Riptide (A Renegades Novel)

by Skye Jordan

  “Fine. Let him see her a couple of times a year. But he’s not fit to share custody, and there’s nothing about uprooting her that’s in anyone’s best interest but his.”

  “Mommy.” Sophia appeared in the doorway. “I builded a house for Frankie. Come see.”

  “Wow.” Tessa set her laptop aside. “I didn’t realize we brought enough Legos for that.”

  “Come see, come see.” Sophia bounced back into the living room.

  “I’m not giving her up.” Tessa stood and put a hand on her nanny’s arm on her way past. “I’ll never give her up.”

  Abby met her gaze with a pout. “Well, you don’t have to go out of your way to make it easy for him.”

  Her statement wasn’t as much an accusation as a suggestion. Either way, Tessa understood where it was coming from. She also knew Abby was right. Tessa’s nature revolved around pleasing others. That made her good at what she did—pulling everyone together for a common cause. She was still struggling over whether or not she should use it to smooth the path between Sophia and her father.

  “This isn’t going to be an easy transition on any of us.” Tessa squeezed Abby’s arm before she headed inside.

  She was still oohing and ahhing over the haphazard little Lego building when a knock sounded on the front door.

  Tessa’s heart jumped to her throat. It could only be one person.

  Sophia turned that direction, and Tessa met Abby’s gaze.

  This is it.

  “Who’s at the door?” Sophia wanted to know. “Are you going on a date, Abby?”

  Her nanny turned toward Sophia, crouched, and pulled her close. “No, princess. Just out with some friends. Be good for your mum, okay?”

  “I will. Who’s at the door?”

  “A friend of mine, sweetie,” Tessa told her. “Someone I want you to meet.”

  “Why?”

  Tessa rolled her eyes before she closed them, took a second to collect herself and headed to the door. With her hand on the knob, she paused and took a breath, but that didn’t loosen the knot in her stomach.

  She opened the door to Zach and he turned from looking down the hallway. He wore a surf-company T-shirt, jeans, and flip-flops. And he was holding two gifts.

  Tessa’s heart constricted a little. “I thought you were going to text.”

  “Yeah, sorry,” Zach said. He wasn’t smiling, and his body language was tight. “I, um, I forgot. Is this still a good time? I had a couple of things to do after filming—”

  Sophia squeezed past Tessa and peered up at Zach. “You’re mommy’s friend. Zach.”

  Tessa put her hand on Sophia’s head. “That’s right.”

  “Wow,” he breathed the word, looking uncertain. “Good memory.” His gaze was fixed on Sophia, his face had lost its color, and he was fidgeting like he wanted to come out of his skin.

  Tessa stepped back from the door, but Sophia moved toward Zach, eyeing the presents.

  “Are those for me?” she asked.

  “Sophia,” Tessa said. “That’s not polite.”

  She glanced over her shoulder. “Sorry,” then looked at Zach again. “But are they?”

  Zach cracked a smile. A small one. “They are.”

  “Oh, goody.”

  Before Sophia could reach for them, Tessa put her hands on her daughter’s shoulders and pulled her backward. “Zach is a guest, Sophia. How do we treat guests?”

  Sophia pulled from Tessa’s grasp and moved toward Zach again. He stepped back, looking at his daughter like she might bite him.

  But Sophia had no fear and didn’t notice anyone else’s. She tried to wrap Zach’s hand in hers, but it was way too big. Still she pulled him toward the condo by one finger. “Come in, come in. Come see the house I builded for Frankie. It’s all Legos and really cool.”

  When his gaze lifted to Tessa’s, she saw a plea for help. Tessa pulled her lips between her teeth against a smile, but it still bubbled in her chest. And, dammit, she didn’t want to be happy about any part of this.

  By the time she closed the door, Sophia was going on and on about her Lego house, then started running around looking for Frankie, calling the stuffed turtle’s name.

  “Zach,” Tessa said, gesturing to Abby. “This is Abby. Abby is Tessa’s nanny.”

  With the presents tucked under his arm, he offered the other hand to Abby. “Hi.”

  But Abby’s arms were crossed, her hip was cocked, and that British ire of hers creased her face into a condemning expression. By now, Sophia was yelling for Frankie in the bedroom. And Abby took the opportunity to set the ground rules.

