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Liv grabbed her bag, heading for the door. “I’ll take him for a milkshake first, give you time to reach home.”
This time his smile was more relaxed. “You’re a lifesaver. I owe you one.”
“You can pay me back in scones,” she told him, eliciting a laugh from his lovely, soft-looking lips. “Let the teacher know I’ll be picking him up, so they don’t think I’m trying to kidnap your adorable son.”
“Will do.” He raised his eyebrows and it made her heart skip a beat. “And by the way, we need to get your scone addiction under control. You, Maya, and Elise have a problem.”
She shrugged. “There’s no problem. I can give them up anytime I want.”
He laughed. “Yeah, right.”
They ended the call, and Liv pulled her purple-framed glasses out of her bag, taking out her hair tie so that her wavy dark locks fell free. Then she made her way over to the dance studio. She knew Jayce’s class would be finishing in around ten minutes because sometimes she’d see Jayce leaving with either Arran or Jess.
Once inside the studio, she headed over to where the group of parents were waiting for their kids to exit, and she peered through the small window in the door to watch the class. The wee ones were having an absolute ball, performing moves that, in some cases, barely resembled what the teacher was doing.So cute.
A few minutes later, the class was dismissed. Liv kept watch for Jayce, hoping he wouldn’t be disappointed that she was there instead of his mummy. Before long, his little face appeared behind a crowd of kids, big brown eyes wide and sandy curls bouncing. “Lib!”
“Hey, buddy!” she said, crouching down as he ran over and practically threw himself into her arms.
“Teacher said you were coming,” he told her in an excited tone. “We going to play at your house?”
She ruffled his soft hair. “Not today, pal. I’m just picking you up as a favor to Mummy and Daddy.”
He grasped her hand as she stood. “You taking me to Mummy’s?”
She gave his hand a squeeze. “We’re off to Dad’s house. I think there’s been a change of plan because Mummy’s busy.”
They exited onto the street. Jayce pointed down the road, toward the fifties-style diner. “Can we get milkshakes?”
“Wow. You read my mind,” she said with a smile. “That was exactly my plan.”
He threw his small fist into the air. “Yay!”
—
“And then what happened?” Livasked, maintaining a serious expression as Jayce carried on with his tall tale.
“And then I rescued everyone from the dragon and saved the day,” he said from the back seat, a proud look on his face when she glanced in the rearview mirror.
She returned her eyes to the road as she navigated the last turn onto Arran’s driveway. “Wow. And this was definitely real, not a dream?”
“Wasn’t a dream,” he scoffed. “It really happened.”
“Okay,” she told him. “I believe you.” She pulled up outside the house and exited the car to get Jayce out of the car seat. She couldn’t even remember when she’d started keeping Arran’s spare seat in the back; it had happened at some point after the New Year.
Jayce scrambled out of the car before she could help him, running past the grassy area lined with yellow daffodils and purple crocuses and up to the doorway, where he banged his fist. When she reached the doorstep, Liv glanced back at the outdoor scenery, the green of the Highland hills making her optimistic that spring was just around the corner.
The door opened and Arran’s smiling face appeared. He crouched down as Jayce barreled into him in his signature greeting. “Daddy! We had milkshakes.”
“What? Without me?” Arran said, pouting his lips in an exaggerated manner that made her fantasize—again—about kissing him. “What flavor did you get?”
“Chocolate!” Jayce yelled, running off down the hallway.
Liv laughed as she crossed the threshold. Arran held out his hand and she gave him a side five. Despite the fact that they now performed this gesture pretty much every time they met, the touch of his hand still gave her goose bumps.That’s not how “just friends” is supposed to feel.
“Have you got time for a cuppa?” he asked her.
“Sure. Always time for tea,” Liv told him as she followed him down the hallway.
