Page 65 of Game On

Liam raced over to her, and Mari laughed as she led him out of the room. My sister was magic with these kids, and even though she hadn’t been his nanny for all that long, Liam was attached to her already. Rosie didn’t want to budge. I should get to Rich’s tattoo shop, but I would never get this time back with Rosie, so I’d rather be cuddling up in bed with her.

“Come on, baby. Aunt Mari’s gonna make breakfast,” I told her.

I got up from the bed and took her into the kitchen, where I placed her in her highchair while Mari sat Liam down at the kitchen table with his coloring book. Mari raised an eyebrow at my attire, and I realized I was still only wearing Logan’s t-shirt. I sprinted back into the bedroom, shutting the door behind me and changing into the clothes I shoved into my overnight bag. In my haste, I only packed a t-shirt and some leggings. I definitely had to run home before going to the shop.

I swiped at my phone on the bedside table and checked my email. My face fell when I saw an email from Rich, but then I saw it wasn’t something bad.

Hey, Lil. Love your work. I forwarded your name to a friend. See you later today!

I scrolled through my emails, seeing a couple of job requests from the freelance site until I found one from an unfamiliar name.

Hey, Lily. Both Rich and Alex spoke highly of your work. Would love to set up a meeting to talk business.

~Adam, Heart of Ink Tattoo

All the blood rushed to my head. Heart of Ink was where Seth worked. He was working at Golden Rose for a while until I made a scene there when I found out he was cheating on me. Alex kicked him to the curb right after that. I felt bad about that, but not really, because Seth sucked.

“Did you get lost?” Mari yelled from the other side of the door.

I walked back out into the kitchen and took the offered mug of coffee my sister handed me. She flipped pancakes on the stove and raised her eyebrow at me. “What’s wrong?”

I took a sip of coffee. “I got an offer from a new client.”

She gave me a confused look. “Okay…but that’s good, though, right?”

I frowned. “It’s for the shop where Seth works.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Okay…but you need the work, right?”

I nodded and set my coffee cup down. I took out plates and divided up the finished pancakes. Mari continued to cook while I gave Liam his food and tousled his hair. “Here you go, bud.”

I cut up the pieces smaller for Rosie and started feeding her. “Here, baby.” She could be a fussy eater, but she was being good this morning.

“Lily?” Liam asked.

“What’s wrong, Liam?”

“Are you and Uncle Logan gonna get married?”

Mari and I looked at each other in horror. I tried not to let Liam see the shocked look on my face. I set down the fork I was using to feed Rosie, but she happily grabbed a bite of pancake in her tiny fist.

“Liam, why did you ask me that?”

His little brow furrowed. “You slept in Uncle Logan’s bed. Aunt V said only people who love each other do that.”

I cringed. I had a feeling Veronica said that for a particular reason, but it wasn’t helping me.

“No. I’m not gonna marry your uncle,” I told him gently.

He frowned. “Why not?”

“Liam,” Mari interjected, “how about we finish those pancakes, okay? And then, we can play mini sticks?”

“Okay!” Liam cheered and ate his pancakes in rapid succession. Kids could be so easily distracted. Thank God for that. I mouthed ‘thank you’ to my sister.

I turned back to my daughter, who looked more interested in playing with her food than eating it. I sighed. “Rosie, you have to eat!”

She thought that was funny, as indicated by her giggling. Liam laughed too.