Sophie's mouth curls in a smile. It's so good to see her happy. "You look gorgeous tonight."
I chuckle, realizing she usually only sees me dressed for work. And since I work at home, my ensemble usually consists of a pair of faded yoga pants and a stretched out t-shirt.
If I'm being honest, the only reason I took the extra time and care getting ready – wearing a sundress, curling my hair – was because I knew I'd see Pace again. It's stupid, and I brush off her compliment.
"Max is sleeping in your den. Hope that's okay," I say.
"Absolutely," Colton says. "You could have put him upstairs in a bed, you know?"
I wave him off. "He's fine. But thank you."
"Looks like he had fun with Pace today," Colton remarks, watching me closely to see my reaction. Colton and his brother are really quite different. Where Colton is intense, calculated and exacting in everything he does, Pace is open and easy going and puts a smile on your face, despite your best efforts to hate him.
I want to drill him for information, ask him what is up with Pace's attention toward me and my son, but I don't want to appear to be overly interested. "Just a couple more days until you guys set off, right?" I ask.
Colton wraps his arms around Sophie's middle and tugs her back against him. "It'll be Sophie's first time in Africa. The first of many, hopefully. I'm anxious to see all the progress from my visit there two years ago."
Colton and I discuss the logistics of their trip, while Sophie peppers us with questions of her own. They've each been receiving the necessary vaccinations before their travel, and have their passports and travel visas ready. They'll be gone for three weeks. I'll miss seeing Sophie on the days she works with me.
"I wish you could come, Kylie," Sophie says. "Would your nanny stay with Max?"
I shrug. "She probably would if I asked her, but I don't think I could handle being separated from Max for so long." He is my heart.
She nods like she understands. But I don't think she truly does. She will when she's a mother.
Pace wanders over in bare feet, his white shirtsleeves are pushed up, showing off tan and muscular forearms sprinkled with light hair. He's dangling a bottle of beer from one hand and grinning at me.
"Where's your mini?" he asks, looking directly at me.
My belly tightens. "He's all partied-out."
"Excuse us," Colton says. "We've got to go say goodnight to Dad. He's still operating on the eastern time zone." He leads Sophie away and I'm, once again, alone with Pace. I'm not sure why I feel so out of my element when I'm near him. It's probably because I don't understand his motivations, I decide.
"Care to join me by the water?" he asks.
"Sure." He leads me toward the beach. And even though my brain is screaming at me to say no, my feet carry me down toward the water, following closely behind him.
Pace
I lead Kylie to a secluded spot on the beach. After seeing her with the little koala bear she's had attached to her hip or by her side all afternoon, it's like part of her is missing. There's something I don't like about it.
"This okay?" I ask, indicating a dry spot in the sand where the tall grasses shield some of the wind blowing in off the water.
"Fine," she says, lowering herself down. "The monitor should still work out here." Kylie crosses her legs and folds her hands in her lap.
I sink down beside her. The sand is warm and sugar soft. The gentle sounds of the low rolling waves and moonlight gleaming down on us make a romantic backdrop. If she were any other woman, I would have her down on her knees by now with my cock deep in her throat. To be honest, I'm a bit at a loss right now, unsure what to do or say next. It's an interesting change for me.
"Did you enjoy yourself tonight?" I ask.
"Max had fun, so that was good."
It wasn't what I'd asked her, but I let it go.
When she talks about her son, her eyes light up and her mouth curves into a silly grin. It's actually quite adorable. She's a far cry from the women in my past. For one, she's not all over me, and two, she's mostly quiet and contemplative as she looks out at the water. She feels no need to fill the silence with nonsense jabber. It's refreshing.
She's never fake, never tries to impress me, she's just comfortable in her own skin and that makes the man inside me take notice.
From the corner of my vision, I watch the breeze lift the stray pieces of hair that have escaped her ponytail. They flutter around her neck and cheeks while Kylie looks straight ahead, watching the waves. I'm certain she has no idea how beautiful she is with her minimal makeup and no-fuss style. I was noticing things I never took the time to notice before, like the delicate scent hanging around her, and how soft and smooth her skin looked.
