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As soon as she stepped inside, he hurried in and grabbed her hand again.

Appearances were important, after all.

“This place is amazing!” Tessa exclaimed.

“I’m glad to hear you feel that way. I was kind of worried this might overwhelm you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I know you are staying at Athena’s place. But this is different. Not as private.”

As if to underline his point, a trio of Littles—all women about thirty years old—ran past them, a man calling out behind them, “You three stop running inside!”

Tessa giggled, and it was perhaps the sweetest sound Damon had ever heard.

Which nearly stopped him cold right then and there.

Should it be the sweetest? What about Lissa?

Remember this isn’t real. You’re an actor. You should get the concept of pretending. This is all about getting Lissa back. She is your babygirl.

“I’m not overwhelmed at all. This is the kind of place I dreamed of going to back in Pennsylvania. I never thought I’d actually make it to somewhere like this.”

Damon suddenly wanted to know more about where she came from and what her story was. That wasn’t a big deal. Right? Friends talked about things like that. They got to know one another.

That would have to wait.

Right now they needed to appear as if they were just out shopping. Simply a normal trip to the store.

Well, about as normal as a Daddy taking his babygirl to a Littles’ store could be.

That gave him another idea. If they were playing the part anyway, and being at that store was a dream come true for Little Tessa, why not take it further?

“Let’s get a cart,” he suggested. “And I want you to put anything you want in it.”

Tessa’s eyes were wide as she stood speechless for a few seconds. “And then we’ll put it all back after we see Lissa. Right?”

Damon chuckled. “Hardly.”

“Sir! You don’t need to spend⁠—”

“I may spend my money however I please, little girl. And I want to spoil you. It makes this all look realistic. You never know who’s watching. Word could get around if we fill a cart and then leave without buying anything.” He shrugged. “Besides, consider it a perk of helping me with this little plan.”

It was obvious the wheels were turning inside Tessa’s mind as she considered whether or not to go along with this.

He was relieved when she relented with a slight nod.

This was going to be fun.

And hopefully Lissa did show up.

But either way, there was no denying this was going to be very, very fun.

Chapter Eleven

Tessa couldn’t believe her eyes!

She shouldn’t have been surprised, she realized. After all, she’d spent the night at Auntie Athena’s. It was a haven for Littles like her!