Page 99 of A Game Plan for Love

It morphs into something slow and tender, and when we break apart, his breathing slows. He pushes a strand behind my ear.

“You’re captivating,” he whispers, and my cheeks flame. “I’m the luckiest man alive. After Nora goes to bed, there’s a surprise for you, too.”

My heart gallops as he presses one last kiss to my forehead and slips his sweatpants back over his hips.

“We better get out there and make dinner,” I say, tugging him along.

“Pizza rolls are already in the oven,” he responds, patting my butt as we slip out of the pantry.

“She’s never going to want to leave,” I chastise, though the words have no bite.

“That’s kinda my game plan.” My eyes jerk to him, and he shrugs. “Step eight. Convince them to stay forever.”

I open my mouth to ask what the hell steps one through seven were, but I’m cut off by a garbled, “Am I in trouble?”

Declan and I spin to find Nora quite literally with her hand in a cookie jar, pulling out a chocolate chip cookie, and one already half-chewed in her mouth.

I blink.

You know what? I’m passing the baton on this one. I pat Declan on the shoulder. “Time to take one for the team.”

He can be the bad guy and tell her it’s not good to sneak sweets before dinner.

Declan does the opposite of what I want. “No, you’re not in trouble. There are notroublefoods, you can eat what you’d like within reason.” My jaw drops, and he continues, “Though, sweet treats are the bestafterdinner and when you share them with someone else.”

Nora extends a cookie to me. “Here.”

I take it from her small, grubby hands that are covered in blobs of melted chocolate. “I’m going to wait for after dinner,” I say politely, before placing it on the counter.

“What’s for dinner?” she asks.

Declan’s eyes sparkle, and he smiles directly at me before saying, “Pizza Rolls.”

Nora’s victorious cheers will replay in my mind forever.

CHAPTER 29

Somebody To Love – Justin Bieber

Declan

“Threebedtimestoriesseemexcessive,” Addie whispers as we tiptoe out of Nora’s room and into the hallway. She finally fell asleep on my shoulder after the third story I made up, and I’m excited to get more alone time with Addie.

“I have a hard time saying no to her,” I admit sheepishly.

We work in tandem to clean up the mess from the after-dinner activities. I would haveneversuggested making slime if I knew it would get everywhere.

I think it’s in my hair.

Addie tidies up the living room, and I clean the remainder of the dishes. When she passes, I squeeze her ass, and when she drops a cup into the sink, adding to the dishes, she leaves a lingering kiss on my cheek.

It’s domestic, and I fucking love it.

When she finishes, she wraps her arms around my waist and lays her cheek on my back. “Tell me something no one knows about you,” she says.

“I really like birds. Sometimes I can sit for hours in the sunroom and wait for birds to land on the feeder.” Her body shakes mine with laughter. “I have an anonymous Facebook account and I’ve joined groups about Pacific Northwest birds.”

“No!” she gasps.

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