Page 129 of Set Me On Fire

“The kids are having a great time. I’m learning I’m stronger than I thought I was and that I need to really work on my upper body routines.”

“I could help you with that.” His grin was back, brighter than the sun. “Arm day is my favourite.”

He had to go and pop those big biceps, and while I wasn’t one to rhapsodise over men having ten percent body fat, strength? Yeah, that was a turn on, something he seemed to sense. The smile faded as he moved closer, crowding into my space as my hand went to his shirt. I dimly felt the cotton against my fingertips, right before I used it to tug him closer.

His mouth on mine, that little intake of breath, it shut out everything else. Only the touch of him, his taste, his tongue, kissing him right back, that was all I could focus on. Of course, perfect moments were fleeting, that was their nature and the boys’ sounds of disgust broke through. Their theatrical gags had the two of us pulling apart and laughing, shaking our heads, right before Charlie swept me up into his arms.

“See if you can keep up!” he yelled as he ran forward, balancing on a single strand of rope, not needing the hand rails at all.

“Oh my god, oh my god, you’re gonna drop me!” I yelped, my eyes trained on the ground below. We were so very high up. How had I ignored that?

“Never.” He set me down on the next platform, grinning like an idiot. “Never, Millie. Not even if you want me to. I’ve got you, and at some point that will sink in and you’ll just know I’ll always be there to look after you.”

“Carry me!” the kids cried when they joined us, demanding piggy back rides through the next obstacle.

When we finally finished thecourse, the kids were tired, I was feeling wobbly legged, but my mind, it kept on replaying what he’d said over and over. Now was the time to accept it. I’d spent all of my adult years looking for a good guy who actually wanted something serious, and now I had three of them offering exactly that.

As we piled into McDonalds–Charlie had settled the argument with a coin toss, something the boys had observed with rabid attention, followed with a promise that next time the other would get their first choice–I should’ve been thinking about the implications of what that meant. How the hell did a girl raise a child with three dads? But I didn’t. I just floated over to the self-serve screen to put our order in as Charlie corralled the boys away from the playground.

“Boys.” The woman next to me shot me a knowing smile. “I’ve got two of my own. They’re running through life at full throttle the entire time.”

“They certainly are,” I replied.

“They’re gorgeous, though. Look a lot like their dad.” She nodded to Charlie.

“Uncle,” I corrected gently.

“Oh, that’s even worse then. At least you can give them back to their mother,” the woman said with a rueful smile.

“Yeah, though I think I’ll miss the little monkeys when we take them home.”

“Getting clucky?” She patted her arm. “Better have some babies with that man. With parents like you two, they’d be gorgeous.”

I hoped so. It wasn’t having pretty kids that interested me, but happy, healthy ones that felt secure in being a little rambunctious but also had enough manners to behave properly around others.

“So what do you say?” Charlie asked later as he carried our tray of food over to an empty table.

“Thank you, Auntie Millie, Uncle Charlie,” the boys said dutifully as they reached for their shakes. “This was the best day ever!”

“Yeah.” Charlie ignored his food, watching me closely as I replied to his nephews. “It was pretty good, wasn’t it?”

“So didyou want to lie down after taking a couple of paracetamol?” Charlie asked me after we dropped the boys off. “Maybe a hot Epsom salt bath?”

“I’m actually feeling pretty good.” I looked over at him. “Thanks. I had fun today.”

“Soo… how would you feel about more fun?” he asked.

“Does more fun involve heights, because if so, I’m all funned out.”

“Nope.” He was a picture of calm all damn day, but now he was getting squirrelly? My eyes narrowed as I stared at him more closely. “You’ll have your feet on the ground the entire time.”

“OK, so what were you thinking?”

Yep, absolutely squirrelly. He shifted in his seat, then grasped the steering wheel tighter.

“It’s a surprise.”

I wanted to ask for more details, but I could tell that would ruin whatever he had planned.

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