Page 136 of Sharkbait
“Alright, yuck it up, dude. I am just as surprised as you are by my reaction, but…” I drop all the sass from my voice and get real. “The way you speak to her, with so much respect and love. The way you crouch down to look her in the eye. The way she clearly adores the ground you walk on and hangs on your every word… well, it… it moved me.” I exhale. “You’re an incredible dad, and that’s sexy as hell.”
“Thank you, Lou. That means everything to me.”
“You’re, um… You’re welcome.”
He reaches his hand across the bar and takes hold of one of mine.
I look down at our knuckles braided together so comfortably, so perfectly.
I don’t ever want to let go.
He gives my hand a squeeze and rumbles, “I’m on two full weeks of daddy duty starting tomorrow morning, so it’ll be a lot of early nights for me. Tonight however…”
“Yeah?” My voice sounds breathy as I lean closer to him.
“Tonight, I’m all yours.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
James
"Who would like to touch my purple sea urchin?”
A sea of grubby hands shoots to the sky, including my daughter’s.
Louise is leading a “Creatures of the Coral” workshop at the aquarium this morning, and these young minds are eating it up.
She’s a natural with kids.
“Alright.” Louise laughs at their enthusiasm. “I promise you will all get a chance. But first, I need you to show me these two fingers.”
She holds up her second and third fingers on her right hand and brings them together. The kids mirror her pose.
“Those are the only two fingers we’ll use to touch Mr. Spike, okay? And we’ll do it just like this.”
She demonstrates very softly stroking the sea urchin’s spines.
“Can I see everyone practice in the air? Good, everybody, good! Sometimes people think sea urchins are scary because they look so sharp and pointy, but I assure you that Mr. Spike will not hurt you. He’s not venomous and doesn’t sting. But a lot of urchins do, so if you ever see one in the ocean when you’re on vacation, be safe and don’t touch it, okay?”
“Okay,” the kids answer in chorus.
She smiles. “Fun Fact: In most languages, the word urchin translates to sea hedgehog. How cute is that?”
The kids start to crowd and shove to get a better look at thecreature.
“Alright, everyone, let’s form a peeeeaceful line now—no shoving, please—and you’ll all get a turn to touch him.”
Iris and I follow orders and hop in line. I can’t take my eyes off Louise as she works with each kid one by one. It’s clear she enjoys what she does, and she’s great at it, but my gut tells me this isn’t the exact right place for her.
Ever since the night of the arts festival, a brainstorm has been forming in my mind.
She was practically glowing that night. Joy was emanating from her every pore. The idea I’m cooking up could keep that smile on her face permanently. And selfishly, it would keep the smile on mine too. Because it would mean we can stay together after I move to Hawaii.
I haven’t found the right time to talk to her about it this week with Iris in town, and I have no idea if she’ll be open to the idea, but I have to give it a shot.
And soon.
Because departure time is in less than a month.
