Page 111 of Playing It Forward

“Congrats, sprite!” Nolan shouts when I open the door. He smiles, but the twinkle in his blue eyes is missing.

Before I have a chance to ask what’s wrong, he kisses me. The world falls away with his lips on mine and his tongue in my mouth. There’s no worry about my new job. No worry about the baby. There’s just this.

All too soon it’s over, and he pulls away.

“These are from the team.” He shoves a bunch of flowers at me.

“The team ready to stage a riot?” I giggle.

“The team’s a family. Always there for you. Annoying sometimes.” Pain flashes in his eyes, but he blinks and it’s gone. “I made reservations for our celebration. You ready?”

“Reservations where?”

“First, I thought the resort since it has the fanciest restaurant on the island. But then I worried you might not want to eat where you work. Then, I thought Smuggler’s Cove Restaurant but Gage warned me about the Smuggler’s Reenactment Dinner. You are not being kidnapped – pretend or not. Finally, I realized we didn’t finish our picnic the other day when we were playing mini golf and thought we could do a picnic.”

I wag a finger at him. “You can’t blame the thunderstorm on me. I’m not Poseidon. I don’t rule the sea.”

“You claimed a thunderstorm was on the way when I was finally catching up to you. There wasn’t one drop of rain.”

“Blame the radar.”

He chuckles.

“What did you decide in the end?”

He rubs his nose. “I couldn’t decide.”

“You couldn’t decide?” Realization hits me. “You made reservations at the resort and Smuggler’s Cove Restaurant, didn’t you?”

The tips of his ears darken. “And I brought a picnic basket in case you want to have a picnic at Prohibition Beach.”

“I’m not eating at the beach. I have to pee every five minutes, and there are no public toilets. I’m too old to put on a bathing suit and wade into the water every time I need to go.”

He chuckles. “Is that what you usually do?”

My cheeks warm but I answer anyway. “Yep. All the smugglers do.”

“Okay. No beach. We’ll save the picnic for after the little mermaid arrives.”

My hand automatically drifts to my stomach. “I can’t wait for my stomach to pop.”

His hand covers mine. “Me either. You’re going to be even more gorgeous.”

My eyes narrow. “You’re only saying that because my boobs keep getting bigger.”

He shrugs. “I’m a man.”

I rake my gaze over him. He’s dressed in khakis and a button-down shirt. The shirt strains against his shoulders, and he’s rolled up the sleeves to showcase his sexy forearms.

Sexy forearms? Since when are forearms sexy? Apparently, since now.

He growls and steps closer. He pinches my chin and lifts my head until our gazes clash. His eyes flare with passion and heat.

“Do not look at me like you want to eat me or we won’t be getting any dinner.”

My nipples tingle at his deep voice. “I’m on board with this plan.”

He kisses my nose before retreating. “I’m not. You need food. Our little mermaid needs food. No distracting me.”