Happily Ever After Collection - Melanie Moreland Page 0,6

loved seeing her happy.

“Okay. Are you up for a challenge?”

She bit her lip. She hadn’t liked the last challenge I’d given her. “Okay?”

Leaning forward, I pulled on the soft flesh of her lip, my fingers lingering a moment longer than needed. “Relax. It’s an easy one.”

“All right.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I want you to go to McDonald’s.”

Her eyes widened. “What? But you made me go all week without going there. You made me promise!”

I had. And every day, when she got to her car in the morning, I had been waiting with a little cooler containing lunch and a snack for her. She rented a small room and bath in a private house and the landlady was not pleased with her having an early morning visitor, so I waited tolerantly each day for her to come out to me. Normally not a patient person, I had found a wealth of it for her. The mornings had quickly become my favorite part of the day. I would hold out my hand, and she would slide her palm against mine, letting me hold her fingers for a few moments. Her sweet kiss on my cheek, thanking me every morning, made my day complete.

I nodded. “I know. I want you to bring your three favorite, um…items—since I just can’t call them food—with you.”

“You want me to bring them here? To your restaurant?”

I nodded painfully. I never thought I would see the day I would voluntarily let those items cross my threshold. “I assume they’re the cheeseburger, the fish sandwich…”

“For Fridays,” she interrupted.

“Yes, of course,” I snorted, “Because you’re such a good Catholic girl. You don’t even like fish very much.”

“I know, but my friend is, and I eat the fish thing to support her. The sauce is good, and they put cheese on it too. It adds something to the overall dish,” she teased.

I shook my head. “Yes, Julia. Because melted fake plastic on top of an unknown fish by-product makes it extra delicious.”

She nodded happily. “It does.”

I glared at her. “And the third thing?” I couldn’t even bring myself to say it.

She sighed longingly. “The McNuggets. With sweet-and-sour sauce.”

I grimaced. “Right. Can’t forget the sauce.”

“It makes it better, Byron,” she retorted, her tone haughty.

I barked out a laugh. “Nothing makes any of that better, except a garbage bin.”

“Why am I bringing it, then?”

“To show you something.”

A sly look crossed her face. “Do I get to eat it?”

I nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. At least a taste.”

She grinned. “Okay. Eleven? It’s all fresh then.”

I shuddered as I pressed some money into her hand, daring her with my eyes to argue with me. “Yes, let’s get it while it’s fresh. Eleven is good.”

She frowned but tucked the money into her coat pocket before standing to leave. I always hated this part of our time together, not wanting her to walk away from me, but I escorted her down to the restaurant, depositing the tray in the kitchen. When we got to her car, she turned and looked up at me. Her face in the shadowy moonlight was alight with mischief.

“What are you up to?” I asked quietly, unable to stop drifting my fingers down her soft cheek.

Slowly, our touches had increased over the past two weeks. The brush of a finger, the gentle graze of her lips on my cheek when she said goodnight, the warmth of her pressed against me as I hugged her. She leaned up closer, and my heart began to beat faster. The longing I had to sweep her into my arms and kiss her senseless tore through me. I felt her lips at my ear, and I shivered.

“Looking forward to tomorrow, Byron. Especially the rule.” She stepped back, grinning.

I looked at her stupidly. “The rule?”

She nodded. “We share. Everything.”

I stared at her, confused. She brushed her lips across my cheek, then climbed in the car. I watched her reverse before she rolled down the window. “You are gonna love the nuggets!” She laughed and drove off, leaving me gaping after her.

I forgot about the fucking rule.

We share. Everything.

Nuggets.

I shuddered.

Chapter 3

Byron

I stood back, satisfied with what I had prepared, hoping my plan would work. A gentle rap on the back door had a smile lighting up my face, and I hurried over to let Julia inside. She entered with her own smile and her usual quiet hello, and unable to help myself, I leaned down and kissed her forehead as I returned her greeting. I grimaced when I saw