Chapter 11
Kai
As soon as my brother is settled in my room, I softly close the hotel door behind me, hoping not to wake Max.
I almost knocked on the door between my room and Miller’s to ask her to watch him for one more hour before calling it a night, but when I had gotten back from my game, she was nose deep in her cookbooks and laptop, searching for inspiration, I’m sure.
Last week, after she told me about her job, I googled her name. Surprisingly, I hadn’t done that before. I suppose because she’s Monty’s daughter and I already knew she was more than I could handle, I didn’t think there was much more for me to find.
I was wrong.
The Internet was littered with her name.
Impressive isn’t a strong enough word to describe Miller Montgomery’s career.
Her accomplishments are unheard of for someone her age.
She’s been featured in articles, won prestigious awards, worked under some of the biggest names in her industry before becoming one herself.
But it was the pictures that shocked me more than anything.
Her in a crisp white chef’s coat, hair in a slicked back bun.
No nose ring, tattoos covered. She was hardly recognizable from the girl I met in the elevator just weeks ago.
She shows up every day in a different pair of overalls, typically with her feet bare, but after seeing her professional side online, there’s a part of me that feels privileged that Max and I get the lesser-known side of Miller, no matter how wild it may be.
She likes my son. My son likes her, and that makes me like her just a bit more.
After my last start on the road, I lied about not needing to cool down from the game. This time, I can’t. I pitched into the seventh inning tonight and my shoulder is screaming. I doubt I’ll be able to pick up Max with my throwing arm tomorrow.
Heading to the top floor of our hotel in Houston, I grab a couple of towels and make my way outside to the rooftop pool, needing to get a few laps in to cool down my muscles.
It’s late, after midnight, and the pool is closed to the public, but it’s never stopped me before.
I live for the peace of a solo swim after a game.
Only tonight, I’m not alone.
Steam from the neighboring hot tub rises behind her, but she sits with her feet dangling in the pool.
It’s a warm July night, and the summer moon provides just enough light to outline her.
Miller in a two-piece suit. A strapless forest green piece of fabric covers her chest, and her bottoms are pulled up so high over her hips, every inch of her thighs that I like so much are exposed.
She’s fucking stunning, all earth tones and tattooed skin glistening under the moonlight.
Opening the gate, I make plenty of noise so she knows she’s no longer alone.
“Breaking and entering, Rhodes? Not very responsible of you.”
“Maybe I’ve got a wild streak you don’t know about.”
She chuckles a hearty laugh. “Yeah. Okay.”
Little does she know, pre-dad Kai was as wild as her.
“I figured you’d be in your room looking for inspiration in one of those cookbooks you’re traveling with.”
She nods towards the summer moon sitting just above the city line in the distance. “This feels pretty inspirational.”
She’s not wrong. It’s stunning out here.
Both the view and the girl I shouldn’t be looking at.
I drop my towels onto a nearby lounge chair and in my periphery, I watch Miller as she begins to stand, pulling her legs out of the water, my eyes wandering every inch of that wet skin.
“Where are you going?”
She gestures to the hotel. “Giving you the pool. I figured you’d want it to yourself.”
“You should stay.”
Okay... I have no idea why I suggested that.
She hesitates, but doesn’t answer me. Simply retakes her seat, her red-painted toes dipping back into the water.
Pulling my shirt over my head, I toss it on the chair before adjusting the waistband on my trunks. I catch Miller’s greens taking their time tracking every ridge of my stomach and chest from across the pool, only the glow of the lights under the water allowing me to see it happen.
It’s been so long. So fucking long since I’ve noticed a woman’s attention on me. So long since I’ve been looked at in a way that makes me feel like a man and not just someone’s dad. I preen under her gaze, my chest expanding from the attention.
“You have tattoos.” It’s a statement, but her voice holds a bit of surprise in the tone.
Looking down at my ribs and thigh, I note the ink she’s studying.
“I always thought you were judging me for mine.”
Fuck. Was I? Maybe I did, but it wasn’t that she had tattoos or a septum ring or anything about the way she looked.
I assumed if a woman were to ever watch my son, she’d be a sweet old lady with a knack for crafts and gardening.
I didn’t expect a foul-mouthed firecracker who’s also a badass in the kitchen.
“Nah. I like yours. They suit you.”
Miller’s lips tick.
“Drinking at 9 a.m., though? I was judging you for that.”
