“But if they get better, like you said, then there’s no need to put her through another ordeal.”
“Glass half full. I like that, especially if it’s beer,” he jokes.
My smile burns my face off.
“Whatever, though. I just wish she didn’t need the damn shoes while we’re waiting. It’s hard on her emotionally,” he says, his expression dark.
“Does she still get bullied?” I ask.
“What do you think?” His eyes flash darkly.
My face flares, hotter than ever.
“Oh, sorry. Kids can suck when people are different. Same for adults. But at least they have time to grow out of it,” I say. “I don’t think I know a single person who hasn’t been bullied at least once when they were little.”
“Even you? Or did the Blackthorn name scare them straight?”
“I wish!” I cover my face briefly. “You think I’ve always been this glamorous? My brother was the cool kid. I didn’t learn how to stand up for myself until my boobs grew in—and then I had to figure out how to deal with boys leering and girls whispering jealously behind my back.”
Kane’s eyes heat when I mention my breasts, though he doesn’t break his gaze.
“I try like hell to do right by my kids and teach them respect. Wish everybody else would put in half the effort.”
“For sure. But I survived the teen years, and Sophie will too. Especially if I can come up with something to help her… They’ll just be a design, though. They’ll have to be sent off to be custom made with her specs in mind. But it’s a start.”
“Her shoes are already special orders,” he says. “I’m sure that can be arranged.”
“Oh my God,” I tease. “You have her shoes specially made and you made them black?”
The water swirls around us as he makes a sudden move toward me. Laughing, I fall back.
“There werethreecolor choices: grey, white, and black. Or are you telling me I have the fashion sense of a rock?” he asks, moving closer now.
Humor gleams in his eyes, fanning the wicked blaze I’ve been fighting in my core since the moment I slid into the water next to him.
“Just a little. But you know what, you can learn. And you’re doing a great job as a dad.”
“Yeah? Hell of an endorsement, duchess.” He settles beside me, close enough so our arms touch.
“It must be hard work, being such a good man. You should let go sometimes, you know? This stalker thing has everyone rattled, but we’re still on vacation. Both of us.”
“Let go how, woman? You sound like you have suggestions.” When he looks at me now, there’s no more humor in his eyes.
And there’s no mistaking it.
The stark bright question in his eyes.
The warmth of the water whisks through me, melding with my pulse, and I twist closer to face him.
His hand drops to my waist, and even though I can’t feel the heat of his fingers through the water, it lashes hot need through my bones.
“Maybe this,” I whisper, swinging my leg over his thigh.
Growling, his other hand lands on my hip.
You could cut this night with scissors, so thick with desire.
And when his eyes close, I press my body against his.
