"If it had been me, I wouldn't have settled for just one." He tried not to think about his odds of touching her this afternoon, although the area around the cove was still secluded, making it a perfect stop for privacy. This section of the lakeshore was no more populated now than it had been ten years ago. Would they get a chance to replay the memory?
"That may be the most convincing argument you've made yet relating to that old disagreement." She turned from the rail to watch him, the sun burnishing her hair in a way that showed subtle streaks of copper. "But since you probably didn't bring me here to skinny-dip, I can't help but wonder what we're doing in this spot."
"We're in the public eye often enough. I thought you'd appreciate some private time." He pointed to her bathing suit. "You seem dressed for a swim even though no native would dream of getting in the water this time of year."
He'd used the fish-finder system to double-check the water nearby and knew there were no rocks or obstacles in the lake. It was deep enough to jump and safe to swim.
"I've been doing laps in gym pools for two weeks with the doctor's okay. And after spending years in New York, this feels like summer weather to me." She tipped her head up to the sun. "And don't try to tell me you wouldn't go in the water. I've seen you jump overboard in January."
"I'll always wade a little if the fish are biting." Focused so narrowly on football, he hadn't been fly-fishing in years. But he'd liked it as a kid, finding comfort in the quietness of the ritual when the rest of his life was so frenetic.
"Was I the only one who thought there might be a swim involved today?" She scraped back some of the loose strands of her hair and tucked them into the knot at the back of her head.
"The air temperature hasn't hit eighty in weeks so there's no telling how cold the water is." He made a show of peering overboard and shivering.
"Guess you're not as warm-blooded as me." She marched the length of the boat toward the swim platform at the back.
He was actually heating up just fine watching her in action, but he kept that to himself.
"Probably not, but I don't think it would be right to let you go all alone." He stalked toward her as she tossed aside her sunglasses. "My camp counselors taught me to use the buddy system when swimming."
She shook her head, a smile curving her lips right before she jumped in with a splash.
And a yelp.
She shrieked about how cold it was, but given how fired up she made him, that could only be a good thing as far as he was concerned. Stripping off his shirt and sliding out of his shoes, he stepped down to the platform to see for himself.
He aimed his jump to land a few feet from Tatiana. She swam with sure strokes through the dark water, her skin pale beneath the surface. He caught her around the ankle for a moment, relishing the feel of her silky soft skin. Allowing her to wriggle free, he treaded water and watched her cavort around in the waves.
"I thought it was too cold for you." She paused when she saw he'd stopped moving. Her long dark lashes had turned into spiky fringes around her bottle green eyes.
"I was afraid there might be more fish out to get you." He hadn't been kidding about the buddy system.
Not to mention, this was the mother of his child. He had every reason to protect her.
"I think I felt one around my ankle a minute ago." She seemed more relaxed out here.
"Did you ever miss it here?" He swam closer, drawn to her when she smiled and teased like the woman he'd once known.
Her smile faded.
"If I did, I wasn't allowed to show it." She shrugged, sending ripples out through the water near her. "I learned to love New York."
And she'd left him in the dust the same way she'd ditched the Big Easy.
"Remember that time I went to visit you during spring break after you moved to New York and you wouldn't see me?" He'd defied his older brothers and caught a commercial flight to Manhattan. Pounded on her family's door until her father threatened to call the cops.
"Of course. You said you wouldn't leave until you saw me." She held herself very still. "My father eventually made me come out of my room to tell you to go home."
"I understood that you were seventeen and had to do what they said. I didn't expect you to jump into a cab with me and run away to Spain or something." Even though he'd proposed just that at one point. But that was mostly because one of her father's favorite players was harassing her and Jack let the guy get away with it. "I just hoped you'd use the chance to tell your dad he didn't always know what was best for you."
Jean-Pierre had been angry at the time that she'd knuckled under so easily. But he hadn't understood how important it was to her to be accepted. To earn her father's approval. Maybe he still didn't get it.
Then again, his parents had never expected much from him or any of their sons. His dad had been a player all his life, and not just on the football field. Hence their half brother Dempsey, who was so close in age to Gervais it had been the last straw for his mother. She'd left the family shortly after Theo had moved Dempsey into their home.
Jean-Pierre had worked too damn hard to differentiate himself from his father to ever be viewed as some kind of womanizer.
"I learned to decide what was best for me eventually." She swam by him toward the boat. "At least, I hope I did."
Water sluiced off her as she hauled herself up the ladder and into the boat. Not finished with this conversation, Jean-Pierre followed her. He'd waited too long to talk to her after that time she'd told him she didn't ever want to see him again. And then, ten years later when he'd been so angry about the court case that he confronted her, the feelings had been so strong and so convoluted he didn't know what they'd acted on that night. Passion? Resentment? Anger? A toxic mix of all three?
And yet...not toxic. She'd conceived that night, and he wanted to understand what had happened between them so they could provide a healthy environment for a child in the future.
"I forgot a towel," she called over her shoulder. "Do you have extras?"
"I do." He pulled one out of the warming drawer beneath a bench seat. "But do you want to sit in the front deck hot tub for a few minutes to warm up?"
He tossed her the towel and toed aside the leather cover of the small tub built into the bow. Steam wafted up, surrounding them both in a soft white mist.
Her eyes went wide as she snuggled deeper into the towel. "I can't believe there was a hot tub under there." She came closer to see for herself. "I thought that covered up a holding tank for fish or something."
"Hardly." He folded the leather cover in half and pulled it the rest of the way off. "I'm not eighteen anymore, Tatiana. I allow myself a few creature comforts these days."
She bit her lip and unfastened the hair tie that had held her curls. "I don't want to stay out too much longer. I need to feed César soon."
Still, he would bet money she was tempted. And seeing her shift her weight uncertainly from one long, sleek leg to the other had him feeling damn tempted, too.
"I can get us back home in about half the time I took to travel out here. How about we get in the tub just long enough to warm up?" He went with the reasonable approach. But then, remembering what she'd said about runaway emotions since giving birth, he tried another appeal. "Besides, you've been so focused on caring for César that it doesn't seem like you've made much time to relax and recover. You won't be much good to him if you wear yourself out."
Her gaze flipped up to meet his for a moment before she dipped her toes in the steaming pool. He reached over to the side of a deck box and switched on the air jets. The motor hummed as bubbles erupted on the surface of the water, sending even more steam into the air.
"Maybe for a few minutes," she agreed, slipping out of the towel and stepping down into the hot tub.
He shifted closer to steady her arm, following her into the swirl of frothy water.
The purr of contentment she made as she settled into a seat beside him stirred him as quickly as a physical touch, the sound reverberating down his spine to remind him how much he wanted her. How much he wanted to inspire that same moan of satisfaction from her.
"Feel good?" Being around her had always revved him high and this day with her was testing his every last restraint.