Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
The children’s screams and cheers echoed loudly from the pool’s deck.
Austin couldn’t help but smile as Del waved excitedly at him.
She was next in line and even though she’d reassured him several times on the drive that it wasn’t a real race, just a practice race with her swim club, she was clearly nervous.
He understood the feeling because Lilly was sitting next to him, and his normal state of mind was nervous whenever she was around.
It was bad enough that he’d just had to sit in a car with her for twenty minutes.
But Del had learned about climate change at school and had insisted they only share one car.
And you didn’t mess with a nine-year-old girl any more than you did with climate change.
He waved back, his chest swelling to three times its normal size when he saw her beaming.
The last two weeks had been good. Being able to see Delfina on his own made things with Lilly a lot easier.
Not that anything was going on between them.
Nope.
He attributed the episode from two weeks ago to a complete mental meltdown because he thought Lilly was lying lifeless in his pool. She could have been any woman; he’d just wanted to give her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation just to be safe…
Okay, yeah, he had a vivid imagination, but Lilly was right: He felt better with the lie. If he examined the truth for too long, he just got angry.
How could he still want a woman who’d lied to him for ten years?
How could she make him laugh when he was trying hard to hate her?
How could she, in jeans and a t-shirt, convince his body that she was wearing nothing but lacy lingerie?
How could he look forward to talking to her for a minute – usually in a dry and sarcastic way – before Del came to the phone?
Shit, she was the only person who could say after a lousy away game, “Be honest: You guys must have sewn a swarm of wasps down Leon’s pants, that’s why he was fidgeting like that on the ice, right?” without him getting angry.
Because he believed she didn’t mean any harm. Because Lilly had never said anything intentionally mean in his presence. He found it difficult to reconcile the woman he knew back then and who she still was, only now grown up, with the woman who deliberately hid his daughter from him.
And the thought that she might be telling the truth and had actually tried to contact him worried him more than any single dirty dream he’d had about her in the past few weeks.
But a large part of him – the annoyingly diplomatic, fair, kind part – wanted to believe her.
The other, smaller, but incredibly loud part reminded him that it was his damn problem.
That he was too gullible, too good-natured, too naive, and that he couldn’t endure a second Christine-Armageddon. The first one had almost destroyed him.
And yet…he felt more relaxed than at the beginning when he was with Lilly.
As long as she wasn’t sitting next to him, her scent of the sea and Lilly that even masked the chlorine smell of the swimming pool.
As long as she didn’t touch him. And didn’t laugh too often.
Or breathe so heavily that her breasts rose and fell noticeably under her t-shirt.
In short: It was a problem.
Still!
“Do you think it’s a problem that you’re here?” Lilly murmured.
Could she read minds? “Why?” he asked tensely. “We’re being amicable and nice to each other, like we agreed, we…”
He noticed her looking at him sideways in surprise, so he stopped.
“I meant because you still want to wait before telling the press about Del, and your presence might raise questions. What were you talking about?”
His shoulders slumped with relief. “That too. But I don’t think so,” he muttered, keeping his gaze fixed forward.
This strategy worked very well. The less he saw Lilly and the less he felt, heard, smelled, and tasted her – the latter being disastrous!
– the easier it was for him to interact with her.
Unfortunately, easier still meant damn hard.
“Most people here don’t recognize me. I think that dad in the front row is wondering where he knows me from since he keeps staring at me. But unless people are expecting to see me in certain places, they usually don’t believe their eyes. So, nothing to worry about.”
He had spoken to Lucy and asked her to let him spend some time with Del before the media circus started — and she had given it to him.
“Mm hm,” Lilly said, leaning back on the bench.
“What?”
“Nothing.” She frowned. “Just…the dad in the front row isn’t the only one staring at you. Half the moms are too.”
He smiled broadly. It sounded as if it bothered her. Interesting. He leaned slowly closer to her ear. “Well, their stares have nothing to do with me being a rich NHL player and them recognizing me.”
Annoyed, she pushed him away, while, as if on cue, one of the mothers Lilly had greeted earlier, who had brought enough Babybel and orange slices to feed an entire hockey team – or one Matt Payne – turned to face them.
“Del’s up next! She’s always last in a relay,” she said, her gaze darting between them. “I didn’t know you were married, Lilly?” Her eyes flickered meaningfully to Lilly’s naked ring finger.
Lilly smiled, albeit somewhat strained. “We’re not married,” she replied tersely.
The swim mom’s eyes lit up. “Really? So who exactly are you, if I may ask? I’ve never seen you here before.”
Austin flashed his most charming smile – the one that had been described as a dangerous road hazard in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated – and extended his hand. “I’m Austin. Del’s dad.”
“Really?” she repeated, this time an octave higher, and shook his hand. “We were wondering who her father was, but Lilly wouldn’t say.” She glanced at Lilly with pursed lips, who was completely ignoring her.
“Probably because she’s ashamed of me,” he said, feigning seriousness. “I’m not presentable.”
The woman giggled as if he’d sprayed a bottle of laughing gas in her face. “So, you’re divorced?” she persisted.
“We were never married,” Lilly informed her absently.
“Delfina’s a bastard. And, yes, she was born in Italy, so I’ve robbed her of any chance of ever becoming President of the United States.
And, yes, Austin and I didn’t know how to use a condom properly.
And, yes, he’s too attractive for me; I tricked him into sleeping with me.
But if you could do the same thing I did with a piece of string and two iron bolts, there’d be a whole line of way-too-handsome men waiting for you too.
And, no, he’s not single. He’s happily taken.
Does that answer your questions, Claudia?
” She smiled sweetly down at the dark-haired woman.
Austin had to fight back a grin…but man, Lilly had bigger balls than some hockey players.
