When she tried to pay, Rory wouldn’t take a dime. “It’s the, um, the Musketiara discount. You get everything for free the first time you shop here.”
Bliss couldn’t do that. “I’m not a Musketiara.”
Rory just grinned and winked. “Matter of time, babe.” The sparkle in Rory’s eyes made Bliss’s heart lighten just a little. Maybe she did belong here after all.
She wasn’t sure what it took to become a Musketiara, but she hoped Rory was right. She could use more girlfriends. She needed to talk to friends who could listen and give her advice on how to handle everything. Bliss smiled at her new friend. “You know, when I first saw you, I thought you were a Christmas elf. I guess I was right. I can’t thank you enough.”
“I get that a lot, especially around this time of year. And no need to thank me. We women have to have each other’s backs. If you ever need a babysitter, just give me a call. I love babies.”
Bliss filed that away for future reference. That way, she wouldn’t have to call Winnie constantly. It had been three months, but Winnie still called her four times a day just to check on her. Both of them knew the real reason she called was to ensure Bliss hadn’t run away again.
Right now, she needed to get home and put everyone down for a nap. She rolled her eyes at the idea of being able to sleep when there were dishes to wash, vacuuming to do, and a hundred other things to make the house perfect for the next visit from the Seagull. She couldn’t help but laugh at the name. Just imagining the woman as a bird of prey that feasted on people’s leftovers made some of the tension drain from her shoulders.
It was her own private joke. She’d started calling Ms. Talon the Seagull because, just when everyone was having a great time, she swooped in, squawked a lot, and pooped all over everything.
The drive home took just long enough for all the girls to fall asleep. She couldn’t carry in more than one at a time, and it would be just her luck that the Seagull would swoop in and find two of her babies in the car. That would get scribbled onto the clipboard for sure.
If she weren’t so tired herself, she would drive around while they slept, but she had missed too much sleep to risk it. Even so, the sight of them all finally quiet in their car seats filled her with a tender warmth.
Her problem was solved when she drove up to her house to find Connor’s shiny black Hellcat parked in the yard. A jolt of excitement shot through her. She didn’t need to be excited. She needed to remember this was all the result of his guilty conscience and wouldn’t last.
At least, that’s what her brain said. Unfortunately, neither her heart nor her lady bits cared at all. Every instinct in her body screamed for him to kiss her again, even as her mind scolded her for it.
When he stepped onto the porch, she caught her breath. Why did he have to look so sexy, with his scruffy beard and tousled hair? He looked like he’d just gotten out of bed, but in that way that made a girl wish he’d been in bed with her.
He jogged down the steps to her car and opened her door. It was just past lunchtime. What was he doing at her house? Her pulse hammered like a drum, heart pounding against her ribs. This was going to be trouble. Good trouble, but trouble nonetheless.
A scowl replaced his smile as soon as he saw her. “Why weren’t you wearing your seatbelt, Trouble?”
She shifted in her seat, trying to stop the pulsing in her core that happened every time he used that nickname. That was just so wrong. “I can’t wear my seatbelt when I’m driving with the girls in the car. They might need something.”
She thought for a moment his eyes might bug out of his head. His brows almost touched in the middle. “Are you telling me you haven’t been wearing your seatbelt for almost a year?”
“Well, sort of, but for a good reason.”
“That is not a good reason, Trouble. There is no good reason. Were you wearing your seatbelt when your tire blew last week? Because no one was in the car with you then.”
Her stomach lurched. He was going to kill her. She looked up at him, trying to think of a way to answer his question without landing herself in even more trouble. “Did you know you have a vein that jumps half the time? Do you have high blood pressure?”
“Only since I met you. Now answer my question.”
Her brain fried, heat rushing to her cheeks. She wanted to laugh, cry, and strangle him all at once. Pulse racing, she licked her lips and tried to come up with an explanation, but she drew a complete blank. Oh, this was not going to end well. And yet, the thrill of being so utterly caught by him made her chest tighten in a deliciously torturous way.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Bliss blinked her eyes, stalling for time, which only served to aggravate Connor more. Clenching his jaw, he leaned in and grabbed her arm, pulling her out of her car. “I don’t think blinking will give you long enough to come up with an excuse for not wearing your seatbelt. We’ll discuss this inside, but you should note for the future I treat stalling the same as lying.”
Connor watched the way her lashes fluttered, the one tell that she was buying time. His little trouble always did that when she knew she’d been caught. And God help him, it made his cock harden even while irritation burned through him.
Holding her hand, he led her to the opposite side of the car. “I’ll get Sadie and Sophie. You take Nori.” He kept his grip firm but careful. He was in charge, but she was still precious to him. He had no intention of leaving bruises.
Once the girls were in their cribs and sleeping, Connor pulled Bliss back into the great room. He led her to the corner next to the front door. “You know the drill. I want your nose in this corner until I tell you to do something else.”
The corner was a quiet time to reflect and plan what to do next. And right now, he needed to do both. Then again, this wasn’t his first time spanking her naughty little bottom.
After grabbing a wooden spoon from the kitchen and sticking it in his back pocket, he propped against the back of the couch with his ankles crossed and sucked in a slow breath through his nose. It did nothing to change the blaze in his chest.
He walked past Tipsy, ignoring the stuffie at first. Tipsy had seen better days. She was sagging in the front and overstuffed in back, just the way he’d expect since Bliss had apparently brought Tipsy with her when she got away from the Society and headed back to Darling.
