October

October brought rain back into their lives, and the chill of wind outside became more and more frequent as Autumn progressed.

It had been officially one week since Melinda moved in with Phil and Lola, and despite her initial worries about things not feeling right, or being homesick, she had to admit, everything was pretty much perfect.

She rolled over onto her side, dragging her deep purple silk sheets with her - she had managed to sneak them onto the bed when Phil was out one evening - and came face to face with… an empty pillow.

How he'd managed to get up without waking her was a mystery, because ninety percent of the time, she either awoke before him, or he woke her when he rose.

She tilted her head slightly to glance at the time on the alarm clock by his bed, and realised it was still ten minutes until she had to be up, but the little symbol to signify the alarm being on, was not there.

Listening across the house, she could hear the sounds of somebody in the kitchen, soft whistling alongside the occasional clatter of pans, and the whir of the kettle as it boiled up water.

She smiled and closed her eyes once more, enjoying the final moments of post-sleep comfort before life would call her from the warmth of bed.

Phil pottered around the kitchen in his Captain America pyjamas, his bare feet slightly cold against the stone tiles.

He found himself humming along to the radio as he moved, filling the kettle with boiling water from the tap, and then setting it down to heat.

Turning to the cupboard, he reached up, and pulled out a bag of flour, making sure not to drop the bag as he had done in the past - that had been eventful - before he pulled out the scales after it, and measured out the required amount. When he returned the flour back to the cupboard, he grabbed two eggs from the fridge, cracking them both into a jug and disposing of the shells in the bin. Some milk followed the eggs, and with the addition of the sieved in flour, Phil found a whisk in the draw beside him, and after pulling it out, began to mix the ingredients together, the creamy batter coming together quickly and smoothly.

He hadn't heard Melinda come downstairs, but then again, she was like a super spy with the silence of her movements.

It was only when he turned to throw the whisk into the sink that he noticed her leaning against the doorframe watching him, her hair slightly mussed up from sleeping on it all night, and he smiled.

"How long have you been stood there?"

"Not long" she replied, wandering into the room to stand beside him.

Phil reached out, pulling her gently into his arms, and burying his face in her hair. He could feel her hands relocate to his hips, the fabric of his shirt clutched gently in her fingers, and he smiled again.

He was smiling so much recently.

"So," she murmured, breathing deeply and snuggling closer into his arms. "What are you up this early for?"

He gestured at the jug of creamy liquid on the side of the kitchen unit. "I'm making pancakes," he replied happily, before brushing his lips against her forehead. "Happy Birthday Mel."

His words lingered in the air around them, and when she opened her eyes once more, looking up to him, she found Phil watching her with adoration in his gaze.

She hummed in response, and he gently stroked a thumb against her cheek, before the light touch of his breath caressed her temple. She smiled to herself as his lips brushed the skin above her left eye again, and she absently reached her hands back from his hips, tracing her fingertips across his chest instead, and linking her arms around his neck.

"Thank you."

They simply stood together for a while, listening to the slow lyrics of the song currently playing on the radio in the corner, and only when the sound of footsteps clambering down the stairs did they break apart again.

"Happy Birthday Melinda!"

The hurricane that was Lola skipped into the kitchen, jumping up and down on the spot with a grin, and waving the present she had hold of around wildly, trails of pink and purple ribbon flowing behind it.

"Thank you Lola," Melinda smiled, brushing a hand through her hair absently, before taking the gift she was being handed.

"I hope you like it!"

"You want me to open it now?" she asked, watching from the corner of her eye as Phil moved across the room to pull a carton of orange juice out of the fridge.

Lola nodded at her, so Melinda began to unwrap the gift, being careful not to tear straight through the paper and ruin Lola's hard work at wrapping - it was obvious she had tried to do it herself, but Melinda smiled none-the-less.

The smile turned into a very well restrained roll of the eyes when she pulled the contents out.

"Are they -"

"Mulan pjs!" Lola exclaimed excitedly, practically beaming from ear to ear as Melinda held up the Mushu patterned bottoms in front of her. "You love Mulan!"

"I do" she agreed, shaking her head a little at the giant picture of the princess emblazoned on the t-shirt part. "Thank you so much Lola" she added, cautiously stepping forward to hug the young girl. Lola happily wrapped her arms around her, and Phil watched them with a bigger smile than he'd already been wearing.