She chuckles and her raspy laugh is the last thing I hear before I dive headfirst into the deep end of the pool.
I swim across the length to the shallow end where she sits before popping out of the water to find myself a foot or so in front of her, raking a hand through my hair to move it from my face.
“Dear God, Kai. No wonder you have a kid. Just looking at you like this would get any woman pregnant.”
I huff a laugh. “Let’s not joke about anyone getting pregnant again, please. I’m doing a terrible job raising one. I couldn’t handle another.”
She sits up straighter. “What are you talking about?”
It’s too late to get into that conversation.
I’m too tired. Too sore. My mind is too exhausted to think of anything other than loosening my shoulder and falling into bed.
I’ll have to be up with Max in a handful of hours, but Miller’s dark green bathing suit, wet and suctioned to every crevice of her body, has me eager to pull an all-nighter just to stare at her.
Monty’s daughter. Monty’s stunning-as-fuck daughter .
With that, I duck under the water and swim the length of the pool again, stretching out my shoulder and hoping the distance between us will help me forget how beautiful that woman is.
But with my eyes closed, she’s all I can see, and when I come back up for air on the shallow side and find her sitting there, leaning back on her palms, I know the image won’t be leaving my mind for far too long.
“You should know by now that ignoring me isn’t going to make me forget, Kai.” Her tone is even, confident. “You’re a fantastic dad. And if someone needs to tell you, I’ll be the one to do it.”
I don’t believe her, but there’s no point in arguing. “Thank you.”
“Who’s watching him right now?”
“Isaiah.”
“Where’s his mom?”
A startled laugh escapes me and I slip under the water for a moment to gain my bearings. “It’s a little late for that talk, don’t you think?” is what I say when I come back up.
“Nope. I think it’s the perfect time.”
I turn away from her, pacing and pushing my way through the water. The view is stunning from up here, the entirety of the city below us. The night is warm, the water is calming, and this almost naked woman has my lips feeling real loose.
“Seattle, I’d imagine. But I’m not sure.”
Before I know it, I hear a small splash as Miller enters the water behind me. She swims to where I stand before she pulls herself out and takes a seat on the ledge, forcing me to look at her.
Forced. I laugh to myself. Sort of feels like a privilege to watch Miller Montgomery dripping wet in a bathing suit.
Her voice is softer than it typically is. “What happened?”
Water drips down her body, some of it falling between her tits and my attention is glued. She knows it too and like some kind of sex hypnotist, she scoots slightly closer and asks again, “What happened with Max’s mom?”
“Are you using your body to distract me?”
“Is it working?”
I scrub a palm over my face because, yes, it’s working.
A little too fucking well. “She was um... someone I was casually seeing when I played in Seattle. I met her at a local restaurant the team frequented. Ashley was our server. It was never anything serious, and it was over as soon as I signed with Chicago. Just a fling, or so I thought. I moved to the Midwest in the fall, and just about a year later, she showed up at my apartment with my six-month-old son in her arms.”
“She never told you she was pregnant?” Miller’s brows are pinched, anger evident.
“She didn’t know until after I had already left. But, no, I don’t think she had planned to ever tell me.”
“I hate her.”
I chuckle. “I don’t.”
“How could you not?”
“Because she genuinely believed she was doing the right thing, however misguided it was. She didn’t want me to think she was trying to trap me or take my money, so she had planned to do it on her own, but six months in, she realized she didn’t want to be a mother. That’s when she showed up.”
Miller scoffs. “I’ll hold a grudge for you then since you’re being sane and reasonable. That’s fucked, Kai. You missed out on six whole months.”
“I know I did, and I think about those six months every day of my life. What I missed, what Max learned without me around. I don’t hate her, but I am angry with her for not telling me about him sooner.
When she showed up in Chicago, there was no question in my mind that I would be the one to raise him. ”
“And you were sure he was yours? Just like that?”
Lifting my brows, I wait for her to connect the dots. Max has my steel-blue eyes, my dark hair. There’s no mistaking that he’s mine.
“Okay,” she laughs, holding up her hands. “Stupid question.”
“I’ve already missed so much, I’m afraid to miss any more.”
The space goes eerily quiet, the silence screaming.
“Sorry,” I apologize. “It’s too late to be getting deep on you.”
“It’s never too late to go deep in me, Baseball Daddy.”