Chapter 25
ZACH
In my study on the top floor of the house, I was trying to get a bit of work done because I honestly didn’t know what else to do.
I had a view of the pool from up here though, and I suddenly had the distinct feeling that all the effort I’d gone through to have the fence installed before we’d arrived might’ve been a bit of a waste.
Both of Adeline’s girls were great swimmers. Rather safe than sorry, I guess, but shit.
It just went to show how little I still knew about them. I leaned back in my chair, turning fully away from my computer now. I’d been staring at them through the window ever since I’d caught sight of the kids from the corner of my eye, running out of the house.
There was no point in pretending that I was actually getting any work done at the moment, so I rolled the chair a little closer to the window and just let myself look. Maybe I’ll learn something while I’m at it.
Jennifer splashed into the pool after another trip down the slide, effortlessly slicing through the water toward her mother. Lu was already hanging onto the edge near the lounge chair Adeline was on, both girls begging her to get in.
It didn’t look like she was going to do it, though. She had herself covered to her neck in a brightly patterned dress type thing that brushed her ankles even when she was sitting down. Despite the fact that I knew I absolutely should not feel this way, I was oddly disappointed about the dress.
There might’ve been a darker, dirtier part of my brain that had been looking forward to seeing her in a bikini again. Any swimsuit, actually.
A ping from my computer made me glance back at the screen, and I groaned when I saw a text from Nate through the company portal.
Nathaniel W: Why are you online? Do I really need to remind you that you’re supposed to be on vacation?
I slammed my laptop shut instead of responding, on my feet and pacing just a second later. What exactly am I supposed to do?
The kids, Adeline, and I were in a strange situation. I’d brought them here so we could all get to know each other, but I didn’t know how to get the ball rolling on that. We were supposed to be—I don’t know—warming up to each other or something, but how?
That was the question.
We’re also supposed to be preparing to get married. That tripped me up more than anything else.
I’d had fun with Lu this morning and I wanted to think that she’d had fun too, even though she’d spent the better part of an hour bossing me around while I’d jogged beside her scooter. It had felt like a step forward with her, at least.
Although the moment we’d gotten back, it had been like I didn’t exist again. Well, didn’t exist outside of the occasional glare or mention of my name, at least.
Jennifer, on the other hand, didn’t seem to mind me so much.
In fact, there were times when I ever felt like she liked me already, but the girls obviously had no idea what was going on.
I truly didn’t know when Adeline planned on telling them or how they would react, and Jennifer had apparently been closer to her dad once upon a time than Lu ever had.
It stood to reason she’d take the news of her mother getting remarried again a little harder than her sister. Maybe, but what do I know? This is all uncharted territory.
I glanced out the window again, seeing both girls take hands before jumping into the pool. They resurfaced, laughing and racing to the edge to do it again. It’d been so long since I’d swum like that, just for the fun of it instead of just a quick cooldown.
As I remembered the days I used to play in the water with my brothers and sister, I suddenly realized that I could do it again. Right now. Just with Jennifer and Lu instead of an entire pack of Westwoods.
With my mind made up, I headed to my bedroom to change into swim trunks. Then I grabbed some supplies to start grilling lunch later and went outside. Bear followed me, his ears perking when another splash sounded from the pool.
“Bear, no—” Before I could even tell him that they were fine, he lunged forward, jumping into the water without hesitation to save them.
I watched him swim over, calling to the kids to warn them. “Bear thinks you’re drowning. Just let him see that you’re fine and he’ll start playing instead of trying to be a rescuer.”
Jennifer squealed with joy when he reached her, flopping onto her back to float while he paddled over to check on Lu next. She reached out to scratch behind his ear, and seconds later, the three of them were playing, looking and sounding like they were having a good time.
I dropped off my supplies at the grill before I strode over to the pool, stopping next to Adeline’s lounger. She glanced up at me, but those blue eyes were hidden by a pair of oversized sunglasses.
“Why aren’t you in there with them?” I asked.
“Oh, I’m not hot enough yet,” she said, but only after hesitating for a few seconds, which told me she was dancing around the real answer.
I lifted my finger toward the sky. “It’s a million degrees and you’re wearing more layers than an onion. You’re definitely hot enough.”
“I’m not wearing that many layers,” she objected, but it was weak. “It’s just a cover-up.”
I dragged my gaze from the high collar around her neck all the way to where the hem brushed against the middle of her ankles. “Well, it does a good job of that. It covers literally every inch.”
“My skin is sensiti—”
“Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!” the girls started chanting while even Bear yapped from the step he was now standing on, still in the water and not looking like he would be climbing out any time soon.
“I’m not getting in,” she said quickly. “I’m here. I’m watching you. I don’t have to be in the water.”
They kept going like she hadn’t spoken at all. “Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!”