"You're welcome," Lola replied, before pulling back and turning to her dad. "Are we having pancakes this morning because it's Melinda's birthday!?"

"Yes," he replied with a nod, checking the time on the oven clock before turning back to them both. "You go get your school clothes on, and they will be ready in ten minutes, okay?"

Recently, Phil had been gradually introducing Lola to the idea of learning the concepts of time periods; he knew she wouldn't really be able to pick it up properly for another year or two, but her class had covered the basics of hours and minutes in school, and he was happy to continue that at home with her.

Lola grinned happily, before dancing from the room, and Phil and Melinda listened as she catapulted herself up the stairs again, singing what sounded suspiciously like the Mulan soundtrack.

"I don't know where she gets the energy from" Phil muttered fondly, turning to a cupboard and pulling out a large frying pan, placing it onto the hob in front of him. "I swear I need at least three cups of coffee to even function at this time of the morning."

"You should try tai-chi" Melinda told him, for what was probably the tenth time, as she folded up the pyjamas and placed them onto a spare counter beside her, before doing the same with the paper. "I keep telling you it will clear your mind and wake you up."

"And when was the last time you actually got up to do tai-chi?" he shot back at her, pouring the first lot of batter into the pan, the room filling with the sound and scent of pancakes cooking.

Melinda raised her eyebrows, swatting playfully at his arm with the back of her hand. "It's not my fault someone keeps distracting me."

"It is your fault, you're very distracting."

She had no response to that, so he simply grinned again, before leaning over and pressing a kiss against her lips.

"What time do you finish today?"

"Five" she replied, touching a hand to his cheek momentarily, before reaching up to the top cupboard and pulling out a box of jasmine tea. It wasn't the proper stuff, like she would find in her mother's kitchen cupboard - that could take several hours to infuse properly - but it was a good substitute.

"Okay, don't be late home."

She looked at him curiously, and he shrugged. "You just don't want to be late tonight, that's all," he grinned, loving the adorable way she frowned.

She hmmm-ed in response, before pouring boiling water into two mugs, a slightly anxious expression on her face.

"And I'm going to give you my presents tonight too… beforehand."

"Before what?"

"I know you hate being surprised, but it's your birthday." He flipped the first pancake over in the pan, listening to the slight sizzle as the raw mixture touched the hot plate. "It's nothing bad, I promise."

He looked at her, pleading silently to trust him, and she swallowed, before nodding, pouring milk into his coffee and stirring it slowly, tapping the spoon against the edge of the mug.

"Okay. I'll be home before six."

She spent the whole day wondering what on earth he had planned. She hoped it wasn't something extravagant; not only did she hate being surprised, but Melinda also really disliked being the centre of attention.

She asked Maria, over their lunch date in the staff room, if she had any idea what he was up to, but she simply shook her head.

"Nope, sorry Mel" she told her, munching happily on her panini as she held a hand gently against her growing belly. "I don't know what he's planned, but I'm sure it'll be nice."

Melinda watched her, for any trace she might have been lying, but found nothing. She sighed.

It was going to be a long day.

"Happy Birthday," Phil murmured quietly, once Melinda had returned home that evening.

Lola was in the kitchen, working hard on a painting she had to do for school. It wasn't often she was assigned homework, being at such a young age, but her teacher had asked all students to paint a picture of their family. She wouldn't let Phil see what she was painting, and shooed him away when he tried to look over her shoulder.

So Phil took the opportunity to pull Melinda upstairs with him, closing the bedroom door behind them both and leading her to sit down on the bed.

She watched him warily as he opened the wardrobe door, pulling out a carefully wrapped gift box, in silver paper with a large purple bow and ribbon upon the top.

"For you," he sat down on the bed next to her, the mattress dipping slightly to accommodate him.

"Thank you," she replied quietly, taking the box with a smile, and leaning over to place a gentle kiss onto his cheek.

"I really hope you like them," he mumbled under his breath, as she peeled back the paper and lifted the lid from the box. Sitting in front of her, folded up perfectly, was a brand new black leather jacket, complete with silver zips, and real pockets either side.

"Oh, Phil!"

She pulled the jacket from the box that was resting on her knees, and held it up to view properly.

It was gorgeous, proper leather, and from the look of it, was almost identical to her old one which had ended up covered in bright pink paint only a few weeks earlier, when Lola had knocked over a bottle of the liquid she had been using to create something for school.

