Chapter 11
ELEVEN
COLSON
Ellie’s little arms were tightly wrapped around my neck as I held her against me in my ex’s kitchen. “Daddy, I don’t want you to leave.”
Drop-offs were the toughest—in both directions. She became more attached to the house she stayed in, having to get readjusted, only to do it all over again when it was time to swap.
“But you’re going to Disneyland this weekend with Mommy, Matt, and your little sister. Don’t you want to go see Mickey and Minnie Mouse?”
As her tiny body clung to me, she squeezed with more strength than I’d realized she had. “Yes! But …”
“But what, baby?”
“You’re going on the airplane without me.”
I rubbed circles over her back. “I bet there’s an airplane ride at one of the parks that you can get on, and you’ll feel like you’re with me. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”
“Yeah …”
Lindsey took out a homemade cookie from a covered cake tray on the counter. “Guess what I have, my little Lemon.” A nickname she’d given Ellie shortly after she was born because, like her, her hair was the color of the fruit. “M we just couldn’t.
We were two very different people. The only common denominator was the love we had for our daughter.
About a year after our breakup, she met Matt.
Ellie was the flower girl at their wedding, and I brought her to the hospital when her half sister was born.
During the course of our daughter’s life, there had been times when Lindsey and I didn’t agree on a particular parenting path one of us was taking, but our focus always remained the same—to show Ellie what healthy co-parenting looked like and, no matter what, to respect each other.
Ultimately, she was one hell of a mother, and Matt was so good to my little girl.
Lindsey held up her other hand. “Hush. The sound of that makes me shiver. Two littles already feel like a lot.”
I realized Ellie’s backpack was still on my shoulder, and I set it on the island. “I’ll be back in four days. Admittedly, I don’t know that I’ll be paying attention to the time difference, so it might be best if Ellie calls me rather than the other way around.”
“Scouting new locations for Toro and Horned?”
“This is a personal trip.”
Her neck jutted back. “Really? You don’t take many of those without our daughter.”
“I’m yacht shopping. It’s time I go bigger and better.”
“You already have the biggest boat known to man. I don’t know how it could get any better.”
I laughed. “They make them much, much bigger and better, trust me. It would be hard to take Ellie on this trip since I’ll be meeting with a broker and doing multiple sea trials for the boats I’m interested in.
I could have brought Michelle with me to watch Ellie, but I don’t feel like making all that happen.
I just want to go, do what I need to do, and come back. ”
“Fair.” She leaned her hip against the counter. “Does that mean you and Ellie will be taking more long weekends on the water?”
“Definitely.”
She smiled. “Our girl will love that.”
“We both will.” I headed for the door and said, “See you when I get back,” over my shoulder.
“Colson Weston …”
With the SUV’s back seat door already open, I climbed out and extended my hand toward the dark-haired, bearded man who had just greeted me. “Hayden Rivers, I assume?”
The driver had taken me from the private airport straight to the waterfront high-rise where Troy’s friends worked.
The moment I had stepped off the plane was an instant reminder I was no longer in LA.
The humidity in Florida was something fierce.
And here, by the bay, was a bit breezier, but the thickness in the air stayed brutally strong.
“You assumed right.” He shook my hand, his grip as sturdy as I’d imagined it would be for a dude of his stature. “Nice to meet you, my man.” He clasped the back of my shoulder with his other hand. “Welcome to Lauderdale.”
I walked with him toward the entrance of the building.
“Have you been to my city before?”
“I’ve been to South Beach. Orlando—I have a little girl. My brother is in the NHL, so I spent some time in Tampa when he played against them last season. But Fort Lauderdale? Never.”
“You’re going to enjoy it.” He took off his aviators and hooked them to his shirt. “It’s the yachting capital of the world, if you didn’t already know.”
“Troy mentioned the same thing.”
Hayden had Florida written all over him.
It was obvious he spent a lot of time on the water by his suntan, a faint line along each side of his face, telling me he normally wore his sunglasses when he was outside.
He had green eyes, hair the color of black ink in a high fade with a longer top.
A beard that looked professionally edged.
The polo was an attempt to be casual. The boating industry typically was, from what I heard, but his pants and the Rolex Yacht-Master on his left wrist brought his attire up a notch.
We were getting closer to the building when he asked, “How’s my man Troy? We miss him around here.”
“He’s doing well.” I laughed. “We’re, unfortunately, keeping him extremely busy.”
He gave me a side-look. “Damn those lawyers.”
I chuckled. “You’re telling me.”
“None of us love that he lives so far away. The five of us who stayed back, I mean. I don’t know how much Troy has told you about our childhood.
” When I said nothing, clueless to what he was speaking about, he continued, “Anyway, when he left Florida for Dartmouth, we were gutted. Happy for him, of course. Just wrecked to see our buddy go. We thought he’d come back after law school, but nope, that man is thriving on the West Coast.”
“And your sister, she’s on the West Coast too.”
The two looked nothing alike, so it wasn’t as if I was staring at her twin. In fact, their features couldn’t be any more opposite. But if we were going to spend the next couple of days together, it felt a bit disingenuous not to bring her up. Especially if Troy had mentioned anything to him.
His brows rose and stayed high. “You’ve met Sophie?”
