Page 44 of The Baby-whisperer and the Brute
Apparently I’d succeeded in disproving his “frumpy” diagnosis. That pleased me probably more than it should have.
When I announced it was time for me to go inside and get started on making dinner, the girls asked to play one final game, a chicken fight.
Ever the softy, Sully said, “Okay, just one more.”
Skyla climbed onto her father’s shoulders while I supported Claire, who was lighter, on mine. Shrieking with laughter, the two little “chickens” grabbed each other’s hands and wrestled, each trying to topple the other into the water.
At one point their hand wrestling became a sort of clench, with the two girls hugging each other tightly. That meant Sully and I were dragged toward each other and obligated to stand close.
Very close.
We weren’t exactly face-to-face since he was so much taller than me, but my nose was at his chest level, and the fronts of our bodies were forced together.
Wowdid he feel good—hard muscle on a large, solid frame my fingers ached to reach out and hold onto. I wondered if the closeness affected him as much as it did me.
A heavy weight pressed against my belly. For a few seconds, I was baffled. I had no idea what it was—did we get a pool toy caught between us? And then I realized what the hard-but-pliable shape was.
Oh.I guessed I had my answer. In spite of the cool water, I was suddenly boiling, and every hair on my body stood on end.
Abruptly, Sully moved back and announced in a terse voice, “Okay, game over. Time to go in.”
“Daaaaddeeee,” Skyla complained until he plucked her off his shoulders and tossed her into the water the way she loved.
She popped up, giggling wildly. “Again. Throw me again.”
“First I gotta throw backthisguppy.” He reached for Claire, lifting her from my shoulders as if she weighed nothing and tossing her as well.
“You can go if you want to,” he whispered to me.
I swam to the shallow end, taking the stairs out of the pool. Maybe I should have run for the house, considering what had just happened. But I decided to stay and dry off a bit instead.
Actually, it had nothing to do with drying off. I wanted to watch Sully get out of the pool—toseewith my eyes what I’d just felt pressing against my abdomen.
Unfortunately, he stayed in the pool for several more rounds of toss-the-daughter.
Oh well. I stretched out on one of the loungers, waiting for them to finish so I could help the girls dry off when they got out.
The late afternoon sun and light breeze were so heavenly, I closed my eyes for a minute to enjoy the sensations. I could easily have taken a cat nap right here.
When my eyes opened again, Sully was standing over my lounge chair, his half-lidded gaze sweeping down to my toes then slowly up again. I’d never seen him wear quite that expression before. He looked… absorbed. Sort of far away and yetverypresent at the same time.
Excitement danced in my belly and stole my breath. Though his shadow blocked the late-day rays of sun, a warmth pulsed between my legs and spread to my upper thighs.
“Hi,” I managed to say. “Are you hungry?”
Sully’s head jerked back, and he blinked several times. “What?”
“For dinner. Are you hungry for dinner?”
“Oh.” He shook his head in a series of rapid jerks. “I’m uh… going out—meeting my friend Wilder.”
“Wilder Lowe, the security expert?”
Sully frowned. “You know him?”
“Not really, but I remember him from the Wessexes’ party.”
“Of course you do,” he said in a surly tone. What was allthatabout?
