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J ameson made it to the arcade five minutes early.

He was never late.

He’d texted Ian an hour ago to see if he could meet with them, and the other man told him to come to the arcade. He walked into the large area, searching them out. Most of the big room was dedicated to an arcade and bowling area and a restaurant off to the side.

He heard someone yell out in excitement as he drew out his phone.

Turning the corner, he froze as he saw them. Ian was standing back, his gaze roaming around. Jack and Maggie were sitting in a simulation machine. They had those virtual reality goggles over their face.

The seats they were sitting in suddenly dipped and Maggie was thrown against the seatbelt.

What the hell were they thinking letting her go on this when she’d aggravated her hip recently?

Maggie let out a scream of excitement and he realized that it was her he’d heard screaming before.

“What is she doing on that?” he asked as he joined Ian. “She could hurt herself.”

Ian raised his eyebrows, watching him for a long moment. “On a simulation machine?”

“She has a sore hip.”

“You said she was fine as long as she took it easy.”

“I didn’t okay this!”

“And people say I’m the grump,” Ian grumbled.

They finished the ride and Jack helped Maggie get off. Turning, she saw Jameson and her face lit up. “Jameson! I didn’t know you were coming!”

“I hope that’s all right,” he said awkwardly even though he hadn’t realized she would be here.

“Of course it is!” She clapped her hands excitedly.

He smiled at her enthusiasm as she rushed over and grabbed his hand. “Come to the claw machines with me?”

I’ll follow you anywhere.

Fuck. Now he was turning into a sap.

“All right. But no more running. And you need to be careful which machines you use, that they don’t jolt you around.”

“Oh. Yes. Of course. Sorry.” Her face dropped and he immediately felt like a jerk. “You said something about claw machines?”

She gave him a small smile. “I’m so bad at them.”

The three of them followed her over to a big machine that had the saddest-looking soft toys he’d ever seen.

“Um, what about this machine? These toys look nicer,” he suggested, pointing to another machine.

“No. I need to try to rescue one of these ones. Everyone goes for the nice, new toys. Look at these. They look so sad. They’re trapped. I need to rescue them all.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do,” Jack told her. “We’ll rescue every one of them.”

She grinned up at Jack like he’d hung the moon just for her. “I can’t do that. It costs like a dollar a go. Rescuing one will be enough.”

Were these toys even worth a dollar?

She had three goes, all of them dreadful. Shoulders slumping, she turned away. “I guess they’ll stay trapped.” Her lower lip trembled.

“Put that away.” Jameson tapped her lower lip and she gaped at him in shock.

He could feel Ian and Jack staring at him as well.

Bollocks. He needed to chill until he spoke to them. He didn’t want them to think that he was trying to steal her away from them.

“I’ll win you the toy,” he told her.

“You will?” She gave him a skeptical look. “Have you ever played one of these before?”

“No. I haven’t. But it can’t be that hard. I have excellent hand-eye co-ordination.

Fifteen tries later, he held up the toy in triumph. “Here it is!”

All three of them gaped at him.

“What?” he asked.

“I love it! Thank you!” She took the toy and held it tight. “She’s gorgeous. I’m going to name her Princess Pretty.”

She was the ugliest toy he’d ever seen in his life. But he refrained from pointing that out.

“Princess Pretty?” Ian asked. “Really? She’s missing an eye.”

“So? You can still be pretty even if you have one eye.”

“Sure you can,” Jack told her, placing his arm over her shoulders. “Do you feel like shooting something?”

“Yep!”

Ian eyed Jameson. “You realize that you just paid fifteen dollars for a toy that was probably headed to the rubbish?”

“Yeah, I know. She seems to like the ugly thing, though.”

“She does.” Ian nodded. “But I think she likes that you got it for her more. There a reason you wanted to meet with us?”

“Uh, yeah. I kind of wanted to speak to you and Jack alone, though.”

Ian eyed him like he knew what Jameson was going to say. Then Maggie let out a squeal and they turned to see her pumping her arms in the air.

“I won! I won!”

Jameson grinned. He turned as he felt Ian eyeing him. “What?”

“Nothing. You just seem . . . relaxed. Happy. I haven’t seen you like this in ages.”

“It’s a good thing, right?” Jameson asked.

“Yeah, brother. It is.” Ian walked over to Maggie. “You won?”

“Wait a minute.” She folded her arms over her chest, turning to Jack. “How did I win? This was a shooting simulation and you were in the armed forces! You’re my bodyguard.”

