The Risk Taker

by Cathryn Fox

  “And for that, I’m going to make you eat it now,” Jonah says and drags her in for a hug.

  “Yuck, get away from me.” She shoves him and pinches her nose. “You smell like fish.”

  Jonah lifts his arms and smells his shirt. “That’s a good manly smell, babe.”

  “Come on, let’s go dunk you in the ocean before you shower. I don’t even want you inside the cottage smelling like this.”

  “I want to swim, too!” Chase exclaims.

  “I know I need to dunk,” I say.

  “Let’s all hit the beach before dinner,” Fallon says.

  “Oh, by the way,” Zander says to Sam. “I hope you’re up for a sleepover. Daisy invited the kids over.”

  Sam throws her hands up in the air. “The more the merrier.” I don’t miss the stiffness in Fallon’s spine. Sam must notice it too, because she turns to the women and says, “That’s if you’re all okay with it, of course.”

  “Like you have to twist my arm,” Quinn responds with a snort. “Scotty is all yours.”

  “I’m sure Brandon would love that,” Nina says.

  Fallon crosses her arms. “I’m…not sure.”

  “Can I, Mommy, can I?” Chase pleads, his brown eyes big and begging.

  Quinn snorts. “I’m telling you know, that boy is going to be a heartbreaker when he grows up.” She laughs as his long thick lashes fall slowly over dark chocolate eyes. “Oh, you are in for so much trouble.”

  I step up to Fallon. “They’re only three houses down. I think Chase would love it.” I lean in to her, and lower my voice for her ears only. “I spent the day thinking about all the ways I can make you scream my name tonight, and now you won’t have to worry about little ears hearing it.”

  She swallows, and I love the soft pink color creeping into her cheeks. “When you put it that way.” She glances at Sam. “It’s okay by me, but he’s not used to sleepovers. So…”

  “If he cries to come home, Zander will bring him, but I think little mother hen over there,” she says, pointing to Daisy, who is doting on Scotty, “Is going to make sure he has fun.”

  “It’s settled. Let’s get the stink off these guys,” Katee says.

  “I’ll get my water wings,” Chase says and runs from the kitchen.

  As everyone files out the door, Fallon reaches into a bag and pulls out a new bathing suit.

  I take the material and run it though my hands. “What’s this?” I ask.

  “New suit.”

  I frown at the polka dot two-piece. “But I liked your old one. I liked it a lot.”

  She goes up on her toes, and puts her mouth near my ear, “Well, you can’t very well be hanging out on the beach with a perma-boner, now can you?”

  A groan born from sexual need rises in my throat. “And you think this is going to change that? One look at your beautiful body in this and I’m a goner.”

  The smile that comes over her face fucks me over, and it’s all I can do not to drag her into my arms and take her right here on the counter. But tonight, however. Tonight, I’m going to have her here all to myself and I plan to take full advantage of it. Oh, yeah, I want this woman at my mercy while I do dirty things to her.

  “Great, now I’m going to have to whack off before going for a swim,” I say and her laughter trails behind her as she dashes upstairs. I tug off my shirt and toss it into the washing machine, and grab a bottle of water from the fridge. I crack it open and take a drink, needing something to cool me down.

  Fallon comes back down with Chase, and one look at her and I begin to thicken. After last night, you’d think I’d be sated, but no, the more time I spend with her, the more I want her—in so many ways. And that’s all kinds of fucked up.

  “You like?” she asks when she reaches the landing.

  I growl, and put my hand on her curvy hip when Chase runs past us. “I’m going to wreck you tonight,” I say and hand her the bottle of water. She wraps her lips around it and takes a long pull. When she finishes, she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, and her chest heaves.

  “Promise?” she asks with a sexy grin that wraps around my cock and tugs.

  “Let’s go, Jamie,” Chase says from the door.

  “Hey, what about me? she asks, with a laugh. “Jeez, you spend one day fishing with him, and he forgets all about me.”

  “I didn’t forget about you,” I assure her. “And I promise to show you that later.” I put my hand on her back and urge her to go ahead of me, partly because Chase is jumping up and down and eager to go, and partly because I want to see her ass in those cute bikini bottoms. She opens the door, and takes Chase’s hand when he looks like he’s about to dart away without us.

