“Yep.”
“Do you think we’ll find any today?”
“Oh, sure. They’re usually all over the place. But they’re not huge ones.” He held his fingers barely apart. “They’re usually little ones.”
She scrunched up her face. “They’re not big?”
“Not usually, no. Sharks lose their teeth all the time, though…” While they waited for Hank, Maddox went through what he knew about sharks, which wasn’t very much. “You know, we should take you to Mote Marine. They have live sharks in this really huge tank.”
Her eyes widened, adorable. “They do?”
“Yeah. And they have manatees, turtles—all sorts of critters.”
“Oooh! When can we go there?”
He mentally winced, realizing it probably wasn’t in Hank’s budget to take her, but then he had an idea. He knew they had annual family memberships. He could buy one and say he already had it and take them, then it wouldn’t cost Hank anything.
“I’ll talk to Daddy about it, honey.”
“Okay.”
“Talk to Daddy about what?” Hank stood at the end of the hall, shirtless and wearing shorts, scrubbing a towel over his damp hair.
Yum.
Thank goodness Maddox was sitting down, because it’d give him a moment to will his hard-on to go down. He’d gone from a little stiff to full-on wood. He hadn’t seen Hank shirtless since his return, and holy fucking hellsticks, the man wasripped.
Hank’s broad shoulders tapered down his torso to narrow hips and what Maddox already knew was a tight ass. A light dusting of blond hair across his firm pecs practically had Maddox drooling.
And now he stood there, waiting for—
Oh. He asked me a question.
“Mote,” he managed to croak out. “I told her we can all go to Mote and see the sharks and stuff there.” The slight frown had already creased Hank’s face when Maddox added, “I have a family membership.”
In the grand scheme of things, that was a trifling fib. He would have a family membership purchased before they went.
The frown eased. “Oh, thanks. Haven’t been there since we were kids.”
She bounced and nearly kneed Maddox in the groin. “Can we go, Daddy?Pleeeeeease?”
“Sure, we can go. But not today. Your party’s today.”
“Yay!” More bouncing, and as Maddox shifted position to protect his nuts from her knees, he caught a smile from Hank.
“I’ll be ready in a minute,” Hank said before turning and heading down the hall again.
Maddox fielded a bunch of questions from her while awaiting Hank. She was so full of energy, and intelligent.
He’s such a good dad.
Even if some miracle did ever happen…how would he handle being a step-dad? He’d never really imagined himself having kids. It wasn’t a mental conversation he’d had, because he hadn’t been with someone with whom it’d been a possibility. Kelly had an IUD—thank god—because she didn’t want to have kids. The men he’d been with before, it’d obviously not been an issue. And the other women he’d dated, they’d stated up front they weren’t interested in having a baby at that time.
Hank reemerged, now wearing a T-shirt. “Okay, sorry about that.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“You need to go to the bathroom?” Hank asked her.
