Page 104 of The Enemy Face Off

He ushers the kids back inside.

I turn to face Milo. "Well, am I your girlfriend?"

"You'd make me the happiest man on earth if you were."

"So ask me."

He takes my hand in his. "Beth Anne Moore…will you be my girlfriend?"

"I will."

He pulls me into a tight hug, his strong arms wrapping around me like he never wants to let go. His skin is still slightly damp, and I can feel the steady thump of his heart. This is so right. I know it is.

"I should probably go inside," he says, moving back a few inches. "Explain things to the kids."

"You want some company?"

His eyebrows spring up. "Are you sure?"

"Of course."

"Okay. Great. That'd be wonderful. I…I have no idea what I'm going to say. There's no real roadmap for this."

"No. There isn't." I thread my fingers through his as we start walking toward the house. "So let's figure it out together."

"Is she going to stay with us?"

"Can I visit her in her bookstore?"

"Is she our new mom?"

Okay, so maybe I slightly underestimated the grilling a six-year-old is capable of giving. Not that I'd expect anything less from Josie. She's not being mean or difficult about it, she's just inquisitive and genuinely wants to know.

I'm sitting quietly because Milo is handling all the questions she's throwing at him really well, including the last one. Talk about a toughie.

"No, sweetie, no one can ever replace your mommy," he answers, gently bouncing Jonah on his knee. "But Beth is someone who is very special to me."

"I wike her," Jonah chips in.

Milo smiles and continues, "I think you like her, too. Don't you, Josie?"

She nods. "I do."

"That's good," Milo says. "And over time, you'll get to know her even better and like her even more. But she's not here to be your mommy."

Josie takes a moment to think.

She looks at me, and I smile. She smiles back, but it's so hard to read what's going on in her head.

"Is that why you gave her a card with a love heart?" she asks.

Milo glances over at me. "Yeah. It was. I like Beth a lot." His eyes burn into mine. "That's why I asked her to be my girlfriend."

Jonah lets out an excitedWeeeven though he's a little too young to properly understand what's going on. Josie looks between Milo and me a few times, eventually saying, "Does this mean she can read me stories at bedtime?"

"It does. If Beth would like to."

I smile at Milo, then at Josie. "I'd love to."

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