Page 42 of Until the Ink Dries

“Nah, gimmie my baby,” Benjamin said, scooping her up. “You will not have her acting like your silly self.”

Shirah rolled her eyes and went into her crossbody. She pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and handed it to Charlie.

“Here you go, baby. Buy all the popsicles you want.”

Charlie gasped. “Thank you!”

She folded the money up and tucked it into her father’s shirt pocket. Benjamin shook his head.

“I hope y’all know baby girl is the finesse queen. She just got money out of Jordan last week.”

“He ate my snacks, Daddy!”

“Let me not get you started on that.”

He shifted her so that she was sitting on his shoulders, and I couldn’t help but notice the flex of his muscles. He was just so damn fine, and it didn’t help that I found him in daddy mode to be sexy as hell.

“Mmm hmm,” Shirah mumbled next to me. “I saw that.”

I playfully elbowed her. “Hush.”

“What are y’all headed to first?” Benjamin asked.

“Donations,” I answered, unzipping my bag, and pulling out my check. Shirah did the same.

“We appreciate your support,” Benjamin said. “Y’all know The Parks have been struggling since we were kids. The city isn’t doing anything about it, so the residents have to pick up the slack.”

“Did y’all get any sponsors?” I asked.

“Jordan donated a check for a hundred thousand. A few of his teammates donated ten thousand each. I have a couple of clients that made hefty donations, too.”

“That’s amazing. You’ll have to let me know when y’all start the process. I’d be happy to come back and help out.”

“You? Doing manual labor?”

I scoffed. “I’m good with my hands, sir.”

He smirked. “I bet you are.”

Beside me, Shirah let out an “Ooop! On that note, I think I’m gonna go find me some food. Give me your check, Willow.”

I rolled my eyes as I handed it over to her. She winked at me as she skipped her happy ass in the opposite direction, leaving me, Benjamin, and Charlie alone. I gave an awkward smile.

“So… you two wanna show me around?”

From her father’s shoulders, Charlie eagerly nodded and reached for my hand. I was happy to oblige her. Benjamin eyed me, shaking his head.

“What?” I asked.

“You imprinted on my baby. She can’t stop talking about you.”

“I mean, I happen to think I’m a lovable person, so that’s fair.”

“Yeah… yeah, you are. You’ve always been good people.”

We stared at each other for a moment, until Charlie tapped his forehead.

“Daddy, let’s go! I wanna show Ms. Willow the fun stuff.”

---