Despite her convincing a slightly distraught Lola that it was okay, that accidents happened, and it was only a jacket, the fact it had been ruined had admittedly left Melinda a little saddened. But this one…

"Phil this must have cost you –"

"The price doesn't matter," he said determinedly. "You're worth it."

She smiled at him, watching the slight pink blush creep around the back of his neck.

Looking down, she could see something else wrapped within the tissue paper in the box, and she frowned curiously, placing the jacket onto the bed beside her.

Reaching into the box, she pulled out a deep purple dress, the colour to match their sheets, covered in lace, with delicate sleeved arms.

"Phil…" she murmured, holding it up in front of her with wide eyes.

"You could wear it tonight," he said softly, watching her reaction with happiness. "The three of us, plus Maria and Steve, your mother, and mine, are all going to that new restaurant in town."

"Odin's? The five star one?" she asked, with wide eyes. Melinda had heard a lot about it, after it opened only a couple of weeks previously. Rumour had it, the chef had cooked for Royalty, and he was renowned for his work worldwide.

She was also impressed with how well Maria had lied earlier, about not knowing anything.

Phil nodded in response. "I called when it first opened to book a table. They said we can have it from eight pm onwards."

"Oh, Phil… that's going to cost a fortune too."

"So?" he grinned, shrugging the best he could from lying on one elbow. "You took me to New York - this is the least I can do, I'm just sorry it's not more."

"It's perfect."

Feeling slightly overwhelmed by everything, she placed the dress on top of the jacket, before reaching out and pulling him towards her. She caressed his lips with her own as he wound his arms around her waist.

"I love you so much," she murmured in between kisses. "Thank you."

"So Mel, you're not planning to move back in any time soon, are you?"

Natasha watched Melinda with a small smile, her head tilted slightly in question as she swirled the contents of her mojito around, ice-cubes clattering against the sides of the glass.

It was mid October now, and as it had been almost a fortnight since they had seen each other, Natasha had dragged Melinda out to one of her favourite bars. The two sat on a pair of high stools with matching drinks, catching up on what had happened in their respective lives recently.

"Nooo..." she replied slowly, watching Natasha over the top of her own glass.

"Okay good," she grinned, placing her drink onto the table in front of them. "I kind of have some news."

Melinda stared at Natasha, wondering what on earth her friend was going to say. Various suggestions filled her head, each of them getting slightly worse than the last one.

"I have a new room-mate!"

"Seriously?" Her eyebrows rose, but it was relief she actually felt, until she frowned again. "I thought you said you would be okay with the rent on your own?"

"I am, don't worry," Natasha soothed, waving a hand dismissively. "But I saw this advert at the hospital on one of those notice boards -"

"- Why were you at hospital?"

"I was with Clint. Long story." She grinned again, and Melinda wasn't sure she really wanted to know the reason. "Anyway, there was an advert; this nurse was looking for a place to stay urgently, so I called her and said I had a free room."

"So, who is she?" Melinda asked, knowing it was just like Natasha to jump into something without really thinking it through much. "What's she like?"

Natasha glanced up and indicated over to the barman, who nodded, setting about getting them another round in.

"Sharon," she replied with a smile, turning back to Melinda. "She's nice. She's a nurse at the hospital downtown. She's coming round to drop some stuff off next weekend, because she can't get out of her current lease right away."

"You've met her then?"

"Yeah, just twice, but she seems friendly enough. And I mean, I'm only there half the time as it is, and she works shifts, so we might not see each other every day anyway."

"Why's she moving?" Melinda asked, picking up her glass to finish it off before her new one arrived.

"Some guy got shot in the apartment next to her, so she wants out of that building."

Melinda choked on the last dregs of her drink.

"He… what happened?!"

"I don't know, dispute over something," she shook her head, seemingly not overly concerned by this idea, and smiled at the barman in thanks as he placed two new mojitos in front of them. "So I told her our building was safe, and she came round to look, liked it, and is moving in next month."

"That's great" she replied honestly; she knew how sociable Natasha was, so having a new room-mate would probably be a really good thing.

Melinda caught a flash of gold around Natasha's neck as she moved, and she peered closer, wondering what it was; Natasha wasn't usually the jewellery type.

