My Secret Love Affair by Ali Parker

Author:Ali Parker [Parker, Ali]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BrixBaxter Publishing
Published: 2021-05-18T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 39

Madeleine

I loved that we could have a blast while not really having fun. It was a contradiction, but we all had a lot of fun discovering we hated bowling. Channing gave me a quick side hug when Clara was distracted with a whack-a-mole game. I appreciated he wasn’t making a big thing of us together. I didn’t want to confuse Clara. She would have a lot of questions about why mommy was kissing a different man. She didn’t meet Geoffrey until we’d been dating for three months.

“You good?” he asked.

“I am,” I said with a smile.

“You sure? You look skittish, like you’re expecting the bogeyman to pop up.”

“I guess I kind of am,” I said. “I just don’t know what to expect.”

“We’re fine.”

“I know,” I said. “Thank you for doing this. It’s a great distraction.”

“Let’s see if I can win you that unicorn,” he said when Clara finished her game.

I looked at the claw machine and shook my head. “Those things suck your money and never give you anything.”

He laughed. “You’re doing it wrong.”

“I want a unicorn,” Clara declared.

“Let’s do it,” he said and popped a quarter in the machine.

I was already trying to choose the right words when he didn’t get the unicorn. The machine was a scam. Everyone knew it. But if he wanted to try, I wasn’t going to stop him.

“You don’t have to do this,” I told him when he dropped in yet another quarter.

“Nope. I’m almost there. I’m going to get it this time.”

Clara was watching him with rapt attention. It was like she was memorizing his moves. I had no doubt in my mind she was going to ask to try next. When the claw clamped onto the unicorn head, we all held our breath.

“Wait for it,” Channing said and inched it toward the drop.

“You got it, Channing,” Clara encouraged. “You can do it.”

I was adding this to one of my cherished memories. It was adorable to watch her cheer him on. She had no idea she was standing next to her father and he didn’t know the example he was setting for his daughter. He was showing her to never give up. He could teach her more life lessons like this without even trying.

When he dropped it in the hole, we all jumped and shouted. “You did it!” Clara said and grabbed the unicorn from the slot. “Good job!”

“Thanks,” Channing said before pretending to wipe the sweat from his brow. “That was a close one.”

“I warned you,” I said with a laugh. “What do you say to Channing?”

“Thank you!” Clara said. “I’m going to name her Charlotte and she’s going to sleep with me.”

Channing was beaming with pride. I was glad he got to have this moment. I hoped he got to have more of these moments.

“Okay, little miss, it is time to get home,” I said before remembering we were going to his house. That wasn’t home. It was an easy slip of the tongue.

“But I’m not tired,” she pouted.

“I am,” Channing said.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.