Secret Baby Scandal(15)

"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.