Page 38 of Mateo & Nicole

He chuckled, sending a fresh wave of chills erupting down her spine. Just the sound of him was enough to affect her, but combine it with his touch? And her legs felt like a goopy mess. If he wasn’t holding her, she might have literally melted into a puddle on the ground.

“Mateo,” she whispered in warning when his teeth grazed against the shell of her ear.

“I want you to come,” he said. “You and Paxton.”

“But it’s afamilygame night.”

“And one day you, might be part of it.”

He couldn’t be saying what she thought he was saying. She didn’t want to allow herself to believe it. This was all happening so fast. It was too soon, right? And yet she’d known him for so long. She’d just only recently stolen his affection.

Would she really be rushing things if she allowed herself to give in to this man who had swept her off her feet and allowed her to believe in love again?

This time when she turned in his arms, he welcomed it.

“Come with me to game night. I’m pretty certain that my siblings know what’s going on between us, but I want to make it official.”

He wanted to lay claim on her publicly. That had to mean something. She smiled, unable to help herself as she lifted her palm to his cheeks. Before she could utter a word, Paxton’s voice broke through the quiet.

“Are you guys going to kiss?”

Mateo grimaced comically, and she turned to find her son with a wrinkled nose and his head tilted with curiosity. He didn’t look upset, so at least they had that going for them. It was more of a concern if anything. Her heart twisted in her chest, and she hoped that wasn’t an indication that he’d been aware of everything that she’d gone through when it came to the men in her life.

“Yeah,” Mateo announced, to which Nikki gasped. “Because I like your mom a lot. Is that okay with you?”

She whacked him with her fingertips and shifted to move away from him, but his hold remained firm yet again. Her eyes shifted to her son and she waited, holding her breath to hear his answer.

Paxton took in a deep breath and let it out his nose as if he had to concentrate hard on what he was thinking about. Then he heaved a sigh. “I guess.”

Well, that wasn’t a “no,” but it didn’t feel like Paxton was completely on board with this situation, and she couldn’t figure out why. He adored Mateo. Wouldn’t he be thrilled about the idea of them being together?

Before she had much of a chance to think about what was coming next, Mateo grasped her face in both of his hands and promptly kissed her forehead.

Relief and disappointment burned through her, followed by amusement as Paxton laughed at Mateo’s antics. She smiled at her son, then lifted her adoring gaze to the man who knew how to read the room.

They did learn one thing, though. Paxton’s feelings about their relationship would need to be worked through. She needed to figure out what was bothering him so they could tackle it head-on.

Mateo released her and turned his attention to Paxton. “We’re having game night in the living room tonight. You want to join?”

Paxton’s focus shifted to his mother with question. “Can we, Mom?”

“Of course, sweetie. I think it sounds like it would be a lot of fun.”

Her son grinned wider. “Yeah. It does.”

* * *

Nikki could feelevery single pair of eyes on her as she sat beside Mateo on the couch. Her hand was in his as he spoke.

“Since we have guests, we should ask them what they want to play tonight.” He squeezed her hand, then gave Paxton a wink. “What do you say, kid? What are we playing tonight?”

Paxton glanced around the room, eyes wide as he took in Mateo’s family. It wasn’t that he was nervous. Nikki knew that expression. This was something else. Awe perhaps? She didn’t have any siblings, and neither had Dennis. Whenever they spent time as a family, it was just the three of them. And here her son sat among seven adults who were giving him their undivided attention. He rubbed his nose with the back of his hand, then glanced at her. “Can we play Pictionary?”

At least two of Mateo’s siblings groaned. Three of them grinned.

Mateo chuckled. “Absolutely.”

They spent a good couple of hours playing the game. Mateo picked Paxton to be on his team every single time. Nikki could see her son coming out of his shell more and the admiration Paxton had for Mateo returning.

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