AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Maybe I need to spend less time around the house before these feelings lead me into making stupid choices. Like getting attached.
CHAPTER 9
Pike
Ever since Aspen arrived in Cypress Gardens, I can’t bring myself to concentrate on my work—at least not when I’m alone. I, the loner artist who has always thrived best in peaceful environments, suddenly need to follow around the willowy, sultry brunette for inspiration.
My God, she’s my muse!
The recognition doesn’t strike me until almost three weeks after she’s arrived and settled fully into her role as Lily’s nanny. In that time, Flint has been in touch to say that Julian has started the paperwork on the adoption and matters are moving along, but he doesn’t have much more to add, and I haven’t heard from Raya again, much to my relief.
She doesn’t seem to mind me tagging along with her and Lily on their outings to the park when Lily meets with her best friend, Addisyn, or playgroup on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. She invited me out to the Brewtiful Bean Café to sit on the patio and watch the people walk down Main Street while Lily enjoyed ice cream next door with one of her friends afterward, the two of us sitting in comfortable silence. There were endless hours of play around the house, and my sketchbook was always open, pencil in hand. I haven’t drawn like this since art school, not even when I was married.
Maddy used to beg me to draw her, and I always made excuses. “I don’t draw people. I’m an abstract artist.”
And she would pout and sulk for days about it, calling me selfish and cruel, drying up my inspiration every time it occurred.
It’s impossible not to think of Maddy these days, as much as I don’t want to, but with Aspen such a dramatic personality in contrast to my former wife, it’s hard not to.
Aspen makes everything so easy. And Maddy is not my wife. Not anymore.
“Are you ever going to show me what you’re drawing?”
I jump at the unexpected sound of her voice behind me and instinctively cover up my work, but Aspen remains respectfully at a distance, her dark hair shimmering in the track lighting of the living room. One of Lily’s plushies sits in one of her hands, the monitor in the other, so she is free to roam the enormous house without worrying about the little girl while she’s sleeping.
But I’m mostly distracted by what she’s wearing—or not wearing—as she stands several feet away from me by the couch, smiling beguilingly.
“What?” I ask brusquely, trying not to stare at her perfect breasts swelling out from the top of her bikini, barely concealed under a beach throw. Her “nanny clothes” retired for the night, and it seems she’s ready to enjoy the kidney-shaped pool in our backyard, her long legs startlingly tan against the white fringe of her loose-fitting top.
“I know you’ve been drawing us,” she explains. “No pressure. I know artists don’t like to show their work until it’s ready to be seen.”
I swallow thickly as she turns away, one of her ass cheeks peeking out before her throw settles again. Carelessly, she tosses the plush elephant into the toy bin on her way out the back door.
“You going for a swim?” I call out, wondering where the question came from.
Aspen pauses. “Caden’s out there, too. Want to join us?”
I hesitate, unsure if I want to be part of Caden’s boisterous chatter, but the thought of seeing Aspen in her full bikini wins out. “Yeah. I’ll be out in a minute.”
Her smile lights up the dim living room. “Great! I’ll wait for you.”
Standing as she heads out, I hurry to my room on the top floor. It was a deliberate move, taking the remotest lodging in the house, away from the noise, for when my insomnia kicks in and I need to pace around.
Changing quickly, I pause by Lily’s bedroom, the soft swoosh of the sound machine filling the room as I peer inside. Fluffy clouds swim around the walls on a mobile, casting blue, pink, and orange shadows over everything.
Our ward sleeps, her long eyelashes fluttering amid a pleasant dream, a gentle smile on her lips. She hasn’t had a single nightmare since Aspen arrived. It’s just one more reason Aspen is winning points with all of us.
I kiss Lily’s sleeping forehead and backtrack downstairs to join Aspen and Caden in the backyard. He’s already in the pool, splashing her.
“Come in!” he calls. “Pike’s taking forever!”
“I told him I’d wait for him, and I am,” she replies firmly as I let myself out the back doors.
“Finally!” Caden says. “Now, will you please come into the pool, Ms. Palco? Pretty please?”
Tittering, Aspen rises, rolling her eyes as her overshirt falls away, displaying her lithe, gorgeous frame. My gaze rests on her surprisingly curvy hips, her walk alluring without her typical casual wear.
I sit on one of the chaise loungers, adjusting myself discreetly, but Caden catches the movement and grins at me before swimming over to the nanny.
