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“Another one?” Seth asked, sounding as petulant as his child. “Twice in one day? A little soil never hurt anybody.”
Laurie picked that moment to stand up from the ground, revealing the streak of dirt all the way down one leg, ending in a glob on her frilly white sock. I glanced pointedly at Seth.
“Not it,” he said under his breath.
“I’ll do it.” Chuckling, I pressed my bowl into his rock-hard belly and rose to go scoop up Laurie off the ground, balloon and all. “Bath first, then a story. Can even have bubbles tonight.”
“Yay.” Laurie wrapped her arm around my neck and pushed the balloon in my face. “Here.”
“Thanks.” I grinned over my shoulder at Seth, and he was doing that way too intent watching thing again. It made my knees tremble and my belly do somersaults and my skin to feel too tight all over. Especially since he was smiling, his eyes warm and brown like melted chocolate.
He liked seeing me with Laurie, almost as much as I enjoyed taking care of her.
Maybe my reserves for taking care of others weren’t nearly as low as I’d believed. Somehow taking care of her—and of Seth—filled me up in other ways.
“You coming in?”
He stretched out his legs, still holding both bowls of ice cream. Just the shift of his pose widened his legs enough for me to see exactly what was going on in his jeans—and the late day sun definitely wasn’t creating any shadows. That gloriousness was all Seth.
I wet my lips and looked up into his eyes. He did the same, except on him the gesture was lazy and lion-like. A king surveying his backyard kingdom, and I was one of his belongings. That should’ve set my hackles up, but instead, all it gave me was a flutter, way down low.
“I’ll be right in,” he said.
Nodding, I juggled his daughter in my arms and smiled. “You ready for bath time and a story? Maybe Mr. Peppermint and the Pushy Poodles?”
“Yes!” She gave me a loud smacking kiss right on the mouth. “Love you, Ally.”
It didn’t matter that “love you, Ally” sounded like lub eww, Awee. It was probably the sweetest moment of my life.
Sucking in a breath, I tipped my head down to hers. “Love you right back.”
The rustle of grass behind me gave me a second to regroup before Seth pulsed his hips against my ass. He truly didn’t care that he was harder than wood and just the feel of him against me was enough to soak my panties. In fact, he’d probably done that intentionally. Same reason he’d casually looped his arm around my waist and caught his fingers in the unused belt loops of my dress. “My two favorite girls,” he murmured, his breath warm on the nape of my neck.
More flutters, by the dozen this time. I adjusted Laurie in my arms and gave Seth a quick upturned smile before gently detangling myself and heading for the porch stairs. “In we go.”
“Not you, Daddy,” Laurie said, and Seth gave a big sigh.
“Yes, I know, banned from my own bathroom. Or am I now exiled from the house too?”
Laurie clutched her balloon and stuck out her lower lip while she thought. “Come in.”
“Thank you, Princess Laurie.” Seth ate up the steps with his long-legged strides and opened the back door just in time to let us pass. “After you, Princess Ally Cat.”
“Cat?” Laurie’s head came up and she grinned toothily. “I like cats.” She turned her head and stared hard at her father. “My little sissy wants a cat.”
I lifted my brows. I’d heard much talk about how Laurie wanted another sibling, and supposedly it had spurned Seth’s crazy babymaking idea. But I’d never heard Laurie actually talk about the sibling as if she was real—one who could make pet requests, no less.
“Your little sissy?” I asked through the cotton in my throat. “Did you fill out an order form?”
Laurie giggled and dangled from my neck, stretching her arm out as long as she could so she could encompass her father too. “Boys suck.”
“Nice, kiddo.” Seth sighed and tweaked her nose, meeting my gaze over her head. “My child has very specific requests. They seem to get more specific by the day.”
The way he was looking at me again… God, it was as if he could see inside my womb and plant a kid there—a girl, because hey, ask and ye shall receive—from the sheer force of his stare alone.
He could definitely get me in the mood to practice, that was for sure.
“Or a dog,” Laurie added. “My sissy likes dogs too.”
