Chapter 11
APRIL
What nerve that man has. I chop my peppers with extra vigor, slight aggression escaping me on every knife cut.
He actually thinks he can just order me to attend some charity event with him.
He didn’t even ask, just demanded. I don’t even have anything to wear.
I mean, I didn’t exactly add black-tie attire to my suitcase for this last-minute trip.
I stuck to a wardrobe appropriate for sweater weather, jeans and layers of shirts.
My phone vibrates on the counter, and I see my mother is calling. Blowing out a relaxing breath, I prepare myself for this and tap the green button.
“April, finally! I feel like you’ve been avoiding me the last few days.” My mom seems to be sitting behind her at-home desk, with her blondish-brown hair tied in a low shoulder-length ponytail.
“Sorry.” I lean against my propped elbow. “I’ve been busy with a project.”
“Clearly. Where are you? That doesn’t look like your place.”
“It’s not. I’m at Spencer’s house.”
“Spencer? As in Spencer Crews? Your uncle’s neighbor? Star baseball player?”
I nod my head with dread for the upcoming minutes ahead of me.
“Why on earth would you be there?”
As much as I would say my mother and I are close, I’m not about to spill the beans on the true reasoning of how I ended up in the amazing kitchen with an asshole fastballer, who is currently playing outside with an adorable child.
“Uhm, he needed… a sitter.” I doubt my lie that just came out then realize I shared a fact. “Can we throw in your lawyer confidentiality card for the last part? He doesn’t really want people to know about his daughter.”
My mother purses her lips together, and her expression is unreadable. “Sure,” she simply replies. “But I didn’t realize being a nanny was what you wanted career-wise.”
“Oh, it’s not. This is temporary. However, I do get to use this kitchen, and I’ve been nailing a few recipes.”
A warm smile spreads on her face. “I saw. Your social media has some lovely photos and recipes.”
“Anyway, when are you coming to Lake Spark?”
“To see my precious little niece Gracie?” she nearly coos.
I give her a fake unimpressed look. “I get it, the baby wins. Kind of hoped your badass adult daughter would get a higher ranking.”
My mother chortles a laugh. “You’re right. I’m happy to see you're okay. I had an odd feeling that something was up. Mother’s instinct.”
The corner of my mouth curves up. “And father’s instinct. You have it all.”
“I have no other choice.”
“Do you think it goes the same way for fathers who raise their kids alone? I mean, do they also have a mother’s instinct?”
She shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t know. Everyone parents differently, and families come in different shapes.”
“That I know. It’s just kind of weird seeing Spencer do the single-dad thing; it’s so different to when you did the single-parent thing with me.”
My mother folds her arms over her chest. “Well, I think it must be hard when he travels so much for baseball, but all that matters is that the effort is there. Sometimes as parents we put in a lot of effort, but things still don’t happen the way we want it to.
What's important is that we can never doubt we tried.”
I’m not sure what to say, or why I asked. But then I recall the last few days and how my view of Spencer has been thrown for a loop.
The man watches braiding videos while he tries to twist Hadley’s hair, he attempts to feed her vegetables when he knows no kid that age will agree, and he still takes her to places that make her happy, even when she gives him the cold shoulder.
“I think I might have been a bitch,” I admit out loud.
My mom gives me a stern eye. “Elaborate.”
“I might have been a little hard on Spencer.”
Disapproval spreads across my mother’s face. “April.”
Geez, still she has the power to say my name to shake me into fear of a timeout.
My palm flies up. “Okay, I will be a little nicer… when it comes to Hadley.”
“Good. You are full of kindness.”
“He brings out the evil in me.”
Her grin is a knowing one. “Hmm.”
“Anyway, I need to get these stuffed peppers in the oven.” I begin to move, bringing my phone with me.
“Wait. You knew about Spencer’s daughter?
” It dawns on me that Spencer is using her colleague to deal with our little situation, probably because he already uses their firm for all his legal woes.
“Let me guess, he has used your services for family law?”
“I’m not at liberty to say.”
That’s a yes. I groan softly. “You don’t talk about cases with Celeste by any chance, do you?”
“No. Not unless she needs my advice but won’t mention names. Why? She asked how you were doing the other day, by the way.”
“I’m just splendid,” I deadpan.
“I’m sure you are.” My mother sounds amused. “Bye, sweetie.”
“Bye.”