When you fuck a woman in the bathroom of a nightclub, there's no reason to take her out again. Where's the chase? The mystery? I liked to get a little crazy now and then, but I still believed a woman should behave like a woman. Kylie is every bit poised and put together with a shit ton of mystery and enough depth to make me want to give chase.
In Los Angeles her modesty is refreshing. She would be the type of woman to age gracefully. No injections or fillers or skin pulled too tight around her eyes. She'd still be beautiful at sixty. I could see it now. Long silver hair, the same cheeky gleam in her green eyes, as she pushed up on her toes to kiss her grown son on the cheek.
"I should go. It's late, and … "
Hell, I can't let her walk away yet. "Max's asleep inside, right?"
She looks down at the baby monitor in her hands. "Yes, but … "
"You could stay for a little while longer, couldn't you?"
She looks like she wants to say no, but then at the last minute, she surprises me. "I suppose so."
"I know you said you're not much of a drinker, but could I get you anything … water? Soda?"
"No, I'm fine. You didn't have to hang around us all night, Max and I, I mean," she says.
"I wanted to, Kylie."
She swallows and glances up at my eyes, trying to read if I'm feeding her a line. "Pace, I've worked for Colton for over a year now. He's told me a few stories about his younger brother. I know this isn't you. You're not the guy who's looking to settle down with a single mom. You said so yourself at the gala."
"Then what kind of guy am I, Kylie?"
Her brilliant emerald gaze flashes on mine, looking dark and dangerous. "You're the guy who drops panties and breaks hearts and does it all with a sultry grin. I've heard the stories. They're a bit wild." She winks.
I'm going to fucking kill Colton. I don't care that it's his engagement party. He's a dead man. Shit, I realize I can't do that to Sophie. I'll just have to come up with some type of plan B to make him pay.
"Unless you have some type of mommy dearest issue you need to explore?" she raises a brow.
Her joke is off color, but she doesn't know it. "I lost my mother when I was nine."
"Oh, God, I didn't know. I'm so sorry." Her hands flies to her chest and stays there while she watches me.
"It's okay. You didn't know."
"I'm sorry. Colton never mentioned it." Her tone is tender and caring.
I shrug. I'm not surprised. "It's not something we like to discuss."
As we sit here together in the company of the endless blue ocean, I can't help but wonder if my interest in Kylie has anything to do with the fact that I do see her as a mother. Her softness, the love I see pouring out of her in every interaction with Max – maybe those are things that attract me to her. Her warmth, her devotion – they are all part of what makes her beautiful. It doesn't take a psychiatrist to find the link here. But it isn't something I care to dwell on.
Beside me, Kylie cups handfuls of sand and lets them drift through her parted fingers like a sieve.
"Can I ask you something?" I ask.
She nods.
"What happened to Max's father?" It's something I've wondered about since the first time I met her, but I'm only brave enough to ask now, in the cover of night, and once she's already stumbled over the death of my mother.
She pauses her motions, letting the sand fall from her hands, then dusts them off. "Have you ever been in love, Pace?" she surprises me by asking.
"No."
"Never?"
"Nope." I'm hopeful that it'll happen someday, I just haven't gotten there yet. I've been too busy building my career and sleeping my way through the LA singles scene.
"It's a scary thing – handing your heart over like that. Giving someone the very best pieces of yourself." Her eyes are far away and she remains staring out at the water as she speaks. "I met Max's father, Elan, when I first moved to Los Angeles a few years ago. He was quite a bit older than me, thirty-six at the time, already settled and successful. I didn't know anyone in the city, and he seemed like a safe choice. We dated for about six months, and even though we never talked about our future in the terms of marriage and children, I felt like we were building toward something real and long-lasting. We stayed together every weekend, at either his place or mine. And even though we were careful – I was on birth control at the time – somehow, I got pregnant. I guess they're serious with those fine print warnings about no birth control method being one-hundred percent effective. I just never thought anything like that would happen to me."