Page 40 of Accidental Proposal

“It’s not that he doesn’t think you know how to act. It is just the people at those events. They love to pick on anything they can find, and when they find something, they don’t let up until you are practically a sobbing mess in front of everyone. He just doesn’t want that to happen to you,” Lennon reasoned. She sounded exactly like Liam had the other day.

“I guess you’re right.” I guess I’d better start listening to and trusting Liam more. I was lost in my own thoughts until Lennon said something.

“We’ve been here two, almost three, hours. We may want to go get ice cream before we head back.” I nodded, standing up and calling Sky over. She looked over at us and looked sadly back at her new friend. I watched, smiling as they hugged, and she ran over to us.

“You ready to go and get ice cream?” I asked.

“Yes!” Grinning, I grabbed her Jenna bear and her hand before leaving the bouncy room with Lennon beside us.

While Lennon drove us to an ice cream shop, Sky sat in the back gabbing about her new friend, Nathan. She went on about what they did and random things about him. It was actually really cute, listening to her getting all excited. About ten minutes later, we pulled into a cute place that had an ice cream cone on the side of it. After making sure Jenna bear was okay in the car, all three of us headed inside. Sky bounced on her heels as we waited in line, trying to see what flavors they had over the counter.

Lennon ordered first, getting a strawberry cone. She stepped to the side for us. Seeing as Sky needed help, I lifted her up and onto my hip so she could see the flavors. And, of course, like every little kid, she wanted to try every flavor, making the poor girl behind the counter go everywhere.

“I am so sorry about this,” I said after the fifth sampling.

“Don’t worry, it happens a lot.” The girl smiled at me. “Your daughter is super cute.” I froze at that. I had never even thought about having kids, and it was kind of a given that I wasn’t going to. I didn’t want to do to them what my mother had done to me. I always figured whatever made my mother leave me would pass onto me, and I did not want that to happen to anyone else.

“I want chocolate!” Sky finally said, jerking me back to reality. I rolled my eyes, and the girl scooped a small cone of chocolate ice cream for Sky before handing it to her.

“I’ll have mint chocolate chip.” We paid and took a seat in a booth so Lennon could eat her cone before driving us home. Only a few licks in, Sky got chocolate all over her face, grinning widely as she licked her cone. She looked like she was in seventh heaven. Knowing it was no use wiping it off just yet, I dug into my ice cream.

Once all three of us were done, I quickly wetted a napkin and wiped Sky’s face before we piled back into the car. Surprisingly, the ride back was quiet, and midway home I turned around to make sure Sky was okay. I found her dead asleep. Chuckling quietly, I turned around and shared a grin with Lennon. It was now three in the afternoon, and we had successfully worn her out. We got back to the house a few minutes later, and I slid out quietly.

“Do you need help with her?” Lennon asked, coming around the car.

“It’s okay. I got her. You can go home. Thank you so much for today,” I said softly, unbuckling the seatbelt and sliding Sky out of the car and into my arms. Clenched in her arms was her bear, and I smiled fondly down at her.

“No problem, I had a blast. Have a good night. I’ll probably be over tomorrow.” Giving my arm a pat because she couldn’t hug me, Lennon sent me one last grin before going back around to the driver’s seat.

While Lennon drove off, I awkwardly put in the code for the door and pushed it open with one hand and my butt. Sky snored softly on my shoulder as I quietly shut the door behind me, heading to my room. I was halfway to my room when a loud voice stopped me in my tracks.

“Where have you been?”

Chapter Seventeen

“Where have you been?” I froze, holding a sleeping Sky in my arms. I hadn’t expected Liam to be home so soon. Slowly, I turned around and found Liam standing there, his arms folded across his chest. I looked him up and down, finding him really attractive at the moment even though he was staring at me angrily. He was dressed in a dark blue suit jacket and dress pants, a light blue, almost white, dress shirt with a skinny tie around his neck but loosened. His brown hair was slicked back and to the side.

“Jenna, where were you? And who is that?” he asked again and looked down at Sky in my arms.

“I was kidnapping a child,” I said sarcastically before I could stop myself.

“Jenna,” he warned, his voice hard.

“Liam, chill. I was with Lennon. Let me put her down, then we can talk,” I quietly hissed at him. Ignoring Liam, I turned and headed to my room. With one hand, I peeled back my sheets and gently laid Sky down, grabbing her new teddy bear and her other unicorn stuffed animal. I put them around her before pulling the sheets around her little body. I smiled softly down at her and laid a kiss to her forehead before turning around. Silencing a scream that wanted to come out of my mouth, I glared at Liam, who was right behind me.

“What are you doing, sneaking up on me like that?” I hissed at him.

“Who is she?” he asked, ignoring my question completely.

“Her name is Sky.”

“Who does she belong to?”

“Jeez, Liam, she isn’t a dog.” I rolled my eyes. I watched him looking at Sky almost kindly and with curiosity. I decided to mess with him a little bit. “She is mine.” Just as I wanted, his head whipped in my direction.

“She is your child!” he all but yelled.

“Quiet down!” I grabbed his arm and hauled him out of the room and closed the door quietly behind me.

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