There were the brave souls who camped out in the wild, but Deni hadn’t ever ventured that far off the beaten trails. She might enjoy camping, but she also needed her creature comforts such as a private, flushing toilet and showers. She couldn’t even imagine how to go to the bathroom without a toilet!
During the whole walk, Chloe chattered on about anything and everything. Her enthusiasm and energy were exactly what Deni needed that morning to banish the cobwebs and images of Sebastian’s chest from her mind.
Okay, that was a lie. Sebastian’s chest wasn’t leaving her thoughts. That image was permanently plastered in her mind and she wasn’t letting that one go. Nope! She was going to enjoy that image. Replay it over and over again.
When they returned from the bath house, Sebastian was gone. She suspected that he’d gathered his toiletries and was doing the same thing, and she was grateful for the reprieve.
“Okay, let’s figure out what Martha prepared for our breakfast, okay?” she suggested to Chloe.
“Yeah!” she agreed, excitedly running over to the coolers, waiting until Deni took the heavy bins down that had protected the food from the wild animals last night.
Deni was concentrating on what to make for breakfast when she felt the air change. Sebastian was back. A moment later, Chloe squealed as she was lifted into Sebastian’s arms as he hugged her, making her giggle with delight.
“Daddy! Your face is scruffy!”
Deni looked over her shoulder at Sebastian. Sure enough, he hadn’t shaved. Wow! She’d thought he looked good with a bare chest. But looking at him now, all rough and rugged…her heart began pounding. Hard! He literally took her breath away.
What was it about a man who could make a little girl squeal with delight while looking like he’d just carved out a mountain?
It wasn’t fair, she thought as she grabbed what looked like pre-whisked eggs in a plastic container and a bag of cheese. As soon as the cheese and eggs were out of the way, Deni discovered another with bag filled with chopped peppers and onions. With a sigh, she picked up the skillet, surprised to find that it was clean. Her eyes glanced over at Sebastian and that beating in her chest became a pounding. He could make Chloe laugh, carve out a mountain, AND clean a pan?
Damn!
Flipping the dials on the stove, she started heating the pan while she looked for oil, trying to keep her eyes away from Sebastian and Chloe as they moved in and out of the tent. Obviously, they were cleaning things up and she wanted to rush over to him and…do wicked things to him!
She’d read a funny sign once that said there was nothing sexier than a man in a well-tailored suit. Deni would have to disagree. There was nothing sexier than a rugged man who could also clean the dishes. A man who could clean without having to be told!
The oil in the skillet started sizzling and she focused on cooking breakfast. Dumping the onions and peppers into the hot oil, she stirred while they sizzled. She didn’t look up. She didn’t peer over at the man and his daughter as they searched through the boxes, coming up with the missing paper plates.
It didn’t take long to pour the eggs into the vegetables and add the cheese. The cook stove was top of the line and produced a good amount of heat.
“Breakfast is ready,” she announced, taking the skillet off the heat. She looked over at the picnic table to find that Sebastian and Chloe had discovered fruit and cut it up, with Chloe creating a pretty design with the pieces. “That looks beautiful!”
Chloe grinned, preening under the praise. “Daddy helped.”
Deni looked over at the man with a scruffy jaw. “I bet he was a great helper in making the fruit flowers.”
He rolled his eyes. “I only cut it up. I didn’t suggest the flowers.”
“That’s what they all say,” she taunted as she spooned scrambled eggs onto three plates.
She almost dropped the skillet when she felt his hands on her waist. “Are you maligning my masculinity?” he asked, his voice low and dangerously sexy. She could felt his lips incredibly close to the shell of her ear.
“Trust me, Sebastian. Your masculinity was never in question,” she admitted, hoping he couldn’t read between the lines.
“Good,” he replied, his hand slipping lower, as did his voice. “Because that would force me to validate my masculinity.”
