His eyes heated. “I can get behind that.” His hand discreetly slid to my ass cheek. “Or under it.”
“Ahem,” Addy said with her little fists on her waist. “I’m here, Auntie Lo.”
I looked around without glancing down. She was still short enough for me to get away with it. “Who said that?”
“Your favorite,” she said with an eye roll.
“You’ve got a clone,” Rhys muttered with a dimpled smile that told me he was thinking about what it would be like when we had one of our own.
Hopefully, he didn’t go back on his word and change his mind at the realization we might end up with a mini-me—attitude, competitiveness, and stubbornness included.
I’d been trying to be cool Auntie Lo, but I didn’t have enough chill to pull it off. I hugged Logan and Cora before taking the bags from Rhys and handing them over. “Go nuts, kids.”
They took off, and I was ready to snag Addy if she tried to follow the cookies.
She didn’t.
She launched herself at me, and instant tears filled my eyes.
“Missed you, kid,” I choked out.
“Missed you, too, Auntie Lo.” She wiggled away enough to cup my cheeks in her little hands. “Did you know that I’m four and I go to school and I have a dog named Violet who is mean and I love mac and cheese?”
“I did know all of that.”
“How?”
“Because I know everything. It’s my superpower.”
“You don’t have superpowers.”
“Of course I do. I got them from eating my veggies, doing good bedtimes, and being kind.”
“It’s true,” Rhys put in. “She can even hypnotize people.”
“She can?” Addy breathed.
“Why else would I do everything she says?”
“Wow.” She shook her stunned little head to clear it. “Did you know today is a special dinner because you’re here, your friend is here, I’m here, but also Uncle Grayson?”
“I knew that, too.”
Grayson was working out of the Boston office while he worked with his agency and the police department to sort through the clusterfuck.
Or, as he called it, multiple cases in a trench coat to form one super case.
With the hug and excitement out of the way, Addy seemed to suddenly remember I hadn’t come empty-handed. “Cookies!”
As she took off in a full sprint, I looked up at Rhys. “Hypnotize?”
“You’ve got me under a spell.”
I rolled my eyes even as I smiled so hard, it hurt. “Ready to meet everyone, friend?”
“It’s like that, huh?”
“A really good friend?” I tried. “Aneatfriend?”
