Only With You (The Connor Family 4)

“April, tell me I’m seeing an extra zero.” I was looking at the total price of her cart, aghast. Fifty-six items.

“Nope. I’ve cut down from one hundred and eight, by the way.”

I glared at my niece hopelessly. She’d shown me the list some time ago, but it had grown exponentially ever since.

“How did you even find all these things?”

“Val advised. She also said you could talk to her if you have any complaints,” she said with a self-assured air, as if that was foolproof. She gave me the same excuse the last time she shoved the list under my nose.

“Did she now?”

“Yep. And by the way, you’ll be late for your date.”

“And you conveniently showed me this just as I was about to leave?”

She gave me a sheepish smile.

“Also Val’s tactic?”

“Yep.”

“We’re going to circle back to this another day.”

“But can I at least order a few?”

“No. I know what you’re doing. It’s not working.”

April pouted. Jesus, I’d barely resisted giving in to April before. If she and Val teamed up, I was a dead man. Angela, the girls’ nanny, was playing with Peyton in the living room. Peyton ran straight into my arms when she saw me, giving me one of her heartfelt smooches on the cheek. I hugged her close, kissing her forehead and reminding her to listen to Angela while I was gone, then I headed out for my date with Val.

I had quite the plan for tonight, and I was brave enough to admit I’d needed help putting it together. That help had come in the form of Hailey, who’d been ecstatic when I called her the morning after the dinner.

“I’m taking her out on a date, but I want to make it special. Any tips?”

“Holy shit, where to begin?”

Even though she was having breakfast with Jace when I called, she’d immediately started dishing information. Hailey gave me enough ammo for ten years’ worth of dates. It had taken two weeks to put everything together for tonight. Her enthusiasm had made me grin, especially when under her breath, she muttered, “Jace, you can take notes too, you know. Every woman appreciates this stuff.”

I’d heard Jace groan before saying, “Carter, you’ve just thrown me to the wolves.”

Val had worked from home today, so I was picking her up from her house. The front door was open, and when I called her name, she answered from upstairs.

r /> “I’ll be right down.”

When she descended the stairs, my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. She was wearing a red, strapless dress. It was tight and relatively short. She’d paired it with black high-heeled shoes. I would be fixating on them the entire evening.

She leaned into a kiss, and I grabbed her waist with both hands.

“Val, I can’t go out of the house with you looking like that.”

“Why not? You said we’re going on a helicopter ride and then to dinner. Did the plan change?”

“No, it didn’t. But you just look....” I took a deep breath. “Every man who sees you will want you.”

She rolled her eyes. I tightened my grip on her waist.

“I want to be the only one who sees how sexy these legs are.” I moved one hand to her inner thighs. Her breath hitched.

“How gorgeous these breasts are.” I lowered my head to place open-mouthed kisses on the upper curve of each breast. When I straightened, I saw her nipples had hardened.