If I Only Knew(50)

I’ve never been more grateful for someone not being on time than right now. “You have a dad. He might not be here with us, but he’s always here.” I point to his heart. “He lives inside of us and as long as we talk about him, remember him, and smile when we think of your daddy, he’ll never be gone. No one will ever replace him, okay?”

Parker’s arms wrap around my neck and he holds on tight. “You’re the best, Mommy.”

“You’re the best.”

He lets go, sits back as if nothing happened, and goes back to his comic.

I stand to grab my phone to see where he is and the doorbell rings.

“I got it!” Parker yells as he rushes to the door with me on his heels.

“Parker,” Milo says with a grin.

“Look what I got!” Parker holds up the comic.

“Thor. Good choice.”

“Mom got it for me today,” he explains.

Milo’s eyes meet mine and then he travels the length of my body, taking in the very tight dress. “She did very well then.”

“You’re late.”

“I am. Do you forgive me?” He asks as he pulls roses from behind his back.

Well, that helps a little. “Maybe.”

He smirks. “I didn’t think you’d be an easy one.” Milo squats in front of Parker. “The reason I’m late is because I had my Mum send me a package, and I was waiting for the post to come. I had her dig for something I kept, and I’d like to share it with you.”

Then Milo steps out onto the porch and comes back with a bag. “This is for me?” Parker asks.

“Yup.”

My son lets out a scream as he pulls dozens of comics from the bag. Not just any comics though, it’s Spiderman, Thor, Batman, and Iron Man . . . the old comics. The ones that are probably worth money.

“Milo,” I clear my throat. “This is very sweet, but he’s six, this is too much, and he could ruin—”

“They’re his to do with as he pleases. I haven’t touched them in years, and I would like them to be enjoyed by someone who appreciates them.”

“Still.”

“Let me do something nice for your son, Danielle.” He leans in so only I can hear the next part. “I’ll be happy to let you do something nice for me in return.”

For the love of God. “I’m eating dinner with you, that’s my nice deed.”

“Barely.”

“Mom, can I keep them?” Parker gives me the puppy dog eyes.

Milo drops to his knees next to him, giving me the same face. “Yeah, Mum, can we?”

“You two are trouble.”

“The good kind, I hope,” Milo says.

I laugh at that one. “Not even a little.”

We say goodbye to Parker and then he goes up to annoy Ava with his comic books. I lock the door behind me and as soon as I turn, Milo is right in front of me. His hands wrap around my body and he pushes me so that my back is pressed against the door. Then his lips are on mine.

I kiss him back, tasting the mint and loving the feel of his body against mine.

He pulls back after a few more seconds, resting his forehead to mine. “You look absolutely perfect. I couldn’t wait another second to kiss you.”

“Missed me that much?”

He laughs once, lifts his eyes to mine, but the humor is gone. “I wish you weren’t so damn irresistible.”

I rub my thumb against his lip, removing the red lipstick that was transferred. “Feeling is mutual.”

We make our way to the car, both with smiles on our faces and our fingers intertwined. Milo is a gentleman, opening the car door for me and then walking around.

He starts the car and then stops to look at me. “You find me utterly impossible to resist as well?”

“I wouldn’t say impossible.” I don’t know that I should ever let him know how much I think of him.

Mischief starts to swirl in his green eyes. “Would you care to make a wager on that?”

“On what?”

“On whether you can keep your knickers on ‘til the end of our date.”

I roll my eyes. “Fine, what do we bet?”

I’m totally winning this. First, Milo doesn’t know the depth of my competitive side. I never lose. I ate an entire jar of hot peppers on a dare once. I skinny dipped in a freezing cold pool because Heather bet me a hundred dollars I wouldn’t do it. There is nothing about this date that is impossible for me to resist. Do I like him? Yup. Do I want to have sex again? Abso-fucking-lutely. Will I if it means I will lose? Not a chance in hell.

“If I win, which means we’re having some Earth shattering fucking tonight, you have to tell Callum about how good I am in bed.”

Not even a possibility. “You want me to tell my boss how good you are in bed?”

“No,” he corrects. “I want you to tell my wanker of a brother that I fuck better than you’ve ever had.”

“Your brother is also my boss,” I point out.

“Scared, are you?”

“Of what? You going home with some blue balls?” I scoff. “Please. If I win you have to do something equally as mortifying.” I ponder what the best thing is. I could have him quit, but that’s not what I want. Milo makes coming to work exciting for me.