“Yeah, this is Muffin. He loves when you scratch right here.” I reach down and scratch Muffin behind his ears, and he lifts one legand starts kicking at his underbelly then loses balance and almost falls.
Rune just laughs and then grabs my hand and drags me over to Leo.
“Mom! This is Dr. Giraffe! See, I told you he was tall.”
Leo stands, but she doesn’t reach out her hand or come in for a hug. Both of us are unsure how to greet each other.
“You were right. It’s…nice to meet you, Dr. Giraffe.” I think she realizes she isn’t acting like she just met me, so she reaches out a hand and I take it, bringing it to my lips and kissing her golden skin. Then letting my thumb trail inside against the delicate skin of her inner wrist, feeling her pulse hammer beneath my thumb.
“Please, call me Ev.” I flash my dimples at her, knowing they make her weak in the knees.
She pulls her hand away, and a sharp inhale makes her pouty lips open just a tad. Fuck, do I want to kiss those lips. Want those lips wrapped around my—
“Can he have coffee with us? Pleeeeaasseee!” Rune interrupts my dangerous thoughts.
Before she can answer, I pull out a chair and hook Muffin’s leash over the top edge then bend down eye level with Rune. “Are you drinking coffee, young man?” I say like I am scolding but also with a smirk so he knows I’m not.
“No, silly goose. I drink hot chocolate. Do you want one? I think I have a fewdollars—”
He reaches into his pocket like he is going to pay for my hot cocoa, and I put my hand on his, stopping him. “How ’bout I get this one, and you can get the next?”
“The next?Are you going to go on coffee dates with us all the time now?”
Oops. Probably shouldn’t have insinuated that…
Leo is glaring at me, her lips pursed.
“Honey, why don’t you stay here and pet Muffin, and I will go with Everett to order his drink?”
“I thought your name was Ev?”
Smart boy. He caught Leo’s slip. I introduced myself as Ev because that’s what I need Leo to call me. She only called me Everett when she was screaming my name, and I don’t like the way she says it now, so cold and detached.
“I…uh—he… I looked him up after he treated you in the ER. His name is Everett. I just… Can I call you Everett?”
“No, Ev is good. I’m your Ev. Only ever your Ev.”
She is flustered, trying to come up with a fib to cover her ass.
I am flirting with her shamelessly. I don’t give a fuck who hears, even Rune. We are going to be a family one day. He might as well get used to it now.
Her eyes widen, telling me to shut up without actually using the words.
Then Rune says the best thing I’ve ever heard. “Everett? Sometimes my mommy says that name while she is sleeping or having mommy time when she thinks I’m sleeping.”
I curl my lips in, holding back a laugh. “Does she now?”
Leo buries her face in her hands for a moment then removes them, placing them on her now very flushed cheeks. “Okaaayyy, let's go get that coffee, Dr. Giraffe.”
It doesn’t go unnoticed that she won't call me Ev and now she is too embarrassed to call me by my full name. The one she has been moaning out apparently. God, the thought of that makes me fucking elated.
As we approach the counter to order, I look at her beautifully flushed cheeks. With the golden skin, her blush is like a deep pink rose color. Fucking stunning.
“So. Mommy time?”
“Please stop talking. And don’t make any more comments about a next time. Oh, and stop flirting with me!”
I let out a roaring laughter, unable to hold it in any longer.
