“You look good in my kitchen.” Noah’s arms wrap around my stomach. He places his chin on my shoulder as he watches me. “I could get used to this.”
My stay in Heaven was supposed to be temporary. It wasn’t my intention to grow roots, but I have, and standing here, it’s blatantly clear that if I want this to work, I’m going to have to tell Noah the truth. I’m going to have to tell him about my parents and the mess that brought me here. I can only hope he’ll understand once I explain it, and I vow to tell him everything sometime in the near future.
I pour the mixture into the skillet and turn in his arms. “Me too.” Placing a chaste kiss on his lips, I shoo him away. “Now go before I burn the pancakes.”
“Maybe I want to watch you cook. Is that a problem?” he asks.
“It is when you’re touching me.”
His voice drops deceptively low. “You like me touching you.”
Oh God, I do. So much that I’m considering scrapping breakfast all together if he’ll keep sprinkling kisses along my neck the way he’s doing.
“I can’t concentrate when you’re doing that.”
He smiles against my skin and adds his tongue, sucking lightly. “That?”
“Yes, that. Ohhh—” Noah brings his lips to my earlobe and bites gently while his hand settles on my ass. “And that too. That’s good.”
The smell of pancakes burning jerks me out of my Noah-induced haze, and I push him away. Okay, I try to push him away. Turns out Noah isn’t keen on letting me go.
“Noah Cunningham,” I say in my best commanding voice. “You take one giant step back.”
“Not a chance in hell.” He makes another move for my neck, and I whimper.
“I’m trying to impress your daughter.”
That must do it. With a sigh, Noah releases my ass and pulls back. He cups my face in his hands and brings my mouth to his. “Thank you.”
“For what? For burning pancakes? Because that’s what’s about to happen.”
Reaching around me, Noah turns the heat down. “No. Thank you for wanting to impress my daughter even though you don’t have to. Nova already thinks you’re a princess; that alone gives you an in.”
“Do I smell pancakes?”
Noah steps back and we both look over at Nova, who’s standing in the doorway wearing her Little Mermaid pajamas. Yawning, she rubs her eyes and ambles toward us. Brown curls stick up in every direction, and one section of hair is plastered to the side of her face. She’s the cutest damn thing I’ve ever seen.
She looks at me and offers a sleepy smile. “Did you have another sleepover?”
My eyes snap to Noah, and he quickly swoops in. Picking Nova up, he sits down at the kitchen table and settles her on his lap.
But before he can say a word, Nova looks up at him and says, “It’s okay if you did.”
Noah’s lips part. “It is?”
“She’s your friend.” Nova makes it sound so simple.
“Well…” Noah’s eyes dart to mine, and I give him an encouraging smile. He adjusts Nova on his lap and clears his throat. “What if Lennon were more than just my friend?”
I hold my breath, waiting for Nova to say something, but she just stares at Noah with her nose scrunched. Finally, after several long seconds, she says, “What do you mean?”
Noah takes a deep breath, and I can practically see the wheels turning in his head as he comes up with an explanation a five-year-old will understand. “What if she were my girlfriend?”
The breath rushes from my lungs when I see Nova’s face light up. “Like a princess?”
“Kinda,” Noah says, laughing.
Nova frowns. She fiddles with the bottom of her night shirt and then looks up at her dad. “Will I still be your princess?”