  “Tessa’s a better person than me,” she told Zach, ignoring his hand to the point he had to retract it. “So she probably won’t tell you how much she’s sacrificed for the benefit of this family and Sophia’s happiness—”

  “Abby,” Tessa warned.

  “But it’s more than most parents would even consider sacrificing. So don’t think you’re just going to walk in and tear down what it took years to build. Sophia is the happiest child I’ve ever met. And if I have anything to say about it, she’ll stay that way no matter what—”

  “Abby,” Tessa said again, louder and more forcefully. When her dark eyes cut to Tessa, she said, “Don’t keep your friends waiting.”

  Abby fumed a second, then gave Zach another glare before she passed him and kissed Tessa’s cheek. “I won’t be late, love.”

  “Have fun,” she told her, closing the door once Abby had started down the stairs.

  “Frankie.” Sophia’s bubbly voice floated through the condo as she looked for her turtle. “Where are you?”

  Tessa took another steadying breath and faced Zach. “I’m sorry about Abby,” she told Zach in a low voice. “She’s been with us from the beginning. This is a huge…struggle…for everyone.”

  Zach nodded but didn’t speak. Sophia rushed out of one bedroom, stopped on a dime, held up her index finger, and said, “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll find him.” And zipped into the other room.

  Zach looked at Tessa, eyes a little wide, and they laughed at the same time, diffusing some of the tension and creating what felt like a new bond between them.

  “Yes,” Tessa said. “She’s always like this. She’s an extrovert, so meeting new people is like a sugar rush. But, beware, she crashes just as hard.”

  “There you are, you silly little turtle.” Sophia came running back into the living room with her turtle clutched in her small hands, hovering overhead. “Found him.” She stopped suddenly in front of Zach, who had braced for a hit. “Frankie, this is Mommy’s friend Zach. Zach, this is Frankie. I got him at a museum.” She plopped down in front of the Lego house. “And this is Frankie’s house.”

  Zach’s free hand stroked a restless pattern down the thigh of his jeans. His eyes darted between Sophia and the Lego house.

  “Can you talk?” Sophia asked, drawing Zach’s gaze.

  “Sophia…” Tessa exhaled and closed her eyes, rubbing her forehead.

  “Is he shy, Mommy?” she asked Tessa. “Like Daniel?”

  “Daniel is one of her friends at school,” she explained to Zach, then told Sophia, “No, honey, he’s not shy.” She walked into the living room and took a seat on the sofa. “He’s not talking because you haven’t given him a chance. Remember when we talked about being a good friend? You need to talk and listen.”

  Sophia lifted both hands out to the side, tilted her head, and asked, “How can I listen if he doesn’t talk?”

  Tessa couldn’t help but chuckle. She reached out and ruffled her hair. “You’re so silly.”

  Sophia rolled on the floor, all drama. When she landed on her back, she looked up at Zach. “Can I open my presents now?”

  “Sophia,” Tessa scolded.

  “It’s okay,” Zach finally said with a little laugh and a shake of his head. He sat beside Tessa on the sofa, set the presents on the coffee table, and heaved a sigh. “I’m…I can’t quite get my head around this.” />
  Sophia hopped up and rushed to the sofa. She climbed over Tessa, wedged herself between her and Zach, and sat there like a puppy awaiting a treat.

  Zach stared at her, his eyes scanning her face millimeter by millimeter while emotions flashed through the deep-blue irises until they glimmered with wetness.

  Tessa’s heart folded. She couldn’t imagine what he was going through. Hell, she didn’t even understand what she was going through.

  “Are you sad?” Sophia’s question dragged both Tessa and Zach back into the moment.

  Zach huffed a laugh and dropped his gaze. “Maybe a little.” He offered the presents to Sophia. “Here you go. I hope you like them.” He cast a shy glance at Tessa before letting his gaze drop away. “The wife of a friend helped me.” Then a little grin hinted on his lips. “If it was left up to me, I’d have brought her a dartboard and a tool kit.”

  That made Tessa laugh.

  “Is it okay, Mommy?” Sophia asked over her shoulder.

