Page 40 of How Sweet It Is

“That’s fine.”

Kiki hesitates as if she’s having doubts about leaving Skyler.

“Don’t worry. We’ll have fun together,” Levi calls. “I thought we’d build a bomb, do a little skydiving, then practice our knife juggling.” He winks at me like he and I came up with these activities together.

“We will not,” I assure her. “We can watch some age-appropriate television or play a game.”

Levi chuckles. “Boring,” he says to Skyler, and she giggles.

Kiki grins at us, mouths “Thank you,” and leaves.

I turn to Levi, who now has a little girl climbing on him. “What should we order for dinner?”

Levi pulls out his phone. “A new Indian restaurant just opened up downtown. Do you like curry?”

“I love it, but it might be too spicy for Skyler.”

Levi waves his hand. “She’ll eat anything.”

“Are you sure?”

He shrugs. “I think so.”

He orders food while Skyler attempts to scale him like a mountain, peppering him with questions. “What did you make today?”

“Cupcakes, cookies, croissants, tarts, and bread.”

“What kind of bread did you make?”

He glances at her from over his phone. “Gluten-free bread.”

She wrinkles her nose. “What kind is that?”

“It’s the only kind I can eat,” I say.

“Oh. Was it good?”

“It was delicious.” I grin at her, suddenly unsure of what to do all night with a five-year-old. “Should we do something fun?”

“Yes!” Skyler shouts.

“What would you like to do?”

“Let’s build a fort!” She goes to my thrift-store couch and pulls off a cushion.

“Great idea. I’ll get some blankets.”

Levi finishes on his phone and joins us, and soon, we have a fort made for a king, with cushions, blankets hanging from a rope, and a flashlight. Skyler climbs in then pokes her head out. “You come in, too, Amelia.”

“Really?” I eyeball the small space I would have to crawl into. “I don’t know if there’s room for me.”

Levi nudges me. “Don’t disappoint the little lady. Go on.”

I’m not really dressed for crawling on the floor, in my business skirt and dress jacket, but I slip out of the jacket and hang it in the closet before I crawl into the small space. Levicrawls in after me. He grins at me and says in my ear, “Scoot over, Spreadsheet. My rear end is hanging out.”

Heat flushes through me. I shouldn’t have given in to Levi coming over. This is going to be bad for me, I can tell right now.

CHAPTER 20

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