Page 32 of Accidental Fiancé

“Well, maybe in the morning, we can try to get you curls.” Not that I knew anything about long hair or curling it though I figured I could find her a wig that would make her happy.

“Okay,” she said as she yawned again and scooted beneath the blanket. “Goodnight, Pop.”

I bent and kissed her forehead. “Goodnight, Pip.” She held up Cthulhu, so I kissed him, too. “Goodnight, Cooloo.”

In as gruff a voice as she could manage, Piper said, “Goodnight, Juloo.”

I snort-laughed. “Is that what he calls me?”

She grinned and nodded, curling him to her chest. “Unless you’re mean. Then he calls you Mean Daddy.”

“When am I mean?”

“I don’t think you are but Cooloo says you’re mean when I can’t get the spicy noodles.”

“The spicy noodles hurt your tummy.”

“That’s what I told him but he doesn’t listen.”

I rolled my eyes and smiled at the two of them. “Goodnight, troublemakers.” I turned out the lights and gently closed the door.

Now, onto my other troublemaker.

I found Maggie in the first floor living room sipping a cup of cocoa with her legs tucked under her on the couch. Her purple satin pajamas reflected the flickering light from the fireplace,and I could have stared at her all night long. Piper was right—she did have princess hair. Those long brown curls trailed over her shoulders and down her back in an enchanting, silky fall.

It was a challenge to pull myself away from staring. I cleared my throat, so I didn’t startle her. “Hey, how about some wine instead?”

“That sounds nice. But I’ve committed to the cocoa. Would you happen to have peppermint schnapps?”

“I happen to have a game room slash man cave which also has a fully stocked bar. You can pick out whatever flavor of schnapps you’d like.”

She was on her feet quickly. “Lead the way.”

The stairs to the game room were located off the kitchen from the living room, so she didn’t get much of a tour of the house, but I could make that up to her in the morning. “Pinball, poker table, ping pong, darts, billiards, arcades, a shuffleboard table. The bar is in the corner. Go nuts.”

“Seriously, Jules, why do you ever leave the house?” she asked on her way to the bar.

I sighed. “I find myself asking that more and more lately, truth be told. But I haven’t found anyone I’d be comfortable letting take the reins of my company just yet. When I do, I have a feeling I’ll be spending a lot more time here.”

She took a moment to examine her options and poured butterscotch schnapps instead of peppermint while I upgraded from wine to whiskey. “Cheers,” she said, clinking her mug to my rocks glass. “The only thing this room needs is that comfortable couch from the living room.”

“Back to it, then?”

“Yes, please. I want to be buried in that couch.”

I chuckled and followed her back up the stairs. It was almost impossible not to take a bite of her ass, especially in those pajamas. So round and right in my face. It wasn’t fair. But wewere friends. Friends who didn’t make moves on each other. Friends who didn’t bite each other’s asses.

Back at the couch, I took an arm seat, and she sat next to me, leaning on me. Was that what she did with her friends? I wasn’t about to ask, I didn’t want her to move away from me. Her vanilla scent filled the room, intoxicating my senses. Maggie was soon becoming my own personal drug.

“…want to disturb you.”

I blinked out of the lust haze. “What was that?”

“I heard you tucking Piper in, and I was going to offer to read her a story so we could do a little bonding, but I didn’t want to disturb you.”

I was relieved to hear that. All day, I’d worried she would feel awkward around Piper, but it was nice to know she wanted to jump right in with her. “Maybe tomorrow night. Say, do you know how to curl a little girl’s hair? Piper says she wants princess curls like yours.”

She giggled, choking a little on her cocoa. “Oh my God, I would have killed to have her hair when I was her age. Maybe then my mom wouldn’t have cut it all off to keep it manageable. Um, I’m not sure how to get my curls onto her head, but maybe if I had a curling iron or some rollers? I’m not sure. When I do my hair, it’s usually with the goal of heat damaging it enough to get the curls to be pretty instead of frizzy, which means straightening out a lot of it.”

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