Page 32 of A Simple Life

She looked pleased. “Ah.”

“Farmer John?” Abby asked.

“Yeah?”

“Can I swim after lunch?”

“Sure. If it’s okay with your mom.”

Quinn ruffled Abby’s hair. “Good thing I have your suit in the back.”

“Will you swim, Momma?”

“I don’t have a suit.”

“You’re wearing a T-shirt,” I pointed out. Grinning, I leaned close. “You got underwear on under those overalls, darlin’, or are you commando?”

She pursed her lips, trying to look affronted but failing. “Of course I do.”

“Probably covers you more than a bikini. I can give you another shirt to wear after.”

“Are you sure?”

The thought of her wearing my clothes did something to me. It made me want to beat my chest and roar out in victory. I glanced up at the sun, wondering if I was suffering from heatstroke.

Roar out in victory?

But her grin made it all better. “Okay, then.”

Game on.

Abby swam like a little fish, splashing and going underwater as if she’d been doing it all her life. Quinn watched her from the side, her wet T-shirt glued to her skin. I tried not to notice the shadow of her taut nipples under the thin material when she would stand to watch Abby. Unfortunately, my cock did, and I was grateful for the coolness of the water and the fact that it hid my arousal. She had long legs, and the image of them wrapped around me as I drove into her kept filtering through my brain, even as I tried to stop it. I didn’t understand how, in such a short time, I had gone from disliking Quinn to wanting to be close to her. To get to know her.

Internally, I shook my head. I had been attracted to her the first night at the fair. Even during our tumultuous meetings, I found her appealing. I had been too much of a jerk to admit exactly how tempting.

Abby called for us to watch as she dove under the water, splashing us as she kicked. I laughed as I wiped my face. “She loves the water,” I observed.

“Yes. I put her in swimming lessons when she was a baby. She has always loved it. We spent a lot of time at the public pool.”

“My dad taught me to swim. My mom wasn’t a huge fan of water.”

“My ex wasn’t a fan of anything,” she murmured. “Especially us.”

“Sounds like an idiot.”

She sighed. “I was the idiot for staying and hoping.”

I glanced at her. She was staring at Abby, her shoulders hunched as if in pain.

“Maybe you were the one with the heart,” I said gently. “The brave one.”

She shrugged, but I noticed her shoulders straightened a little.

“Anyway, she loves to swim, and she loves a bath. Hates the rain.”

“Really?”

“Storms bother her. The wind and thunder.”