A moment later, his hands and his heat were gone and Deni was left trembling as she watched him move over to the table, taking an apple slice. He bit into the juicy fruit as he locked eyes with her, his eyes conveying that yes, she’d understood his message perfectly.
The skillet hit the stove with a loud thunk. “Sorry,” she muttered as she sat down at the picnic table.
“This is delicious,” Sebastian said. “Thanks.”
Chloe looked at the eggs with her nose squinched up. “I don’t like it.”
Deni looked down, her fork halted in mid-air. “Vegetables!” she gasped. “Oh, sorry!”
Sebastian looked at her curiously.
Deni thought quickly. Chloe obviously was uneasy about the green peppers and onions in her eggs. Deni should have thought about that before making the batch of eggs. She hadn’t cooked for a little girl until last night so she’d forgotten children’s aversion to vegetables.
“They aren’t vegetables,” Deni announced, giving Sebastian a meaningful look. “They are worms.”
Chloe looked doubtfully at Deni, then back down at her eggs. “Worms?”
“Yep! And they are delicious!” Deni announced.
Sebastian’s eyes sparkled at her with a strange, undefinable light.
Chloe picked up her fork and stabbed a bite of the green peppers. “I didn’t know that worms were green.”
“Only the icky ones are green,” Deni took another bite.
Chloe was fascinated. Taking a tentative bite, she chewed, looking at Deni, then at her father. “They don’t taste like worms,” she announced.
“You’ve never eaten worms before, have you?”
“No,” Chloe admitted, taking another bite.
“Then how do you know what worms taste like?”
Chloe took another bite, bigger this time. “I like them!” she finally announced, and dug into the eggs with gusto.
Deni grinned across the table at Sebastian. The shock as he lifted his eyes from his daughter’s quickly vanishing food to Deni made her heart thud. And then the stunned look turned to admiration and that thudding just about caused her heart to break a rib.
But he silently ate his eggs, accepting that his daughter enjoyed eating worms.
They finished breakfast with a great deal of fanfare since Chloe decided that she and Deni needed to dance. Obviously, Chloe had remembered Deni’s stories about her parents dancing in the kitchen. Sebastian declined, and took the skillet over to the campsite sinks to clean.
When Sebastian came back with a clean skillet, Deni and Chloe were inventing silly ballet moves to the Sleeping Beauty soundtrack. Deni had just spotted Sebastian when he pulled her into his arms and twirled her around, then dipped her low. Chloe laughed, bouncing up and down as she clapped.
“My turn!” she announced.
Sebastian lifted Chloe into his arms and swung her around and around, letting her back arch against his arms so that her hair swung out. The girl had such complete confidence in her father’s strength that she let her hands fly over her head as she laughed, delighted with the new game.
Deni pulled out her phone and took several pictures of them dancing. Several other campers were walking along the road, either going to or coming from the bath house and they all stopped to watch. There were dips and lunges, twirls and hops until, finally, Sebastian turned his daughter upside down and danced with her like that before ending the song with a dramatic dip, just as he’d done to Deni.
The crowd clapped and cheered. Chloe was laughing so hard, she could barely stand, but she managed to grab her father’s hand and encouraged him to bow for the crowd.
Deni watched it all, taking more
pictures as she watched.
When they turned and walked back to the picnic table, Deni stared. If anyone had told her a week ago that Sebastian Hughes would dance in the woods with a giggling little girl, she would have scoffed, not believing it. But Deni flipped through the pictures, laughing.
“I wanna see!” Chloe called, racing over to Deni and tilting her head way back.
Deni went down on one knee to show Chloe the pictures. They flipped through them and Deni almost choked with emotion when Chloe’s little arm creeped around Deni’s neck as she leaned against her.
“Daddy looks very handsome,” she whispered.
Deni and Chloe both looked up, spotting Sebastian coming around from the back of the Land Rover.
He stopped when he saw them staring at him. “What?” he demanded.
