Page 38 of Moore to Love

“Yeah, awesome,” Madison agreed.

Ellie shot me an exasperated look as she joined us. “But no ice cream for dessert unless you promise me not to answer the door like that until I tell you that you’re old enough.”

“No ice cream?” Madison cried with a pout.

“I promise,” Benjamin muttered. “Even when I know who’s gonna be at the door, I won’t answer unless you say so.”

“A little begrudging, but that works for me.” Ellie ruffled his hair. “Let’s grab your seats from the car so we can get going.”

“That shouldn’t be necessary.” I gestured toward my SUV. “I grabbed a couple and stopped at the fire station on the way over so they could help me install them in the back seat.”

Ellie’s head jerked back, and she stared up at me with wide eyes. “You bought booster seats for your car?”

“Yup.” Worried that I might have overstepped, I shoved my hands in my pockets as I explained, “I’m sorry. I thought it would make things easier if we didn’t need to move them since we planned to take my vehicle.”

Ellie beamed a smile at me. “You don’t have anything to apologize for. That was very thoughtful of you.”

After we led the kids to my SUV and I opened the door for her and Madison, she peered inside. “You even got the same brand that I have.”

“I remembered from the day you got that flat tire.”

“Putting your eagle eyes to good use yet again,” she murmured approvingly.

“What’re eagle eyes? Do you have to be a veter’naroon to get some? And where do you keep ’em?” Benjamin asked as I led him around to the other side of the SUV.

“It’s just a fun way to say I’m observant,” I explained. “Because I notice small details that others might not pay attention to.”

“Cool.”

“Dr. Finn?” I murmured after the vehicle doors were closed so the kids couldn’t hear me.

“Yeah.” Ellie grinned up at me. “I told the kids they could call you Finn, but Benjamin thinks you being a vet is too cool to drop off the doctor part. And Madison likes nothing better than to copy her big brother. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” I assured her, reaching out to open her door for her. “To borrow Benjamin's word…it’s cool.”

“Super cool,” he agreed, even though he had no idea what his mom and I were talking about.

The kids told us about their day at school as I drove to the local pizza place, which was next door to the ice cream shop. Since it was only a little after five, we had the place almost to ourselves and were able to snag one of the booths at the back of the dining room near the small arcade. After we placed our order, I dug a handful of quarters out of my pocket and handed them to Ellie. “I grabbed these in case the kids wanted to play some games while we wait for our food.”

“You really do think of everything.” She squeezed my thigh under the table, then beamed a smile at her children. “Can I trust you two to behave if I let you go play a couple of games without me?”

Benjamin and Madison nodded and replied in unison, “Uh-huh.”

She slid four quarters across the table to each of them. “This should be enough for two games. Once they’re gone, come back to see if the pizza is here.”

“Yay,” they cheered before rushing over to the game area.

Since we sat on the side of the booth facing the arcade, we could keep an eye on them while they played. “This is perfect. Thanks for suggesting we come here. And buying car seats for my kids. And the quarters.”

“It was my pleasure, baby.” This time, I was the one who squeezed her thigh under the table. “I hope you don’t think I’m trying to bribe them to like me. I know how important tonight is, and I wanted it to go as smoothly as possible. For all of us.”

“As long as you stick to small things like a couple of dollars in quarters, pizza, and ice cream, you don’t have to worry about overstepping.” She leaned into my side with a soft sigh. “And the booster seats don’t count because they’re a safety thing. I’ll rest a heck of a lot easier knowing that you could take them somewhere without the whole rigmarole of changing them over if need be.”

Warmth spread through my chest at her words. “Thank you for putting your trust in me.”

“Thank you for proving that my faith is so well deserved.”

Our moment was interrupted by the arrival of our drinks. Which was probably a good thing because it was damn difficult not to kiss her senseless right then and there. Instead, I just stared at her while she sipped her wine with a happy curve to her lips as she watched Benjamin and Madison play their games.

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