  Tessa nodded, and while Sophia put her presents on the coffee table and started opening one, Tessa imagined Zach shopping for a little girl he didn’t know. Her heart clenched while her stomach flipped. She reached over and gave Zach’s knee a reassuring squeeze.

  He never took his eyes off Sophia, but he covered Tessa’s hand with his own and squeezed it back. “I can’t believe how beautiful she is.”

  The emotion in his soft voice created a flood of mixed feelings inside Tessa—love, fear, frustration, affection. And she knew by the way Zach was looking at his daughter now that everything had changed. Tessa’s vision of the future crumbled.

  She forced herself to pull her hand from Zach’s even though it was exactly where she wanted it to stay.

  “Mommy, look.” Sophia held up a stuffed horse figure with shiny wings. “A unicorn.”

  The “you” in unicorn pierced Tessa’s ears. She was used to it, but Zach winced a little.

  “A unicorn has a horn on its forehead,” Tessa reminded her. “That’s a Pegasus.”

  “Pegsis,” Sophia repeated. “She has wings.” Sophia proceeded to run around the room pretending to make the Pegasus fly. “Pretty, shiny wings.”

  “Wow,” Zach said, “she’s got a lot of energy.”

  He leaned forward, spreading his thighs and resting his forearms on his knees. His leg pressed against Tessa’s. If he noticed, Tessa couldn’t tell. He was distracted by Sophia and didn’t pull away, which meant Tessa was tortured by the heat of him seeping through his jeans and into her bare thigh beneath the hem of her cutoffs, because she sure as hell didn’t have the willpower to pull away herself.

  Her mind fell backward in time, to the feel of all his naked muscle moving against her body. The heat of him. The power of him. Wild lust stirred deep in her belly and made her sex clench.

  As Sophia knelt again and set her Pegasus gently on the table to stand on all four hooves, Tessa forced her mind from the sheets.

  Sophia tore into her next present. As soon as the paper parted, Sophia gasped. Not just a regular gasp, but a high-pitched gasp. Her face was utterly comical, eyes wide, mouth dropped open. “Mommy! Mommy, look.” She clumsily pulled off the rest of the paper and stared at the box, her gaze roaming over every detail. “I don’t believe it. Mommy!”

  “Oh my God…” Tessa whispered and dropped her head, squeezing her eyes closed.

  “What?” Zach’s shoulder pressed hers as he leaned in and whispered, “What’s wrong? Did I get something she shouldn’t have?”

  But Sophia’s squeals made her cringe. She leaned toward her daughter and pressed her fingers to her lips. “Inside voice, please.”

  Instead of screaming, Sophia curled her hands into little fists, pulled them close to her body, and jumped in circles with muted cries of “Sparkle dollhouse—Sparkle dollhouse—Sparkle dollhouse…” as she fought to keep her excitement in check.

  “What’s she doing?” Zach looked truly confused. “Is she okay?”

  Tessa couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s called a subdued version of jumping for joy.”

  “Then why did you have the opposite reaction?”

  She pressed her hand to her temple. “How are we going to get it home?”

  As soon as the words were out, Tessa realized what constituted “home” for Sophia was now up in the air.

  “Oh, man.” Zach covered his eyes and groaned. “I didn’t even think about that.”

  “Mommy, can we open it? Can we build it?”

  Zach covered Tessa’s hand with his. “I’m sorry. I’ll… I’ll…” he said, searching for a solution. “I’ll just take it apart and ship it when I need to…I guess.”

  Tessa’s mind traveled down the path of sharing Sophia with Zach, and how impossible that looked. Anxiety collected at the base of her skull and traveled over her shoulders.

  “Mommy…” Sophia said, “can we build it?”

  Tessa rested her chin in her hand. “What do you say to Zach?”

  Sophia jumped to her feet, ran straight for Zach, and threw herself at him. Lucky for both of them, Zach had quick reflexes. He caught her, falling back against the sofa. “Holy…”

  “Thank you, thank you.” She had a death hug on his neck. “Thank you. It’s perfect.”

  The sight of her little girl in Zach’s arms knotted so many emotions, Tessa couldn’t begin to understand them all. She only knew tears rose to the surface. And judging by the expression on Zach’s face, she was pretty sure he was experiencing the same. He tentatively wrapped his arms around Sophia and looked at Tessa with confusion and awe, as if she could help him understand the chaos inside.