Kneeling down to look at the oven, I see the light is off to indicate it’s warm and ready to insert my tray bake. My mind repeats my new rule that I will be nice to Spencer when it relates to Hadley, but for everything else, all bets are off.
I found him.
After avoiding him all day, I arrive at the last destination where I can think to look for Spencer, and coincidentally, it's where I was going to head for the evening anyhow.
He's swimming his laps in the warm indoor pool, and the lighting is dim yet perfectly outlines his chiseled form. The light in the water causes a blue glow in the center of the room, and a wall of glass overlooks the lake.
Since this morning’s demand, I've stayed out of Spencer and Hadley’s way.
I didn’t want my anger to boil over in front of the little one, and I also thought maybe they needed some alone time since it’s the weekend and tomorrow she is back to school.
I went to the grocery store, walked Pickles, cooked, and left food for both of them while I went to check on Piper next door.
As soon as I knew Hadley would be asleep, I began my quest to find the man.
Now I’m staring at Spencer, oblivious to me, as he creates waves in the pool from his long, deep strokes.
I whip my robe off and walk down the steps into the pool, wearing my deep purple triangle bikini that barely covers my globes, but cleavage is a girl’s best friend.
Spencer must notice that he is no longer alone, as he suddenly stops and stands in the pool, shaking his head and wiping the water from his face.
“Ah, the mermaid appears, actually swimming in a pool this time.”
“Well, I mean, this will do,” I say as I submerge myself into the warm as bath water.
“I could have sworn you’ve been keeping to yourself all day on purpose, yet here you are in my pool.” He walks closer to me, and now I have a full view of his bare chest and the tattoo.
“The number. It’s her birthday, isn’t it?” I comment. The anchor I know is a logo from the first team he played baseball on, but the number…
He looks down at his chest. “Could be. Days and months do have numbers.”
Fuck, something just tugged on my heartstrings.
“I’m sorry,” I blurt out.
“For what?” He looks at me, intrigued, and slowly moves closer.
“I was maybe a little judgmental of you in regard to Hadley.”
His eyes nearly bug out. “No shit. Is this an apology, April?”
“Yes.” I do my best to avoid looking into his eyes. “I know you try with her. And it can’t be easy.”
He takes in a breath, his nostrils flaring slightly. “Apology accepted.”
I do a double take. Why is he being so agreeable? I thought he would make me grovel. We look at one another in amazement that we both just made it easy for each other. But then I remember that it was only part of the reason that I wanted to find him.
Immediately, I push against his hard pecs, causing water to swoosh around us. “You’re unbelievable.”
“Way to ruin a moment of peace. What the hell now?”
“You can’t just order me around and tell me that I’m going with you to some charity event as your plus-one.” I splash water at him.
He instantly pulls me close and turns us so I'm trapped between the edge of the pool and his body, his hands landing on each side of me, creating a wall.
“Oh, I can. While you’re staying here, I need you to be on my team. We both have a lot at stake, and the more clues we leave, then the better it looks just in case the world sees how you scream my name.” His tone has a sort of dominance that is irritatingly sexy.
I give him a pointed look. “And where are we with that? Any updates? I feel like this should be progressing so my ticket out of here is sooner rather than later.”
He growls in annoyance. “No news, and I said I would tell you when there is something to tell.”
“Why can’t you just be a gentleman? You know, actually ask a woman if she would like to accompany your big ego to an evening for charity? I mean, wouldn’t you want Hadley to only ever be asked by a man, so she knows she has a choice?”
Spencer hums a sound of disapproval. “Don’t bring her into this, and fine, I’m sure I’ll make it up to you.”
“How the hell do you plan on doing that?”
His eyes linger down to my tits and then back up to my mouth. “Not tonight.”
Disappointment floods inside of me, because for a second, I felt a need for what my imagination was playing in my head.
“Since this is my pool, I guess you should follow my swimming rules.”
I scoff a sound. “Oh geez, what rule did I forget this time?”
His fingers are quick to land on the knot of my bikini top on my back where he tugs slightly and then stops. “Women whom I fuck only swim naked in this pool.”
He pulls a little more.
I lean in to let our breaths mingle, an ache forming between my legs, but I want to have the upper hand. My lips barely trace his jawline.
“A shame that you only fucked me, past tense. Loophole of your rule,” I whisper.
A devilish smirk forms on his mouth.
Tug.
My top falls loose and my nipples appear.
He hisses a sound. “Oh no,” he says, feigning regret. “Accidents do happen.”