The Reclaimed Rose (Annalise and Steven)

However, the thought of letting a male stranger move into her home unsettled Yvonne.

At that moment, Shane's order arrived. He did not needle her into letting him move into her place after that and dug into his pasta. After finishing his food, he stood up and said, "I'm going job-hunting now. I'll pay you back for the meal once I get my paycheck." "You know, if you don't have a place to stay, you can always move into mine," Yvonne said, going for broke.

She would do whatever she could to make life hard for Sasha, and she considered the perks of having Shane live with her. With their proximity, she could brainwash him into harassing Sasha for as long as possible. With that in mind, Yvonne added with a smile, "I'm serious."

Shane blinked at her in surprise. "Can I move in today?"

"Sure," she replied, then feigned distress a beat later. "Oh, but you have a thing for Sasha, right? If she found out you moved in with me..."

Comprehension dawned on Shane when he heard this. Yvonne had a crush on him, and knowing he used to like Sasha probably irked her. He understood now that she had deliberately brought up Sasha to bait a reaction out of him. He had to admit, he liked seeing her jealous.

Resisting the urge to smile, Shane countered, "It couldn't hurt to make her jealous so that she'd want me more, right?"

Yvonne turned away from him, scowling. She thought she could use Sasha to get him to reconsider moving in with her, but it only backfired!

...

When we got off work at noon, Zane and I made our way to the kindergarten to pick up Willow.noveldrama

Normally, the school wouldn't be out until the evening, but the

kindergarten made an exception due to the performance that afternoon. As

Pi Such, parents were allowed to

pickup their children before

lunchtime.

Willow was already out with the other children when we arrived. She was waiting by the gates, and she

waved at us happily upon seeing us.

"Mommy, Daddy! Over here!

I walked up to her, but before I could speak, she beat me to it. "Mommy, can I stay here and wait with Penelope? Her mommy isn't here yet."

"All right," I said as I stood next to her.

Willow was eager to dive back into

her conversation with Penelope.

Whatever it was, it had to be important, for they immediately started talking the moment Willow and I stopped.

en

Penelope stared at Willow with sparkling eyes, nodding occasionally and chiming in when the conversation sparked her interest.

A moment later, Suzy rushed over to the gate and apologized to Penelope, "Sorry I'm late! I was stuck in traffic!"

Penelope shook her head. "It's okay, Mommy."

When I saw Suzy, I asked, "So, will we be grabbing lunch together, or do we have other plans?"

She glanced at Penelope, who then glanced at Willow.

Willow looked at us and was startled to see our gazes on her. Slowly, she asked, "You're going to let a little girl like me make a big decision like that?"

I ruffled her hair affectionately. "Yes, I am."

Willow replied, suddenly all business, "In that case, shall we grab lunch together?" She turned to Penelope and said softly, "I want to spend more time with you." Penelope beamed. "So do I."