Meeting Stuart Kingsley with my pants round my ankles wasn’t my finest moment. I hope it’s months before I have to face him again.
‘Yeah. They’ve got tickets for the zoo. They’re picking the girls up any minute.’
‘Oh, fuck.’ I shake my head vehemently.
‘That’s a problem?’ Savannah’s voice peaks.
‘I’m three minutes away from your place.’
‘And?’
‘I’m still recovering from meeting Stuart naked,’ I confess.
‘So is he.’ Savannah’s laughter splutters around my car. ‘You made quite the impression.’
‘It wasn’t exactly the impression I was aiming for.’
‘He was impressed, nonetheless.’ She snorts and chuckles again.
‘See you in a minute.’
Five minutes later, I’m helping myself to a Nespresso in Savannah’s kitchen while she slices up the pastries and places them in the centre of the dining table. In a tiny vest top and sleep shorts, she’ll be lucky if she makes it out of the house at all today.
I inhale a deep breath and revel in the fact that she’s mine. That the woman I’ve wanted for two years is finally mine. Mine. And I get to bring her breakfast.
She hovers beside me, looking up at me from under fluttering eyelashes. ‘I’d rather have you for breakfast.’ She bites her lower lip as my hands land on the perfect curve of her ass cheeks and tug her against me.
‘Greedy girl. Didn’t you get your fill last night?’
‘Nowhere near.’ Her hips grind against mine.
The sound of pattering feet approach on the stairs and we jump apart.
The girls race towards us, greeting me with squeals, hugs and excited exclamations of, ‘Is that a gingerbread man?’
‘You’re spoiling them.’ Savannah gives me the side eye, but she doesn’t sound cross.
I help the girls up to the table before returning to Savannah’s side by the coffee machine, and murmur, ‘I figuredMammy’s boyfriend might not be allowed to stay over, but turning up with breakfast from the bakery is acceptable.’
‘Boyfriend.’ She churns the word out like she’s still adjusting to it. ‘Am I not too old for a boyfriend? Should we call each other partners or something?’ she whispers into my ear.
‘You don’t turn thirty for another four months.’ I arch my eyebrows and waggle them. ‘Maybe after then we can agree on a different label for what we are.’
Her throat bobs as she swallows hard.
My meaning isn’t lost on her.
Good.
I’m in it for the long haul. I want to spend the rest of my life with her and her daughters. I want them to becomeourdaughters.
The front door opens and Stuart appears, dramatically holding his hand across his eyes, though his fingers are splayed so wide he wouldn’t miss a mouse. ‘Hello, is everybody decent?’
‘Funny, Dad.’ Savannah shakes her head and shoots me an apologetic glance. ‘Come on in.’ She beckons him towards the kitchen.
‘What does decent mean?’ Isla asks, her lips dusted with pink frosting from one of the donuts.
‘It means a nice human,’ Eden explains, matter-of-factly.
