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A moment of silence. I almost nervously ask if they want to stay again but Mabel speaks first.

“Can we decorate our room?”

I laugh, relief and another emotion that’s painstakingly unfamiliar swirls and mixes in my chest. Hope? Excitement? I must have felt happiness before, although I’m struggling to recall right now.

“You can decorate it however you want,” I say, my mouth actually aching from being stretched into a smile. “You can have separate rooms if you want. We’ll order whatever furniture you want.”

“Can we still share the same room?” Keeley looks between me and Mabel.

“Yeah, Kee. We can still share a room, right?” She looks to me.

“Of course.”

“Alright,” Harvey taps his palms on the tables. “It’s getting late. You should have been in bed hours ago, little one.” He bops Keeley’s nose.

The girls leave their seats and head hand in hand out the kitchen. “I’ll be up in a minute.” I tell them.

“You know,” Mabel says at the door. “You don’t have to guard our door all night, if you don’t want to.”

“I don’t mind.”

“I know, but if we’re going to be living here, you should probably get to sleep in your own bed at some point. We’re good, I promise. But maybe you could still come and say goodnight?”

They want me to say goodnight. I swallow down an emotion and just offer a nod in response. They disappear up the hall and I turn back to Harvey to say something, but my words are stolen by his lips on mine, my words and every thought in my head apparently. Kissing Javier Campos is like some kind of hallucinogenic, all notions of the real world melt away and I’m suddenly a princess rescued from the tower by the handsome prince. No ice-queen in sight. The drugging effect of his tongue parting my lips is probably the reason I don’t push him away, because I should not be kissing him. And I most certainly should not be enjoying it.

He tastes sweet and coconutty, his lips move languidly and softly against my own as his arms wrap firmly around my back, no groping or grabbing. I slide my hands up his thickly muscled arms to his shoulders and over his neck to slide through the short hair on the back of his head. When he slows the kiss down,placing a quick but gentle peck on my lips and leans back to look me in the eye, he doesn’t let me go.

“What was that for?” I ask, breathlessly.

“I felt like it,” he answers, like kissing me was something he would indulge himself in whenever the hell he wanted.

“You can’t go kissing me whenever you get the urge,” I murmur, my voice betraying me. I’m pretty sure anytime he drugs me with kisses, I’ll gladly give in to his intoxication.

As if reading my thoughts, he smirks. “I beg to differ,rainha.” To prove his point, he leans down to kiss me gently again before releasing me and taking a step back. “But I will respect our professional relationship. If that’s what you really want.”

Yes. Of course that’s what I want. Not for him to kiss me all over and then slide his naked body over mine. That would be ridiculous.

“Well,” I croak. “I’m going to say goodnight to the girls.”

“And I will clean up, as promised.”

The girls are washed and in their pyjamas, snuggled together in the centre of the giant super-king when I get to their room, after I have already changed from my suit to a pair of silky lounge pants and a cotton camisole. Mabel is patiently waiting for Keeley to sound out the words in a brightly coloured book as she points to them.

“You’re getting good at that,” I tell Keeley as I perch on the edge of the bed. Knowing they’ve agreed to stay, I feel like a weight has been lifted from my chest.

“Yeah?” She beams at me, her rounded cheeks bulging with pride.

“Definitely. If you girls are staying, we should look at schools.”

Mabel perks up at that. “Really?”

“Of course.”

“I really love it here,” Keeley sighs, settling back against her sister’s arm. Mabel kisses her head sweetly.

“Well, I really love having you here.” It’s the absolute truth. I’ve never considered sharing my life and home with anyone before but now, after having them here for just a short time, I couldn’t consider any alternative. The girls have brought life and laughter into the hollow house and every time I come home, I anticipate what new experience or feeling they’ll be giving me when I walk through the door.

“Thanks, Annika.” Mabel speaks into Keeley’s hair. “For everything.”