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She giggled. “What about the chicken?”

“Take the bucket with you. We’ll eat it cold, in bed, after.”

Macie picked up the KFC bucket and headed for the stairs. Hank considered putting the puppy down for all of two seconds, and then decided to bring her along. He wasn’t quite ready to put the sweet girl down yet.

Macie narrowed her eyes when they reached the top of the stairs. “You’re going to be one of those people who spoils his pet beyond reason, aren’t you?”

Hank grinned. “Yep.”

“Dog in the bed with us?”

He laughed as they entered his bedroom. “Only when we’re sleeping.”

Macie rolled her eyes. “You heard the part about Sally being a big dog, right?”

Hank tossed an extra blanket on the floor, creating a makeshift dog bed for Sally. The puppy crawled onto it and laid down, her chin on her paws as she sleepily watched the two of them.

“I’ll buy a bigger bed. Figure we’ll need one once kids come along anyway.”

Though it didn’t happen often, every now and again, Hank was able to render Macie speechless…for a few seconds.

“That was a hell of a leap.”

“Told you from the beginning where we were headed, Whiskey. My goals haven’t changed. If anything, I’m anxious to jump to the next part. This past month with you has only made me greedy for more.”

“Like kids more?”

He nodded. “I’m not getting any younger, Mace. In fact, as of today, I’m another year older. Forty-two. I’d like to have babies while I’m still able to pick them up.” Hank hadn’t intended to bring up this conversation, but seeing the squirming puppy in Macie’s arms downstairs had fired up a mess of desires he’d kept on the back burner for most of his life.

Hank wanted to be a father. Wanted to have kids with Macie.

“When do you get your next birth control shot?”

Macie’s forehead creased as she did some mental calculations. “Um…” Apparently the date clicked and she winced. “I was due last week.”

“Don’t get it.”

“You’re insane. We’ve dated one month, Hank. If this is some sort of midlife crisis, brought on by the birthday and the puppy, then I think you need to take a couple steps back and think a little harder on all of this. We’re still working out the relationship bumps.”

“What bumps?”

Macie’s nose crinkled adorably as she clearly tried to come up with something. “Well.” She paused, and then, because she obviously couldn’t think of anything, she raised her hands as if she’d proven some point. “And there you have it. The fact that there haven’t been any proves that this is still the honeymoon phase. You can’t make life-altering decisions in the midst of all this amazing sex. You gotta let it get old, have a few fights.”

“So we can’t discuss having kids until we’re sick of sex and pissed off at each other?”

She lifted one shoulder. She appeared to realize how silly that sounded, but Macie never backed down easy. “Uhhhh…yeah. Exactly.”

“Whiskey?” Hank said, stepping close enough he could grasp her waist with his hands.

“Yeah?”

“I’m never going to get sick of fucking you. And I’m pretty sure there’s nothing you could do that would piss me off for long.”

She chuckled. “Give me time.”

“I want to make babies with you. How long do those damn shots last?”

“The one I get lasts three months.”