“Wait.” I stop her from locking the door. “Don’t you want to set the alarm?”
“I never do.”
“I noticed, but you have a security system for a reason.”
“This place is completely secure.”
“And this system is here for a reason. I’d like you to start using it. Is it even monitored?”
“Yes.” She narrows her eyes at me. “You’re on the verge of sounding very bossy.”
“Call it what you want. I’ll call it protective. Set the alarm.”
“Finn, I’ve never had a problem—”
“Set the alarm.”
“Finn—”
Her sass starts to come out, and I would give anything to carry her back inside and see how far she’ll go to argue with me. However, we’re already late, so I nudge past her and go back inside. After a few basic number sequences, I reset her password and alarm the system, then step out, take her keys, and lock the door.
She stares at me with wide eyes, and her face starts to flare, red creeping up her cheeks.
“What did you just do?”
“You know what I did. Now, come on.” I pick up her stiff body, carry her to my truck, and set her down.
“You can’t do that! Now, how will I get in?”
“I’ll give you the code. Now, let’s go.”
She huffs a few times in irritation, but to me, it’s completely adorable. “You may find yourself uninvited to dinner if you pull a stunt like that again.”
Now, she’s not only adorable, she’s fucking hot. I cage her against the passenger door, press the growing bulge in my shorts against her hip, and lean into her ear. “If you keep handing out the sass, I’m going to pin you against the side of this truck, wrap your legs around my waist, and give your mouth something else to do. Then I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to stop with only a kiss.”
She swallows hard as the annoyance drains from her face.
“So now that we have that straight, hop in.”
“We can’t.” She points over her shoulder. “What I mean is, we have to take my car… the booster seat.”
“We’ll move it over.”
“I can’t. It clips into the backseat safety clips. It’s a pain in the ass to transfer around.”
“I’m six-foot four. You realize this, right?”
She gives me a smug smile, and I groan in frustration, holding my hand out for her keys.
“No fucking wonder Robbie bought Ember an SUV,” I mumble, trying to get comfortable in the death trap.
“What’s that?”
“Laugh all you want, babe, but this is the last time this happens.”
When we get to Winnie’s summer camp, I turn around and get the model and make of the damn booster seat and order one on Amazon while Presley is inside. This is never happening again. Any sense of irritation melts as Winnie runs to the car, waving her arms and screaming my name. I open the door, and she jumps on my lap, never taking a breath. Her little arms wrap around my neck, and she rambles about some party this weekend.
Presley buckles her in the backseat and gets in, rolling her eyes. “She’s quite excited about this weekend.”