So, Troy hadn’t said anything to him. Neither had Sophie.
Interesting.
I sighed. “Not only have we met, but she represents our biggest rival, who have recently tangled us into a lawsuit, and I’ve had the pleasure of going up against her.”
And I’d had many other pleasures when it came to her body, but I wasn’t going to admit that to her brother.
“Shit, man, I’m sorry.” He opened the door for me. “She’s a tough one … I know.”
I stepped into the large office, the air-conditioning sending my temperature from scorching to freezing, and I immediately smelled something tropical. The scent reminded me of the lobby of any of the Cole and Spade Hotels, their signature aroma continuously piped through the air vents.
As we walked through the space, it was obvious this brokerage did as well as it was rumored to; the double-story vaulted ceilings and impressive furnishings created an ambience of wealth.
Of course, their customers spent no less than three million on a boat, so they needed to cater.
And from a visual standpoint, they delivered.
When I had first reached out to Hayden, telling him what I had and what I was looking for, he sent a cumulative list of the yachts that met my criteria.
From there, I narrowed the thirty-three down to five.
No two vessels were alike. The big test was to see how spacious the cabins felt and how the boat handled on the water.
If my current yacht were a bit roomier, I wouldn’t be looking to upgrade.
But as Ellie got older and more friends joined us on overnights, additional room would be needed.
“My office is back here. We’ll go over the yachts you’ve chosen to view, discuss the details of each, and then we’ll head to your first sea trial.”
“Great.”
We were halfway through the main area, nearing what appeared to be a section of offices.
Most had their doors open so I could see in, the water backing up to them.
Our corporate office had a hell of a view of LA, but there was something about gazing at the water every day—and that was something we certainly didn’t have in our city.
“I got word this morning that a new boat is about to hit the market.” He checked his phone like he was looking to see if that alert had come in.
“Stats on it are a bit vague. I’m waiting to hear back from the owner’s team regarding how many hours are on the engines.
If it’s the number I’m anticipating, it’s worth seeing.
The problem is, I wouldn’t be able to get you a showing until the day after you’re scheduled to leave.
Would it be possible for you to stick around—”
“Uncle Hay!”
The shrill of a high-pitched voice came from one of the approaching doorways, and there was a blur of blonde as a little one came running toward Hayden.
“My Abbi girl.” He lifted her into his arms and hugged her. “I’ve missed you so much.”
I didn’t move from where I’d halted, staring at the face of Abbi with an I.
If she was here … then …
I glanced beyond Hayden toward the doorway where Abbi had just run from, and there was another blonde standing there.
One with the deepest, most beautiful blue eyes.
But her eyelashes weren’t batting at me, nor was there warmth or lust in her gaze.
Sophie was glaring so hard that she didn’t even blink.
And the look on her face told me I was the last person she’d expected—and also the last person she’d wanted—to see.
“Colson”—the sound of my name dragged my attention back to Hayden—“this is my niece, Abbi.”
“Hi, Mr. Weston.” Abbi waved.
“Nice to see you, Abbi with an I.”
She giggled.
“You two know each other?” Hayden asked.
“Ellie is my bestest friend, Uncle Hay!”
“Ellie’s my daughter,” I told him, shifting my weight. “She’s in the same gymnastics class as Abbi.”
“Ah,” Hayden voiced. “Small world, I guess.”
“In ways you can’t even imagine,” Sophie groaned.
As she crossed her arms over her chest, she hid her tits—tits that I had missed since our last meetup at Lush, considering how intimately acquainted I had become with her nipples.
If I’d thought she looked incredible in that silver dress, that was nothing compared to the casual attire she had on now.
Her hair was down and straight, unlike the long curls that normally framed her face.
She wore a thin, low-cut tank top and cutoff jean shorts—an outfit that naturally showed her curves, but didn’t exaggerate them. I was obsessing over every inch.
Fuck.
Hayden turned toward his sister. “I didn’t expect you to arrive until later.”
“I ended up booking an earlier flight.” Her tone had improved. It was softer. Loving even. “Surprise.”
Hayden hugged Sophie while still holding Abbi, and he finally looked at me. “I’m sorry about this, Colson. I normally don’t have family at the office, but when Sophie comes to town, she always heads to me first, wherever I happen to be.”
I nodded. “No worries. I get it.”
Sophie held out her arms to take Abbi from him. “You’re busy with”—her head nodded in my direction, but she didn’t look at me—“so I’ll get out of here.”
Hayden glanced from his sister to me and then back at her. “Yeah, all right, I’ll see you later. Where are you going to be?”
With Abbi now in her arms, she replied, “My condo. Call me when you wrap things up with him.”
Hayden kissed Abbi’s cheek. “See you later, princess.”
“Bye, Uncle Hay!”
As the ladies left, Hayden laughed, his face turning a slight shade of red. “Because I know my sister so well, I have to ask … are things a little icy between you two?”
I laughed. “What gave you that impression?”
“For her to so blatantly ignore my client—regardless of whether your pasts have intertwined and what that result or exchange happened to be—that could only mean one thing.”
“She despises me?” I chuckled.
I could tell it pained him to nod.
“Hayden, you’re dead on about that.”