  “Mommy, Huxley was chasing the fish today.”

  “Was he really?” she asks.

  “Can we get a Huxley?”

  “We can talk about that,” she says, and before I reach her, her cell phone rings. She goes perfectly still, her body as stiff as a surfboard.

  “What?” I ask.

  Her eyes widen. Why does she look so spooked?

  “Nothing. Just leave it,” she says lightly, but her body language is telling a different story. Who does she think is calling, and why does she not want to answer?

  “Are you sure?” I jerk my thumb over my shoulder. “I can grab it for you?”

  She nods quickly. “It’s vacation time. No electronics,” she says. “And I don’t think Chase can wait another minute.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Chase tugs on her hand. “Come on, Mommy.”

  Forgetting her ringing phone, I step outside with them, and shut the door behind us. The late day sun falls over Fallon, lighting a halo over her head. Her flip flops smack against her feet as she hurries down the beach toward the water. Huxley comes running when he sees Chase, and it doesn’t surprise me. It was love at first sight for Chase, and he spent more time playing with the dog than fishing today. Worms really aren’t his thing, and that thought makes me chuckle. No, dogs are definitely his thing and I’m glad Fallon is considering one. Ethan wasn’t a lover of dogs, having been bit as a child in the park. To be fair, it was an incredibly hot day, and he’d been teasing the dog with a stick, no matter how many times I told him to stop. The animal nipped his ear in protest, and he’d disliked dogs ever since.

  Fallon kicks her flip flops off and goes from one foot to the other. “The sand is smoking hot,” she says as her lush breasts bounce with the movement. I stare, mesmerized.

  Motherfucker.

  Is she trying to kill me?

  “That’s not the only thing that’s hot,” I whisper into her ear as I scoop her up.

  “Don’t you dare dunk me again,” she says as her hands circle my neck to hold on.

  “Just saving your feet from the hot sand.” As a burst of happiness fills the gaping hole in my soul, and before I realize what I’m doing, I give her a kiss on the cheek.

  Chase laughs. “You kissed Mommy. You kissed Mommy,” he says and rolls on the sand with Huxley.

  “Come on, Chase,” Quinn says laughing. “Let’s get Huxley cooled off in the water.”

  Huxley runs out and Chase goes after him. Fallon is about to jump from my arms to follow them in, but I hold her tight. “It’s okay. Quinn’s got him,” I assure her.

  “I’m just not used to other people caring for him.”

  “You’ve done a lot on your own for a very long time,” I say, and that’s when I realize how alone she’s been, even before she lost her husband. Ethan was on the road a lot, maybe more than he needed to be. No wonder they were having trouble in their marriage.

  “I’m used to taking care of everything myself,” she says, and my gut clenches. Goddammit, I want to be the guy she can count on, the guy that takes care of her inside the bedroom and out. But what if I let her down again? What if I can’t be the man she needs? Being here on the ocean it’s easy to forget real life exists, but it does, and when we get back home, things have to go back to no
rmal.

  Right?

  “Jamie?” she asks.

  As my heart swells with the things I feel for her I walk into the water. “Tonight I’m totally going to take care of you,” I say and set her on her feet. She gives me a quizzical look.

  “Is everything okay?”

  I slide my hand around her head, and bring her lips to mine for a kiss. I suddenly don’t even care who’s watching. I break the kiss and Chase comes running over, splashing us both.

  “Chase,” Fallon yelps and hugs herself in the chilly ocean water. She scoops up her son and he laughs as she spins him. The dog starts barking and running circles around us, and I can’t keep the smile from my face.

  “Who wants to play Frisbee?” Luke calls from the sand.

  “Hey, Chase, you want to play?”

  “Frisbee,” he calls out and Fallon sets him down.

  I take a fast dunk to get the smell off fish off my body, and the women lay out their towels as we form a circle with the kids and start playing frisbee. All four kids are pretty athletic, not a surprise considering their parents. Watching Chase does make me want to get him in a pair of skates, though.

