Page 18 of The Wedding Engagement

She blinked, pushing her glasses up her nose with a smile and meeting his eyes. “Yep.” She sighed. “Good work, Mr. Adebayo. You are a talented man.”

Studying her for a moment, he wondered where her thoughts had been a few seconds ago.

“Me and Lib made a fort, Daddy!” Jayce said from inside his play area.

Liv placed her palm on her forehead. “I almost forgot! Jayce and I need to show you the fort we built in the living room.”

He smiled as she went over to Jayce and lifted him out of the play area, taking his hand to walk over to the door. “Let’s show Daddy.”

Arran made for the door. But as he opened it for Liv, she placed a hand on his chest. His pulse spiked as she looked him in the eye.

“You wait here until I call you,” she said, her familiar scent filling his lungs as she moved past with Jayce.

For a second, he was silent, trying to recover. “Why?”

Disappearing across the hall into the living room, she called over her shoulder, “We need to set up the moat.”

The door closed behind them, and he laughed. He loved the random quirky stuff that came out of her mouth. The pale pink hue of her lips sprang into his mind as he shifted into the hallway. They always appeared so soft, kissable and…

“Ready!” she yelled from the living room.

He grasped the door handle, the curve of Liv’s mouth on his mind. Opening it, he let out a laugh as he surveyed the scene. Blue and green blankets were draped over stacks of storage boxes that held Jayce’s toys, creating a tent-shaped structure. There was shiny blue wrapping paper on the floor surrounding the perimeter, representing the glinting surface of a moat. A piece of cardboard leaned up over the opening where the edges of two blankets touched.

Liv’s voice boomed out of the fort. “Who goes there?”

Jayce’s giggles followed.

Arran cleared his throat, putting on a deep voice. “It is I, Sir Paints-a-Lot.”

“Hmm. Sir Paints-a-Lot. Let me confer with my master. What say you, Lord Jayce?”

“No! No daddies allowed.”

“Hey!” Arran said, moving closer and trying to peer between the blankets. “I want to be in the fort gang.”

He still couldn’t see Liv, but he heard her sigh. “I’ll try to convince him. But my master is rather stubborn.” She paused. “Master Jayce. Daddy Paints-a-Lot says please.”

“Ah, okay. C’mon, Daddy!” Jayce piped up.

There was a rustling noise as Liv’s voice sounded again. “You may enter.”

The piece of cardboard was lowered to the floor, attached to a couple of pieces of string. Arran grinned as he got to his knees and crawled over it and through the curtain of the blankets. Pausing, he took in the cozy-looking den Liv had created inside. Fairy lights hung around the top, and the floor was covered in soft cushions, with a light blue fleecy throw on top. Shifting right inside, he sat next to Liv, who was grinning at him, clearly proud of her work. Jayce was brum-brumming a truck over the cushions next to her.

“Great job,” he said, settling in next to her and leaning back against the wall.

“Why, thank you, good Sir Knight.” She did a funny little half bow that drew a laugh from his lips.

Smiling, she leaned next to him. “What time’s my pepperoni coming?”

He raised his eyebrows. “Yourpepperoni? I assumed we’d be sharing again.”

Pursing her lips, she gave him a withering stare. “Neverassume, Mr. Adebayo. For then you make an ass of ‘u’ and me.”

Giving her arm a nudge, he stuck out his bottom lip in a pout. She glanced down at his mouth for a moment, the smile fading from her face. Then she met his eyes again, her expression brightening. “Fine, then.” She sniffed. “You and your emotional blackmail.”

He pumped his fist, reveling in her smile. “It’ll be here in about an hour. I wanted time to get Jayce bathed and into bed so we can munch in peace without toy trucks getting pushed through our pizza.”

“Sounds like a plan.” She smoothed down the dark waves of her hair and his eyes were dragged along with the movement of her hand. He imagined how he might capture the way her glossy hair curled softly, framing the creamy paleness of her skin. And the light dusting of freckles across her nose…

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