Page 92 of Marcus

With that said, she pushed away from the small porthole window that was too small for kids to climb through where she had been calling out to her mother. Cella saw a pop of her daughter’s curls before Tiffany jumped into the biggest slide in the play gym, the one that took the kids all the way from the top to the very bottom in seconds. Her daughter came out the other end with the skirt of her dress flying everywhere, and a big smile on her face showing off the one tooth she had missing on the bottom row of teeth.

Her first lost tooth.

“I’m doing that again,” Tiffany said, laughing.

“Her poutine is almost ready,” Marcus said from behind Cella. “So, whenever you think you can pull her out of there to sit down for ten minutes.”

Right.

“That’s going to be easier said than done.”

Marcus chuckled. “No doubt. I’ll leave that job to you.”

“Well, thanks.”

He winked her way.

The sexy bastard.

“Marcus, about the little girl—you said she wanted to see the floor of the bottling plant, right?”

The manager—Trina, Marcus said her name was—came to stand in the doorway of the playroom. It allowed parents to keep their kids separated from where the tour groups came through, and the small restaurant portion where everyone sat down to eat. There were a few small tables in the play area as well, which was where she figured Tiffany would probably eat.

“Oui,” he answered. “She’ll need the small sanitation suit, but even that will be too big, likely. We’ll roll them up.”

“I’ll grab one from the storage at the back. It’ll take me a bit—she’ll have time to eat her lunch, and then we can show her the floor.”

“Merci, Trina. You know I appreciate this.”

“Yes,” Cella said, “thank you for helping with this.”

The woman smiled brightly, the lines around her eyes making her features seem even more welcoming. The few employees that were actually inside the plant seemed to enjoy the woman’s presence, and Cella understood why. “No worries. I love seeing the kiddos light up. It’s not very often we have just one in here to focus on. Usually, it’s more. But anything for Marcus—he treats us well.”

Cella gave Marcus a look, and he grinned right back. “Yeah, tell me about it.”

Once the woman had left the doorway, Cella turned back to the play equipment to watch Tiffany climb back through the bottom large tunnel before her mother could tell her to come out and get ready for lunch.

“One more time,” Cella called, “and then we have to eat!”

“Okay, Ma!”

To Marcus, Cella said quietly, “Okay really means I will take my slow ass time. Just for reference.”

He smirked. “Kids will be kids.”

“Mmhmm.”

“I’ll go get the food.”

“Thanks,” she said.

He pulled her in for a kiss that wasn’t nearly long enough for her liking. Not that it mattered. She would have that man all to herself later. Surely, she could wait for that.

“Let her have fun,” Marcus told her, “no rush. We have all day.”

“Right.”

“Love you, hmm?”