“Nothing,” Deni replied, stuffing her phone back into her pocket. A moment later, Chloe giggled and Deni felt the small child’s hand slip into her own. “Are we still going to hike up to the waterfall?” she asked.
Sebastian had no idea what was going on, but he suspected that it was better not to know. “Do you want to hike to a waterfall?” he asked of Chloe.
“Yes!” she exclaimed, bouncing excitedly. He chuckled, thinking that the bouncing seemed excessive, but it was a hell of a lot better than the sedate child he’d picked up from his ex-wife’s house two weeks ago.
“Then we’d better get started!” he announced, tossing reusable water bottles into the back seat of the SUV. The water was fresh from the water station and he added some snacks as well.
Ten minutes later, after packing a backpack with snacks and “locking up” the tent, they were driving towards the trailhead that would take them to the waterfalls. The parking lot was filling up with cars but they found a good parking spot.
As they walked through the woods, Chloe chatting about everything and bouncing on her toes, Sebastian walked next to Deni, his hands in his pockets. “Thank you for breakfast. For everything,” he said, and meant it. “Chloe has really come out of her shell.”
“I got some great pictures of you two dancing this morning,” she told him.
Chloe heard that and turned around. “Will you teach me how to take pictures?” she asked.
“Sure!” Deni replied. “I’m not very good, but I’ll show you what I know. I took a class in college and loved it.”
“Will I go to college?” she asked her father.
“Absolutely!”
For the next two miles, they walked and talked. Deni learned more about Sebastian as he patiently answered Chloe’s steady flood of questions. Deni took more pictures of them as Sebastian helped Chloe over the rocks or cuddled her when she stumbled on an “invisible” tree root, causing a minor tearful moment.
“Can I take some?” Chloe asked, distracted by the enticement of photography.
“Sure,” Deni handed the little girl her phone. “Here’s what you do,” Deni explained how to focus and press the dot on the screen that would capture an image.
“Will you go over to that rock so I can try?” Chloe asked eagerly.
Deni settled on the rock, she hated having her picture taken but would do it for Chloe. She could always delete the pictures later, she told herself.
Sebastian crouched behind Chloe and helped her through the initial picture taking process. “Will you go over to sit behind Deni?” Chloe asked. “Just like you were this morning.”
Deni looked at Sebastian, thinking of their position this morning. Instantly, her heart went into overdrive, blood thrumming through her veins. It was one thing to accidentally wake up in a man’s arms. Would it be just as intense if they did the touching intentionally?
She was reminded that Chloe was only five and nothing could happen during the photoshoot. But that was before Sebastian moved to sit behind Deni on the rock. When they couldn’t seem to get comfortable, he shifted so that his legs were on either side of Deni’s hips. He wrapped his arms around Deni’s waist, pulling her close.
While Chloe clicked happily away, Sebastian tightened his arms around Deni. “Why do you tense up when I’m close?” he asked.
Deni lowered her head, choosing her words carefully, trying to find an answer that wouldn’t reveal how she felt towards this man.
“I guess I’m just… out of practice,” she finally admitted.
“I guess you need more practice, then,” he teased and Deni felt his words all the way down to her toes. Was that intentional? Was he trying to make her crazy by teasing her like this?
A moment later, she felt his thumb shift against her stomach and she gasped, turning her head to look at him over her shoulder. Deni was startled to find the same heat echoed in his eyes. Was she imagining it? Was he just…she couldn’t know.
The heated look in his eyes was so intense, she wanted to turn around and kiss him, feel his lips touching hers. She wanted to wrap her arms around his neck and press her body against his. She wanted…him. He’d gotten under her skin in ways that she didn’t quite understand. He melted her heart and heated her body. The scruff on his face and his love for his daughter just…everything about him made her want him in the most primal way.
“Deni,” he groaned, his arms tightening around her waist.
“Kiss her, Daddy!” Chloe directed imperiously. Chloe’s command pulled her out of the hazy lust that had wrapped itself around both of them.
