Maisy loves to work in the kitchen, but she likes to leave the mess for me to clean up.
“Uh-huh.”
Judge’s hand settles on my back, and I lean up on my toes for a kiss.
“Everything good?” he whispers against my lips.
“Yeah.” I turn back to Maisy. “Set your bag down. There are some ladies I want you to meet.”
Maisy’s actually already met the women, but this introduction will be different. It’ll be made as friends.
Layla, Jamie, and Gillian are all standing with soft smiles and expectant expressions. Their eyes don’t stray to Judge once, their focus solely on Maisy.
“Maisy, I want you to meet some friends I just made. Layla, Jamie, and Gillian, meet Maisy.”
Layla steps up first, her eyes shiny with her big smile. “It’s so good to finally meet you, Maisy.”
“You too,” Maisy says. “You have a very pretty name.”
“Thank you. You have a pretty name too.”
Jamie approaches next. “Hello. My name isn’t as pretty as Layla’s, but I promise my homemade cupcakes are better.”
Maisy giggles.
Gillian comes up and holds out her hand. “You’re pretty popular around here, you know?”
Maisy’s eyes go wide. “I am?”
“Yep. Everyone’s talking about how pretty you are and how excited they are to have you and your mom here.”
She smiles, glancing up at me and then to Judge.
“Me and the girls are going to town next week to go clothes shopping,” Layla chimes in. “Maybe you can talk your mom into you both going with us.”
“Can we, Mom?” She looks at me with pleading eyes. “I really want to go. And maybe we can bring Thea and Brittney.”
I smooth my hand down her soft hair. “We’ll see what’s going on closer to then, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“Yah!” She bounces on her feet excitedly.
“Why don’t you show them that new fashion game you showed me earlier?” Judge suggests. “I need to talk to your mom a minute.”
“Okay.”
Judge gives the women a chin lift and a half smile, his eyes gentle. Lacing his fingers through mine, he leads me to the kitchen. As soon as we’re away from prying eyes, he spins me around, locking his arms around my waist.
“When did they get here?” he asks, his gaze intent.
“Not long ago. Maybe forty-five minutes.”
“I’m sorry. I had no idea they were coming here. I told them to wait until you were ready.”
I cup his jaw and smooth my thumb over his prickly cheek. “It’s okay. It’s actually been nice getting to know them.”
His expression turns suspicious. “That’s hard to believe, considering your strong reluctance to see them.”
I shrug. “I was wrong about them. They really are good women. My jealousy skewed my opinion.”