“Wait, you’re going to—”
“Help?” he asked, not able to fight the smile on his face when she nodded, a dumbfounded look on her face. “You wanna fix this place up?” he asked her seriously and watched her beautiful face closely. Her eyes warmed and twinkled. Fuck, he hadn’t seen that look in years.
“Yes,” she whispered, and he knew this was important to her.
“Then I am going to be next to you, each step of the way.” He leaned in closer, meaning more than just a damn remodel. His own lips were still tingling and hungry for more of her. “Grout line by grout line,” he mumbled against her lips, giving her a small peck before leaving her with an adorable, surprised look on her face as he went to answer the door.
Nadia
Wiping the sweat from my brow, I chugged from the icy, cold water bottle and moaned as the cold liquid gave me some relief from the heat.
“You guys did an awesome job today. I will see you two tomorrow,” David yelled out, and I nodded, waving good-bye as he walked out the front door. When I turned to look at Owen, whatever I was going to say got caught mid-way up and I couldn’t put two words together.
Just from looking at him.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed water from his own cold bottle, and my thighs clenched together. His neck straining like that made my mouth water for a taste. I had the sudden urge to lick him. I wouldn’t care one damn bit about how sweaty he was. Hell, I wanted to taste his sweat, too. The white tee shirt he’d changed into before we started breaking stuff down was straining mercifully at his shoulders and arms, beautifully stretched at his broad chest, tapering off at his narrow waist. The jeans and work boots he was wearing made him so much more approachable and laid back than his usual work attire of three-piece suits and lab coat I was used to seeing.
“See something you like?” he asked, obviously having caught me checking him out.
“I… umm…” My cheeks were burning and I was flustered. “I should start dinner…”
“Let’s go out tonight,” he suggested. I wanted to jump at the chance but hesitated. By the look of confusion on his face, he hadn’t missed it. “Please?” That soft plea and the hope in not just his voice but his green eyes did me in.
“Okay,” I agreed, shrugging slightly.
“Go get ready. I’ll get the girls.”
“If I’m fast, I can go with—” He stepped close, like he had done before David had shown up. His hand rested on my hip, and I stilled; my eyes went down to look at them. His hands. He had such amazing, powerful hands. Hands that helped others and created incredible beauty. But to me they were more than that. They were the hands I held when my grandmother passed away. They were the first set of hands that held our daughters when they took their first breaths. They were the ones that knew my body better than I knew it, and they couldn’t be anything but sexy to me.
“Take your time.” His free hand brushed the apples of my cheeks and rested at my hairline over my temples. I couldn’t breathe. His scent filled my senses. His usual cologne mixed with sweat and his skin had always been an aphrodisiac but never as much as in this moment. It’s been too long. “Soak in the bath. Blow-dry your hair. Don’t rush. I’ll take the girls out and be back in two hours.”
“But what about you?” I asked him. He usually took longer than I did to get ready.
“I’ll get back in, take a shower, and we will get out of here.”
“Owen, you usually take—” I couldn’t help but start to remind him, but he gently tugged my head back so I would look at him.
“I’ll be fast. Trust me, okay?” He kissed my forehead and started to turn away from me. I couldn’t help myself. I grabbed a hold of his hand; he turned back, obviously surprised and slightly confused. I opened my mouth and closed it.
We’d had a great day.
We had worked great together through the day. I didn’t want to ruin it, but I couldn’t keep digging my head in the sand. I needed to know.
“What is it?” he asked, and I knew by the look on his face he knew my hesitation wasn’t a good one.
“Monique.”
“What about her?” he asked, tilting his head, giving me every bit of his attention. I didn’t know how to ask. “Nadi, what about Monique?”
“Right here, right now, honestly, did you?” I blurted out, deciding to go with the pulling-the-Band-Aid-off-quickly method.
“Did I what, baby?”
“Did something happen between you two?” I repeated, watching him closely, afraid to blink in case I missed a tell he might be lying.
