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“Are you sure? I mean, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,” I said with a smirk as I dropped my towel on a nearby pool chair.
“Sure, there’s plenty of room,” she said. “Come.”
It was a state of the art swimming pool that was big enough for an Olympic swimmer, but I wasn’t sure any amount of space could contain the heat that started whenever I was near her. And why was she being so nice to me? I needed to explore that change.
I dipped one foot into the water.
“Yeah, it’s cold.” Tameka chuckled. “But it feels great after you’ve been in here a while.”
I sank into the cool water and breathed a sigh of relief. It did feel good.
“I hope me being here in Aruba isn’t messing up your vacation too much,” I began.
She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I came to get away from many things. Not just you.”
“Ouch! So I was one of the reasons you took the trip?”
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Well, what did you mean?”
“I talked to my daughter tonight. Things aren’t going well with her visit with her father. My kids are supposed to stay with him for a month, but Eva is miserable,” she said, and I was surprised she was opening up to me.
I had heard Rodney was a dipshit. Just from the brief encounter I had with him at her house, I could sense he wreaked havoc on Tameka’s mental state.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Tameka,” I said. “Is there someone who can pick her up before you get back to the states?” I asked.
“He has a court order for this time with the kids. It’ll be hard for me to just pick her up when it’s his time.”
“I see.”
“I try to believe things will get better. It’s just hard sometimes. My daughter hates going over there, and I hate making her, but the courts see things differently.” Her eyes began to water.
“What about your son?” I asked. “Does he have a good relationship with his father?”
“That depends on who you ask. Kevin has a good relationship with his dad when they are together. However, it’s honestly not a healthy relationship. Rodney lets both my kids down countless times, and I’m left to pick up the pieces. Then, he tries to bribe them with gifts to make up for what he missed out on. It’s hard to deal with,” she said and suddenly looked uncomfortable. “I don’t know why I just told you that. I’m talking too much.”
“No, you just need someone to talk to,” I said, tilting her chin up.
“I have Kemara to talk to.”
I smiled. “There’s nothing wrong with adding another person to your support system.”
“I shouldn’t be doing this,” she responded. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that either,” she apologized, her eyes dipping down to mine as I leaned back in the water. “Kemara thinks I should be more polite and to give people the benefit of the doubt.”
“And by people, does that mean me?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“What do you think?”
“I don’t trust easy. That’s why I say and do things that come off rude; it’s to protect my heart,” she said with a slight crack in her voice.
“I see,” I said, resisting the urge to grab her and hold her in my arms. She had just admitted to fighting me at every turn to guard herself from hurt. “Tameka, trusting people isn’t always easy, but at some point, you have to open yourself up to feel again.”
Her pretty brown eyes gazed into mine. I moved closer to her, giving her the chance to pull back. When she didn’t, I slid over until I was inches away from her lips. Her breathing was so hot that I could feel it on my skin.
“Jeb…,” she whispered before I brushed my lips against hers. She moaned on impact, which made me move in closer and deepen the kiss. I eased my hand around her neck, and my fingers landed on the nape. Her tongue swooped in and caressed mine as I grabbed onto her bikini bottoms.
