Page 88 of My Secret Bandit

“That’s good, baby. Well… not so good for him, but I’m glad you have your friend back.”

I shifted in my seat to look at him. “You are?”

“Kyle means a lot to you, and he helped you through some tough stuff. If it makes you breathe easier having him back in your life, then I support that. As long as he knows his place and stays there.” He winked.

“He does. After that speech you gave, he knew no one could follow your footsteps.”

“You’re not mad?” he replied, a quick intake of breath holding in his chest.

“No. One of the good things that came out of the article is that I don’t care who knows, and I don’t care what they have to say about it.” I took his hand from my lap and kissed the back of it. “So. What’s the surprise?”

“You tryin’ to butter me up to get an answer out of me?”

I clutched my chest. “I would never!”

“Riiight!You wanna hear something crazy though?“ he asked.

“Of course.”

“I went to put my jersey on and it smelled exactly like you. Any idea how that happened?”

Internally I cringed, thinking I ruined my surprise, but externally I just shrugged.

“Maybe you just love me so much you imagined it,” I said, batting flirty lashes at him.

“That must be it.” He laughed.

I didn’t need to deflect much longer as we pulled into his driveway. “Xander?”

“Yeah, he helped pick it up.”

I met him by the front steps.

The door pushed open, and the prettiest curly-headed girl came running over to us.

“Tía!“ she exclaimed, little arms wrapping around my waist. My head turned up to Mateo after hearing the “aunt” part of her greeting.

He scratched the side of his head. “I may have told her to call you that. It’s all a part of the master plan.” He grinned.

“Master plan?”

“No te preocupes hermosa.You’ll see soon enough. Until then…this little cupcake is with us.“ He scooped her up and cuddled her close. “Mom and Pops are both sick. I don’t want mybebitacatching whatever they have. If she did, she would’ve missed school anyway, so she’s staying with us for a couple days.”

“Best surprise ever, right?” Amelia smiled.

“Oh! Absolutely, sweet girl.”

After dinner, we built a fort in the living room and spent the rest of the night watching princess movies until we all fell asleep under our makeshift tent with Amelia bundled up between me and Mateo.

Calling on maternal instincts I didn’t know I had, I prepared breakfast as quietly as I could the next morning. With everything laid out, I sent a text to Jeffrey.

Me: Morning Boss. Do you mind if I take today and tomorrow off?

Jeffrey: Not if you tell me what for.

Me: Mateo’s parents are sick, so we have his niece with us.

Jeffrey: Hey, you remember when I told you y’all would be head over heels in no time? Damn! I love being right all the time. But yeah, go ahead. I guess it’s just me and Kyle then. Y’all have fun.

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