AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He passed her the plate with a napkin. “You need this break and I want to be the one to give it to you. Besides, there’s a lot I can do with a few hours and the right connections.”
Catalina smiled as she picked up a cube of cheese. “I’m sure your chef was making the cheesecake before the crack of dawn this morning.”
Will shrugged. “Maybe. He did have nearly everything else done by the time I headed out to James and Bella’s house this morning.”
“You visited James already, too?”
Will settled back with his own plate and forked up a bite of salmon before answering. “I wanted to see Maisey before James heads back out on the road for football. I haven’t really bonded with her much, especially with the strain on my relationship with James. But we’re getting there and I wanted to see my niece. I’m sure she and Bella will accompany James on the road when they can.”
Something inside Catalina warmed at the image of Will playing the doting, spoiling uncle. A family was definitely in her future plans, but knowing Will was taking an active part in little Maisey’s life awakened something in her she hadn’t yet uncovered.
But no. Will couldn’t be father material. He wasn’t even husband material. No matter how much, at one time, she’d wished he was. Will was a career-minded, power-driven man who valued family, but he didn’t scream minivan and family portraits.
“How did the bonding go?” she asked, trying to concentrate on her food and not the fact that the image had been placed in her head of Will with a baby. Was there anything sexier than a big, powerful man holding an innocent child?
“She seemed to like the doll I brought her.”
Of course he’d brought a doll. Now his “aww” level just exploded. Why did the man have to be so appealing on every single level? She didn’t want to find him even more irresistible. She couldn’t afford to let her heart get tangled up with him again.
Catalina couldn’t handle the struggle within her. “You took her a doll? Did your assistant or someone on your staff go buy it?”
Will glanced at her, brows drawn in. “No, I bought it the other day when I was out and just got the chance to take it to her this morning. Why?”
The man was gaining ground and scaling that wall of defenses she’d so carefully erected. And in unexpected ways. He’d wanted to have a special moment with his niece, which had nothing to do with Catalina. Yet here she sat, on his boat, eating her favorite foods that he’d remembered while listening to him talk of his love for his baby niece.
Why was she keeping him at a distance again?
Oh, yeah. That broken heart four years ago.
They ate the rest of their lunch in silence, except when she groaned like a starved woman as she inhaled her piece of cheesecake. As promised, Will cleaned up the mess and took everything back down to the galley. Once he returned, he extended his hand to her.
“Ready to go for a walk?” he asked.
Catalina placed her hand in his, allowing him to pull her up. “I’m not sure I can walk after that, but I can waddle. I’m pretty stuffed.”
Will laughed as he led her from the boat. Once they stepped off the wooden dock, Catalina slipped out of her sandals to walk on the warm, sandy beach. The sand wasn’t too hot to burn her feet and as the soft grains shifted beneath her, she found herself smiling. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d done absolutely nothing by way of working in one form or another.
“I hope that smile has something to do with me,” Will stated, again slipping his hand into hers as they walked along the shoreline.
“I’m just happy today. I needed a break and I guess I didn’t realize it.”
“From one workaholic to another, I recognized the signs.”
His confession had her focusing on the words and not how powerful and wonderful his fingers felt laced with hers.
“I never thought you took a break,” she replied.
Catalina looked at all the tiny seashells lining the shore and made a mental note to find some beautiful ones to take back with her.
“I’ve had breaks,” he replied. “Not many, mind you, but I know when I need to step back so I don’t get burnt out.”
Catalina turned her face toward the ocean. She’d been burnt out on cleaning since she started. But sewing and designing, she could never imagine falling out of love with her passion.
They walked along in silence and Catalina let her thoughts run wild. What would’ve happened between them had Will not succumbed to his father’s demands that he drop her? Would they have these romantic moments often? Would he make her take breaks from life and put work on hold for her?