"Are you staring at my boobs?" she asked suddenly, and Melinda shot her gaze back up, realising it had probably looked like she was doing exactly that. She shook her head with a slightly abashed laugh.

"No, sorry, I was looking at your necklace."

To her surprise, Natasha smiled softly, her eyes lighting up, and she lifted her hand to touch the pendant almost gently. "Clint bought it for me."

"What is it?"

"It's an arrow, you know, because he does archery and stuff?"

She nodded, and smirked at Natasha's expression. She was almost lost in her own little world.

"So you two are still good?" She and Phil had known they would get along, but they had never thought their little matchmaking session would have proved to be so successful after all this time.

"We're good" she nodded, taking a sip of her new drink. "Although he's away at the moment."

"Where is he?"

Natasha waved a hand, and almost pouted. "He's on some trip with the athletics club from the school. Some sort of event for under sixteens. He's been gone all week."

"Miss him?" Melinda teased, never having seen her friend this serious about a guy before.

"Shut up Mel," Natasha grinned, but Melinda knew full well what her answer would have been.

She was so in love.

As the end of October neared, Lola grew more and more excited about Halloween.

The previous years, she had been too young to really understand what the evening was about, but since she'd started school, she had become much more interested in it.

Phil took Lola to the local farm one evening after school, and the two of them wandered hand in hand around the field, choosing from a selection of pumpkins to take home with them. Lola decided she wanted the largest one in the allotment, naturally, but Phil had to spend almost twenty minutes attempting to reason with her to choose one smaller; it wouldn't have fit in the car anyway, and there was no way he could have carried it into their house.

Eventually she compromised on three smaller pumpkins - one for each of them to carve, she argued - and Phil relented, carrying two of them to the car whilst Lola carried the third. He kept a close eye on her, knowing how heavy it was, but she didn't complain once.

The next evening, Friday the 30th, would usually have been Phil and Melinda's date night. However they opted to stay in, knowing they would be out the next evening, and the three of them spent the night carving pumpkins, and decorating the house with Halloween novelties.

The front door was covered in fake spiderwebs, and ghost confetti was sprinkled over the surfaces. It was completely over the top, but Lola adored it.

As the three of them gathered around the kitchen table, Phil cut the top off the pumpkins, before letting Lola use the largest spoon she could find to scrape out the insides, her occasional squeal at how slimy the filling of a pumpkin was making him laugh every time she managed to get it onto her hands.

He handed Lola a sharpie, and let her draw expressions onto her pumpkin, before cutting the eyes and teeth out himself; he wasn't going to let her risk slicing her fingers off in the process. She didn't mind though, and happily scooped out Melinda's pumpkin with her whilst she waited for her own to be completed.

When all three were done, they were placed onto the living room table with small candles inside, ready to be lit the following night.

The next morning, Lola insisted upon dressing in her costume as soon as she woke, and so with the air of an Asgardian villain, she spent the entire day wandering around the house disguised as Loki, complete with horned helmet, and a staff Melinda had helped her to make out of kitchen foil painted gold.

Phil joined in with his daughter's joy, and paraded around the house as Captain America once more, proudly puffing out his chest to emphasise his muscled suit, and addressing Melinda as "Ma'am" all day.

Idiot, she thought fondly, shaking her head with a small smile.

She refused to dress up right away, knowing full well what costume Lola had convinced her to wear.

Melinda spent the rest of the afternoon baking with Lola, the two creating batches of dark chocolate cupcakes, covered in bright orange buttercream and sugarpaste chocolate bats, plus cookies in the shape of ghosts and pumpkins, using new cutters they had found in the supermarket when buying groceries the previous week.

For the first time, Phil had agreed to take Lola treat-or-treating along their street, and as the sun set across their road, and the sky turned almost blood red, he decided it was time to leave.

Lola stood waiting at the front door, pumpkin sweet-pot in hand, and bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet in excitement. Phil grabbed his shield from the kitchen table, and headed into the hall to join her, before calling up the stairs to Melinda, to check if she was ready.

"I cannot believe I'm going out like this" Melinda muttered to her reflection, straightening down her skirt as she took in her appearance in the mirror once more. Hair coiffed, and lips red, she adjusted the brown tie around her neck slightly, before sighing.

Natasha would die laughing if she could see her now.

It was definitely different to the previous years' costume, where she had simply thrown on some black clothes and painted cat whiskers on her face.