“Leave her alone,” I said playfully, trying to rationalize with them. “If she wants to be boring, let her.”
“I’m not boring. You’re not in the water either.”
“Yeah, but I will be soon,” I said.
“So do it.”
“You’re the one they’re requesting,” I said, then turned back to them. “See, when people get old—”
Jennifer splashed me. “She’s not old. She’s just afraid of showing her butt.”
Lu cackled with delighted laughter. “Her butt!”
“Since when are you allowed to say butt?” Adeline scolded them, but it clicked for me then that Jennifer was right.
Adeline was suddenly blushing so hard that her whole face was bright pink, but then she stood up, grumbling under her breath. “There’s nothing wrong with my butt.”
It finally looked like she was relenting, but when the dress thing started coming off, I was the one getting uncomfortable. I was suddenly hot.
Hot in a way that stirred something primal in me I hadn’t felt in years. Fuck, she’s gorgeous.
I watched way too closely as the fabric slid up her legs, revealing smooth, pale skin inch by inch, and when the swimsuit bottoms finally came into view, I nearly groaned out loud. A sliver of her stomach came next, not as flat as it used to be and certainly a little softer, but shit.
My hands twitched a little at my sides, itching to reach for her. The mounds of her breasts were different too, a little bigger than I remembered, but I sure as hell wouldn’t mind feeling the weight of them in my palms again.
My heart started hammering against my ribs, my blood running hotter by the second. Only Adeline had ever affected me this way.
It wasn’t like I’d been celibate for the last eight years. I’d genuinely never expected her to come back to me, so I’d tried to move on, but not even the supermodels on my cousin’s yacht years ago had gotten to me the way she was right now.
“Jump, Mommy!” Lu cheered when Adeline dropped the cover-up on the lounge chair and started moving toward the stairs. “We want a cannonball.”
Adeline groaned. “There’s no way.”
The sporty, competitive edge that lived deep inside me that I’d been suppressing for a long time started showing when Lu suddenly spun in the water and turned to me. “Throw her in, Zach.”
“Yeah, throw her in,” Jennifer agreed immediately, backing up her sister without skipping a beat. “Please. Please.”
“You better not.” Adeline slid her sunglasses into her hair to give me a stern look, but the playful glint in her eyes had me losing my mind.
Before I even knew what I was doing, I caught her around the waist and cradled her against me. Touching her warm, soft skin was like coming home, both of us only in swimsuits, and I squeezed her tight while she wriggled, trying to break free.
“Zach! No! Let go of me,” she squealed, laughing. “Now, Zach.”
It said something about how hung up I still was on her that even this was exhilarating.
She just really was warm and soft in all the right places though, and the wriggling wasn’t helping my situation at all.
I was desperately close to losing it, hauling her over my shoulder and carrying her to my bed, but her kids were here, watching every move we made, and we didn’t have that kind of relationship anymore.
“Do you really want me to throw her in?” I asked, looking at them over the top of her head. “You’re sure? Because we’re all going to pay the price for it.”
“Yes!” Lu shouted.
“Throw her in,” Jennifer cheered.
I acted like I was about to, walking her right up to the edge. Shaking with laughter, she wound her arms around my neck, her head shaking so hard that her entire body was moving with the force of it. “No! No, don’t you dare. Stop, Zach.”
A second later, I made my decision and jumped, holding her tight as I sent us both crashing into the water. Just before we hit, I heard her screech, but then we were enveloped by the cool water of the pool and I still didn’t let her go.
Bear went crazy nearby, so panicked that the sound of his frantic barking reached my ears even underwater, but as soon as we resurfaced, he calmed down. We were both laughing when I brought her back up, nose to nose while the girls swam around us.
Genuine happiness spread through me. Actually, it was more than that. I was honestly thrilled. Until I turned my gaze down to Adeline’s and looked into her eyes, finding her already staring.
For a moment, it felt like I was dreaming. This was everything I’d thought she and I would have one day, the house, the dog, the kids, and the joy of long, sunny days in a pool. I bent my head a little further down just as she lifted hers, apparently just as transfixed by the moment as I was.
I was about to throw caution to the wind and kiss her, but then a weight on my back snapped me out of it. Lu’s arms wrapped around my neck, doing her best to drag me under. “You’re going down, Zach.”
Letting go of Adeline, I bent my knees and let her win, honestly grateful for the moment underwater. God knew, I needed to get myself together.
When I finally popped up again, Adeline was playfully admonishing Lu. “You can’t drown him, baby. If you do, we’ll have to go home. It’d cut the vacation short by a lot. Almost the whole thing.”
She caught my eye as I slicked my hair back, flashing me a bright, real smile. I held her gaze, a flicker of something both new and old sparking in my chest, but most of all, I felt hope.
We were off to a good start. If we could just keep up this trajectory, maybe our marriage wouldn’t turn out to be that bad, after all.