Page 69 of Mr. Almost

He smiles as the server comes over. He takes our order, leaving us alone once more.

“So, I want you to know I’m serious about us. I know you have put limits on how many times I can come stay at your place, but Iwould like to propose an amendment,” Mason says after a few moments.

“I’m listening.”

“What about if we start spending some time at my house? Just to get you both comfortable there. I know you don’t want to move in with me, and I respect that, but it is my home, and I would like to be able to bring both you and Ari there sometimes.”

“That seems fair,” I agree.

I’m surprised it’s taken him this long to ask again. I had a million reasons why it wasn’t a good idea, but they are fading away one by one.

“Good. How about we spend a few hours there on Saturday? We can have lunch and watch a movie or something.”

“That would be okay with me.”

Leaning down, he kisses my cheek, making me blush. “If I had known locking you down would make you so amendable, I would have done it a long time ago.”

“Uh-huh. Keep it up, smart guy. I can always go back to being sassy.”

He turns my chin then, kissing my lips. “I love Sassy Livvy. Bring it on.”

The smile on my face is so big my cheeks hurt.

I don’t hate it.

MASON

Ari laughs loudly as Olivia goes down the slide ahead of her. Once Olivia hits the bottom, she turns around with a big smile on her face and catches our daughter as she comes down.

“Daddy, did you see us?” Ari asks.

“I did, baby.” I smile at my daughter.

My heart beats rapidly in my chest as I watch them. I neverimagined myself with a wife or kids, but I can see it clearly now. Looking at them, I know this is what I want.

They are perfect.

They are mine.

Olivia sets Ari down and walks toward me but doesn’t look away from our daughter as she runs off to play on the indoor play equipment.

“How did you find this place?” she asks after a moment.

When she’s close enough, I pull her to my side.

“A quick Google search,” I tell her as I drop a quick kiss to her lips.

“Mason…” she scolds with no heat as she looks around.

“She’s going to see us kiss eventually,” I point out.

Livvy looks up at me. “I know, but she’s never seen me with anyone, so I don’t know how she will react. It’s always been just the two of us.”

I frown. “Have I missed something?” I look back at my daughter, who’s spinning a fake steering wheel. “Has she made a comment or anything about me being around too much?”

“Hey,” Livvy says as she touches my jaw, bringing my attention back to her. “No, she hasn’t said anything of the sort. In fact, I know she loves having you around.”

“She’s said that?”

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