I just laugh. “Whatever.”
“Funny how you ended up with a CEO after all.” She leans back and looks over at Malia to wink.
“You knew that too?” I share a look with Malia.
“Mom told me,” Carlie says, shaking with laughter. “She was giddy.” She turns to Malia and leans in for a quick hug. “Let’s do a double date or something when Law and I get back.”
“I’d love to,” Malia says.
Law tugs Carlie away, although she also stops to hug my parents, Jenna, all of her kids, and Scarlett and Zoey, Chad’s girls, whom she nannies. I can hear them asking how long she’s going to be gone before Ivy scoops up Zoey, the youngerone, into her arms and whispers something in her ear. Zoey immediately turns to Carlie and waves excitedly. “Love you, Carlie! We miss you!”
Carlie blows them kisses as she leaves.
“So.” I wrap my arms around Malia from behind. “We can finally get out of this overdone Valentine’s Day party.”
She snorts. “Best one I’ve ever been to.” She tips her head back against my shoulder. “But I won’t argue. Let’s grab some cheesecake and run.”
“Excellent idea.” I let her go to slide my hand down into hers to walk back into the restaurant. The DJ is still playing music, and the venue is rented for another couple hours, so the party will go on, but I’m ready to ditch and spend some time alone with Malia.
“Uncle Caleb!” My nephew Hudson’s voice stops us before we get out the door. I turn to see him, his brother Ian, and Ruby running up to us, Jenna trailing behind. “We made you and your girlfriend something.”
I meet Jenna’s gaze when Hudson uses the term girlfriend. She shrugs and grins. Malia is beaming. I’m taking all of Jenna’s kids for ice cream soon for helping me lock her in.
Ruby hands a big pink heart to Malia and then runs back to her mom. Jenna has written “Happy Valentine’s Day” on it, but there’s a kid’s drawing of two oddly shaped figures holding hands.
“Thank you, Ruby.” Malia blows her a kiss, and Ruby turns her face into Jenna’s skirts to hide.
Ian and Hudson both hand their hearts over to me. They’ve both written “Happy Valentine’s Day” themselves, and their hearts are both filled with wobbly drawings of hearts and stars.
“Wow, guys, these are amazing.” I give them both high fives. “Best Valentines I’ve gotten today.” I look over at Malia pointedly.
“We’ll see about that,” she says under her breath, and I laugh.
“Come on, boys,” Jenna says, beckoning to them. “Let’s go find your dad and get ready to leave.”
“Bye, Uncle Caleb!” Ian waves as he hurries over to his mom. “Bye, Caleb’s girlfriend!”
“Malia,” I hear Jenna tell him, laughter in her voice. “Her name is Malia.”
“They are all adorable,” Malia says, taking my hand again. “Can I keep them?”
“Definitely. They’ll probably end up liking you more than me anyway.”
“They would never. They’re too sweet.” She leans against my shoulder as we walk out. “Just like their uncle.”
“Taught them everything I know.” I squeeze her hands. “And also, I’ve been thinking about the mole.”
Malia’s face brightens. “With everything going on today? How?”
“I contain multitudes.”
She laughs. “What did you figure out?”
“I have a theory.”
I take Malia home first to change into more comfortable clothes, even though I can’t stop thinking about her wearing my sweats. Which is why I grin when she comes downstairs in my Pumas hoodie she wore last night. She’s paired it with some leggings instead of my too-big sweats, but I’m not complaining.
“I like it,” I say in a low voice. I use the hoodie ties to gently tug her toward me.