Realizing what was happening, Deni shook herself mentally. “Okay, I think that’s enough pictures,” Deni announced pulling out of his arms abruptly. She reached for her phone, but Chloe pulled it back. “Can I take more pictures of the trees and leaves?”
Deni shrugged, relieved to have some space between herself and Sebastian. “Sure. Why not?”
And Chloe was off, heading towards the nearest tree to take pictures of bark.
“Are you okay?” Sebastian asked, close by her side.
She sighed and glanced up at him. He kept an eye on Chloe, ensuring that she didn’t go too far, but turned back to her and she saw it again. The same heat that still bubbled inside of her was reflected in his no longer icy grey eyes. Just now, they were molten silver, watching her carefully.
“I’m fine,” she whispered.
“Yes. You are. Very much so.”
And then he turned and headed down the pathway after Chloe. His words caused her heart to skip a beat and she stared after him, stunned and fighting the heat in her veins that was just…silliness.
He’d made it a few steps before he turned back to her, lifting those dark eyebrows. “Coming?” he asked.
“Yes! Definitely.” She jerked back into motion, relieved to focus on not tripping and falling on the roots that studded the hiking trail.
They made it to the waterfall in what must have been the slowest pace ever recorded for that trail. Mostly because Chloe wanted to take pictures of everything. There were several people already at the waterfall when they arrived, most in swimsuits and almost all of them teenagers or in their early twenties. Right below the waterfall was a small reservoir where the water pooled before toppling down the next set of rocks and several families dipped their toes into the water.
“Can I swim?” Chloe asked immediately.
“No, it’s too cold for little girls,” Sebastian told her. “But you can take off your shoes and socks and wade in the area where fuzzy rocks are.”
Chloe didn’t understand about fuzzy rocks but she was intrigued. Moments later, she had her shoes and socks off and was racing towards the water.
Deni was already there, sitting on a rock because she didn’t want to get her feet wet. The water looked painfully cold. She was just in time to catch Chloe before she barreled into the water while Sebastian pulled off his hiking boots and socks. He’d just bent to roll up his pants when Chloe broke away. He called to her, but it was Deni who jumped off her perch and caught the small girl.
“Wait for your dad,” Deni warned.
Chloe sighed in resignation. “He’s so slow!”
she groaned.
Sebastian heard her words and rolled his eyes, scooping up his daughter. “You didn’t listen, honey. You have to listen to me.”
“Sorry Daddy,” she replied contritely as she looked wistfully out at the rocks. But as she looked down, her contrition turned to fascination as she noticed the rocks right by the water that were covered in moss. “They are fuzzy!” she exclaimed.
Deni climbed back up on the rock, snapping pictures of Sebastian holding Chloe’s hands as she stepped carefully onto each rock. It looked like Chloe was asking her father questions, but with the roar of the waterfall, Deni couldn’t hear their words. But she snapped several adorable pictures of the pair and laughed when Chloe began dancing in the water, splashing her father’s jeans in the process – which caused him to lift her up into the air pretending to toss her away.
It was possibly the first time that she’d heard Sebastian laugh outright. And the sound was magical. The smile transformed his harsh features and…well, it melted Deni’s heart just a little bit further.
Okay, a lot!
Chapter 15
“How about if you build a fire?” Deni suggested, pointing to Sebastian as they parked back to their campsite after the hike, “And you,” she pointed to Chloe as they all stepped out of the Land Rover, “need to help him because I doubt he knows what to do. I’ll get dinner started and then,” Deni bent down low, whispering in Chloe’s ear, “you can help me get ready for s’mores!”
Chloe’s mouth formed an excited O. “Really?” she whispered back. “Really?”
“Yes,” Deni laughed. “Tonight, we’ll have a campfire and one of the main reasons to have a campfire is to roast marshmallows. And if you’re going to roast them, we might as well make them into s’mores!”
Wanted: Wife for Hire (The Diamond Club Book 8) Page 12