BROCK DECIDED to work from home for a while. With Stephanie fielding phone calls, sending out couriers, and manning the desk in the office, everything was pretty much covered.
So far Eric had done a pretty good job keeping Josie from bugging him, but he could tell they were both starting to go stir-crazy. He wished he could let them go out to the park, but it just wasn’t worth the risk.
Josie had been whining for the last half hour or so and he’d finally had enough.
Brock closed his laptop and headed into the living room, where some cartoon just wasn’t holding her attention. “Hey. Who wants ice cream?”
“Ice cream?” Her eyes went wide, and she sprang up into his arms. “Yes! Yes! Chocolate!”
Eric looked up from the floor, where he had been occupying her. “Sounds great.”
“Chocolate for the lady. What flavor you want, baby?”
Eric rubbed the back of his neck. “What are my options?”
“Hell if I know.” He grinned and reached out with his free hand. “Let’s go see.” It wasn’t like he bought his own groceries.
Eric let him tug and haul and soon he had a warm body next to him, Eric reaching to tickle Josie.
God, they were so domestic.
The real kicker of it was that he liked it.
They headed into the kitchen and he opened the freezer. “We’ve got chocolate, mocha, vanilla, and… bubble gum?”
“Bubble gum?” Eric asked.
“Bubble gum!” Josie hooted.
“Hey, don’t look at me. That’s what the package says.” Brock shrugged. “How about a scoop of chocolate and one of the bubble gum, honey?”
“’Kay, Daddy Bee.”
Eric wrinkled his nose. “Mocha for me, I think.”
Brock chuckled. “You don’t want to try the bubble gum? Coward.”
“You want a nice big bowlful, Daddy Bee?”
Oh shit.
“No, I’m going to have some of every flavor, so I’d better have just a little bit.”
“Oh, nicely played,” Eric muttered, grabbing three bowls.
Grinning, he took the containers out of the freezer and began dishing them up.
Josie clambered over to the table, settling in her chair—which, Brock had to admit, didn’t look so terribly out of place anymore.
He gave her a scoop of chocolate and another of the bubble gum, which was a horrendous pink. Then he dished up Eric’s mocha and his own four scoops—very light on the bubble gum—and settled at the table.
Josie was telling them some sort of a story—something about snakes and birds and a bear named Piggy, he thought. Eric’s toe was on his pant leg. He glanced over, but Eric was acting innocent.
Those pretty eyes met his for only a second. “What did Piggy do then?”
Eric rubbed gently and Brock bit back his groan as his cock jerked, thinking of filling. Eric just beamed. Beamed.
“Tease.” He mouthed the word at Eric.
Eric’s eyebrows both lifted. He chuckled and slid his own foot so it rested against Eric’s leg. Eric’s spoon stopped, halfway up to his mouth. Brock grinned and moved his foot back and forth. The ice cream started to drip, and Eric scooped it into his mouth quickly.
Oh, this was fun.
The movement of his foot on Eric’s ankle seemed to warm Eric’s skin, the blush creeping up to the neckline of the man’s shirt. God, he was hard. Just from resting his foot on Eric’s leg and the effect it was having on his lover. He had it bad.
“How’s the bubble gum flavor?” Eric licked his spoon clean.
Brock bit back his groan at the sight. “Sweet.”
“Sickly, huh? She loves it.”
“Yep, that’s about it.” He kept watching as Eric took another spoonful of ice cream, tongue sliding along the metal to take it in.
Eric chuckled, finished his ice cream, then playfully reached over to pretend to steal a bite of Josie’s mostly melted mess. That flush, though, just kept rising.
His own cock had gone stupid hard.
Okay. Okay, cool off. Breathe. Focus. They were at the table with his daughter. Eric’s daughter. Eric’s daughter.
He quickly ate several scoops of ice cream, his cock starting to go down as he got brain freeze.
Eric grinned at him, shook his head. “Slow down.”
Josie cackled. “Slow down, Speedy!”
He chuckled, rubbing his forehead. “Yeah.”
Eric leaned over, fingers sliding on either side of his nose.
“Mmm….” Brock wasn’t sure if that was helping his headache at all, but it was making the rest of him feel good.
“Better?”
“Yeah. You don’t have to stop anytime soon, though.”
Of course, when Josie popped into his lap and started using her sticky fingers to help rub his face….
“Oh. Oh man. Jo! Let’s wash our hands!” Eric was laughing so hard he almost tripped as he led Josie to the sink and moved the little stool Stephanie had purchased over so Josie could reach.
Brock snorted and followed them. “I’m now bubble gum flavored.”
Eric grinned, handing Josie a soapy cloth. “Help your daddy Bee, but be careful-careful about his eyes.”
She nodded, so serious. “I not hurt.”
Bending slightly, he smiled and closed his eyes so she didn’t hurt him—he knew she’d never do it on purpose, but figured she didn’t necessarily have the best coordination.
She washed him carefully, only faltering when Eric reached to help her.
“No! No, Daddy. I do it.”
Brock snorted and wound up with soap up his nose, which made him sneeze. That made Josie squeal and grab him, the wet cloth slapping on the back of his neck and sliding down his back.
“Oh, gross. That’s all cold.” He started to tickle her in revenge.
Her laughter was…. It made his heart ache, somehow.
He stopped tickling to squeeze her tight. “All right, I should get back to work. Do you think you can draw me a picture of us all eating ice cream so I can remember it for always?”
“I can, Daddy Bee.” She looked at him, very seriously. “On the Josie paper you bringed me. On the For Josie paper.”
