Page 57 of Mr. Almost

“Huh, that’s a first,” I mutter under my breath.

Hell, I struggle with remembering to wash my face at night before bed when sober, so it’s especially shocking that I remembered to while intoxicated.

“Did you have a good time?” he asks after a moment.

I rest my elbow on the table and put my chin in my palm as I watch Mason move around my kitchen. It’s weird seeing a man so comfortable in my space, but I like it. Honestly, I could get used to it.

An image of him walking around in a pair of sweats and a T-shirt as the sun comes up as he makes me breakfast flashes through my mind. Yes, please. Sign me up.

“Livvy…”

“I’m sorry, I spaced out there for a second. What did you say?”

He smirks as he carries over two plates. “Did you have a good time last night?”

I take my plate from him. “Thank you, and I did. I didn’t know how much I needed some girl time with Chloe.”

“I’m glad. Just let me know when you want to get together with her again.”

“How was Arianna last night? Did she give you any trouble?” I look around the apartment. “In fact, where is she?”

“Don’t worry, she’s in her room playing. I checked on her right before you woke up, and last night we had fun.” He holds up his hand, and I see that his nails are painted a light, nude pink color.

“You let her paint your nails?” I ask, not bothering to hide the humor in my voice.

I never imagined that Mason would be that dad. Then again, I never let myself imagine him as a dad. After everything went down, right after I found out about Ari, I tried not to think of him at all.

It’s a good look on him, though. He’s a great dad. It has my ovaries working overtime right now.

“Yeah, why not? I figured it’s part of being a girl dad.” He shrugs as if it truly is no big deal.

As if he isn’t the CEO of an international brand of hotels and other companies who goes to board meetings and flies on a damn jet. It’s totally normal for that businessman to have nail polish on his fingers simply because his daughter wanted to paint them.

“I have some fingernail polish remover you can use before you leave,” I tell him, a little embarrassed that she made him do that.

I’m used to it. I let her practice on me all the time.

He shrugs as he looks down at his nails. “It’s fine. I kind of like it.”

I duck my head and hide my smile.

This man. He disarms me when I least expect it.

“Hey, I want to run something by you.”

“What’s up?” I ask as I take another bite.

“I would like to introduce you and Arianna to my family.”

I tense, but he raises a hand before I can say anything. “Let me clarify. I want to introduce you and her to Max and my two best friends, Eli and Brantley. I want them to know the two most important people in my life.”

“I already know Max,” I reply instinctively as my heart starts to race.

Of course he wants his family to know our daughter, but what could that mean?

Logically speaking, I knew this would happen. Eventually, we would have to tell everyone about Arianna.

Still, the idea of him having more people on his side than mine only makes me more nervous. What if they try to convince him to take her away from me one day? That’s my biggest fear. That someday, someone will take her from me. She is the most important thing in my life.

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