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“Holy shit, Ava, you did a cannonball,” Harrison shouted, swimming over to high five her.
“Harrison, watch your language,” I snapped, mortified. I knew where he learned it. Bailey cracked up but tried to hide her laughter behind her hand.
“Sorry, Dad, but come on.”
He had a point, I supposed. Ava had actually jumped in the pool without her floaties and put her head underwater without having a panic attack. I grabbed her up and hugged her, telling her how brave she was. I caught Bailey’s eye and shook my head in awe.
“You’re actually a miracle worker,” I said. She rolled her eyes and laughed, not believing or understanding what a feat that was.
“Let’s go on the slide,” Ava squealed. “The big one!”
“Whoa there, cowgirl,” I said. “We’ll go on the small one first and work our way up.”
We sloshed our way to the waterslide area and got in line. The kids and Bailey chattered about how much fun they were having while I worried about everything going to hell. How could everything be so perfect after being so bad for so long? Things seemed way too good to be true, and I was having a hard time accepting it.
As we inched forward in the long line, I found my gaze kept dropping to Bailey’s hips or her breasts when she leaned down to see if there was something stuck on the bottom of Harrison’s water shoe. Whenever we went up some steps, she’d turn and smile at me, as eager as the kids to get on the slide. The smile lit up her whole face, making me realize how truly pretty she was, even with her long hair in wet tangles down her back and all sweaty from being in the Mexican summer heat.
Some rowdy teenagers joined the line and crashed into the people in front of them, causing a wave of people stumbling forward. I knocked into Bailey and grabbed her waist to keep her from falling into Ava. The feel of her soft body under my fingertips caused a shockwave of senses to spring to life. My chest collided with her back and the chlorine and shampoo scent of her hair filled my nostrils. For a millisecond, I forgot everything in my surroundings except Bailey and how close she was. Something was definitely waking up inside me that had been asleep for far too long. My grip around her waist tightened without meaning to, the feel of my fingertips sinking into her soft flesh making me want to pull her close and not let go.
Then she stiffened and pulled away with a sharp gasp. There was a haunted look in her eyes that made my heart sink, but it was gone so fast I thought I might have imagined it. She clutched at the neckline of her swimsuit, her hand shaking. I backed up a few steps to give her space.
“Sorry,” I said, waving back at the teenagers.
She shook her head and shrugged, straightening her swimsuit straps with steadier hands. “It’s fine.”
Her voice was definitely off. I was sure of it. A second later, and she was completely back to normal, but I wondered what that was about. Did she feel the same thing I did, or was it something different? Something I needed to worry about?
Chapter 6 - Bailey
The kids finally got settled, promising to go to sleep after I told them I’d leave my adjoining door ajar and, if they got scared in the night, they could come and wake me up. I would have thought they’d be exhausted after all the swimming and then the craft activity I took them to while Will was in his meetings, but they had an endless well of energy. I was exhausted, but almost buzzing with happiness after having such a fun day.
I let Freddy sniff around in my private garden area for a while, then left him in my room and went to the big common living area to raid the snack supply behind the bar. I chose a big chocolate bar and some trail mix and sprawled out on the massive sectional sofa. The cool leather was smooth against my bare legs, and I scrolled through the channels until I found a reality show I loved and was a few weeks behind on. Rick thought it was stupid; well, he actually thought everything I liked was stupid and always made such a big deal if he caught me watching it. I was free to watch whatever I liked now, and it felt amazing. It really was the little things.
I was so deep in the show that I didn’t notice that Will had returned until he was looming over the back of the couch, smiling down at me. His handsome smile gave my heart a little flutter, which I hurried to calm the heck down. I also hurried to grab the remote to turn off the show and get back to my room so I wouldn’t bother him.
“No, don’t leave on my account,” he said. “Relax while you can. I know the kids are hard work.”
He came around and sat a few cushions over from me, still too close for comfort and yet further away than I would have wished. Up close, I noticed how good he looked with a little bit of suntan on his cheeks. He rubbed his eyes and smiled tiredly, explaining he was at a tequila tasting and might have had a few too many samples.
“I’ll get you some water,” I said. “So you don’t get a hangover. Tequila is dangerous.”
He laughed but held his arm out in front of me to keep me from jumping up. “You’re the kids’ nanny, not mine,” he said. “You don’t have to serve me.” He looked at me with that smile still on his face, and I felt myself melting toward him. He blinked and looked away. “Water is probably a good idea though.”
“If you don’t want a killer headache tomorrow, it is,” I said, turning my face back to the TV.
I should have left because he was more dangerous than any amount of tequila, but I had one more episode until I was caught up, and he seemed sincere when he said I shouldn’t leave because of him. I thought back to our little collision in line at the water slide. When he grabbed my waist, my first instinct was to protect myself against whatever blow came next, but I was quickly able to bring myself back to the present. Will wasn’t Rick, and he was only trying to keep me from falling over. After he let go, all I could think about was wanting his hands back on me. Ridiculous, yes, and not good at all. Especially since I kept seeing him sneaking appreciative glances at me while we were swimming. Was it wishful thinking that he found me attractive, or was he really checking me out from time to time? The thought he might be having the same kind of thoughts I’d been warring against made me shiver. Talk about dangerous.
He got up and poured himself a glass of water from the wet bar, then flopped back down onto the couch. I snuck a glance at him concentrating on the TV as the next episode started.
“Are you kidding me?” he asked. “Are you really watching Mississippi Moguls?” I flinched, waiting for him to tell me what a waste of brain cells it was, but he clapped his hands together and a grin lit up his face. “I used to love this show. I can’t believe it’s still on.”
“Yes, it’s the eighth season,” I said, feeling a kinship with him that only fellow trash television lovers could understand. “Marta and Bill are getting divorced and Rico is thinking about buying out the restaurant if Marta gets it in the settlement.”
“Marta and Bill got married?” he asked incredulously. “I’m really behind. You need to catch me up.”
I spent the next hour explaining what was going on with everyone in the cast, giving him time to digest all the changes since he said he hadn’t watched it in two years.
“Did you used to watch it with your wife?” I asked. His eyes shuttered. “I’m sorry, that was too personal.”
