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“There!”
Following the arrow of her pointing finger, he looked up at a building with a gigantic shark sticking out of either side. It wasn’t the decor that had him raising an eyebrow, it was the name on the sign above the oversized fish.Ripley’s Believe it or Not.“Seriously?”
“Yes.” When she turned back toward him, hope lighting those bright blue eyes, he knew he was going to give in. There wasn’t anything he would have denied her at that moment.
And then she put the final nail in his coffin. Her lower lip pushed out ever so slightly and she looked up at him over the tops of her sunglasses. “Please, Daddy?”
Brat. She knew exactly what she was doing. But he still gave in. “All right. Let’s go get tickets.”
“Yes!” With a shake of her ass that made his mouth water, she led the way to the ticket booth. Fifty dollars later, he was following her into the darkened interior.
It was utter ridiculousness. He wasn’t even sure he believed half the claims printed on the various plaques alongside the ‘exhibits’. But Shannon darted from one side of the room to the other, giggling and gasping over the outrageous claims.
“Bryant, come here! Look!” Still bouncing, she pointed to a tiny replica of a human head.
It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her it wasn’t real. But she looked so damn cute and carefree, he couldn’t bring himself to put a damper on her joy. Taking advantage of her improved attitude, he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against him. “That’s… interesting.”
“It’s creepy. And gross.” She sounded absolutely delighted.
“I can’t argue with that.”
It took an hour for her to move through the museum to her satisfaction. In his opinion, nothing in there was nearly as fascinating as her, so he wasn’t in any hurry himself. Watching her let go and enjoy herself so openly and completely had been worth every penny.
“That was so much fun! Can we eat? I’m starving.”
Did she even realize she’d let her Little loose? If she didn’t, he wasn’t about to point it out to her and risk sending her back into hiding.
“Sure. How about a burger?”
“I was thinking... ice cream.” Her eyes sparkled with a sly sort of anticipation he was used to seeing in Olivia. The kind that said she knew she was angling for something she shouldn’t have, mostly because she wanted to see how he would respond.
“We can talk about ice cream after lunch.” Lowering his voice so only she could hear him, he leaned over to whisper in her ear. “If you’re a good girl for Daddy.”
“But I am being good.” Her pout returned, which he took full advantage of by pulling her in and laying another smoldering kiss on her full lips.
“No pouting,” he murmured when he released her.
“Huh?” To his delight, her eyes were wide and glassy for a moment until she blinked. “Oh. Right. Sorry.”
“Good girl.”
Pink blossomed in her cheeks, leaving her looking sun-kissed and adorable. Taking her hand, he pulled her toward one of several food stands. Burgers and drinks in hand, they continued wandering the Boardwalk.
They’d just tossed their trash when she turned that mischievous smile on him again. “We should get tattoos.”
As adorable as she was, he had to draw the line somewhere. “No way, princess. I’m not going back to work with a dolphin permanently tattooed on my ass because you had a whim.”
With a roll of her eyes, she pointed to the shop directly across from them. “Airbrush tattoos, you nerd.”
“Oh.” Silly, but at least not permanently silly. “Why not?”
“Yes! But you have to let me pick yours, and you can pick mine.”
Something told him he was going to regret this, but he shrugged. “It’s a deal.”
She dashed across the walkway before he had a chance to change his mind. Shaking his head, he followed her to the open stand where a teenage girl was getting a large butterfly sprayed on just above the line of her bikini bottoms.
Shannon was off to the side, flipping through a book of designs. “Let’s see. What’s the perfect tattoo for a stuffy, bossy lawyer? Oh! What about this?” Holding up the binder, she pointed to a rather terrifying clown face.