With one last look at herself, she wandered from the room, heading down the stairs with a resigned expression on her face.

Lola grinned up at her in happiness, and Phil smiled, bowing slightly before offering her his arm.

"Agent Carter, shall we go?"

Later that evening, after they had returned from what resulted in being a very successful evening of trick-or-treating - Phil had never seen so many sweets, and was desperately trying to convince Lola she couldn't eat them all at once - Anne arrived at their house, around eight pm.

She raised an eyebrow at her son's choice of costume, but complimented Melinda's, wondering how Phil had managed to convince her to wear it. When she confessed it had been Lola's idea, Phil had grinned with pride, babbling on about how his daughter clearly had excellent taste when it came to dressing up.

After saying goodnight to Phil and Melinda, Lola grabbed her backpack, and left with Anne. They were going back to her house, so that Phil and Melinda were free to return to the bar they had met in, exactly one year ago.

It was like their anniversary, in a weird way.

Melinda had gone to shower before they went out, wanting to wash away the make-up she had worn to pretend to be Agent Carter, and so Phil had let her take first shower, as he tidied the house slightly, and blowing out the candles the were lighting up the pumpkins.

Ten minutes later, Phil opened the bedroom door to begin getting ready himself, and he froze, taking in the sight before him.

Melinda was stood in the middle of the room, clearly half dressed, her hair still wet down her back, and she was wearing nothing but lingerie.

No, sexy lingerie.

A matching set of bra and panties, cream, with lace and black satin bows and silk ribbons.

Nothing like he had ever seen her wear before; he didn't even know she owned them, and he'd helped her unpack when she moved in.

Phil could do nothing but stare, letting his gaze travel down her legs and back up, before swallowing.

She turned to face him, and smirked at his expression.

He took a few steps towards her, before wrapping his hands around her waist, and gently tugging her towards him.

"Are you wearing these under your dress tonight?" he murmured, lips touching the side of her neck and sending shivers through her skin. She just nodded against him, smiling smugly, and he groaned lightly.

This was going to be fun.

"See if I can avoid tipping a tray of drinks onto you this year," Phil muttered, grinning at her as they walked through the doorway, and into the bar.

"If you hadn't," she replied simply, leading them both over to a free table, "then we might not have got together."

"True. Never knew destroying someone's outfit was a pick-up method."

"It isn't" she assured him with a smirk, waving at the doorway as she saw Maria and Steve enter the premises only moments after they had done. The doorman gave Maria a slightly odd look as she wandered inside with her - now rather large - baby bump, but let them pass none-the-less.

Twenty minutes later, and the four of them were sat in a booth, black velvet seating surrounding the glass table, the only sign of Halloween decorations this year being the silver spiderweb confetti sprinkled on the table.

The four of them had cocktails in front of them, two alcoholic ones for Phil and Melinda, and two non-alcoholic for Steve and Maria.

"The baby is kicking" Maria announced suddenly, eyes wide with wonder as she looked at Steve. He grinned back, and placed a hand over her stomach, letting her adjust its position to where the baby's foot was.

"Does it kick often?" Melinda asked, smiling at the two of them as she absently snacked on the strawberry that had been floating in her drink.

"Yes," Steve replied, glancing back up to her and Phil. "But each time is still amazing, especially when you can feel it so strong… have you not felt it?"

Melinda shook her head. The last time she had been near Maria when the baby had kicked, they had been in her office discussing how fast the previous year had gone, and in all honesty the idea had freaked her out a little bit.

"Here, Mel" Maria said, reaching for her friend's hand, and placing it on her bump without giving her a choice. She waited, and watched Melinda's reaction as she felt the baby kicking again.

"No way!"

"Cool right?"

Melinda laughed in wonder, holding her hand against the fabric of Maria's shirt, and feeling a tiny foot pushing itself against the inside of her stomach. "That's surreal."

Phil grinned at her, before leaning over to join his hand with hers.

"My little niece or nephew" he murmured, leaning his chin against Melinda's shoulder. "You guys have any feeling about whether it's a boy or girl?"

"Maria thinks it's a girl" Steve replied, removing his hand from her stomach and taking a swig from his glass. "I honestly am not sure."

"It just…" Maria shrugged, Phil and Melinda both removing their own hands as the baby had stopped kicking. "I can't explain it. It feels like the baby will be a girl."

