Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Josie balanced Miranda’s slippery four-year-old body on her back and made her way to where Houston and his mother were sitting talking. She bent over and pretended to shake Miranda off, who squealed in delight, before setting her down in Kori’s lap.
“Whew, you wore me out, kiddo.”
Fran stood up. “I think I’ll go check on Larry and Abby.”
Josie raised an eyebrow at Houston as his mother walked towards the water. “Did I drive her away?”
“No.” He patted the chair next to him. “Sit next to me. I think she just wants to be with Larry. They’re getting married, she has informed me.”
Given the sour look on his face, this wasn’t happy news. “Oh?” Josie moved around Sara, who had settled back on her towel with a paperback book, all plans of chasing down single men apparently forgotten. “How do you feel about that?”
Houston looked hot and uncomfortable as the sun crept higher in the sky. The arch of his wide shoulders and his chest were glistening with sweat, and the tips of his black bristly hair were damp.
“It doesn’t matter how I feel.”
That was a typical Houston answer but it disappointed her nonetheless. She wanted him to trust her, to confide in her, and it just wasn’t happening. She tugged her cover-up shirt lower so that none of her thighs were showing and fought off a sigh.
“Why are you wearing that baggy T-shirt?” he asked, plucking at the hem with his finger.
“Because.” Several explanations ran through her mind, about how it was a shield from him so her nipples wouldn’t harden, and how it gave her a false sense of a barrier between them, but that made her feel too vulnerable. Instead, she gave the simplest explanation. “I burn easily.”
“Liar,” he murmured under his breath.
“It’s not a lie. I’m pale, as you can clearly see.” Then she changed the subject to one he wouldn’t want to discuss anymore than she did her mixed up emotions. “Are you getting your stitches out on Monday?”
Being that close to his leg, she had noticed the wounds had healed nicely.
“Yes.” He turned his leg a little and inspected it. “I can’t wait. The sutures have been driving me crazy for the last two days. I thought about taking them out myself, but I can’t reach the ones in the back.” He frowned. “Besides, I’m not that great with my left hand.”
“I can take them out if you want.”
“That would be awesome. If you do it now, I can get in the water. It’s driving me crazy to have to just sit here and bake while everyone else can go in the water.”
“Sure, I can do it now.” She was happily surprised he wasn’t brushing off any discussion about his injury.
Houston flexed his leg. “It’ll be great not to have to sleep with them pulling tonight.”
“Should we walk back to your condo?” Josie had all sorts of ideas about what they could do once they got there, none of which involved medical procedures. “Unless you have scissors in your swim trunks.”
He pretended to pat down his sides. “Left them in my other trunks. Just let me flag my mom down and tell her where we’re going.
” He rolled his eyes. “She worries about me, you know. If it wasn’t for Larry, she’d be hovering over me right now.
She didn’t even want me to come to the beach.
Between the heat and the horrible shark flashbacks, she’s waiting for me to pass out or something. ”
His lip was twitching in amusement, but Josie had to wonder if he was upset staring at the water. Somehow she thought she would be if a shark had ripped into her.
“Are you having flashbacks?” she asked in concern. “That would be a completely normal reaction.”
He genuinely didn’t look like he was dealing with trauma. “I look at the water and I still feel the way I always did—itching to get in it. I don’t blame the shark and I doubt it could happen a second time. So no. I’m not having flashbacks.”
Well, she was. Flashbacks of his mouth on her breasts, his fingers inside her, the way her thighs had clenched as he moved in and out of her body, slowly and powerfully...
Then Houston said, “What was that?”
“What?” She looked around, startled out of her steamy thoughts by his serious tone.
“That.” He pointed in the direction of the water.
“I don’t see anything.” She leaned forward, alarmed. Maybe Houston was more traumatized than he cared to admit. Or maybe there was another shark in the water. His mom and his niece were out there somewhere, unaware of the danger.
“Right...”
His hand landed on her waist and tickled her. “Here.”
She screamed in surprise, her heart racing, part from fear, part from the feel of his hand on her, so darn close to her nipple. “Oh, geez, you scared me!”
Turning to see him laughing, she swatted him on the thigh. “That wasn’t funny. I thought there actually was a shark out there.”
That grin turned her heart upside down. She had barely been capable of functioning around Houston when he had been cold and aloof. A relaxed, laughing, joking Houston was just more than one woman could be expected to resist, and she had the damp bikini bottoms to prove it.
“No, no sharks out there. There might be sharks out here, though.”
