Married to Krampus - Marina Simcoe Page 0,38
used to seeing them.”
I crossed my feet in pale-pink ballet flats under the table.
“Does it mean I can start running barefoot around here?” I teased.
“Um.” His beard hid his smile, but I noticed the merry glimmer in his eyes. “Let’s just start with sandals first.”
“I have some peep-toe pumps in the closet.” I giggled. “I can start by displaying one toe at a time.”
Despite its rough beginning, this dinner turned out to be the best I’d had in the Colonel’s house so far. It was most likely because of his better mood due to the upcoming visit with his children.
“Colonel, would it be okay if I came to see the boys with you, tomorrow?” I asked before giving myself any time to think it through.
The path of my words from first occurring in my brain to leaving my mouth had always been exceptionally short, which had cost me some rather embarrassing moments in the past. I had no right to demand to meet his family—I was leaving him in a couple of weeks. But he seemed relaxed tonight and more approachable than ever before, and I couldn’t help it.
“You want to meet my sons?” he asked, his expression turning serious.
“Yes,” I replied earnestly. “I’d love to. If you don’t mind.”
The twins were a big part of my reasons for coming to Neron. It would be incredibly sad to leave here without meeting them at all.
He seemed to consider it for a moment.
“We’ll have them for about seven hours,” he said, “from after breakfast until before dinner.”
“So, I can come?” I perked up, my chest quickly filling with excitement ready to burst out.
“If it’ll make you happy—”
“Oh, it will!” I jumped out of my chair and rushed to his side of the table. “Thank you!” I threw my arms around his neck impulsively.
With the Colonel sitting down, his head ended up pressed to my chest when I hugged him—his horns rising right in front of my face, his cheek squished into my breasts.
The strained sound of him clearing his throat brought me back to my senses, and I quickly released him from my hug.
“Um...” I scratched my ear, awkwardly retreating to my seat.
The lingering sensation of his beard stuffed into my cleavage rippled with awareness along my skin. I rubbed my chest, and he followed my gesture with his vivid red eyes.
What was it that we had been talking about? I had a hard time collecting my thoughts.
Of course, his children, for goodness sake!
“So, um... Will we be allowed to take the boys off the school property?”
He blinked, raising a hand to his cheek, the one that had just been shoved between my breasts. He then jerked his hand back quickly. “Yes. Where would you like to go?”
I thought back to my babysitting days. This time of the year, kids loved to play in the snow, and we had plenty of it in Voran after the recent snowfall. I wondered if Voranians built snowmen, or knew how to make snow angels.
“Do the boys have warm clothes, to go outside?” I asked.
“Why?”
“I thought we could take them to an outdoor park somewhere. Do you have outdoor places, where children can run and play freely? We all could play in the snow for a little bit. Or do Voranians never go outside of their glass domes?”
“We do. We go outside in the summer, all the time,” the Colonel assured me.
“How about in the winter?”
“Only if we have to. The Military Academy has outdoor training on the curriculum. I’ve gone through many outdoor survival courses, in all conditions—”
“Oh, but the outdoors can be enjoyed, not just survived.” I clutched my hands at my chest. “Even if you don’t do any winter sports, snow can be so much fun.”
He stared at me for a moment, with a hint of a smile hiding in the depths of his beard.
“Fine,” he repeated my favorite word. “Let’s go outside.”
Chapter 11
I BOUNCED ON THE HEELS of my fur-trimmed boots, standing on the grass-covered roof of the main building of The Military Academy. It was warm here, under the giant dome, but a fluffy winter coat was waiting for me in the Colonel’s aircraft, along with a scruffy fur coat for him and the kids’ winter clothes.
“Where are they?” I muttered impatiently. “How much longer?”
As a part of the large group of parents—mostly dads—the Colonel and I lined up along the entire circumference of the roof area, waiting for the children to be released to us.
“What’s taking them so long?”