One good, hard, imagined suck was all it took.
“Fuck,” he shouted as he sprayed all over the shower floor. His knees wobbled, and his thighs quivered with the force of his climax.
“Jesus.” Lightheaded, he turned into the spray to clean his dick. Hopefully, Hannah hadn’t heard him cry out. Last thing he needed was for her to know he was twenty feet away behind a shower door whacking off to her like a horny teenager.
After drying off and throwing on fresh pair of sweats and a T-shirt, he jogged back upstairs.
Hannah sat on the floor in the den with Kayla between her splayed legs.
“How big is Kayla?” Hannah asked. “So big!” she sing-songed as she lifted Kayla’s pudgy little arms. “How big is Kayla? So big!” This time Kayla lifted her arms herself when Hannah cued her.
“Yes!” Hannah said with a laugh. “What a smart little girl you are.”
A smile curled across his face as he watched his daughter interact with Hannah. She made it look so easy, playing with the baby. Would he ever get to that point? To a place where caring for his child became second nature and he didn’t question every move he made?
The two made a sweet pair. One dark-haired, one fair. Mary Anne had been blonde too, but his Benson genes won out.
Kayla repeated her trick again as Hannah praised her.
Pride filled his chest. She was a smart little cookie.
He froze, unable to take a step.
Well, shit.
He was thinking like a real father.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
FOR THE FIRST time in many months, Hannah’s heart was full. Yes, there was still an acute ache from the recent loss of her sister, but as she played with Kayla, she couldn’t stem the rush of happiness and pure love. Even though it hadn’t been much more than a week since she’d seen Kayla, she’d missed her niece with a vengeance.
Not only could Hannah feel her sister’s presence, the baby fascinated her. So much joy, so much curiosity. Every little thing was new, exciting, and something to be celebrated, from a pulled thread on the carpet to Hannah’s ankle bracelet.
“Why are you so stinkin’ cute?” she asked as she tickled Kayla’s tummy. The little girl burst into giggles. God, that sound shot straight to her wounded heart. Mary Anne should be the one sprawled out on the floor with her daughter. The one enjoying that delighted sound and the pleasure of holding the soft weight of the baby. Swallowing, Hannah shoved the grief aside. Her time with Kayla was precious and wouldn’t be spent mourning. She’d save that for later when alone.
“We have to show your daddy your new trick, huh? Show him how you’re so big!”
“He saw it. Pretty impressive there, you two.”
“Oh, hey.” Hannah looked to her left and nearly swallowed her tongue. Fresh from the shower, his wet hair lay perfectly across his head. Tattoos had never really been something that interested her, but JP’s fit him. He was muscular but not bulky, and had a bit of an edge. The ink complemented the attitude and made for a mouthwatering picture.
Mouthwatering? Since when did she describe men as mouthwatering?
“Hope I didn’t take too long,” he said as he joined her on the floor. He sat diagonal to her with his back against a plush chair and his long legs stretched out. His feet were bare, clean, and decorated with various tattoos.
Sexy.
“Nope,” she said with a shake of her head. “We just finished up a few minutes ago.”
Why on earth was the sight of his bare feet so attractive? Maybe it was time to get serious about finding herself a boyfriend to keep her from doing weird things, like drooling over random men’s feet.
Only JP wasn’t random, was he? He was the man who fathered a child with her sister. Her niece’s father.
Even worse, her niece’s father, who had no clue Hannah had any connection to his daughter.
What a mess.
Why couldn’t he have been a troll?
She almost laughed out loud. Mary Anne would never have had a fling with a troll. Her standards for looks had always been over the top.
Kayla lurched forward as though she wanted to crawl to her father. She landed on her hands and knees, but not more than a second later, she collapsed out flat on her tummy. After a few seconds of unsuccessful wiggling, she let out a loud, dissatisfied wail.
“Come here, baby girl,” he said as he reached for her. “Looks like we gotta work on this crawling thing, huh?”
Hannah watched, transfixed as he cradled the baby against his chest. Kayla settled after a minute, resting her head on those strong muscles. He kept one large hand splayed over her diapered bottom to keep her in place. With the other, he rubbed soothing strokes up and down her back.
Lucky girl. She wasn’t sure who she envied more. JP for getting to hold the niece she ached to hold every day or Kayla, who got to experience the safety and comfort of his arms.