  She just smiled, even though a piece of her heart was breaking—the part Sophia would soon give away to Zach.

  When he decided Tessa wouldn’t be giving him the answers to the little universe he held in his arms, he closed his eyes in a look of love so deep, it hurt. Tessa knew because she’d felt it enough to recognize it.

  When Sophia pulled back, grinning at Zach, he grinned back and brushed her hair away from her face in a tender gesture that twisted Tessa’s heart. “You’re welcome. I’m glad you like it.”

  “I love it,” she cried, punching the air overhead with her trademark fists.

  Then she scrambled to the floor and ran back to the box while Zach laughed.

  “You have no idea what kind of monster you just unleashed, do you?” When he grinned at her with a questioning look, Tessa said, “Who’s going to put all those pieces together?”

  A millisecond passed before his face dropped. “Oh…” Then his eyes fell closed as he whispered, “Shit.”

  And Tessa burst out laughing.

  12

  “Okay,” Zach said, pulling the millionth sticker from the paper. “This is the very last one.”

  Zach was lying on his stomach on the floor. His back hurt and his bad shoulder was killing him. He’d been there for two freaking hours, putting the dollhouse together, assembling all the tiny furnishings, adding stickers to the building. The damn house was two feet taller than Sophia.

  His daughter ran over from the opposite side of the dollhouse where she was arranging furniture. With her Pegasus tucked beneath her arm—she hadn’t put it down once—she gingerly took the sticker from Zach’s finger with what had to be the hundredth “Thank you” of the night. The kid was ridiculously polite. And sweet. And funny. And a-freaking-dorable. Zach still couldn’t believe she was his.

  “Look, Mommy, ballet slippers.”

  Tessa glanced up from her computer where she sat curled in a corner of the sofa. “Pretty. Where are you going to put them?”

  Sophia looked at Zach. “Where does they go?”

  “Let’s look at the box.”

  Sophia crouched a little, pressing her hands to her knees as she studied the box with a wrinkled brow. She pointed to the picture. “There.”

  “Wow, you’re good,” Zach told her. “Bet you’d find Waldo in record time.”

  “Who’s Waldo?�
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  “A cartoon character. He hides in pictures. I’ll get you a book, and we’ll look for him together.”

  “Okay,” she chirped, then carefully pasted the portrait of ballet slippers on one of the interior walls.

  Tessa pushed from the sofa, picked up Zach’s empty glass, and wandered to the kitchen. He shouldn’t be ogling her jeans-clad ass. Shouldn’t be wishing he could slide his hands down the backs of those creamy thighs. Shouldn’t be remembering just how he’d spread her legs and driven deep into her body when they’d been together that one night. But he did all of the above until she turned into the kitchen and disappeared.

  “Mommy.” A whine laced Sophia’s voice. “Can I have apple juice?”

  “You’ve already brushed your teeth. I’ll get you water.”

  She harrumphed and dropped to the floor. “I no want water.”

  “Sounds like someone’s tired,” she said, turning the corner into the living room again, carrying a fresh glass of iced tea for Zach and water in something called a sippy cup for Sophia. She handed the drinks to them and told Sophia, “Maybe you can get Zach to share his iced tea since it’s not sweetened.” Then she said in a sing-song “But you have to ask nice.”

  Sophia walked on her knees to Zach’s side. She got so close, Zach could see the shards of hazel in her off-color eye and smell the soap Tessa had wiped her down with before tossing on a frilly, pink pajama top. Sophia pushed out a tired, pathetic “Peeeeez?”

  Zach smiled and offered her the drink. With Pegasus tucked under her arm, Sophia reached for the tea. As soon as he handed off the glass of tea, the way it wobbled in her little hands told him he’d made a mistake.

  “Oh no,” Tessa said. “Sophia don’t—”

  Too late.

  Neither of them could grab the glass away before Sophia tipped it back, lost control and spilled the whole glass on herself—and Pegasus.

  Zach scrambled to his knees and grabbed the empty glass at the same time Tessa reached out and supported Sophia’s back to keep her from tipping over and hitting her head on the floor. But Sophia was already screaming.