Chapter 14
Wes
I end up finishing for the day at five-thirty. All the artists at the studio were great, and I met a few potential clients that are willing to travel to me in the future. My three clients I had sat well, so the day went quicker than expected.
All in all it was a pretty easy day. I’m able to relax and focus on my work day, because I know my daughter is just right down the street, probably having the time of her life with who I know is her favorite person right now.
Ivy just texted me about thirty minutes ago, and let me know her and Lilah had finished at the children's museum, had an early dinner, and were about to head down to the indoor pool.
When I get to the hotel, I go straight to the pool, wanting to spend as much time with Lilah as I can before her bedtime.
Using my room key, I enter the humid, warm space that smells like chlorine.
The sounds of splashing water and laughing children echo through the large room, and I scan the area looking for my girls.
My girls?
So utterly fucked.
I hear a familiar giggle-scream that I know and love, and pivot, following it to its owner.
I walk around a massive waterslide and finally spot them.
They're walking up the steps of the pool, hand in hand, and I realize they're both wearing black one-piece bathing suits and pink goggles. Delilah’s goggles look like they fit her, but Ivy is clearly squeezing her adult head into a child's size. Her hair is slick back and her face is compressed beneath them. She looks like a fucking dork, and it might’ve made me fall a little.
Delilah sees me, rips her hand from Ivy’s and starts toward me.
“Daddy!” she squeals.
To mine and Ivy’s horror, she breaks out in a full out sprint. My eyes widen, but before I get a chance to say anything, a booming voice echoes through the large room.
“Delilah Mae. No running,” Ivy’s authoritative voice demands.
Delilah halts her steps, turns back around to her nanny wincing. “Sorry, Iby.”
Ivy visibly relaxes, and places her hand over her heart like she just had the scare of her life. Seeing her reaction, and instinct to protect Delilah is hot as fuck. Don’t ask me why, but seeing her go into authority mode just does it for me.
I haven’t stopped my stride, so I meet my bug head on in just a few steps. I scoop her up and she wraps her cold wet arms around my neck.
“You got in trouble,” I whisper into her ear, teasing her in a sing-song voice.
“I know. I’m not supposed to run, Iby said I’ll get hurt,” she whispers back.
I nod. “She’s right. It's very dangerous. Only walking.”
She nods back in understanding, and I finally look down and examine my daughter's bathing suit thoroughly. I notice that the matching bathing suits aren’t just black, but covered in tiny, red, fire-breathing dragons. Ivy reaches us, and pops her goggles off her face, resting them on her hairline.
Red circles surround her eyes from the suction, and her lashes are clumped together from the water. I don’t think she’s ever looked more beautiful.
I give Ivy a slow, examining look from head to toe. “Nice suits, girls.”
Now that I’ve seen parts of her naked skin I never thought I would, I can't stop wondering what every inch of her looks like. Try as I might, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her sweet ass bent over in front of me last night.
She squirms at my perusal like I knew she would, and a sick sense of satisfaction fills me.
My eyes halt on the piercings showing through her suit. I slice my gaze to hers, then back down to the piercings, then back to her eyes again. She looks down at her chest, then back up to me, and shrugs.
She’s going to be the death of me.
The cold starts to distract me when I notice the water seeping through and soaking my shirt, but I don’t care. I missed Delilah and want to hold her for a minute longer.
“It has dragons! We're twins!” Delilah yells in my face.
“I see that. You look so cool.”
“I do,” she agrees.
“Did you have a good day with Ivy?”
“So much fun. I met new friends at the museum and had chocolate ice cream after dinner!”
“I’m so happy for you dude. You want to keep swimming?”
“Yes! Iby can we, can we?” she begs, reaching for Ivy to carry her. I give in, and let her lean over. Ivy grabs her from me and rests her on her hip naturally.
I try to ignore how natural they look together. Both with perfectly placed freckles. Both wielding matching swimwear, and goggles. Delilah on Ivy’s hip, and my daughter clinging to her.
“Yep, let’s go,” Ivy agrees, then points over her shoulder to a smaller waterslide. “I’m going to take her over there. Is that okay?”
I angle my head toward the lounge chair next to us. “Of course, I’ll sit here and watch.”
I pull the drenched T-shirt away from my abdomen, but not before noticing Ivy’s eyes lingering on my stomach.
When I catch her eye, she scurries away, and sets off in the direction of the slide, and I shamelessly watch her self-proclaimed best feature sway back and forth as she marches away from me.