“No,” he answered, pulling me closer.
“Why did she quit?”
“Because she thought something was going to happen between her and me and I made it clear it wouldn’t.” My body went tight, but he didn’t let me go. His fingers stroked my skin, back and forth, and I fought from relaxing. “Before your mind goes wild, you have to know that I love you. I have since the moment I saw you when you moved into the dorms.”
“Owen—”
“She was gossiping, spreading shit to anyone who would listen. I told you that,” he shared, and I soaked in his words. He took my silence as a request to expand. “She was fucking nuts. Paul heard her talking and came to me. I was going to brush it off, but when I went to talk to her about clearing my schedule for two weeks, she went even crazier.”
“Are you telling me you two never…”
“Never, baby. Only one woman has ever made me look twice and want more than a conversation with her, and she is standing in front of me. And it’s been like that for the last fourteen years.”
“Almost fifteen.”
“In September,” he whispered, and I smiled. He remembered. “We have a lot to work on,” he acknowledged, and I swallowed hard.
“I’m willing to put the time in if you are,” I threw out there, and he rewarded me by giving me a kiss.
This time, it wasn’t soft or sweet.
It was hungry and passionate.
All I could do was hold on to the front of his shirt for dear life in hopes my knees wouldn’t give out under me. With every nip and lick, it kindled the fire burning deep in me. Need and ache building within, my body begged for release. How long has it been since we’ve had sex? I wondered as he pulled away. Lust twinkled in his eyes and left me feeling empowered. I had put that look in his gaze.
“Fuck,” he hissed before leaning in for another quick kiss. “I gotta go get the girls,” he panted, my fingers in his hair. A moan escaped from me when he brushed his chest against mine; delicious sparks ignited as my hard nipples brushed against my bra and his hard body.
“Owen…” My voice was a wanton plea; I needed and wanted more from him, but he pulled away.
“Fuck, love hearing my name in that little purr, Nadia. It’s been too fucking long.” His voice was thick and strained, and I watched in delight as he breathed in deeply before exhaling slowly. “I’ll pick up the girls, run a couple of errands so you can relax and get ready. I’ll get back and shower to go out for dinner.”
“But—”
“Tonight, you and I got a date.”
“Tonight? But we don’t have a sitter. Should I look for—”
“We won’t need one,” he simply said, and I stared at him.
“What?”
“Just trust me. Okay?”
“Okay.” I nodded with a shy smile.
Right then and there, I realized I somehow felt lighter. Like a weight had been taken away. I knew we hadn’t resolved anything, but talking to him, being close to him in those few minutes, I felt hopeful.
And that little bit of hope was all I needed.
Chapter Eleven
Owen
HIS PLAN MIGHT HAVE hit a couple of road bumps but nothing he couldn’t handle. He was sure about this, since failure wasn’t an option. Kissing Nadia, as stupidly simple as a kiss could be, it reminded him that quitting wasn’t an option. Not for them. They would make it.
Pi
cking up the girls from camp and taking them out for ice cream had been enlightening to say the least. His girls were no longer toddlers who looked at him adoringly. Sure, he knew that. He also knew they loved him, but their sassy attitude was something he hadn’t expected. Though, if he was honest, he was proud his girls were so much like their mother.
“You guys like the camps Mom signed you up for?” he asked as they sat on a bench on the pier and enjoyed a cone of soft serve.
“I do. It’s awesome,” Vivian chimed happily.
“It’s okay,” Becca muttered, and he looked at her. Becca’s face was more than serious.
Without thinking, he asked, “Just okay?” and watched her little shoulder rise and fall. “Come on, Becs, talk to me.”
“Why did we come out here?” she asked, attitude and anger laced in the few words she spoke.
“Becca!” Vivian hissed, and Owen felt his brows crease together. Something was going on.
“What do you mean, why did we come out here?”
