“I don’t care what people see, what they think, or what they say. I love you and I never want either of us to hide that fact.”
The concern melted away and his eyes lit up, causing my stomach to dip. He cupped my face within his hands, his eyes searching my face. “You’re my everything, Paxton.”
Those sweet simple words meant more than he could ever imagine. He leaned down and kissed me. It was one of those knock my socks off kisses. One that started out slow and sweet, but quickly turned passionate and needy. I grabbed his arms to steady myself because Steed was making my entire world wobble.
His tongue felt like it was everywhere. Over my lips, dancing with my own, exploring my mouth like he’d never kissed me before. It was a mind-blowing kiss. He hadn’t even touched my body anywhere other than my face, and my core was pulsing.
When he finally pulled back, I dragged in a breath. My heart beat like crazy.
“You’re my everything,” I managed to whisper.
“Now maybe Gina will get the picture that I’m not interested in her.”
I pinched my brows then looked over his shoulder. She was standing at the front entrance of the school with two other moms. Steed must have seen her when he turned to walk to his truck.
Focusing back on him, I snickered, “Let’s hope.”
Paxton quickly changed into jeans and a long sleeve T-shirt when I told her to dress casual and warm. She packed an overnight bag at my request and bounced down the stairs, the smile on her face evidence of how happy she was. I loved seeing that light shine in her eyes.
“Ready!” she said. “Now, will you tell me where we’re going?”
“Nope.”
She playfully slapped me on the arm. “Brat. Why won’t you tell me your plan?”
“Because it’s a surprise. I thought you loved surprises.”
Laughing, Paxton nodded. “I do!”
Taking her bag out of her hands, I winked. “All right, then let’s get the show on the road.”
First place on my lists of stops was the new store Paxton talked about checking out every time we passed it. Pulling up in front of the store, I parked. She instantly got excited.
“Oh, Steed! You brought me to the new little store! I’ve been dying to go in and see if I could find something for Chloe’s room. It’s so bare, and I was thinking we could redecorate it for Christmas.”
I stilled, my heart pounding in my chest. This woman never ceased to amaze me. She never thought about herself, always others, and the fact that she was thinking about Chloe and making her happy made me fall in love with her even more. I didn’t think it would be possible to love her any harder, but she kept proving me wrong.
Paxton’s smile faded as she looked at me. “I mean, if you’d rather have Amelia or your mom plan something I totally understand.”
Her words jerked me back to reality. “What? No! I want you to do what you want to the house. To Chloe’s room. She’d love it if you decorated it.”
The corners of her mouth rose again. “Okay, you worried me when you went still.”
I took her hand and brought it to my lips. Kissing it gently, I said, “You amaze me. That’s all.”
Her eyes shined bright with happiness.
“Let’s go shopping,” I said, kissing her hand once more.
Two hours later I was walking out of the store with my arms loaded with bags.
“I can’t believe we found all that stuff!” Paxton said with a fist pump. She opened the back door of my truck, and I started piling the bags on the seat.
“I can’t believe we were in that store for two hours,” I groaned then sighed.
Her hand moved across my back, causing my body to come to life, and my dick to do a little twitch in my pants. With a blushing expression, she uttered, “I promise I’ll make it up to you later.”
Turning to her, I grinned. “Want to shop some more?”
She laughed and lifted on her tiptoes to kiss me. After a quick peek, she asked, “Now what?”
“Now we head to the next location.”
Paxton placed her hands on her hips and frowned. She looked so damn cute I had to fight the urge to take her into my arms and dry hump her.
“Trust me,” I replied, placing a kiss on her lips.
“Always,” she replied, making my heart soar.
After helping her into the truck, I walked around the front, slowing so I could send off a text.
Me: How’s it going?
Mom: All done! I have the basket packed and put it in your refrigerator. Trevor set everything else up with the help of Mitchell and Cord, but I’m afraid we can’t pull Cord away from it.
I laughed.
Me: Tell him I’ll kick his ass if he’s not out of there by later this evening.