Her mouth open, Claudia’s eyes widened in shock. Then she decided she’d better just change seats.
“God, whenever I’m here, I feel like a poorly cast supporting character in a soap opera,” Lilly muttered, annoyed. “You’re really not helping things with your jaw, your eyes, and your stupid hair!”
“What did my jaw, eyes, and hair ever do to you?”
“They’re too angular, green, and thick.”
“Yes,” he confirmed dryly. “My green jaw and my angular eyes constantly draw unwanted stares.”
Lilly burst out laughing, but quickly stifled it when people started staring and whispering. “Stop being funny!” she replied angrily.
He snorted. “All right. I’ll try. Any other comments on my behavior?”
“Yes!”
“Oh, please, let me hear it.”
“Well, do you always have to be…nice and charming?”
“I can be just nice or just charming, but most of the time, the two just go together.”
“You could also just be rude sometimes and not smile at every woman who gives you a longing look.”
He frowned. “What exactly is a longing look?”
“Imagine Blake Ford gazing wistfully at Moreau at the net.”
He laughed aloud because he knew exactly what she meant. Ford was itching to finally play and not just be the backup goalie and his admiration for Moreau was written all over his face at every game. “Are you becoming a hockey fan, Lilly?” he asked, intrigued. “It seems like you watch every game.”
“For Del,” she clarified immediately. “In my opinion, the sport is still too brutal.” She hesitated. “But sometimes, a little elegant too. Whatever! You’re supposed to be ruder. It was never a problem for me.”
“I’ve been polite for the past few weeks,” he reminded her, hastily looking away.
He liked the admiring expression on her face when she used the word elegant far too much.
“And I have a few questions right now. First: Who am I happily dating?
Second: Why am I only finding out about your string and bolt talents now?
Third: Am I too attractive for you? Fourth: How much weed do you smoke? "
Lilly rolled her eyes. “You’re married to your job and I don’t show off my string-tying skills to just any hockey player who makes it into my bed.
Some things are only done after the third date, once you’ve exchanged safe words and allergy lists,” she informed him, flatly ignoring his last two questions.
He chuckled softly. “I’m disappointed. And just for the record: I’m not allergic to iron or string. Besides, hockey hasn’t put a ring on my finger yet, so I’m as free as a bird.”
“Not here,” she said, giving him a tense sideways glance. “Here, you’re like a parakeet in a cage. Because only over my dead body will you get involved with the mother of one of Delfina’s teammates!”
He grinned. “Why?”
“Because…” She opened her mouth — and closed it again. “Just because!”
“It’s a good thing your string-tying skills compensate for your lack of language skills,” he said wisely. “And don’t worry. You heard Moreau: I don’t date.”
With her eyes narrowed, she looked at him. “Yeah…so why is that exactly?”
He shrugged. “I’m not interested in a relationship.”
“Why not?”
“Because every woman I’ve wanted to be with has lied to me and made my life a living hell,” he retorted sharply.
Lilly stiffened beside him and he felt her studying him. “So why did you finally divorce Christine…and why didn’t you do it back then?” she asked softly.
“That’s none of your business,” he said cheerfully. “Now look over there, our daughter’s next.”
Del was right. She swam faster than everyone else, and as Austin watched her slice through the water with her arms as if it were air, he was filled with so much pride that he could barely breathe.
It was strange that only a few weeks ago, he hadn’t known about her.
Now he couldn’t imagine life without her.
He might have had ten years stolen from him, but he thought much more often about what he had been given.
When he told Del how impressed and proud he was at the end of the practice competition, she beamed at him as if he’d just told her she was getting Lucky Charms for dinner for the rest of her life.
His chest was so full of emotion he didn’t know what to do with it.
He even got a hug from her in the parking lot before she asked her mom if she could go out for pizza with her friend Yunai and her parents.
“If that’s okay with your dad?” Lilly looked at him. “I don’t know if you were planning on spending the afternoon with her since it’s your day off today.”
“No, it’s fine.” He wasn’t about to ruin his daughter’s afternoon with a new friend, especially not after she’d told him at the zoo last week that some kids were mean when you were new in a class. “Have fun, Del.”
“Thanks,” she whispered happily, before giving her mom a quick hug and running over to Yunai to break the good news.
“Well, looks like you’ll have to drive me home alone,” Lilly said hesitantly.
Oh, crap. He’d completely forgotten they’d come together.
“No problem,” he said casually as his phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket.
Alvarez’s name flashed frantically on the screen.
Hmm, Leon usually spent his day off picking up too many women, not calling him.
“Let me take this first,” he said, and answered the phone. “What’s wrong, Leon?”
Silence was the answer. Then a soft sigh.
“Leon?”
“I lost rock-paper-scissors, okay? Dax should have called. He’s the oldest.”
Frowning, he tilted his head. “If you’re playing a prank call on me, you’re doing it rather badly.”
Leon groaned loudly. “Okay, listen, don’t get angry!”
He frowned. “I love it when conversations start like this.”
“It’s nothing serious…”
“You’re not supposed to lie, Leon!” Dax’s voice boomed through the receiver. “Lying is a sin. It says so in the Bible and everything.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he said, annoyed. “It’s nothing terribly serious.”
“Leon, what the hell is going on?” Austin snapped, glancing at Lilly, who was staring at him, confused. “I don’t have the patience for this crap.”
“Remember, it’s actually an honor that we’re calling you and not, say, Lucy…”
“Oh God, I’m a dead man,” Dax wailed.
“…we trust you and your intelligence and…” Leon cleared his throat. “What, Blake? Ah, yes — and you’re driving around with a lot of clothes in your trunk.”
“What?” Fox asked, confused.
Leon sighed deeply and his next words came so rapidly and frantically that Austin could barely keep up. But one passage stood out clearly.
“You did what?!”