“Mom and us? Are you guys splitting up?” she asked, her little back completely stiff; her eyes pierced him right through the heart as she completely ignored her favorite cold treat.
“What?” Splitting up? Had she heard Nadia talking to someone?
“Because if you are, you should just tell us. I know we are only eight, but we know stuff.” His little girl, who was obviously not so little anymore, left him speechless.
“Becca!” Vivian whined. His face was serious as he tried to come up with the right words.
“Andie’s parents split up, and right before they did, Andie went on vacation to her grandparents’ house.”
“Honey—”
“And she never came back. They stayed there until her mom started dating and married someone else.”
“Becca, honey—” he tried to speak, but Becca was not going to let him say another word.
“Is Mom going to marry someone else?”
“Why would you even ask that?” he asked, again without thinking.
“She’s sad all the time,” Vivian spoke up softly, and he turned to look at her.
His heart pounded fiercely in his chest, pain in his heart that his actions had caused worry not only in his wife but his daughters.
“She is?” he asked, his voice hoarse.
“And she’s always worried,” Becca chimed in.
“She tries to pretend she’s not,” Viv defended softly.
“But she is; we see it,” Becca finished Viv’s thoughts. He took a deep breath trying to find the right words that would somehow explain things to them in a way they would be able to understand.
“Your mom and I—”
“Aren’t getting along?” Becca butted in with attitude laced in her voice, and he exhaled.
“You know how you two might argue about…” Shit, what did his girls argue about?
Fuck, I am a shit dad.
“Ballet and gymnastics?” Viv chimed in, and he nodded.
“Exactly.”
“Yeah.”
“Yes,” they answered, his eyes going from one girl to another.
“You guys argue, and sometimes you might not like the other one, but you will always love her, right?”
“Always.”
“Duh.”
“I will always love your mom. No matter what,” he vowed out loud and watched Becca’s face burrow into a deeper frown.
“So, you’ll love her when she marries someone else?” Becca asked, obviously stuck on the worst-case scenario. He cleared his throat.
“Becs!” Viv scolded.
“What? It’s a valid question,” Becca smarted off to her sister, but she wasn’t wrong. It was a valid question. How had he let things get here? Not that he would actually let Nadia go. Not now, not ever. They could fix what had gone wrong.
“No, it’s not. And you don’t even know what ‘valid’ means. So, stop putting ideas in his head!” Viv argued back, clearly upset.
“Shi—” He stopped himself mid-curse and looked at Becca, whose eyes were twinkling with mischief, and he rolled his lips together before speaking. “Your mom isn’t marrying anyone else. And we’re not getting a divorce. She is stuck with me.”
“You promise?” He turned to his right and looked into Vivian’s worried eyes. She had always been the more sensitive, softer one. The one most like Nadia, a little voice reminded him, and instead of ignoring it, this time he took a mental note.
“I promise, baby.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him, kissing the top of her head. “You two have nothing to worry about.”
“Then why are we here?” Becca whined, obviously unhappy about the summer plans.
“Mom wants to fix the house up, and we are going to help her,” he shared, pulling Becca into his embrace.
“We are?” Vivian asked, and he nodded.
“We are. The three of us,” he informed them, not missing the serious expression on Becca’s face.
“But what about work?” Becca asked, and he nodded once more.
“I can see why that would worry you.”
“You’re always busy with work, Dad,” Vivian chimed in softy without judgment. “How are you going to help her? I mean, you’ll probably leave tomorrow, right?” The sadness in her voice was evident, and at that moment, he could have kissed Claudia for giving him the month off.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he firmly stated and felt both his girls’ eyes on him. He looked back and forth from one girl to the other.
“Really?” Becca asked, her lower lip trembling slightly. His hand went to the top of her head.
“Really,” he repeated, his voice steady and confident.
“Do you promise, Dad?” Vivian asked, surprising him, since it was usually Becca who questioned him.
“I promise.”