Sarah would like Ivy for Delilah.
The thought comes out of nowhere, and I swear I can hear Sarah’s laugh in my head again.
It’s not the time or the place to have this crisis, so I sit back on the lounge chair and settle in to watch them.
Delilah sits on Ivy’s lap, and they go down the slide with their arms above their heads, whooping and laughing.
They go down, over, and over, and every time Ivy hits the water's surface, I feel her burrow just a little deeper into me.
————
We left the pool when Lilah started complaining of being cold.
There were no arguments from me or Ivy, considering Lilah had been swimming her little heart out for awhile.
After we each returned to our suites, I took Lilah into our bathroom and gave her the quickest shower she’s ever taken.
She was falling asleep as I was rinsing the chlorine out of her hair.
The poor girl had the time of her life today, and it was catching up to her.
I threw some leave-in conditioner into her curls, quickly dressed her, and brushed her teeth before placing her in the king bed we’re sharing. She was snoring before her head hit the pillow. Thank god Ivy fed her before they went swimming.
I tuck her in, kiss her soft little cheek, and brush her hair back from her face.
“Night, bug,” I whisper into her ear. I get a smack of her lips in reply, then she rolls over to get comfortable.
I grab some gym shorts and a dry shirt before heading into the bathroom. Once I’m changed, I leave the bathroom and I’m pleasantly surprised to see the adjoining door wide open.
I peek a look into Ivy’s room and see her freshly showered, laying on the bed with her computer in her lap.
Her bare legs and feet are crossed at the ankle, and she’s leaning up against the headboard.
The sounds of her keyboard clicking fill the space, and I lean against the door jamb, content with just watching her for a minute.
After a few minutes, I knock lightly on the wood at my side. She stops typing, looking at me over the top of her screen and smiles.
“Hi,” she says softly.
“Hi. You hungry?” I reply equally as soft due to the sleeping toddler behind me, though the girl couldn’t be woken up if I tried.
She shakes her head. “No, I’m still full from the dinner Delilah and I had.”
I nod, “Okay, I’m going to order something. You wanna keep me company while I eat?”
She’s still smiling. “Sure.”
I order my dinner, and a burger with fries for Ivy anyway. She says she’s not hungry, but I have a feeling she’ll change her mind once the food arrives. I tip the staff and wheel the cart into Ivy’s room, closing the adjoining door—I don’t want to disturb Lilah.
“Oh shit. That smells good,” Ivy moans.
I shake my head and sit down next to her on the bed, propping myself up against the headboard as well. I scoop Ivy’s ancient computer off of her lap and set it on the comforter between us.
“What are you doing?” she asks.
I grab her plate off the cart and place it on her thighs. I’m just starting to cut into my steak when she speaks.
“Wes… did you order me food even though I said I wasn’t hungry?”
I pop a bite into my mouth, “Yep.”
“Oh my god, I love you,” she groans, then digs into her food.
I ignore the satisfaction washing over me from hearing those words from her mouth, and continue to eat.
We eat in silence for a while, just enjoying the food and each other's company.
Out of the corner of my eyes, I watch Ivy devour her burger, and do my best to refrain from laughing at how ravenous she is, just after claiming not to be hungry.
She picks up her phone to text a couple of times throughout the meal, and like an idiot, I ask, “Is that Chase?”
She sets her phone down on the nightstand, and licks ketchup off her other thumb. “What?”
“Chase. Maverick said you two exchanged numbers,” I say, honestly impressed with how even my tone is.
“Oh. Yeah,” she says, pushing around the fries on her plate. “He’s texted a couple times. He seems like a nice guy.” She shrugs. “Just not really feeling it from him, you know?”
The amount of relief that floods my system is embarrassing.
I try like hell to keep a straight face, even though I suddenly feel a thousand pounds lighter.
I have to physically stop myself from yelling “Fuck you, Chase!” or something equally inappropriate.
Before I can say anything though, she continues.
“I’m just texting Sophie about my book. Getting her opinions on some… scenes.”
I hear her, but I barely process what she’s saying because I’m so relieved she’s not texting that asshole.
Something nudges my side, and I turn to see Ivy poking her finger into my ribs.
“You good?” she asks, chuckling.
I clear my throat. “Yep, sorry. Oh, let me take that.” I take her empty plate, and mine, setting them back on the food cart beside the bed.