CHAPTER NINETEEN
Three years later
D ANIELLE C HAPMAN ’ S ANNUAL Fourth of July party was in full swing. The beat of music and the bubble of chatter wafted through the still summer night, easily reaching the ears of the woman lying on the sun lounger that was artfully placed beneath an old cherry tree, hidden by the thick hedge that formed the boundary between the two vast beachfront properties.
Skylar wasn’t wearing white, because she wasn’t going to the party at all—she was in a scarlet bikini and, despite the rapid approach of dusk, she was still feeling hot. She was also feeling huge. She heard the clink of ice and glanced up to see her husband walking towards her balancing two tall glasses of she didn’t know what, but she knew it would be delicious.
Actually, it was her bare-chested husband who was delicious. Clad only in beach shorts and sandals, every muscle was on display. She felt hotter still.
‘Something you need, Skylar?’ Zane chuckled and set the glasses down on the small table that had been dragged near the lounger long ago.
‘You know me too well,’ she muttered.
He ran a fingertip over her lower lip. ‘Pregnancy makes you very hungry.’
‘It does,’ she purred. ‘I need a lot of attention.’
This was their favourite place to be alone together. Where they’d spent many lazy summer afternoons, dozing, reading, making love...
The first year they’d travelled lots. They’d both walked away from Helberg, but Skylar had been beyond touched to learn Zane had offered Bernie and the other older employees a guarantee on their Helberg investment in case things went bad. Bernie had since retired, his pension fund intact.
Zane had cut back on the hours he’d worked and reprioritised. They’d married in this very garden only a few months in—the two of them standing in the trees with only Danielle as witness. Danielle who’d been astounded and then enchanted to learn of their history and delighted to be part of their very private celebration.
At the end of that first year, Skylar had discovered she was pregnant. They’d not been trying, but they’d not been not trying...and it had happened quicker than either of them had imagined it would. They’d been ecstatic. Eight months later her impatient son had arrived. He had his father’s eyes and demanding nature and she adored him.
Right now he was inside their home cuddled up with the puppy, being read to by his doting grandmother, who was tasked with keeping him awake just long enough to catch a glimpse of the fireworks from Danielle’s party.
Zane had asked Skylar to come with him to visit his mother not long after that day by her father’s grave. It had been awkward between mother and son at first. Skylar had chattered to fill the gaps, but slowly things had got easier and both Zane and his mother had talked through some of the tough times in their past. She’d finally retired and even let Zane help her. Now she visited often. It gave Zane no end of pleasure to see his mother relaxed and able to enjoy spending time with their small, inquisitive boy. They were all looking forward to the arrival of his little sister—due in four months’ time.
‘What attention would you particularly like?’ Zane rested his hands either side of her and bent over her.
She just wanted all of him. Now. She curled her arms around his neck and tugged him so he toppled down to her.
‘Careful,’ he grunted. ‘I don’t want to crush you.’
She slipped from beneath him, giving him a nudge so he rolled onto his back. In seconds she straddled him and greedily worked the waistband of his shorts down. But he was busy too. He released her hair from its ponytail first—as he so often liked to do. Then he tugged the strings of her bikini top until they became dangerously loose, but didn’t go further.
‘Are you playing with me?’ she asked archly as she teased him every bit as much.
‘Is this a game?’ He batted his lashes wickedly. ‘Or is this a race ?’
‘Oh, it’s a game,’ she whispered.
‘No, it’s a race,’ he whispered right back before snatching the bikini from her and cupping her breasts in both hands.
She shuddered as his thumbs teased her sensitive tips. But she shook her head and worked her hands that bit harder.
‘I like watching you come first,’ he growled. ‘Then I like watching you come again.’
‘Come with me or I’ll turn my back and then you won’t see my face.’
His wicked smile broadened and he swept his hands over her belly and below. ‘Reverse cowgirl is always acceptable,’ he drawled. ‘I can touch you where you like it most. And I love it when you scream and whip your hair in my face.’
She flushed and giggled at the same time. Next second she gasped. ‘Zane!’
He felled her. Every time. He rose up and wrapped his arms around her to hold her close, kissing her as he finally filled her and succumbed to the sparks between them. She clung, quivering as she welcomed him back to her heart. They moved fast yet gentle—playful and passionate—until they were out of control and shaking in ecstasy together.
‘I love you,’ he panted.
This was the race he liked to win—to say it first in the mornings, to say it the most. To mean it always.
But it was no game really. Skylar held his handsome face in her hands and gazed right into his eyes. ‘I love you too.’
His smile was stunning—so satisfied and smug and yet full of wonder that she’d said it still. They’d given each other the family they both craved. The security they both needed. All the love they’d secretly longed for. And it all just kept growing.
She kissed him. Fireworks whistled and burst above them, filling the sky with sound and colour before fading all too quickly.
But Zane and Skylar made their own fireworks. And they always would.