She didn’t say a word to me or Ben as she led us to our seats. In fact, she didn’t say a word to me for the rest of the night.
I might have been able to suppress my concern of Blake and Abby’s friends’ parents finding out I was seeing someone now, but I could not ignore Katherine’s cold stare or icy behavior.
Luckily, there was enough going on to distract me. Blake played an amazing Poky Puppy. He remembered all of his lines and hammed it up to the audience. His dad would have been so very proud of him.
And Abby played her part as the sun exactly how I thought she would- grumpy. She snapped at the flowers and kicked a bone all the way across stage. She was awful. And it was so adorable I stood up at the end of the play and gave her a standing ovation. Mr. Hoya got exactly what he asked for. Abby’s dad would have been so very proud of her too.
Although you could never get me to say that out loud.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The school year ended in a blink of an eye and summer flipped by in lazy days of late mornings and reckless play. June was a month filled with outdoor barbeques where Ben would grill and I would fill the patio table with paper plates and corn on the cob. The kids loved to eat outside and it wasn’t too hot to enjoy the summer evenings.
Some nights Ben would watch the kids for me while I went for a run. They loved their Ben-time without me to take away his attention. And I loved my alone time.
On the weekends we would spend hours in Ben’s pool. With two of us it made watching the kids simple. Emma would join us whenever she didn’t have other plans.
Ben rarely spent a night away from us. And when he had to be away, it wasn’t just me that missed him. The kids wanted him with us, at our dinner table, in our house, a part of our lives.
The Fourth of July had been spent at the lake, where he supervised small fireworks and I managed s’mores. We invaded his parent’s cabin for the weekend and it was the first time I allowed him to sleep over.
Not that he did anything more than sleep. Still, that was a big step for me.
By the middle of July, I was already dreading the school year and simultaneously looking forward to the kids having a more structured life. Lucy couldn’t wait to go to kindergarten and Abby had settled down just enough that I thought maybe her second grade teacher might be able to survive the year.
With the right amount of prayer.
Before I thought too seriously about school though, I decided we needed a lot more days at the pool. Because it was Saturday, Ben could join me and the children could survive the day.
“No running!” I called after Abby and Blake as they raced around the side of the pool and fought to see who could make the bigger cannonball splash.
Lucy had herfloatieson and had no trouble puttering around the length of the pool andJacewas enjoying hisfroggyinflatable that sat him upright near the shallow end. All children were safe for the moment.
It was a good day.
I spread my arms along the edge of the pool and let the baked cement warm my skin. I blinked up at the bright sun and soaked in these blissful few moments.
“We need another date,” Ben murmured, floating up to me. His firm torso was exposed for my viewing pleasure, the water crashed against his chest as he moved closer to me. My fingers twitched, desperate to run over his taut muscles.
“Why’s that?” I snuck a glance over his shoulder to make sure all of the children were safe… and also distracted. My fingers cut through the water until they brushed against his ribs.
His hands mimicked my movements. Isquirmeda little as they trailed over my skin under the water, causing my breath to hitch and his eyes to darken.
“Because I need you and this bathing suit all to myself.”His lips dropped to my collarbone where he trailed hot kisses dripping with cool water to the tip of my shoulder and back down. I dropped my head back and closed my eyes. A small whimper escaped the back of my throat and his gentle grip became fiercely needy. He clutched my sides and slid his thigh between my legs. With the little bikini bottoms I had on, his leg pressed to my core with shocking pressure.
I lifted my head and opened my eyes, only to come face to face with the purest picture of desire I had ever seen.
I stopped breathing and my heart stopped beating. A blush swept over me from top to bottom. His intentions were so clearly written on his face that I had no doubt of the thoughts that ran through his head.
We had been dating for five months and this had never become a topic of conversation for us. I had been too terrified to bring it up and he had been too much of a gentleman. But surely he thought about this… wondered what would happen.
I certainly did.
But mine always ended with a big buzzer sounding and an announcer declaring that we were out of time. I couldn’t get past my own humiliation to even think about the good stuff.
I had always thought Grady would be the last man to see me naked. And I had liked it that way. I couldn’t fathom undressing in front of another man. Not after ten years of marriage to the same man.
And let’s not even discuss my destroyed lady bits.Thank you my darling children.You didn’t exactly leave me in tiptop condition.
