Page 35 of Keeping it Casual
“Of course they’re allowed to stay for the movie,” Jeremy answers Lucy. He slides a glance at me. “But they might have to get home.”
Lucy turns those big eyes on me. “Do you want to stay for amovie? It’s my choice because it’s my birthday party, and I’m choosingTangled.”
“What’sTangled?”
“You’ve never seenTangled?” Jeremy’s eyebrows shoot up. “I didn’t realize you were so culturally uneducated. It’s one of the Disney animated classics.”
“No, I’ve never seenTangled. I didn’t know that put me in the uneducated category though.”
“I’m always happy to educate you in anything you need education on,” he says.
I chuckle as a warm feeling spreads through me. Somehow, spending time with Jeremy is just an exercise in straightforward happiness.
I don’t want this feeling to fade.
And if spending more time with him involves watching an animated movie, then so be it.
I’m expecting Lachie to ask to go home, but he obligingly sits on the armchair and watches the movie, though he’s scrolling through his phone at the same time.
LuckilyTangledis one of those animated movies created with kidsandadults in mind, containing lots of good one-liners that make me laugh.
Lucy and Jeremy have obviously watched it many times because they have competitions to see who can say the line that’s about to come next. It should be annoying, but instead, it’s all kinds of cute.
We get to the part where Rapunzel and Flynn Rider are in a rowboat on a lake surrounded by glowing paper lanterns floating in the night sky.
“This is Dad’s favorite scene,” Lucy pipes up. “He says it’s romantic.”
He shakes his head at her. “I can’t believe I encouraged you to learn how to talk.”
Lachie and I both laugh at him.
“Nothing says romance than a whole lot of burning lights up in the air,” I say.
He scrunches his nose at me. “You betcha.”
Lucy snuggles into him, and he puts an arm around her, stroking her hair, tucking the strands behind her ear.
Her eyelids start to grow heavy, and she takes longer and longer blinks.
Around the time Rapunzel is confronting her fake mother, Lucy’s eyes close for good.
“Is she out?” Jeremy whispers a minute later. She’s slumped against him in a position that means he can’t see her face.
I nod. “It’s been a big day.”
He gives me a genuine, happy smile. The warm feeling inside me now threatens to overtake my whole body.
It comes with a craving so overwhelming that it snatches my breath away. I want to scoop Lucy off Jeremy’s lap and take her with Jeremy to tuck her into her bed, wishing her sweet dreams if she stirs.
Then I want to go to bed with this man, kiss him, make love to him, go to sleep with my arms wrapped around him, and make sure his smile is the first thing I see when I wake up.
Fuck.
I stand abruptly. “We better get going.”
Lachie snaps his head up to stare at me. “But the movie hasn’t finished.”
He’s right.
