode. His eyes find mine over her shoulder and he winks. I am so in love with this man.

“I have a surprise for you,” he tells her when he sets her down on the ground. “Go have a seat on the couch,” he says, then looks at me. “You too, Mom.”

“I love surprises!” Birdie cheers, bouncing on to the couch as I sit down next to her. I watch him walk back to the front door, wondering what he is up to.

“Close your eyes, Birdie,” he hollers, closing the door behind him. “No peeking, remember.”

“They’re closed.” She has her hands covering her eyes.

When Jake returns, he’s holding a tiny gray and white kitten in his arms, a red bow tied around its neck. I gasp, my hand flying to my mouth. “Okay, Birdie,” he says with a grin. “You can look now.”

“A kitten!” she screams, her entire face lighting up when she sees the cat in his arms. “Jake, is that for me?”

“It is, Birdie-girl. She’s yours,” Jake says, kneeling in front of her. “Do you want to hold her?”

“Yes! Yes, please. I’ll be gentle, I promise,” she answers softly before Jake places the kitten in her lap, glancing at me to make sure I’m not going to strangle him. How could I? This man has proven he would do anything for Birdie. He has a heart made of gold. He is truly one of the best things to ever happen to her life.

“Thank you,” she weeps, hugging the kitten to her chest. “This is the best day of my entire life. I’m so happy.”

“Are you mad at me?” He says the words quietly, his eyes finding mine. “She deserves the kitten. She deserves anything she wants.”

My heart swells. I swallow down the emotion. “You shouldn’t have, but I’m not mad. It was really sweet of you.”

“Anything for my girls.” He smiles.

“I know.”

His eyes hold mine, an intense gaze, an invisible force pulling us closer. “I told you on our first non-date that it would be a matter of time before you fell head over heels in love with me and I meant it,” he says, leaning forward for a kiss.

“Yes, you did. I remember.”

“I was already falling hard for you that night.” His eyes sparkle. My heart is his.

My whole body tingles, sending shivers down my spine, as he pulls me closer, until our lips are just millimetres away. “Have you been reading my romance books, lover boy?”

“Maybe.” His hand moves to my jaw, the heat between us so hot, it feels like fire. “We got our happily ever after, baby.”

“We did.”

Like fate, Jake walked into my life and stole my heart before I even knew it was happening. I tried to resist. I tried to ignore the feelings he sparked inside of me. None of it worked.

The best kind of love begins without warning. It comes to you at just the right time: the time you least expect it.

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