  We play for a solid hour as the women sunbathe, and when I hear a bunch of rumbling stomachs—okay, it might have just been mine—I stop the game. “Who wants to fry up some fish?” I ask, and Daisy pulls a face of disgust that makes us all laugh.

  “I guess it’s a good thing the girls bought that chicken,” Jonah says.

  “Told you so,” Quinn calls out.

  “She doesn’t miss a thing,” Jonah says and shakes his head. “Now I’ll be paying for this all night.” He calls for Huxley who is nipping at the waves. “Let’s all head back to my place. I know I caught the biggest fish, but since I’m the best cook…”

  Moans and groans of disbelief come from the others, and as I laugh, and as everyone makes their way back to the cottages, Chase tugs my hand. His brow is furrowed, and worried something is wrong, I drop to my knees. “What’s up, bud?”

  “Can you be my daddy?” he asks, and my damn heart leaps into my throat. Damn, he’s a smart boy, and I never should have kissed Fallon in front of him. What the hell was I thinking? I wasn’t, and that’s the problem. Being with Fallon makes me forget about life for a while, and why I can’t be with her.

  “Chase,” I begin and glance at the clouds moving across the blue sky. “Your daddy is up there watching over you remember?”

  “But I want a daddy here,” he says and jumps up and down in the sand. “Everyone has their daddy here. Why don’t I?”

  Because of me.

  The others move away to give us our privacy, and I cast a glance to my left to find Fallon staring at us, perfectly still, her jaw open, every muscle in her body pulled tight. Christ, I’m not even sure she’s breathing. Then again, I’m having a hell of a time filling my constricted lungs. I swallow the massive amount of guilt pushing bile into my throat, and struggle to find the right words to help Chase understand the situation.

  “I can do things with you,” I say to appease him and when he looks like he’s about to cry, I quickly add, “Like a daddy would.” Oh, fuck I think I might have just made this worse.

  I give Fallon a pleading look that sets her in to motion. She steps up to me and I stand. “He’s hungry and tired,” she says quietly, for my ears only. “That’s when all this gets the best of him.”

  “I want to play hockey like you,” he says, switching subjects so fast I’m sure it must have given him whiplash.

  “Yeah, I can take you to the rink. Teach you how to play. Would you like that, Chase?” I ask as my heart crashes against my chest. I swallow and my throat aches. “I can do things like that with you.”

  He smiles up at me. “Like a daddy,” he says, as if it’s all settled.

  I glance at Fallon. How the hell do I answer that? I don’t want to agree, and give him the wrong expectations, but how can I disagree when all he wants is for me to be like a daddy.

  “How about we go get something to eat and drink?” Fallon says and ruffles his hair.

  “I want to cook the fish,” he says and takes my hand and tugs me along. I look over my shoulder and even though Fallon had been playing it cool, I catch the stricken look on her face.

  “I’m sure Jonah will want your help,” I say to him. “Once he knows how good you are at making pancakes.”

  Fallon is exceptionally quiet when we reach the house, and while the guys gather up the cooler, and the women take the food to Johan’s place—giving me a shaky smile as they go—I run upstairs for a fast shower. While I do want to get cleaned up, I need a moment of reprieve. I take a few deep breaths, and work to get myself together as my pulse continues to pounds against my neck.

  Fallon said she had no interested in dating again, but goddammit if Chase doesn’t need—deserve—a father. But Fallon said marriage wasn’t in her future. But she deserves to have a man in her life, someone who makes her happy and could be a good influence for her son.

  Fuck if it isn’t a role I want.

  The shower door inches open and I blink to find Fallon standing there, now dressed in a light sundress with spaghetti straps. “Hey,” she says quietly, cautiously. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, good. You?”

  “Sorry about that earlier. I think he just sees the other kids with their dad and he’s young and doesn’t really understand.”

  “Yeah, I get it,” I say. She opens her mouth like she wants to say more, then her gaze scans the length of me.

  “If only we didn’t have somewhere to be,” she says playfully, and I get she’s trying to lighten the mood around us.

