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“Alright, see you this weekend for the Labor Day BBQ!” Ted yells as he and Diane walk away.

“See you then!” I yell back.

Monday evening I head home from work, my stomach flips at the realization I finally get to see Sophie again. Just being near her lightens my mood. Coming home to her every evening after work never gets old.

I pull into the garage, and my heart is pounding in anticipation. Three days and I’m acting like I’ve been stranded in the Sahara Desert without water.

Opening the garage door, I enter the kitchen and see her standing at the kitchen counter, slicing potatoes. She has the air fryer preheating, good girl. She thinks she’s a terrible cook, but she learns quickly.

I tiptoe through the kitchen to peek into the living room. The girls aren’t in here. They must be playing in Penny’s bedroom. Turning back around, I clear my throat so I don’t scare Sophie. She is holding a knife, after all.

She looks over her shoulder, and a smile overtakes her entire face. I put my index finger over my lips, gesturing for her to be quiet.

“What are you doing?” she whispers.

I take two long strides towards her and spin her to face me. She gives me a coy smile and I remove the knife from her hands, making her giggle. Then I lean in and kiss her softly. My hands go around her waist, pulling her closer.

She melts into me with a happy sigh. Her arms go around my neck as she kisses me back for a few seconds before breaking off the kiss. She backs away, but has a smirk on her face.

“Drew!” She whispers. “The girls could have walked in!”

I groan. “I know, I know. But I’ve been thinking about doing that for three days and couldn’t wait any longer.”

She pats my chest and shakes her head. “You’re incorrigible.”

Realizing her hand is still on my chest, I grin at her. She looks from my eyes to her hand resting on my pec. Her cheeks turn bright red and she whips her hand away.

I waggle my eyebrows. “You like my muscles, huh?”

Her jaw drops. “Someone is awfully vain.” She lifts her chin up haughtily.

Moving in, I place my hands back on her waist and tickle her sides. She squirms and giggles. Sophie is ticklish. I didn’t realize that before now. I’m intrigued. I want to find out every little thing about this woman.

The girls rush into the kitchen and storm into us. “Tickle fight!” they yell just before using their tiny hands to tickle me and Sophie.

Their small hands don’t phase me at all, but I pretend they do and chortle with laughter.

I straighten up and chase after them both with my fingers wiggling in front of me. “Tickle monster!”

They squeal as they attempt to run away from me toward Penny’s room. But I grab them both, one in each arm and stride back to the couch and throw them both down onto it and tickle them.

“Daddy!” Penny giggles so hard she can barely talk. “Stop!”

I stop and let them catch their breath. Samantha grins up at me. “Daddy is the tickle monster,” she says in her sweet little voice, then stands up and hugs me.

My eyes fly wide open. “You mean, Drew? Mr. Drew is the tickle monster.” I ask playfully, sweeping her blonde curls out of her eyes.

“No ... Daddy.” She hugs me tighter.

I turn my head to glance back at Sophie. Her face is blank as she listens from the kitchen. I have no idea what to do. I stand there slack jawed and as still as a statue.

“What’s for dinner? I’m hungry!” Penny asks, saving me from responding.

I clear my throat. “Sophie is getting dinner ready, sweetheart.”

“Okay, we’re going to play in the backyard.” Penny takes Samantha’s hand and leads her to the French doors. She opens one and they run hand in hand toward the play structure in the backyard.

I hesitate before walking over to Sophie. Her hands are shaking slightly as she fusses over the potatoes, obviously rattled by Samantha calling me daddy.