Page 52 of Moonlit Kisses

Emma, Molly, and I all burst into laughter. Kenny’s always comparing pretty ladies to her Disney princesses.

“We already introduced ourselves.” Emma angles her body in such a way that she can raise her brows at me without Molly seeing. With wide eyes, she mouths, “She’s beautiful.”

I shake my head and huff out a laugh. Beautiful is an understatement, in my opinion.

“You should come to Lachlan’s birthday party!” Kenny shouts as she spins around the room.

Molly’s eyes snap to mine in confusion.

“Oh, you totally should. We’d love to have you come,” Emma adds with glee. She knows exactly what she’s doing. She’s fucking stirring the pot. If she knew where I slept last night and what I was doing this morning, she’d be all over it and I’d never hear the end.

Molly’s like a deer caught in headlights as her head swings between me and Em. “Oh, uhm, I wouldn’t want to intrude on a family event.”

“You wouldn’t be intruding at all. The more, the merrier. Right, Lachlan?” Emma runs her fingers through Lachlan’s hair.

He doesn’t seem convinced. “Yes.” He tilts his head up to Emma. “What does that mean? The more the merrier?”

I crouch down to Lachlan’s level. “It means a party is more fun when there are lots of people.”

His face scrunches up. “I don’t like to be around a lot of people. It’s too noisy.”

“That’s okay. I don’t have to come, Lachlan,” Molly offers. Sheer relief on her face that she has an excuse.

“Molly doesn’t make all that much noise, Buddy.” I smirk at Molly.

“Oh, okay then. But will she be mean like Mona?” he asks.

My grin drops and I shake my head. Mona was a fucking bitch to my family. I shouldn’t have stayed with her as long as I did. I didn’t realize the kids had noticed, but I shouldn’t be surprised because Lachlan notices everything. “No, Lachlan. Molly wouldn’t know how to be mean. She’s incredibly kind.”

He nods. “Okay then.” He moves closer to Molly. “You can come.” He turns to his mom. “Molly doesn’t smell terrible like Mona did.”

An embarrassed huff escapes from my sister and she mouths an apology to Molly, which she kindly waves off.

“Yay!” Kenny jumps up and down in excitement. “Can I braid your hair like Elsa?”

Molly’s mouth opens and closes, her hand over her heart. “Thank you, Lachlan. I’d love to come to your party.” Then she turns to Kenny. “I’d love to have you braid my hair like Elsa. I’m not sure it’s as long as hers, though.”

“That’s okay. I’ll make it work.” Kenny nods to herself, then continues to spin.

“Okay. Well, that’s settled. We really must be going.” Em gathers the kids together. “It was nice meeting you, Molly.” Then she turns toward me. “Do you mind helping me with the kids, Max?”

That’s code for I need to speak with you about Molly. “Sure.”

The door to the outside is barely closed when Emma nudges me. Hard. “Oh my gosh, Max. She’s so gorgeous and incredibly sweet.”

We walk toward her car, and I help buckle the kids into their seats. “Yeah, she’s pretty great.”

“Pretty great, huh?” Em raises her eyebrows. “She thought I was a single Mom, who had turned up on the wrong day to get my car repaired. She was so freaking apologetic.”

Sounds like Molly. “Sheisan incredibly sweet girl. She’s been through a lot.”

Emma’s face turns sad. “Oh, the poor thing. Well, make sure she comes to Lachlan’s birthday. Everyone’s gonna love her.”

“Hang on a minute. You realize she’s just my office assistant. The family doesn’t need to ‘love’ her.” As I say the words, I know I’m not fooling anyone, especially myself. She’s already more than an office assistant to me.

“You keep telling yourself that, little brother.” She presses up on her toes and kisses my cheek before climbing into her car. “Whatever makes it easier to work alongside her. But mark my words. She’ll be part of our family soon enough.” She winks, then closes her door, not allowing me to respond.

And I know. I know she’s right. Damn it. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

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