"Mother's instinct?" Melinda noted, and Maria nodded.

"Yeah, something like that."

"I'll get us another round in," Steve announced, pressing a kiss to his wife's cheek, before rising from the table, and turning back to face them all. "Same again?"

They all nodded, and he headed off across the bar, maneuvering his way through the crowds of people that were gathered all around; some were dressed in Halloween costumes, but as it wasn't a themed night this year, the rest were, like their little group, just dressed normally.

"Is that Pepper?" Maria asked suddenly, leaning up in her seat and staring towards the bar. Melinda and Phil both turned to where she was looking, and sure enough, found Steve talking away with Tony Stark, Pepper stood by his side.

Pepper, seemingly sensing she was being watched, saw them looking and waved, and Maria rose from her own seat in a less than graceful manner, tugging down her shirt as it tried to rise up around her bump..

"I'm going to go over if that's okay? I need to stand up for a bit anyway."

"No problem," Phil nodded, "See you in a bit."

They watched her wander across the bar, before Phil turned back to Melinda, a glint in his eyes.

"So, now that we're alone… you want to tell me why you're wearing the sexiest underwear I have ever seen?"

"Well," she grinned, leaning closer into his side, her back pressing up against his chest just a little. "It has been a year since we met, and I just thought it would be… nice."

She wasn't going to add how it had been a conversation with Natasha about how they had known each other a year, and how to celebrate, that had led to her actually going out to buy the set. Nor was she going to mention how nervous she had felt when he first saw it, worrying he would think it over the top, or pointless.

"Nice would be an understatement" he murmured, breathing his words into her hair, and she felt herself relax against him, his hand coming up to rest on her hip, thumb tracing circles into the fabric below her waist.

Melinda turned her head slightly, and nuzzled against his neck, forgetting they were in the middle of a crowded bar surrounded by people.

How strong were those cocktails?

"Is it socially acceptable to leave yet?" she asked, finding her voice huskier than she realised, and covering her mouth with her hand.

Phil laughed softly, touching his nose to hers momentarily, before taking her hand away from her mouth. "No, we should probably wait another hour maybe."

She nodded, watching his eyes as he stared back at her, the darkened gaze he had her under doing things to her it probably shouldn't.

She swallowed. Melinda wasn't one for public displays of affection, but she was pretty close to throwing that opinion out of the window and just clambering into his lap in the middle of the bar.

Phil seemed to sense her mood too, and he held her close, burning patterns into her skin with his fingertips.

When Maria and Steve returned to their table some time later, Pepper and Tony accompanying them with a tray of tequila shots that Maria was eyeing wistfully, Melinda knew it would be longer than an hour before they could escape.

Phils hand resting on her bare thigh was not helping.

The moment the front door was closed behind them, Melinda had Phil pressed back up against it, her clutch bag dropping to the floor without a second thought as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Phil pulled her close, his hands gripping the dip of her waist tightly, and held her against him, finally lavishing the attention to her lips he had been dying to do all night.

Teeth nipped and nails scratched, and Melinda was vaguely aware the two of them hadn't had a night like this, filled with such intense passion and desire and need, since… well, for a while anyway.

Definitely time to rectify that.

She could feel his hands dropping lower, until he ran them under the hem of her dress, skimming up her thighs as she shivered under his touch.

"We need… move… stairs" Phil mumbled incoherently, preoccupied with gently biting the skin along her jugular as she moaned against him, pushing him impossibly closer to the door. He could feel the letterbox digging into his thighs, but he removed that thought from his mind quickly as he felt her hands against his chest, fumbling with the buttons of his shirt.

Melinda shook her head, breathing heavily as his mouth dropped down to the dip between her breasts. "Now, right here… Phil I -"

She didn't finish her sentence, his lips cutting her words off before they had left her throat.

But then again, Phil reasoned, as he rested their foreheads together, watching with dark eyes as she tore a few buttons impatiently from his shirt, she didn't need to finish.

He flipped them around, picking her up as they went, before leaning her back against the door. Her legs wrapped around his waist, her dress riding up around her hips as they pressed against each other, and Phil this time felt the slight stab in his back as one of her stilettos dug into his spine.

It would be worth the pain.

Two chapters left guys! I really hope you're still enjoying the story, please let me know your thoughts! Thank you all for your comments, I appreciate them so much 3