Jameson shook his head. Jack let her win? Didn’t he know that was the worst thing he could do? He shouldn’t let her win. That wasn’t the way to help her build up confidence in herself.

“Uh, well . . .” Jack trailed off, looking uncharacteristically unsure.

With her arms crossed over her chest, she started tapping her foot. “Jack Ashby, you don’t let me win. I want to win on my own.”

“Sorry, baby. Forgive me?” He bent down and grabbed her hand, looking very much like he was proposing.

Then she giggled and Jack jumped to his feet with a grin, kissing the back of her hand.

“Come on, I’ll win you one of those massive toys.” He pointed up high where the larger toys were displayed.

“Bigger isn’t always better,” she countered.

“Shh,” Jack said. “That’s what we tell Jameson, but it isn’t true.”

“Jack,” Jameson said in a warning voice.

Jack stared back at him with a grin. “Bigger can be better, baby. But not if you don’t know what to do with it. Nothing can account for skills .”

Dear Lord.

“Jack!” Maggie cried. Then she grinned. “You are so bad. Come on, let’s go play something else.”

Jameson followed them around, feeling like a fourth wheel as the three of them tried to win tickets. Ian and Jack accumulated quite a lot. Maggie not so much.

Although she laughed a lot.

Fifteen minutes later, they ended up at the ten-pin bowling. “Come on, Princess Pretty. Let’s go bowling!” Maggie cried.

A few people turned to look at them and Jameson found himself stiffening. Were they going to send her nasty looks? He didn’t want anyone to make her feel bad because she was carrying around an ugly toy and acting so carefree.

But everyone just smiled. Bloody hell. He knew people were more accepting of Littles here. He had to relax.

Maggie was so out there. She was the opposite of what he thought she wanted.

She hoarded secrets like a squirrel hoarded nuts.

Her life seemed like it was in a bit of a state. Her uncle had given her this job. And before that, she’d been without focus. She was kind of lost.

She was beautiful chaos. And he should steer clear. Yet, just like Ian and Jack, she was pulling him in.

They all got up and played their first round of bowling. Jack had given them all nicknames to enter their scores.

Maggie’s nickname was Baby Girl. Ian’s was Grumpy Face. Jack’s was Sexy Guy. And Jameson’s was That Dick.

Bloody hell.

“Oh, drat!” Maggie said, watching as her ball went off into the gutter. She stomped her foot.

Which was adorable.

“Maybe Jameson can give you a few tips, Little girl,” Ian suggested.

“That’s all right. I’m sure I’ll get it.”

“Have you never been bowling before?” Jameson asked as he got up.

“Um. No. We couldn’t afford things like this when I was young.” She avoided his gaze.

Shit. Now he felt like an arse.

“Right, then you’re doing really well. But this is what you want to do.” He guided her through it, but when she let go of the ball, it went off on an angle into the gutter.

She sighed sadly. “It’s all right. Not everyone can be good at this.”

“Here, let me help you.” He moved in behind her, this time guiding her with his hands on her.

They stepped forward and he placed her feet where he wanted them, guiding her arm back.

As he touched her, he couldn’t deny the sense of rightness. Her scent was light. Strawberries and vanilla.

Delicious.

She moved how he’d shown her and the ball stayed pretty straight all the way down, veering off slightly at the end, but she hit four pins. An excited squeal escaped her as she clapped.

He had to smile, loving how excited she was. He really wanted to kiss her. His gaze focussed on her lips. But then a loud clapping interrupted the spell around them and he stepped back.

Shit. He didn’t have any right to kiss her.

Yet.

“Jameson? Are you all right?” She grasped hold of his arm, staring up at him in concern.

“Me? Of course I am, sweetheart.” He gave her a soft look, then he forced himself to move back to the seats.

When they’d finished their game, Maggie went to the bathroom giving him the moment he needed before they all went home.

He turned to Ian and Jack. “Can I talk to you guys tomorrow?”

“We’ve got several photo shoots lined up in the next few days. Can you wait a week?” Ian asked.

Shit. He didn’t want to wait that long. But what could he say?

“All right. I’ll talk to you when I see you next.” Turning, he saw Maggie standing there, looking worried. “Bye, sweetheart.”

“Bye, Jameson. Thanks for teaching me how to bowl.”

He wanted to take her into his arm, hug her tight. Instead, he forced himself to leave.

But it didn’t feel right. Not at all.