Page 34 of Bound By Her Shocking Secret

He didn’t answer Mia’s question directly. He wished they would come out of the water. ‘Shouldn’t she have armbands?’

Mia smiled. ‘She’s a water baby. She’s fine. I’m a qualified lifeguard, in any case.’

‘Still, it’s not safe. I should put something around the pool.’

Mia’s eyes opened wide. ‘It’s fine, honestly. She won’t ever be here unsupervised.’

She could be, though.

This was one of the reasons why he’d sworn never to have children. To avoid this crippling fear. That pool was a lethal accident waiting to happen—something Daniel never would have noticed before now, because to him it was merely an ornamental feature.

Mia said, ‘It’s probably time we came out now anyway. Lexi needs a wash and her dinner.’

She came up the steps out of the water with Lexi in her arms, and for the first time since he’d seen them in the pool the dread inside Daniel eased a little. The distraction of Mia in a swimsuit that clung like a second skin, leaving little to the imagination, helped too. Her hair was piled up on her head in a rough knot, showing off her spectacular bone structure and long neck. He seized on her beauty as something to cling to—something that brought him back from those awful tendrils of fear.

She came over to a lounger and wrapped Lexi in a voluminous towel, rubbing her briskly and making her laugh.

The sound finally broke Daniel out of his stasis.

He went and sat on the other lounger and Lexi stretched out her arms towards him.

‘Hi!’

Mia held on to her. ‘She’s all wet. She’ll ruin your—’

Something swelled in Daniel’s chest. Emotion and an instinct he couldn’t ignore, part possessive and part fear. He plucked Lexi out of Mia’s hands. ‘It’s fine.’

He’d held Lexi before, but he was surprised again at how solid she was. And trusting.

She immediately placed her hands on his face and declared, ‘Hair face!’

Daniel smiled. He nuzzled his face against her cheek, making her squirm and giggle. When he looked at Mia he was surprised to see an arrested look on her face. Their eyes met and the expression disappeared as if he’d imagined it. An electric spark zinged between them. Her cheeks went pink.

She reached for Lexi again and he let her take her—but not before their fingers touched.

The colour in her cheeks deepened and Mia said, ‘I should wash her off and prepare her dinner.’

She stood up, all long limbs and tantalising curves.

‘Join me for dinner this evening,’ Daniel said.

He could see her mouth open, could anticipate the refusal. But then she surprised him by saying, ‘Okay. I’ll join you once Lexi is down for the night.’

Mia looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was curling wildly in the evening heat after her shower. Not much she could do about that. Anyway, it wasn’t as if this was a date. She was having dinner with the father of her child, and they would stick to topics concerning only their daughter.

She’d chosen to wear a long kaftan-like dress which couldn’t be remotely construed as sexy. But then, out of nowhere, an image popped into her head of Daniel with Lexi earlier, tickling her with his stubble, and suddenly Mia felt breathless.

She hated the tender part of her that it had affected. Seeing Lexi being held in his big hands. Protected. Safe. Already Lexi had experienced a more meaningful father-daughter relationship than Mia ever had.

Mia could also recall all too easily how Daniel’s gaze had lingered on her body, making her blisteringly aware of the clinging wet swimsuit.

But she’d imagined the heat in Daniel’s eyes. Must have. Projected her own desire on to him.

He didn’t want her any more.

She’d never forget the way he’d looked at her that day when she’d told him she was pregnant. The shock. Horror. And then panic. And then later in the hospital, in the aftermath of her miscarriage, with a cold remoteness that had scared her.

After checking Lexi, and the baby monitor to make sure it was on, Mia went up to the next level, where they would eat.

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