“This isn’t like you breaking your dates with Mom and making a promise for the next week, is it?” she asked, and he blinked for a moment, wondering how the hell she knew that. “We are in the car with her when you cancel,” she clarified, starting to look annoyed at him, which surprised him, too. His sweet Vivian had an attitude, and even though he was about to suffer the brunt of it, he was glad she had her mother’s fire. Now if he could only figure out how to help Nadia find it again. “Because if you are going to let us down, don’t bother promising,” she stated. The blow hurt more than he had initially thought it would.
Silently, he watched her stand and throw away the bit of ice cream she had left, only to return to sit next to her sister instead of him. Becca’s eyes widened, and if the situation hadn’t been as serious as it was, he would have laughed at how cute they could be.
“Viv,” he called out to her, and she looked at him through squinted eyes. He couldn’t tell if she was trying to hold on to her tears or if she was that pissed and distrustful of him, not that it mattered; either way his heart broke. He stood and kneeled in front of his girls, getting on eye level with them and holding each of their hands. “I am going to be here. I am not going anywhere.”
“You should think about what promises mean before you make them,” Viv remarked, raising her eyes to his, her chin firm, even if her lips wobbled.
“I promise, Viv.”
“Viv, he promised,” Becca gently reminded her.
“How many times has he promised, Becs?” Viv remarked, looking at her sister.
“Viv, chill. It’s going to be okay.”
“What if it is like you said?” Vivian asked, and he watched as they stared at one another and did the mystical twin thing, as if they could read one another’s mind with a look.
“Daddy said—”
“How many times has Dad said stuff?” They were talking like he wasn’t even there. He needed to take control of the situation.
“Viv,” he tried to cut into the conversation, but his words got caught in his throat when her eyes met his.
“Just don’t promise us things you can’t do. We get it. We understand yo
u work hard and you do it so we can have the things we have. But don’t make promises you aren’t planning on really keeping,” she laid out. He had to bite the inside of his cheek so his eyes wouldn’t glass up with tears. Fuck, his girls were amazing. And he had missed way too much time not getting to know them.
“Okay.” He squeezed both of their hands and looked at them. “I promise. I’m here. Not just for your mom, but for you and your sister. I am going to work my as…behind off to make things right. To fix things.”
“And after a month?”
“Your mom wants to finish fixing up the house, and I will come back for the weekends.” He hoped. Hell, he hoped after the month, the four of them would be back home and get settled. “I’m going to fix things. Okay?” he told them and watched both reluctantly nod. He prayed he could deliver on those promises.
After hugging his girls tightly, their chat weighing heavily between them, he decided they needed to go for a walk. Hand in hand, the three of them strolled up and down the pier.
Despite the seriousness of the conversation they’d had, the girls seemed to be more at ease than when he had picked them up, and for that alone he was grateful. Not that the conversation had been easy. Hell, no. It had sucked, but he knew that for his girls, he would endure that and more, all just so they would be okay.
***
“Babe!” he called out as he opened the front door and his girls rushed past him and ran in to get changed for their outing.
Walking in, he dropped his keys on top of an old end table they had bought together before they had even said ‘I do.’ Looking at the old table he hadn’t realized they still owned, he reached out his hand and touched the more than weathered wood.
“I love this!” she’d squealed, and he had shaken his head in disbelief. The image of her in a pink tank top and tight denim shorts that showed off her toned tan legs was clear in his head as if it had just happened instead of almost fourteen years before.
“You do?” he’d asked, not hiding the incredulous tone in his voice, and laughed when she’d playfully elbowed him in the ribs, but all he could care about was the way her eyes twinkled with delight.
“Yeah, look at the lines and the carvings on the legs. Plus, this is real wood!” He took in the Mexican-inspired carvings on each leg and the edges of the table. He picked it up; it was heavy enough to be real wood, but he didn’t see anything special about the yard sale piece. Not anything that would make his girl’s eyes twinkle the way they were. Hell, the end table had definitely seen better days.
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