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I opened my eyes when my door clicked shut. I sat down on the bed but couldn’t stay there for long. The happiness of knowing Gran and Annie were being taken care of and not scared gave me a burst of energy, not to mention that strange rush of lust I felt for Leo.
Well, it wasn’t so strange. He was hotter than hell, and I could feel every hard muscle pressed against me, his hands gripping my hips. And no matter why he did what he did for my family, to me, it was kindness. And that was just as sexy as his thighs in those sweats.
I got up and paced back and forth, wondering how I would survive the foreseeable future on this roller coaster of emotions.
Chapter 14 - Leo
To say I was confused about my feelings was an understatement. The entire time I prepared dinner, I snuck glances at Samantha, only to find her looking at me with a hunger that had nothing to do with the vegetables I was chopping. Believe me, I knew that look.
It was surprising to see it in her eyes, and even more surprising how much I liked it. If she made a move, would I reciprocate? That was a question I wasn’t ready to answer. I liked her far too much to risk her becoming another one-night stand, with the added awkwardness of her being my surrogate. It was almost easier when she was shooting daggers at me.
It was simple enough getting her family relocated. So far, I was certain the Giannis didn’t know about my Long Island fixer-upper project. That, coupled with the guards I’d positioned with them, should mean they were safe, so Samantha could at least rest easy on that front. I didn’t like that she worried so much about money and hoped that taking care of her grandmother’s medical bills while she had to stay hidden would also put her mind at ease.
It really wasn’t kindness, and definitely not charity. If keeping her safe down here in Florida meant she would lose her job, then it was up to me to compensate her for that loss. I had gone into it expecting her pride to rear up. I had planned to tell her we could write it into the surrogate contract if necessary, but her family meant more to her than her pride. That was something I could easily identify with. There was nothing I wouldn’t put myself through for my own family.
Since I was expecting a fight, I was beyond shocked at her tearful hug. The way her body molded to mine, it took every ounce of willpower not to respond like a wild beast. She was so cute in her soft, baby blue pajamas, with her hair tumbling down her back. Cute probably wasn’t the best descriptor. More like freaking sexy as hell, but I tried not to think that way about her.
I hated seeing her cry, but those seemed like happy tears, bringing out the blue of her eyes. My hands might have slipped too low and gripped a little too tight, but I was only human. I needed to keep it together, though. I couldn’t start anything with my surrogate.
Maybe it was the stupid baby hormones? I’d read that men sometimes got sympathy, pain, or cravings when their wives were pregnant. Maybe I was experiencing something like that.
No, I was just tired. It had been a long few days. The turf war escalating, finding out I was on the road to being a dad, then having the mother of that child almost get murdered as revenge for something I didn’t even start. I also didn’t enjoy shooting people as much as those bastards deserved it.
Reliving those moments when I thought I might lose her, thinking about how scared she must have been—how scared I was—got me too amped up to lie down and sleep. A few laps in the pool would do the trick to work off my nervous energy so I could then fall into bed and pass out. I would need good rest to keep my wits about me so I could keep Samantha calm while she was stuck here.
I changed into a pair of trunks I found in the dresser and headed out to the back, ducking under the overgrown bushes and winding down the path until I came to the grotto. I heard splashing and stopped, peering through the jasmine bushes. I took to Florida living pretty well, but I was still a Moscow city boy at heart, and I’d heard too many stories about gators crawling into people’s swimming pools to not investigate an odd splash when the pool should have been empty.
Not an alligator, but my baby mama, doing laps in the pool stark naked. My eyes goggled as I stayed behind the shrub to watch her lithe arms and legs cut through the water, her hair gliding behind her like a mermaid. Holy shit, she was gorgeous. Every smooth, silky inch of her.
After a minute, she flipped onto her back, and I felt like a pervert ogling her. I crept back a few steps and then made a bunch of noise as I slowly approached, crashing into the branches and whistling so she’d hear me and have enough time to get covered.
If she wanted to get covered. Maybe she’d stay in the pool and swim a few laps with me? Play some Marco Polo?
As I got through to the grotto, she yelped and flung herself out of the water, dragging a towel around herself. So much for my little late-night skinny-dipping fantasies. I acted surprised to see her but not the least bit fazed or interested in the slightest that her soft curves were still barely hidden under the towel.
“Sorry,” she said, cheeks blazing even in the moonlight. “I needed to move, and there was no swimsuit in my room.”
I grumbled to myself, sure I’d find one of Ivan’s wife’s in the master bedroom where I was staying, but I almost didn’t want to offer it to her. “Keep swimming,” I said, ready to give up my time in the pool to her. “I’ll find you a suit and bring it out.”
“No, no,” she said, edging past me. “I’ve had enough. I’m sleepy now. Please, don’t give up your swim because of me.”
We laughed awkwardly, unsure who was getting in and leaving. “We’re both being very polite,” I said.
“Well, I’m basically a prisoner. What’s your excuse?” she asked.
She was joking or trying to joke, but I didn’t want her to think that way. I hated that she did. At a loss, I waved toward the kitchen. “Are you hungry again? Do you want something else to eat?”
“You know your kid will end up overweight if you use food as a bandaid like that,” she said. It took me a second to realize she was still teasing me and also that she was heading toward the house. “And yes. I’m actually starving again after those laps.”
I followed her, but halfway down the path, she stopped, making me almost crash into her. She turned around, clutching the towel around her chest. “I forgot my clothes,” she said, slapping her free hand to her forehead. “One second.”
I waited while she trotted back to the pool, and a few seconds later, she reappeared with her short pajamas clinging to her damp body. She was even sexier than when she was naked, and I turned away, hurrying to the kitchen where I could put a bandaid of food on the instant lust that coursed through me at the sight of her.
In the kitchen, she offered to make scrambled eggs since I made dinner. “But first, I’m going to clean up these dishes to make room,” she said, running the water over the pans I’d used earlier and left in the sink. I liked cooking but hated cleaning up. But I hated watching her do it even more.
Horrified, I bumped her out of the way with my hip and plunged my hands into the soapy water. “I’ll do it. Go sit down.”
“You know I do this for a living, right?” she asked, bumping me back and sliding her hands in with mine.
