by Skye Jordan
“Maybe half a dozen times.” She looked ahead as they coasted inside the gates and onto the property. “Good Lord.” Her gaze skipped around the manicured grounds and over the three-story modern home at the water’s edge. “This is worth…millions. Like, multimillions.”
“And it’s only one of his homes.”
Her suspicious gaze turned on Zach. “He earns that much as a stuntman?”
Zach laughed. “Hardly. He was an actor before he started the Renegades. That’s where he got the bulk of his fortune.”
“Ah.”
The air in the car shifted, and Zach glanced at Tessa. He couldn’t pinpoint how he knew she’d grown tense, only that she had. “What’s bothering you?”
She shook her head and lowered her voice. “Our little angel isn’t always an angel, if you know what I mean. I hope we don’t embarrass you.”
Zach chuckled and squeezed her hand. “Believe me, if anyone’s going to embarrass me, it won’t be anyone in this car. It will be the other Renegades. And I’ll just go ahead and apologize in advance.”
Zach parked and stood from the car, opened the back door for Sophia and unbuckled her. She squirmed out of her seat. Straightening, Zach met Tessa’s gaze over the roof of the car.
“What?” he asked.
“Look at you all savvy with a car seat already.”
He wasn’t sure which gave him more joy, the fact that she noticed or her praise. Either way, that one small thing gave him an irrational thrill. He huffed on his nails, then buffed them on his shirt, making Tessa laugh.
As if things weren’t already fantastic, Sophia pressed her little body against his leg and wound her hand in his. “Daddy,” she said looking up at the house, “is this the house with the pool?”
He bent, collected her in his arms, and met Tessa at the front of the car, where he curled his free hand around hers. “It sure is,” he told Sophia. “And there’s a beach too.”
“Wow,” she said in a breathless little sigh.
Her awe made Zach want to become someone who impressed Sophia every day. Someone who made Tessa proud. This was his family.
And just like that, Zach had purpose in his life. The kind of purpose he’d been looking for for years.
Damn, it felt amazing.
Walking toward the double front doors of frosted glass, Zach told Sophia, “Now, my friends are really silly, but they’re also really, really nice.”
Even before they reached the door, laughter from inside the house reached Zach’s ears. On the porch, he brought Sophia near the doorbell and let her ring it. The tone was deep and slow, and Sophia giggled.
When he caught Tessa’s eyes on him, he paused. “What?”
She shook her head. “I just love seeing you with her. I never imagined…” Footsteps sounded in the hall, and Tessa shook her head, leaving her statement unfinished.
“Coming, coming, coming,” a female voice called from inside.
Lexi answered the door wearing white. No one could wear white quite like Lexi. White, sleeveless crop top and low-slung, white, flowing capris showed off her flat, tanned stomach. Her blonde hair was up in a crown of pale curls, and the blue of her eyes popped with excitement.
“Oh my God.” She squealed the last word, grinning at Sophia. “Look at you. Such a pretty girl.”
Sophia giggled and cuddled closer to Zach, setting his heart on fire.
Zach whispered in her ear, “Can you say hi?”
“Hi,” Sophia murmured, suddenly shy.
Lexi put her hand over her heart. Her gaze skipped to Tessa. “Absolutely adorable.” She held her hand out to Tessa. “I’m Lexi, you’re Tessa, and we’re going inside and meet the rest of the family.”
Tessa met Lexi’s hand with an unsure glance at Zach. But Lexi swept her inside while others sauntered toward the foyer.
Jax came up first, offering his hand to shake Tessa’s. “Jax. Welcome.”
“Tessa. Thank you. Your home is gorgeous.”
Jax pulled in a breath to respond but another female voice sounded from the living room, growing closer.
“She’s here? Oh, I can’t wait. Let me see her, let me see her, let me—” Rubi turned into the foyer. Her green eyes latched on to Sophia, and she drew a sharp breath. With her hand over her heart, Rubi advanced with her gaze darting between Zach’s face and Sophia’s. “Oh wow.” She looked at Tessa, reached out, and stroked a hand over her shoulder with a reverent “She’s beautiful.”
Smiling, Tessa said, “Thank you. I was just telling Zach in the car that there’s a little mischief-maker behind her angelic appearance.”
“Well, that’s my kind of girl,” Rubi said with a little more of her characteristic attitude. “I’m Rubi, and I have a mischief streak a mile wide.” She looked at Lexi. “Don’t I, Lex?”
Wide-eyed, Lexi nodded at Sophia. “Oh, she does.”
Sophia had a finger between her teeth, and she giggled, tucking her head under Zach’s chin.
Rubi slipped her arm around Tessa’s shoulders and pulled her from Zach’s grasp with a haughty “You can have her later.” Then guided her into the house, making introductions. “That hot blond over there is my man, Wes. The biggest kid in the place.”
“I beg to differ,” Lexi said from behind her.
“Pffft.” Rubi shot a careless look over her shoulder. “You and Jax are practically the only sane members of this family. You’re like the parents. Josh comes in a close second. Definitely a big brother with his nose in everyone’s business.”
“For which you’re eternally grateful,” Josh added.
“He’d have won out as the patriarchal figurehead if Grace didn’t make him so loopy,” she told Tessa.
That got a round of laughter.
“I’ve heard you’ve already met Grace”—Rubi lifted a hand to shield her mouth as if she was telling Tessa a secret but spoke so everyone could hear—“and passed inspection, I might add.”
Zach wandered along behind the group as they escorted Tessa into the main, open living space, offering introductions along the way. He couldn’t quite read Tessa’s expression. She looked like she was enjoying herself, but Zach knew this family could come on a little strong at times.