“Excellent. If it’s very good, I’ll even put it on the fridge.” He understood that this was the pinnacle.
“Oh….” Josie ran off, feet banging on the floor, as Eric dissolved into laughter.
Brock chuckled and poked Eric in the ribs on his good side. “Behave—she’s your daughter.”
“That she is.” Eric laughed harder.
He punched Eric in the arm.
“Ow!” Eric danced back, obviously playing with him.
That got him to chuckling. “I really do need to get back to work.” Still, he had time for a brief kiss, right?
“She’s about to nap. I’m going to log on and try to see what my options are for next year, maybe talk to someone about putting the house on the market.”
“That’s a great idea.” He thought it was a positive step for Eric.
“We’ll see.” Eric walked closer. “Can I kiss you?”
“You can.” He opened his arms, encouraging Eric to come close.
Eric fit into his arms perfectly, just like always, and that look was one he’d dreamed about. Their lips fit together like hand and glove and his tongue slipped into Eric’s mouth. He tasted a hint of mocha and Eric himself. Eric fed him the best noise, low and deep.
One of his hands landed on Eric’s ass; the other one slid up to cup the back of Eric’s neck. He could do this all day long, aside from the inevitable pint-sized interruptions, of course. He was starting to expect that, though, and knowing it was coming made the kiss right this second that much sweeter.
Eric’s hand cupped his cheek, thumb sliding on his cheekbone, those eyes open, watching him. He stared back and let Eric in. His stomach grew warm, tight, his cock hard.
“Daddy! Daddy, you’re kissing Daddy Bee!”
Eric nodded, stepping back, but only the tiniest bit. “I am.”
Brock grinned at Eric. “Daddy and Daddy Bee sitting in a tree….”
Eric chuckled, nodded. Josie came up, a massively colored piece of paper in her hand.
“Oh, wow. Look at this.” Brock picked up the paper and made sure to give it his full attention.
Eric’s cheek rested on his shoulder. “Oh, it’s very nice, Jo.”
“Thank you, honey. This is the best you’ve ever done and it deserves its spot on the fridge.” He handed it back to her. “Why don’t you decide where you think it should go?”
“Mermaid magnet.” She went to the fridge, frowned. “Daddy, where is mermaid?”
“It’s at the… other house, Jo.”
“Go get.” She pointed.
“I can’t, Jo. Not today.”
“Daddy! Go! Get!”
Eric sighed. “No, Jo.”
“Not today, honey. We’ll go shopping soon and get you something special for here.” Man, there were land mines everywhere, waiting to get you when you least expected it.
Her bottom lip started trembling, her eyes filling with tears.
“Hey, sometimes things don’t go exactly your way, honey. That’s life. And it’s not like you can’t live without a mermaid magnet,” Brock noted.
“I want my mermaid!” She stamped her foot, face screwing up.
Eric sighed. “Definitely nap time, huh?” He bent down to pick her up, and she pushed at him, making him wince.
“Okay, young lady, that is enough.” Brock used his best boardroom voice and picked her up. “It doesn’t matter how upset you are, you don’t go around hurting people because of it.”
“Daddy!” She kicked and hollered, but, to his surprise, Eric let him take her, put her in her bed, still screaming.
“Daddy! Daddy, no!”
“It’s nap time. And you need to be a good girl and go to sleep so we can all have a nice supper together later. And if you stop screaming and kicking, I’ll tuck you in and give you a kiss.”
“Daddy Bee….” She wrapped around him, crying into the shoulder of his shirt.
“Aw, honey. You’re just tired.” He patted her back.
“Is… is Daddy Bee coming to Josie’s house?”
“No, sweetie, Josie’s going to stay at Daddy Bee’s house.” God, he hoped she wasn’t too young for this whole situation to stick with her.
“Forever and ever?”
“Your daddy and I need to talk about that, honey.”
“Daddy! Daddy, c’mere!”
“Not right now, honey. You are supposed to be napping.” He wasn’t sure he was ready for this conversation yet, and certainly not with Josie listening in.
Eric’s head popped in. “Everything okay?”
Josie nodded. “We stay at Daddy Bee’s? This our house?”
Eric smiled at her. “This is Daddy Bee’s house, Jo, but this is your room.”
Eric was still living out of a suitcase, Brock supposed. Why didn’t he know for sure?
“And this will always be your room, okay?” He and Eric needed to talk now, whether they were ready or not.
Eric pulled back the covers of her little bed. “In, kiddo. Nap time.”
Brock grinned. “I’ll get the hang of not letting her distract me from getting her to lie down and go to sleep.”
“You will.” Eric nodded, tucked her in. “Kisses?”
“Not you. Daddy Bee.”
“Ouch. Sorry, man.” He winked at Eric and then leaned in and kissed her cheek. “You be good and go to sleep now, okay?”
“Uh-huh.” Her dark eyes stared up at Eric. “You now.”
“Oh, me now, huh?” Eric smiled, kissed her cheek.
“Sleep tight, honey.”
“Love you, Jo.”
They shuffled out together.
He slid his arm around Eric’s waist. “I have to get back to work, but we need to talk about what we’re going to do when this is all over.”
“I know. I know. I need to make plans. I will, Brock. I swear to you. I’ll get out of your hair.”
He shook his head. “This is why we need to talk. After I call Stephanie and make sure everything’s covered for the day.”
“Okay.” He got another quick kiss and then Eric headed into the living room.
He couldn’t quite believe what he was thinking, what he was wanting.
And he had work to do, so he pushed it to the back of his mind, grabbed his earphone, and got his head into the money.
Where it belonged.