9. Daisy
***Daisy***
Ilet out a scream as Charlie took off at a run and jumped off the cliff we’d been walking by.
My heart dropped to my feet and I just knew I’d just killed one of the Calloway kids.
I was already mentally halfway to the airport to get back to a job that I was good at when Poppy’s laughter broke through my panic.
I looked down at the little psycho with wide eyes and wondered if being Max’s kid had given her a very dark sense of humor.
That was when I registered the splash that’d happened right after Charlie jumped.
Rushing to the edge, I glared down at the boy who was grinning up at me, mischievous little face twisted with glee. The cliff had looked significant but up close I could see that it was just a three-foot drop to the waist-deep water below.
“You’re a menace.” I pressed my hands to my heart and blew out a deep breath. “Remind me to never show you Dennis the Menace.”
“What’s a menace?” Charlie splashed as he swam away from us. “Are you coming in? Let’s swim!”
Poppy let out a loud whoop and shoved Hazel in before jumping in herself. I tried to ignore the fact that she sounded like a wine mom in her fifties and put my hands on my hips. “You’re a menace. And the three of you are all lucky I put on my swimsuit this morning.”
Hazel wiped her eyes and stared up at me. “Do you think Hank will come in when he’s done with his snack?”
“He does seem to like the water…” I’d already pulled my dress over my head and let it drop when her words clicked in my head. “Snack? What snack?”
I looked around wildly for my demon dog and instead of Hank, I spotted Max standing outside of his workshop, thick arms crossed over his chest, eyes on me.
More specifically, his eyes were on my body.
A burning flush stained my skin immediately and I had to fight the urge to cover up.
I wasn’t a small woman and it’d taken years for me to be comfortable in a bathing suit but feeling Max’s gaze on me made me want to jump off the baby cliff and hide. I didn’t, though.
My bathing suit was as vintage inspired as the rest of my wardrobe.
The high-waisted sailor blue bottoms stopped a few inches below the white halter top that cupped my breasts like it was made with military precision.
It looked vintage and sexy. It felt like a well-made suit of armor, holding me in where I needed to be held in.
I knew my curvy body looked good to men who could appreciate curves.
I never would’ve known that Max was one of those men until that moment.
I slipped out of my pumps and reached up to roll my curls up into a clip.
The whole time I could feel his eyes on me and I couldn’t stop looking back at him.
We were far enough apart that not speaking wasn’t strange but close enough that looking without speaking felt like a bigger statement than I wanted to make.
“Care to join us?” My voice came out huskier than I meant for it to and it made my cheeks heat even more. Thankfully, Hank came bounding towards me at that exact moment. I saw the determined look in his eyes and held up my hands. “Hank! Slow down!”
He let out a happy bark and his tongue rolled out the side of his mouth, stained blue, before he jumped and landed on my chest with all four feet and a hefty amount of pure orneriness.
I stumbled backwards, arms windmilling, and then I was falling over the edge of the little cliff, landing in the shockingly cold water with a yelp and a splash.
The kids were cackling when I popped back up, cheering Hank on for getting me in the water.
I stood up, aware that my hair and makeup were both losing a battle they hadn’t been prepared to fight, and sighed.
It was just the cherry on top that Max had appeared on the edge of the cliff, face twisted in worry until he saw me standing there like a drowned rat. So much for looking sexy.
His lips twisted like he was fighting a laugh. “All good?”
What he didn’t see was that Hank had already swam to the edge of the water, jumped out, and run far enough to get a good start. The kids and I watched and they started to say something but I hushed them and moved a few steps back. “Yep. All good. Everything is perfect.”
The hit knocked Max off his feet the same as it’d done me. He shot me a dark look as he fell over the edge of the cliff and joined us in the water. Hank swam over to me as Max came up, face set in a stern frown. “That dog is a damn menace.”
Charlie cackled. “That’s what Aunt Daisy says I am!”
Max’s mouth twitched again and then he did something that sucked all the moisture from my mouth and all the intelligence from my brain. He reached over his shoulder and dragged his shirt off. One second there was a shirt and the next there was a lot of tattooed muscle in its place.
Oh. There were also two silver bars through his small nipples. They stood out against the darker ink and without permission, my brain imagined the taste of the cool metal on my tongue. A breathless giggle escaped my mouth and I was too frozen to try to excuse it.
“Daddy’s got his nippies decorated.” Poppy’s innocent voice pointing out her father’s nipple piercings was enough to break the spell. Especially when Max’s ears turned red.
I snorted, something as unsexy as my hair slicked down to my head, and jerked my gaze away from said nippies. I had to clear my throat to find my voice. “Well, now we know that Hank will launch his body at anyone and everyone to get them in the water.”
The kids, unbothered by Max’s nakedness, swam towards the floating pad anchored to the shore several yards to our north. Hank barked to match their shouts and went with them, leaving me and Max alone. I turned to face them, keeping my face away from Tyler’s older brother.
I couldn’t force myself to look at him but I felt him move closer. I could feel his body heat against my back for just a moment and his breath against my shoulder. My heart tried to beat right out of my chest.
“Tyler’s a fucking moron.”
I twisted around to see the face of the man who’d just uttered those words to me like a dirty promise but he was already moving away, back to me.
I wanted to grab his bare arm and make him look at me, make him hold my gaze when he said those words again because I needed to know exactly what he meant by them.
Luckily for both of us, my brain kicked back on before I could. I bit my lip hard to keep my mouth shut and forced myself to look back at the kids. I moved towards them with legs that felt weighted down by lead.
“Come on, Aunt Daisy! Come look at the clouds with us!” Poppy’s sweet voice pulled me the rest of the way out of my lust-induced stupor.
I pasted a grin on my face for them. “I bet I can spot the coolest clouds. Winner gets to raid the candy jars after lunch?”