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Alex parked, and we all climbed out of the vehicle. When we were heading toward the entrance, I turned to Nica. “You will have to tell me if you are competing anywhere around here. I’d love to come watch. It fascinates and scares me too, all the things that you all do.”
“Really? You’d want to come?”
“I’d love to see you,” I said, and my eyes shifted to Alex who looked a little in awe of our conversation.
“Wow, that would be great. We are actually going to be doing a competition on Valentine’s Day in town here. Maybe you and Dad can come watch us.”
Alex spoke up for the first time in a while. “Sounds like a great idea.”
While Alex bought our tickets, Nica shared more about her cheerleading. We were barely in the door when Nica took off for one of the closer exhibits, and Alex put his hand on my lower back, leaning down close to my ear. “I’m kind of amazed at you.”
I glanced up at him. “Why is that?”
“Because you know about cheerleading, and you offered to go watch her. I know that was just words, but you really made her feel good.”
I stopped walking and touched his arm. “Alex, I was serious. I’d really like to watch her,” I paused, “unless you’d rather me not.”
He cupped the side of my face. “Are you kidding? I’d love for you to go so you can explain to me what the hell is going on.”
I laughed. “It’s a lot more than you think; that’s for sure.”
“Well, then you need to come with me so you can teach me these things.”
I smiled at him as my heart filled. “I’d love to.”
We were staring at each other again, and I shifted forward, needing to feel his lips on mine. The kiss was tender and only lasted a moment, but it was enough—for now.
“Come on, let’s catch up to Nica.” He took my hand in his, and we joined his daughter.
She noticed our hands right away and grinned at her dad. “I told you—girlfriend.”
The two of us chuckled, and I wasn’t sure that I was his girlfriend, but I was warming up to the idea. Maybe this would work for us. I was very attracted to him, and his daughter was amazing. He wasn’t in the military anymore, so I didn’t have to worry about that. His numeric column was very quickly moving into the plus section, and I had a feeling it was only going to continue to climb.
We spent hours walking around the aquarium, and when we arrived at the shark tunnel, Nica was wide-eyed as she stared at everything above her. Alex took out his phone and snapped a picture of her, and I smiled at him. I could see the love that he felt for her radiating off him.
The three of us stood there for a long time, pointing out different things that we saw. I could stand there for hours and watch the beautiful life below the water surface. Nica moved a little farther down the tunnel, and I felt Alex step in close behind me, his hands going to my hips as he brushed his lips against the side of my head. I shifted back into his embrace a little more.
“This is pretty cool,” he said.
“It is. Thank you again for asking me to come.”
“You’re welcome. I’m glad you did. Nica really likes you.”
I turned my head to look at him over my shoulder. “Your daughter is amazing, Alex.”
He grinned. “She is.” For a moment, he was quiet, and then his brow lined. “Do you want kids?”
“I do.”
“How many do you want?”
“I always thought that I would have two or three. What about you? Do you want more kids?” I held my breath after I asked, waiting for him to tell me that he was done.
He surprised me when he grinned. “I always pictured myself with four kids.”
“You did?”
“Yep, I did.”