  “Tonight I plan to tie you up and have my way with you all night long,” I inform her and she sucks her bottom lip into her mouth. I dip my head, study her lush lips, lips I’d love to feel wrapped around my hard cock. “You like that idea, I take it.”

  “Maybe I’ll tie you up,” she says as she turns around, giving a saucy shake of her sweet ass as she turns to go.

  “You keep shaking that ass of yours at me…” I warn, my voice dropping an octave.

  “What?” she asks and coils her fingers in her hair as she turns to me, eager to hear what I have to say

  “I might just fuck it,” I say bluntly, and her eyes go saucer-wide.

  Sweet Jesus, she’s never had anal sex before.

  “You’ve got a dirty little mouth on you, Jamie Adams,” she says as she quivers beneath my heated gaze.

  I grab a towel from the hook, and start drying my body. “A dirty mouth you want between your legs, you mean,” I say.

  “Yeah,” she says breathlessly like her thoughts are a million miles away. Perhaps she’s visualizing the last time I buried my face in her sweet pussy. “Oh,” she says blinking her eyes back into focus. “About that fishing trip and you taking Chase. I’m not sure I ever thanked you for that,” she teases.

  “You can, tonight. You can thank me all over, baby,” I say and run the towel over my throbbing cock.

  She wets her lips. “We better go,” she says breathlessly. “The others will wonder what’s taking us so long.”

  “I think they could all figure it out pretty quickly,” I say with a chuckle.

  She laughs, and her footsteps echo in the hall and reach my ears as she heads down the stairs. I dart to my room, and from the first floor, Fallon’s cell phone rings. It keeps ringing and ringing and I’m not so sure she’s going to answer it.

  I tug on a shirt, and a pair of shorts and hurry downstairs. Chase is gone, and I can only assume he left with the others. I step into the kitchen and listen to the one-way conversation. Fallon is nodding her head and agreeing to whatever the person on the other end is saying.

  She finally disconnects and glances at me. “That was the realtor. We’ve had two showings already and he has some places lined up for me to look at when we get back.”

  I nod. “I’ll go with you. Make sure the places are sound.”

  She
drops her phone on the counter, leaving it here, and picks up Chase’s backpack and says, “We’d better go.” I turn and nearly have a heart attack when I hear a big booming sound. “What the hell?” The house practically vibrates. “Are we having an earthquake?”

  “No. Come on,” she says and from the way she’s trying to hide a chuckle I get she’s up to something. She ushers me out the door and we go to Jonah’s place, find everyone gathered around the fire pit as Jonah fries the fish. My gaze goes to a big gong.

  “What is that thing?” I ask.

  “It’s a dinner gong,” Fallon says. “I picked it up today.” She leans into me and laughs. “I know how you hate to miss a meal and now you’ll know when dinner is ready.”

  “That is not coming home with us,” I say, and instantly realize I used the word us.

  “Oh, it’s definitely coming home with us,” Fallon says.

  Home.

  Fuck, the thoughts of making a home with Fallon and Chase…

  “Not happening,” I say, and she just gives me a grin, because I think she knows, no matter what, I’ll give in and always give her what she wants.

  Is it possible that she could want more from me?

  “That stinks,” Daisy says, and we all laugh as she plugs her nose and points to the fish cooking over the fire.

  “And that is why we bought chicken,” Quinn says. “Come on kids, let’s go find something yummy to eat.”

  Fallon stands and takes Chase inside to make him up a plate, and I stare at her ass as I watch her go.

  “Beer?” Cole asks and hands me a bottle.

  I take a long pull and relax into my lawn chair, waiting for a lecture from him that doesn’t come, thank God.

  But when he plunks himself down beside me, he does say, “The Johnsons’ property is going up for sale. I was talking to Fred the other day. His wife put her hip out and the house is too much upkeep for them.”

  “Oh yeah,” I say. “Sorry to hear about her hip.”

  “If you’re still interested in a property.”

  I angle my head, look down the stretch of beach, take in the Johnsons’ property on the cove. It’s a nice place, but I have no reason to buy a cottage anymore, although it would be a good investment. Properties out here only go up in value.