Was there anything hotter?
I kissed his throat, just because.
Then kissed him again because he’d helped me decorate all six of our Christmas trees without a single complaint.
His low chuckle made my lips tingle.
“Can we have a ‘no kiss’ jar too?”
“If you want me to be poor, sure,” Conor reasoned as my precocious brat popped up, armed with her version of Cerberus—Crepe and Suzette. AKA Ren and Stimpy.
“I’dbe rich.”
“I’m a hacker, Kat. Who do you think would end up with the dough?” I mocked.
“That’s stealing!”
Her gasp had me cackling. “What is it you think we do, Kat?”
Her stumped expression lit me up like a firework.
Honestly, my kid never shut the fuck up and here she was, sputtering for words.
“Is that… silence? It’s been so long since I heard it,” Conor joked.
My cackling morphed into outright laughter, and when he put me down on the back of the couch, I held my stomach because it hurt so bad.
“Don’t be mean!” Kat pouted, peering around Conor’s arm to glower at me.
Her fingers weren’t so tiny anymore, not like they used to be, but they could still nip and tickle. She hooted as I squealed, but then, in pure self-defense, I released my grip on Conor, who like the boss-ass girl dad he was becoming, immediately retreated.
Switching that same clasp, I tugged her close to me then used my grip on the backs of her thighs to roll us onto the sofa in a backward tuck.
In the glow from the Christmas tree lights, her delight glittered in front of me. And even on the days like today, where I felt as if I’d failed her because school bored the fuck out of her, I bathed in her happiness. In the love I’d never expected to feel fora not-so-small-anymore human. A love that let me realize I had so much more to give—in her own way, she’d gifted me Niall and Benji.
Amused by her squeals, I twisted her around and tickled her until she howled, “UNCLE! UNCLE! UNCLE!”
Only then did I stop. “No more talk of ‘no kiss’ jars? It’d be a crime to stop kissing that face, Kat.”
Cheeks hot pink and eyes bright with her laughter, she chortled. “No more kissing?—”
Another howl escaped her as I started back up again.
“FINE! No more jars. UNCLE! No more jars!”
“Oh, good!” I paused. “No more jars. Period?”
She squirmed underneath me. “I hit my target.”
“You did?” I arched a brow because something wasn’t adding up. “No way you have enough funds for a trip to Lapland for two adults and three kids.”
“Feel free to keep swearing, Star. I’ll gladly take the donations.”
“Nice try. Where’s the money going, kiddo?”
Her eyes dropped from mine. “I saw an ad on TV.”
“You did?” I flopped beside her and snuggled her as I asked, “What kind of ad?”
