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He had a variety, and in the pale moonlight, I could see a variety of them. I had no idea he had that many, and I wanted to trace them with my fingers.
And my tongue.
He surfaced near me, also treading water.
I don’t get in this thing often enough,” he said. “Libby isn’t very enthusiastic about swimming these days, and as you can imagine, I’m not going to come in here and swim when she’s walking around in those black shirts she likes to wear.”
“I’m hoping she’s going to warm up to those other shirts we got the other day,” I told him. “I think it’s a massive step in the right direction that she was even willing to try them on, let alone that she let you buy her a couple.”
“I need to focus on the small wins,” he admitted. “I’ve been trying to get her to lighten up her wardrobe for a long time, and the fact she was willing to do that with you meant the world to me. I meant to tell you how much progress you have made with her. The past few weeks of the two of you together has made a world of difference in her life, and I’m going to forever be grateful to you for it.”
I smiled. “I’m glad to hear it. I feel sorry for all that she has gone through, and if there is anything I can do that will help her get through this time of her life, I’m happy to do it. I can’t imagine being in her shoes, and I don’t know, if going shopping with her and showing her that I’ve struggled with some of the same things in my life will help, then I’m happy.”
“It’s made a bigger difference than you will ever know,” he said. “I’ve tried my best to be there for her, I’ve tried taking her to therapy. I’ve tried showing her that she is still beautiful despite the fact she has scars on her arms and legs. I’ve even tried showing her that they aren’t that bad. But it seems like everything I have to say just falls flat, or it comes out all wrong, or she just doesn’t want to hear it.”
“That’s not all your fault,” I said. “I know my dad has tried his best in a lot of ways with me, but there are just some things that you don’t believe when they come from your dad. I’m not saying that it doesn’t matter, and there’s going to come a time when she is grateful to you for all that you have done, but for now, she’s not going to listen to that. She’s just going to think you’re saying it because you’re her dad and you’re just trying to make her feel better.”
“I know,” he said. “Which is why I’m glad that you came into the picture. The fact that you’re so willing to listen to her and talk to her, and even that you’re willing to meet her right where she is really has had an impact on her. I don’t know if you can see it since you have made that difference from the beginning, but she is a much, much happier little girl than she was even the week before she met you.”
I smiled again. “That makes my day a lot better. Now, if I could just get used to the heat in this place, it would be perfect.”
“I don’t know about you,” Neils said. “But I’m thinking maybe if we get you two more fans, that’s going to do it. Maybe you just don’t have enough speed going on in that room and you need to fight to hang onto your blankets before you’re going to be able to sleep.”
I laughed. “Your plan is to wear me out with trying to keep myself covered? I mean, it’s not the worst idea in the world. But I’m afraid if I have to put that much work into staying covered up, it’s going to just make me work up a sweat and I’ll be right back where I started.”
“No, because you’re going to have the fans going, so when you sweat, that’s just going to keep cooling you off,” he told me with a wink.
I laughed to keep myself from blushing too hard. With both of us in the water, I was able to see his facial expressions easier, and I could see when he winked at me. There was something about it that was so flirtatious, it made me shiver with excitement. I knew I was playing with fire, but I also wanted to embrace the side of me that wasn’t so careful all the time.
It was just the two of us out here, and Libby was not only inside – she was on the other side of the house. It wasn’t like she was going to look out of the window and see the two of us out here together. Let alone hear what we were saying. But there was also the warning in my mind that told me not to get too close.
Not to do something that would land me in hot water in this situation.
I decided the best thing for me to do was swim around in the pool. I had energy building up with my excitement, and I wanted to get rid of it before I let it go in a direction I would question later.
So, I started swimming, halfway doing a sidestroke, and halfway keeping my attention on Neils so we could maintain our conversation.
To my surprise, he joined me.
Chapter Fifteen
Neils
Iconsideredittobe a win when I got Erin to laugh. Normally, I wasn’t nearly as comical with anyone else as I was with her, but it hadn’t taken me long to grow addicted to the sound of her laughter, and now I wanted to hear it every chance I could.
She laughed a lot when she was with Libby, but there was a thrill that ran through me every time I was the one who caused her to do it. And it immediately made me want to do it again.
I knew we couldn’t be too loud right now. Even if we were outside, there were a lot of the neighbors who slept with their windows open, and I knew from my time at sea that the water was pretty much one of the biggest loudspeakers there was. It was so easy to hear a conversation that was spoken at normal volume when there was a body of water around, and I didn’t want our business to be spread.
Even if I was doing my best to behave.
I started swimming with Erin as she started around the pool. I didn’t know why. It wasn’t much like me to go swimming. I would more often if Libby wanted to, but as it was, this was only the second time I had been in this pool since the two of us moved in. But when Erin continued with the conversation as she moved in the water, I wanted to do the same.
I meant every word I told her when I brought up the shopping trip and how much of a difference she made in my daughter’s life. I hoped she could see what an impact that was and how important it was to me that she did. Not that she was down here to impress me, but I wanted her to know there were a variety of heroes in the world, and she was certainly one of them, even if she didn’t realize it at the time.
I knew she was falling for my daughter, and I wanted to tell her how much that meant to me, too, but I knew I had to be careful. I had a lot of attraction toward her, and I knew she must feel some of the same toward me for her to blush when I told her the other day that I liked the dress she was wearing. Being in the water together didn’t leave a lot to the imagination when it came to our bodies.
She was wearing a swimsuit that outlined everything, and it was difficult for me not to stare at her in places that were altogether inappropriate.
