“They’ll help with swim lessons too. Come on.” They walked over to Jesse’s house, where he gave her a tour while her new bathing suits were taking a quick tumble in his washing machine.
“You have this whole place to yourself?” she asked as they made their way back to his massive chef’s kitchen that opened to the equally large living room with its football-field-sized TV He showed her three guest rooms, his home office, and formal dining room. They’d skipped over his bedroom, but Lily-Grace was dying to see his closet. The man knew how to dress. It wasn’t the best house she’d been in, but it was a lot of room for one person. And sometimes four dogs.
“Well, this was my parents’ place. I was supposed to live in the other house with Zach and Sam, but my parents moved away. But it doesn’t matter now. My cousins are here and they are always over, watching TV, or eating, or using my pool.”
“That must be nice. I have half siblings, but my father and I don’t speak to them. I always wondered what it would be like growing up with them.”
“I saw that in the program last night.”
“I’ll tell you—” She shrugged. It wasn’t a secret, but it was kind of awkward. “Their mom, my dad’s first wife, is like evil-stepmother evil. She was really abusive to my dad, and then she did all this shady shit with the insurance business they ran together. He finally divorced her, but she told his kids all of these lies about him and she would, like, spend all the child support money, tell the kids my dad wasn’t paying.
“My oldest brother, Ryan, reached out a few times, but his mom found out and lost it. It’s not a healthy situation, but my father decided to just keep me away from it. Anyway, he met my mom and they were happy and they had me.” Lily-Grace turned her face up with a bright smile. She didn’t remember her mom, but she loved hearing stories about her, and her father assured her all the time that she would have been proud of her daughter every step of the way.
“I don’t think family is truly a family without its fair bit of drama.” The washing machine chose that exact moment to chime. He showed her to one of the guest rooms with a bathroom so she could change. She settled on the black one-piece, since this was a swim lesson and not a photoshoot, then neatly folded her clothes on the bed. When she stepped back out in the hallway, Jesse was waiting for her in a pair of neon yellow swim trunks. One look at his broad bare chest and her mouth literally started to water.
“I won’t slap you this time, I promise,” she said with an awkward laugh.
“I appreciate it.”
“Uh, can you put sunscreen all over every inch of my back before we go outside? I burn easy.”
“Oh sure.”
She handed him the bottle and tried not to react as he gently started doing exactly what she asked. He took his time, even getting the backs of her ankles where she had a few spots that lacked melanin. Lily-Grace loved her body, she loved herself. She always made sure she took care of her skin, especially as her vitiligo spread as she got older. She let out a short breath as she felt Jesse stand to his full height behind her. Her body had cooperated as his hands moved over every inch, but the way he lightly touched her shoulder, encouraging her to turn around, had goose bumps spreading all the way down to her wrist.
She looked up at him, his dark brown eyes hooded with something she never expected to see from Jesse Pleasant. Desire.
“I never took you up on that hug,” she said quietly. Jesse didn’t say a word. He just wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. In the most natural, almost instinctual way, she wrapped her arms around his muscled torso, marveling at how soft his skin felt against her chest, under her fingertips. Jesse Pleasant understood the importance of full body exfoliation. He smelled nice too, like a warm spring breeze. She gave into the urge to nuzzle her face against his neck and he held her even tighter. Still, no real plan, but this was something she could get used to.
Chapter 11
It pained Jesse to put the slightest distance between his body and hers, but if he didn’t end the hug soon, he’d want the hug to turn into a kiss. Maybe more. He moved his hands to her shoulders and took a half step back. The distance didn’t help. He still wanted to kiss Lily-Grace.
“Ready to swim?”
“Absolutely not, but let’s do this.” She laughed. Jesse led her out to the pool. The dogs followed. “Are they joining us?” she asked.
“I thought it would be a good idea to have them demonstrate some simple techniques. Okay.” Jesse stepped back and faced Lily-Grace. It was time to get serious. She snapped to attention, arms tight to her side. “At ease.”
“Yes, sir.”
“First thing you need to remember about being in and around water. You should never feel panicked. Swimming or even floating should be fun or relaxing or a form of exercise. If you are panicking something is wrong. Does that make sense?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t need to be an Olympic swimmer, but the goal is get you comfortable treading water and to teach you a serviceable doggy paddle.”
“Is that where the puppies come in?”
“Exactly. Now—” Jesse held out his hand. He ignored the tingle that spread out over his palm as her fingers slid over his. “All I want to do today is have you stand in the water. No deep-end diving.”
He watched her carefully as she closed her eyes and pulled in a deep breath.
“I’m certified in first aid and CPR. I renewed my certificates two months ago.”
Her eyes snapped open. “Oh, that’s very good to know. Okay, let’sBaywatchit up.”
Jesse took the first step down into the shallow end of the pool. It was designed to look more like a natural lagoon, but there were stone steps and two underwater ledges where you could sit, one in the shallow end and one in the deep end. He walked down till the water was up to his thighs and waited patiently for Lily-Grace to follow him into the water.
