Page 84 of Stolen Kisses

He looked at me intently, his eyes darkening a tad.

Don't poke a sleeping dragon, Hannah, or he'll wake up and maul you right away.

“We've got plenty of time for that later."

That sounded like a man with a plan, and I loved everything about it.

The best part about a barbecue was that it didn't require much attention, and it was ready in a very short time. Twenty minutes later, we were both sitting on the couch with plates of food. The chicken breast was marinated with rosemary and lime.I'd never had that combination before, and it was exquisite. He’d lightly salted the veggies, which I liked so much better than a heavy sauce or dressing. To be fair, Chase could've fed me anything and I would’ve liked it.

"Do you have dinner here every evening?" I asked him.

"No, only when Jeremy sleeps over."

I glanced up at him from my plate. "What? He comes here?"

Chase nodded, and my heart warmed at the thought of him spending time with his nephew.

"About once a month. He used to come more often when he was a bit younger. He was fascinated with this terrace, which was bad for me, because I almost had a heart attack every time we were up on it. I couldn't even walk away from him for one second. But now he prefers to spend more time with Knox and Finn."

He was a little jealous, I could tell. Oh my God, he made me smile. I loved that he cared about his family like that.

"Why doesn't he like to come here more often?"

"I think the exact words he used last time when I forbade him to go near the edge was 'You're no fun.'"

Oh yeah, he was making me melt.

"He's growing up so fast, and I feel like I can't catch up," he continued. "Even though you’d think I would, considering I’ve got experience with having had younger brothers.”

"I think being an older brother and being an uncle are two different things, you know. Oh, by the way, I think I’ll be able to getMario Kartfor him.”

Chase looked up from his plate in surprise. "How do you know about it?”

“He mentioned it when he was at the office. There’s a toy store about two blocks from me, and I’m friends with the owner. I asked her to keep an eye out for it. She assured me she’ll get it.”

“We’re all on the lookout for it, but all the places we’ve contacted told us there are waiting lists, no matter what we tried.”

I grinned. “That makes it sound like you tried to bribe them.”

“Exactly, and it didn’t work.”

“Well, I didn’t. But I helped the owner a few months ago—she lives in my building and couldn’t hang up new curtains by herself. Anyway, one thing led to another, and she likes me.”

“I bet she does. Thank you, Hannah.”

“No problem. And speaking of stores, how did your brothers take the news of you buying back your parents' store?"

"They're happy with my decision. I can't wait for my parents' reaction. The store meant a lot to them.”

“And to you too, right?”

He nodded. "Yes. I've got great memories there. Everything felt completely right back then, you know? I even imagined one day I'd lead a life similar to my parents with a full house of kids, a big family."

"You imagined having kids?" I asked.

He was still for a few seconds, then nodded. "Yes, a long time ago."

"Why didn’t that happen?"

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