The humor had left his voice, and the grin had fallen away to be replaced by a deep sensual searching gaze. His thigh was against hers, the hair on his leg tickling her. She sat frozen as he traced a finger down her arm with his left hand.
Those ice-blue eyes had darkened to the color of denim. “If I bite you, Josie, it’s an accident. Just like that shark that got ahold of me.”
He was warning her again that he might hurt her. Josie just looked at him head-on. “I’m tougher than I look.”
They were staring at each other so intently that neither one of them saw Miranda until she was already crashing through the air towards Houston with the speed of the Concorde.
Josie and Kori both gasped as Miranda crashed into his chest, Houston grunting at the impact.
Josie leaned forward, reaching out as Miranda wobbled on Houston’s lap, his hands struggling to steady her.
Then the child shifted, the brunt of her weight landing on his right hand with the splint, and Houston lost his tenuous grip on her.
With a shocked cry, Miranda sailed backwards off his lap into the sand, and while three sets of hands tried to grab her, all came up short. Miranda thumped onto the sand, Kori gasped, and Houston cursed.
“It’s okay,” Kori hastened to assure him, pulling Miranda to a sitting position. “She’s fine. Sand is soft.”
But Houston looked horrified. “I’m sorry, cutie. Are you sure you’re all right?”
He petted Miranda’s long dark hair with his left hand. She nodded and put her hands on his knees. “I want to sit on you.”
“Of course you can. Just give me some more warning next time.”
Christian gave his daughter a stern glare. “Miranda, be careful. Uncle Houston is hurt, remember?”
“As if anyone could forget,” Houston said under his breath. With great care, he scooped Miranda up onto his lap. “I don’t want people treating me like glass. I’m exactly the same as I was before.”
Silence met this statement. Doubt hung in the air around them. Josie saw the frustration on Houston’s face, and ached to comfort him. Everyone studiously avoided looking at his injured hand.
Fortunately, unaware of the tension, Miranda broke the silence. Wiggling on Houston’s lap, she looked at Josie and tucked her wet hair behind her ear. The little girl pointed to Houston’s leg. “My Unca Ouston got bit. They had to sew up his leg.”
Houston bounced Miranda up and down on his right leg, making Josie a puddle of dripping emotion. He looked so damn sweet and she was so totally gone for him.
“She knows, squirt. She’s the one who sewed it up.”
“Really?” Miranda’s eyes went round, clearly impressed. “Was it gross?”
Josie laughed. “No. It’s my job.”
“You’re surrounded by doctors, Miranda,” Christian said, resting his elbow on his raised knee as he lounged on the sand next to his wife. “Sara is a doctor, too. Maybe some of their smarts will rub off on you.”
“I’m going to be a princess when I grow up,” Miranda said with total confidence.
“You can’t be a princess unless your father is a king, or your mother is a queen. You’d be better off going to college.”
Miranda was unconcerned. “Then I’ll marry a prince.”
This led to an argument between father and daughter. Josie listened in amusement as daughter appeared to be winning, listing the many benefits of being a princess.
Then Houston said without warning, “Josie, let’s go back to my place now, okay? '
All conversations ground to a halt. Three pairs of adult eyes swung towards them in interest.
“Uh, sure.” She stood up, suddenly realizing she was abandoning her friend. “Sara, you don’t mind, do you? I’ll be back in fifteen minutes or so.”
Of course, that was probably not the best way to phrase it.
Christian’s eyebrows shot up and he looked ready to laugh. “Is that all you need?”
Kori bit her lip and giggled, nudging her husband. Josie imagined her face was turning six shades of purple, which wasn’t a good color with her light brown hair.
“Take all the time you want,” Sara said with a shrug.
Houston scowled. “She’s going to take my stitches out.”
“Um-hmm.” Kori didn’t look convinced.
Josie just knew she looked guilty. She had seen Houston naked and they all knew. Right now they could probably tell that she was already having dirty thoughts, that just the idea of being alone with Houston had her body stirring to life like an oven turned on to preheat.
“Let’s go,” she said in what she hoped was a convincingly casual voice.
Houston stood up next to her, placing Miranda back in the chair. He pulled a T-shirt on over his head and patted the pocket of his shorts. His keys jingled. “I’m ready. Kori, tell Mom what I’m doing when she comes back.”
That brought a further snicker from the crowd.
“I don’t think she wants to know that, Houston,” Kori said.
“About the stitches,” he said through gritted teeth and turned around and walked off, leaving Josie to trail behind feeling something like a faithful dog. A Jack Russell terrier, that’s what she was. Short, compact, and easily trained.
And she was just waiting for him to throw her a bone, wasn’t she?