Page 45 of The More the Merrier

“Are you gonna tell me what had you frowning, Kitty?” His husky voice sends more shivers down my spine.

I decide to just give in to the temptation and lean into his solid frame. The second I do, his arms wrap around my body, lending me strength. The relief of having someone else holding me up for a change is so immense that the words bubble out of me.

“My boss. She doesn’t know what I’ve been doing to help keep the lights on. Now I need to try and explain to her where all this extra money is coming from, and I don’t have the foggiest idea of how to start that conversation.”

He pulls away slightly and lifts my chin. The pads of his fingers trace down my jawline, then my lips before he bends down to give me a soft, solitary kiss.

“Why don’t you let me handle that?”

Lost in the feel of his lips on mine, I can’t do anything but nod. His answering smile is blinding in its brilliance.

“Such a good girl.”

Well heck. Now I’m a wet girl too.

Cameron walks me to the gatehouse, giving me another chaste kiss before slipping away into the early evening dusk. And the moment I step into the cute Christmas-covered cottage, it feels like an ice-bucket has been dropped all over me.

What on earth is wrong with me? I feel like a yo-yo that’s being tossed around. One minute I’m being fed and cradled by a gentle giant, and the next I’m being rocked to sleep by a charming knight. And not only am I letting them in, allowing them to break down the walls that have been sheltering my heart since Momma and Dad passed away, but I’m very obviously playing with both of them, as well. Leading them on. Without a bloody care.

The warmth from the fire reaches me, even here at the front door, but my heart feels very cold. How on earth am I going to work with both of these men, not fall in love with them,andmanage to not hurt them in the process?

I do know one thing, however: I don’t have the brain power to deal with it at the moment. That means there’s only one thing left to do. I head straight for my bedroom without a thought to see if Johannes is even at home. When I reach for my hidden stash, I’m already starting to sink lower into my Little space.

When I’m dressed in my onesie with my paci firmly in place, I set about making a nest. All the pillows and blankets are piled on the floor and in no time, I’ve made a comfy little hidey-hole. Last, but certainly not least, I grab a couple of the books from the shelf and settle in on my tummy, happily sucking away at my paci, slowly paging through the colorful books.

I’m pulled from my fantasy world of singing mermaids and a princess with locks of golden hair when there’s a soft knock at my door.

“Little Mouse? You in here?”

At the sound of the giant’s voice, joy bubbles up inside me, my Little headspace only focusing on the happiness of seeing one of the men that has made all the butterflies fly free in my tummy.

My head pops up from behind the bed and the bemused look on his face only serves to increase my excitement.

“What are you doing back there?”

“Reading!” is my excited response.

“And what are you reading, little one?” He takes a slow step into the bedroom, and when I don’t ask him to stop, he moves in further, walking around the bed to inspect my blanket fort. Before I can answer his question about my reading material, though, he asks another one, “Oh my, who taught you how to make a great fort like this?”

“You like it?” I ask.

“It’s brilliant!”

His response is exactly what I need to give me that last boost of confidence.

“Will you come read me a story?”

He hesitates slightly before nodding and kicking off his shoes. Gently, he climbs into the nest I’d created and settles next to me. I hand him the book I was busy with and show him where I’d gotten to. When his gentle rumble fills the room, I can’t stop myself from crawling closer to him. I lay my head on his lap and look up at the cutest giant in the whole world as he tells me fairy tales.

Tomorrow I might let the worries back in, but right now all I want to do is listen to my giant and pretend that he’s my Daddy.

Chapter 10

Zanya

I’m no stranger to waking up early, or doing what needs to be done. But being woken up at the butt crack of dawn to do cardio with Johannes is not my idea of fun.

Apparently, it’s important for me to be as fit as I can be, should the need to run arise. Also, it seems to be a requirement to have me huffing and puffing for breath before I’ve had any kind of caffeine or chocolate to help wake me up.

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