"I saw it!" Evelyn planted her little hands on her hips. "You were totally kissing!"

lan let out a deep, rumbling laugh. Glancing at the flushed woman beside him, he looked back at his daughter. "That's right. Daddy was kissing Mommy."

Evelyn squealed, running over and aggressively wedging herself between them. She looked up with wide, hopeful eyes. "So we're never, ever separating again?"

lan scooped her up and settled her on his lap, wrapping his other arm securely around Eleanor's shoulders. "That's right. We're never separating again. Mommy and I are back together."

Evelyn thrust her little hands out, grabbing Eleanor's pinky with one hand and lan's with the other, forcefully pulling them together. "Then we have to pinky swear on it."

Seeing the fierce determination on her daughter's face, Eleanor's heart completely melted.

lan easily hooked his pinky around Eleanor's, and Evelyn wrapped her tiny hands around their joined fingers, chanting her absolute favorite playground oath. "Pinky swear, cross my heart, forever and ever it'll never change!"

lan looked over at Eleanor, a profound warmth in his eyes, while she cast a shy, incredibly tender smile down at their daughter.

Thoroughly satisfied, Evelyn jumped off his lap and bounded back to her toys.

lan pulled out his phone. "I'm going to make a quick call. Keep her company."

He stepped out onto the patio and was back in less than two minutes. He looked at Eleanor. "It'll be cleared for release tomorrow morning."

She blinked in surprise. "That fast?"

He nodded, a wicked gleam in his eye. "I know people."

Eleanor realized his 'connections' were practically limitless. Between his corporate empire and his recent appointment to head The Guild of Commerce, his influence was absolute.

As the night deepened, the living room felt incredibly warm and secure. Soon, it was time for Evelyn's bedtime.

lan walked with them to Eleanor's room. After tucking their daughter in, he pressed a soft goodnight kiss to Evelyn's forehead.

"Ellie, come out here. I need to talk to you," he murmured softly.

Assuming there was a complication with the equipment, she quietly closed the bedroom door and followed him into the hall.

The second the door clicked shut, lan spun around and pinned her against the wall.

"Are you coming over to my place later?" he asked, his thumb slowly tracing her jawline.

Her face flared with heat. She grabbed his wrist to stop him. "Stop messing around."

"I'm completely serious." He rested his forehead against hers, his voice dropping an octave. "I really want you."

She pushed against his chest. "Control yourself. Go to sleep."

He let out an exasperated sigh, leaning down to capture her lips in a slow, impossibly deep kiss. When he finally pulled back his eyes were

blazing. "Can you really say no to

me?"

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Panting slightly, her body was still exhausted from the absolute marathon of the past

two days. "Give it a couple of days. I have work tomorrow."

He finally let her go, though he looked entirely too smug. "Alright. Goodnight."

The next morning.

Eleanor left Evelyn in lan's capable hands for the school run and drove straight to the lab. The moment she pulled up, she sawo massive.freight truck parked out front. Callie was standing by the gate, aggressively signing off on a stack of paperwork. When he saw her, he grinned. "Eleanor, the equipment is here!"

"Awesome. Thanks for handling this," she said, walking over.

"Don't thank me, thank Mr. Goodwin. If he hadn't stepped in, we'd be waiting another month for this delivery," Callie noted.

A soft smile played on Eleanor's lips. "Yeah. I'll make sure to thank him."

For the rest of the morning, Eleanor and Callie ran full diagnostics on the new equipment. Everything operated flawlessly.

At noon, Eleanor was having lunch in the cafeteria with Gwenda. Gwenda spent a solid mimate just staring at Eleanor's face in

e ent before finally demanding, "Eleanor, seriously, what kind of skincare routine are you doing right now?" Cóntent