“For saying yes.”The honesty in it settles somewhere deep in my chest.
Luc and Lily’s house looks like something out of a Christmas movie.Warmth glows from every window, wreaths hang from every door, and bright colored holiday lights are strung across the entire roofline, sparkling as they blink.
Soft music drifts through the front door when Hayden opens it, and I barely make it two steps inside before sensation hits from every direction.I inhale and smell cinnamon, coffee and something buttery coming from what I assume is the direction of the kitchen.It smells like what a home should.
I follow Hayden into the kitchen, where standing in the middle of it all, is Lily.She’s tiny, with a heap of blonde hair piled in a messy bun on top of her head.
She’s wearing leggings and an oversized red sweater, stirring something on the stove with one hand, while holding a coffee mug in her other.My immediate thought is that she’s gorgeous.
Her face lights up with a huge smile when she sees us.“Finally,” she beams warmly.“I was starting to think Hayden made you up.”
“Lily,” Hayden mutters.
I laugh before I can help it, and just like that, some of the nervousness eases away.“I’m real,” I confirm with a soft smile.
“Well, hi.Welcome, Vanessa.”Lily motions toward Hayden.“Ignore him.He gets weird when he cares about people.”
Hayden lets out a loud huff beside me.“I’m standing right here.”
“What the hell took you so long?Forget how to drive in the snow?”Luc appears from the doorway carrying his own coffee mug, wearing black joggers and a Chicago Bears hoodie.And wow, he’s even more gorgeous up close and personal.His eyes captivate me in an instant and I can’t help but think that rockstar domesticity should not look this attractive on a man.
“Nice to see you,” he laughs easily before pulling Hayden into a quick one-armed hug.
Then his attention shifts toward me, his expression changing to one of welcome and warmth.“And you must be Vanessa.”
His face lights up with a huge smile.“So, you’re the one?”
“The one?”I echo back, not quite sure how to respond.
“The one to lock down this stubborn bastard.”He cocks his chin toward Hayden.“He’s got it bad for you.”
“Will you shut the hell up?”Hayden cuffs Luc on the back of the head.“You’re embarrassing me, man.”
Luc shoots a devilish smirk toward Hayden before turning his attention back to me.“Seriously, it’s really good to meet you.”
And just like that, I feel at home.Because I can tell he genuinely cares about Hayden and his happiness, and somehow that makes me instantly like him.
“You too.”
A second later, the patter of tiny feet run into the room, then freeze in place, a wide-eyed expression locking onto me as a tiny finger points directly at me.
“Mommy, it’s Ariel.”
The entire room goes quiet for half a second as every gaze in the room turns to look at me.I blink in confusion.“Excuse me?”
She continues to stares at me with absolute awe.“You have mermaid princess hair.”
A startled laugh bursts out of me in shock.
“Oh my God,” Lily mutters into her coffee.“Here we go.”She looks over at me with an apologetic shake of the head.“Larkin is in her Little Mermaid phase.”Then she turns to her daughter.“Larkin, this is Vanessa, Hayden’s friend.”
“No,” Larkin insists while still staring at me with eyes wide as saucers.“She’s Ariel.”
And before I can understand what’s happening, Larkin marches straight toward me with the confidence of a tiny but mighty queen.Hayden watches the entire thing with visible alarm.Which honestly only makes it harder not to laugh.
“Hi,” I greet her while crouching down to her level.“I’m Vanessa.”
“No.”Larkin shakes her head with force.“Ariel.”
