Page 129 of Delayed Penalty

Unlike Flora, I donothave the patience to carefully unwrap the present. I practically shred it, paper landing all over the newly cleaned floors, but I don’t care. When I pull it from the box, I’m surprised to findanotherSerpents jersey sitting inside.

I turn it around to read the back. It’s so over the top and so ridiculous I can’t help but laugh.

“What does it say? What does it say?” Flora asks, practically bouncing on her knees.

“It says Honey.”

“Honey?” She scrunches her nose up. “But your name isn’t honey.”

Oh, but it is.

Hayes winks at me, and my cheeks get so hot I have to hide my face in the jersey. When I look back up, he’s right there in front of me, grinning down at me wickedly.

“Do you like it?”

I shake my head, wrapping my arms around his neck. “Iloveit. I loveyou.”

“I love you too. Merry Christmas, Quinny.”

“Merry Christmas, Adam.”

I press up on my tiptoes and slant my mouthagainst his in a chaste kiss when what I really want is to wrap my legs around him and beg him to take me back to our room and make love to me.

“Yeah, yeah. You love Uncle Adam. I love Uncle Adam. We all love each other. Get a room,” Flora gripes, her attention back to her books.

Mine hasn’t shifted. No. I’m too busy watching Hayes, and he’s too busy watching her. She just said she loves him—a first.

“Breathe,” I remind him softly, and he sucks in a stuttered breath.

When he looks back over at me, his eyes are glassy and red, and he’s barely able to blink away the tears.

“You okay?” I whisper, and he shakes his head.

“I don’t know. That was… I wasn’t expecting that.”

“I could tell. She does, you know? She doesn’t say it, but I know she does.”

He nods. “Yeah. I know. It’s just…I’ve waited my whole life to be loved, and now I am. By the two best girls in the world, and I can’t believe it.”

“Well, believe it because it’s true. We love you.”

“I love you too. Both of you. Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For giving me the best Christmas gift of all time—you.”

“Oh, Hayes, this isn’t your Christmas gift.”

“No?”

I shake my head, then put my lips to his ear. “You remember the boots from my Halloween costume? The ones you loved so much?”

He nods.

“I kept them.”

He groans, burying his face in my neck as he holds me close, and I laugh. Becoming a nanny might not have been on my radar, but it’s the best job I’ve ever had. Because in the end, I got Flora, and I got Hayes.

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