Page 31 of Faking with the Bad Boy Billionaire

"A zoo day huh?" Steven grabs the diaper bag off her shoulder and carries it to her SUV.

"What are you doing?" Josie eyes him warily as she loads up Lucas.

"I'm coming with you. This feels like it should be a family day event." Steven left her standing there, her mouth opening and closing like a fish, while he climbed into the passenger seat.

"You're what? This is a what type of thing?" Josie's voice went up an octave, and Steven smiled at her from between the seats.

"Let's go! The zoo waits for no one!"

Chapter nineteen

Josephine

Josephinewascompletelycaughtoff guard by Steven's attitude again. "Trying to run away and keep him all to yourself?" She wanted to slap him for that. She would never run away with their child and not tell him. At least not once he found out.

She had to check herself before she said anything that would set off another argument in front of their son, "Actually, I am just taking Lucas for a zoo day. Is there something I can help you with?" She felt proud of herself for making it through that. She tried to push forward to the car.

"A zoo day, huh?" Steven took the diaper bag off her shoulder, and she felt a little out of sorts because he was touching things and moving around her.

"What are you doing?" Josephine was frustrated that he was just moving around as if there wasn't anything going on with them.

"I'm coming with you. This feels like it should be a family day thing." Steven left her standing there with her mouth opening and closing while she tried to think of something to say back to him.

After about thirty seconds, she found her voice, "You're what? This is a what type of thing?" Josephine felt her voice jump up an octave. She wanted to scream at him but also to keep a smile on in front of Lucas.

"Let's go! The zoo waits for no one!" Steven did an annoying drumroll on the dash, and Josephine shut the car door. She rolled her eyes and looked up to the sky, cursing whoever sent him back to her on the same day they got into a screaming match in the middle of the subdivision.

Josephine opened the door and slid in, "Actually, the zoo could wait for you if you did not want to come with us. I mean, it will always be there for you to join us on a different day when I don't want to strangle you." She said it in a higher and peppier voice, trying not to let Lucas in on her irritation. She turned her key in the ignition and backed the car out of the driveway.

"So, what is his favorite area at the zoo?" Steven kept looking between her and Lucas in the car. Josephine was trying to ignore him, but she also did not want him to not know his son.

She adjusted in her seat, "His favorite section is the Critter Connection, but he seemed to enjoy the Mission Everglades." She turned the air conditioning up in the car and then, for some reason, kept going, "I personally enjoy the Africa area and the Amazon and Beyond area."

"Still love elephants and the big cats?" Steven tilted his head and smiled at her.

"Absolutely!" Josephine was about to go on a rant about how amazing the elephants are, but she remembered that she had gone on that rant many times before when they were younger. "What are your favorite areas?"

Steven did what he does best, charmed, "I am sure I will love every area that you both love. You do pick winners." His smile went right at her. It was bright and beautiful. He was beautiful.

"Stop with the flirty comments, Steven. Today is about you spending time with your son." Josephine tried to put distance between them to fake it until they made it. "Just," She let out a breath and gripped the wheel a little harder, "focus on him right now. Not me."

"Got it. I need to win one over at a time. I got this." He spun around and faced Lucas. "Should we get all of the treats today?" Lucas let out steady giggles. "You are with Dada today, so let's get some treats."

"Not all of them, thank you. I want him to be able to sleep soundly tonight." Josephine heard herself say it but did not want to admit that she sounded like her mom. Steven chuckled, probably thinking exactly what she was thinking. "Last time Lana had him so jacked up on ice cream… it was not a good time."

"So, extra ice cream?" His sarcastic tone almost made her want to scream.

"If you make today a nightmare for me, Steven, I will make the next week a nightmare for you." Josephine saw him twitch a bit, and his smile dropped slightly. She knew she had scared him from pushing too much further.

"Fine. No extra ice cream." For the rest of the drive, Steven hummed to the radio and tried to do whatever he could to lay eyes on Lucas. He was trying too hard to avoid looking in her direction. She wanted to laugh at him but worried that it would spur him on.

It was a quiet walk into the zoo until Lucas started getting excited about all the different animals. Steven kept saying he was Dada to him, trying to ensure that Lucas would not forget who he was. Josephine thought it was adorable that he constantly picked him up to show him things. When Steven pointed out something and mentioned any random facts he knew, Lucas bounced a bit more.

Lucas eventually fell asleep in the stroller. When he was sleeping soundly, the pair kept walking around to see the animals he was missing. Josephine did not want to wake him up and ruin a good nap. He would have been so cranky. They walked in circles when Lucas woke up, ready to be changed and have a bottle. Josephine finished it and grabbed some food when Steven told her to leave the stroller with him. At first, she was weary of leaving him with Steven, but then just seeing them together as Lucas clutched onto his cheeks and giggled at him sent her heart fluttering through a lot of what could be thoughts.

They left the zoo, still barely talking about surface things, when they loaded Lucas in the car. Steven took the initiative to spend time getting to know all the things his son loved. He tried to understand what made him smile or made him upset. Josephine did not want to cave to him; it would eventually happen, but she could feel the ice around her heart melting. Steven helped her carry everything into the house and got quick directions on where to put everything away. He had not been further than the kitchen and living room area at this point. The open floor concept made him smile. She caught the slight grin and threw a towel at him.

"I would ask you to stay for dinner, but we are a bit past that." Lucas was on the floor, and Steven slid down next to his son. The doorbell rang, and Josephine rushed to get it, "Um… did you order dinner?"

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