Worth the Fall(14)
“Hey, little man. Why are you wearing the beach?”
Charlie arched his head all the way back to look up at him, eyes squeezed tight against the bright sun. “I at the beach.”
“I see that.” Matt turned his attention to her. “Hey. You look surprised to see me.”
She straightened to face the incredibly gorgeous man, who could be having drinks at the pool among a throng of admirers. “I guess I am.”
“I told Jack I’d help him build a castle.” He made the statement like that explained everything.
Jack pointed to the mesh bag abandoned in the sand. “We got some stuff, but it’s stuck in the bag. Mom can’t open it.”
Great. Only five and already throwing me under the bus.
Matt looked at the bag, then at her. “I don’t think we’ll need it.”
Gracie joined them wearing hot pink sunglasses and a pale pink ball cap.
“Hi, ladybug.”
Gracie grabbed on to his other arm and lifted her feet, getting a free ride across the sand and causing Matt’s biceps to flex as he supported her weight. She should have told her daughter not to hang on him, but she could only stare.
Jack chose a spot near the water and they got to work. They dug and carried and patted, Matt and Abby letting the children do the talking. An hour later they had an impenetrable fortress complete with a moat and a little bridge Matt had made with the sticks Gracie had gathered.
Abby sat back, taking a break, letting Charlie drive his Matchbox car over her foot. Annie silently observed the group from where she made drippy castles a few feet away. Matt listened intently to Jack, their heads close together, as they discussed and planned the neighboring castle of bad guys. It dawned on her just how little time Jack had actually spent with his father.
There hadn’t been any playing on the floor with blocks or trains, no working in the yard side by side, no guy time. Having his ideas and suggestions validated by Matt, someone he already looked up to, was priceless.
Worth the price of eventual disappointment? That was the question, wasn’t it? Her answer had always been no.
—
Matt was all too aware of the woman sitting in the sand just a few feet away. The tension that had threatened to choke him an hour ago dropped another notch as the sounds of innocent voices blended with those of the ocean.
“Mom, I’m hot,” Jack whined. “I want to swim.”
“Remember what I said. We play in the sand and swim in the pool,” she told Jack. Then, with a quick glance in his direction, added, “No way can I watch four children in the ocean.”
“But we’re hot. Please.” Jack and Gracie begged, looking to him to intercede on their behalf.
“Peeze,” said Charlie.
“I could use some cooling off. What if I take them out?”
“No, you don’t have to do that.” She worried her bottom lip between her teeth, watching the waves.
Matt watched the lip.
“But, Mommm.” Jack wasn’t giving up.
“The water’s calm. What if I hold their hands?”
“Well.” Abby hesitated. “I guess.” She wet her lips, then rolled their pink fullness together. “If you’re sure it’s no trouble.”
His mind jumped to how that mouth would feel…And, yeah, he needed to cool off. “Nope. No trouble.”
When he’d given all the kids a turn in the water, except Annie, who politely declined, he dropped onto the sand next to Abby.
She sat, leaning back on her hands, long, slender legs out in front, crossed at the ankles. Her skin looked smooth, and he imagined it feeling like silk as he ran his hands slowly from her sassy red toenails all the way up to her thighs.
Okay. Maybe he needed more cooling off. The water rolled in waves, stretching endlessly to the horizon. And that was not what he wanted to look at. Say something, dumb-ass. “Your kids are great.”
“Thank you.” She tilted her head slightly, giving him that smile again. The one that could bring a man to his knees.
And it damn near took his breath away.
“You didn’t have to play with them all day,” she said, her words genuine, her voice soft.
“I enjoyed it.”
“Well, so did they. I’m going to be the boring mom now,” she grinned, teasing. “Your castle-building skills are far superior.”
I’d build one every day if I could look at you.
“You have kids?”
“No, just a slew of nieces and nephews.”
She made a soft sound of understanding, then seconds passed as he struggled to think of something to fill the growing silence. Something witty or intelligent. “Where are you from?”
Ah. Brilliant.
“I moved around a lot. We live in Raleigh now. What about you?”