Jax moved into the kitchen and took Tessa’s wine order, filling a glass with red. The women—Lexi, Rubi, Grace, and Tessa—gathered around the island, talking about Sophia. How old she was, what she liked to do, what month she was born, how much she looked like Zach.
In the kitchen, Zach introduced Sophia to the men, all of whom seemed as taken with her as Zach had been. Wes pulled a beer from the fridge for Zach, and Josh leaned a hip against the counter.
“You’re looking mighty comfortable in this daddy role,” Josh said.
“One day at a time,” Zach said.
“That’s what I like to hear.”
“Daddy.” Sophia lifted her head and tensed, pointing out the windows facing the ocean. “Look. The pool.”
“Yep,” Zach said, “with a slide and everything.”
“Whoo-hoo!” Rubi yelled from the other end of the bar, punching a fist in the air. “Sophia, I just got the big green light from Mama.”
“What’s a green light?” she asked Zach.
“Umm, it means Mommy said yes to something.”
“Mommy must have said yes to sparkly nail polish,” Wes said, grinning. “And probably caved to Rubi’s plan of a complete girls’ makeover—hair, makeup, nails. She had an entire spa package whipped up as soon as she heard Sophia was coming tonight.”
Sophia gasped. “Daddy? Can I?”
“Oh, I’m definitely deferring to Mom on this one.”
“Smart move,” Jax offered.
“Mommy?” Sophia pleaded.
Tessa laughed. “Yes, honey.”
Sophia squirmed in Zach’s arms, and he put her down. She ran to Tessa, where Rubi crouched in front of her. “Yay! We’ll do your fingers and your toes. We’ll curl your hair and put it up in a tiara.”
Rubi nodded. “But we should swim first, so your pretty hair doesn’t get wet. After dinner, we can play princess.”
“Oh my God.” Zach leaned his elbows on the counter and watched as the women moved outside, started stripping to their suits, and jumped in the pool with Sophia. “Your women are going to spoil her rotten.”
“Damn straight,” Wes said. “What’s family for? Spoil them rotten, then give them back. That’s the way it’s done.”
Warmth and a deep sense of belonging created a kind of peace and purpose Zach had only ever found on the water. He took a sip of his beer and grinned. “Just remember, payback’s a bitch.”
“I hope that comes sooner rather than later for us,” Jax said. “And Tompkins will be here in a few hours. He really wants you to sign on the dotted line so he can start planning next season’s filming schedule.”
“What happened between ‘Let’s talk about it’ and ‘Sign here’?”
Jax just grinned.
“Jax opened his big mouth,” Wes told Zach. “Couldn’t shut up about you at dinner.”
“Nothing I wouldn’t have done for any of you guys,” Jax said. “I put together a contract I’d want, but included a lot of what the studio will be looking for as well.” He picked up a file folder from the corner of the bar and slid it across the granite toward Zach. “Here’s a rough. If you want changes, just say so. I’ve got it on my laptop.”
“Man.” He shook his head, grinning at the folder. “I can’t believe this is real.”
“Oh, it’s real.” Jax slapped him on the back. “Welcome to the big time, bro.”
The big time. Something he’d been working toward for five years. Yet, when his gaze lifted and focused past Jax on Tessa where she stood in the pool, her arms outstretched for Sophia to jump, his chest felt tight—and not in a good way.
He refocused on Jax and smiled. “Thanks, man. Really. This is…” He looked down at the folder again. “Really amazing.”
Jax grinned and nodded. “Anytime.”
He and Wes went outside to join the group. Josh stayed behind with Zach.
“You don’t look excited,” Josh said.
“I am. I am.” He gazed out at the sight of Tessa and Sophia splashing in the pool. “I just…” He sighed and shifted on his feet, leaning his hip against the counter. “They’re leaving soon.”
From the corner of his eye, Zach saw Josh lean back against the opposite counter and cross his arms. He remained silent, and Zach lost himself in thoughts he hadn’t been allowing until now. But with this part, an all-but-sure thing, he had to come to terms with the fact that he would be living a full day’s flight away from his daughter—and Tessa.
“This part will give you the stability and money you need to help raise Sophia,” Josh told him.
“It will give me the stability and money to help raise her in DC.” He turned his gaze on Josh. “Did you know it takes me almost as long to fly from Maui to DC as it does for me to travel from LA to Melbourne?”
“Huh,” Josh said, nodding slowly. “I never considered that. Already looking into flights?”
“Anywhere from fifteen to twenty-four hours—one way—for both trips, depending on number of stops.” Zach hated the idea of being so far away from them both. “We may as well be living on different continents.”
“Is she open to moving to the West Coast?”
“It didn’t sound doable for her. She’s choreographed her life around Sophia’s needs, and her job in DC can accommodate those. Moving could put that off indefinitely. In the legal profession, it’s evidently a privilege you work up to.”
“We all have to make sacrifices,” Josh said. “It’s a tough call.”
Hell of a tough call. And Zach’s alternatives weren’t numerous.
“The upside would be,” Josh offered, “that you’re only committed to these crazy filming hours six or seven months out of the year. You could be with them the other five.”
That might not sound like such a bad situation under normal conditions, but he’d already missed out on three years. “I’m already dreading the day they leave. I don’t want to spend half the year without them.”
Josh tipped his head and narrowed his eyes. “Them or Sophia.”
Zach’s defenses prickled. “What difference does it make?”
“Might make a big difference if you could imagine a future with Tessa.”
The term “imagine a future” sounded so…permanent. “Man, I don’t know. I mean, I…yeah. I’m really into her. I love the way she is with Sophia, and we seriously click in bed. She’s a great person. But, long term? With a kid already in the mix? Fuck, this is an impossible situation.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “If she was here, hell yes, I’d keep seeing her. But she’s not. And it’s not exactly realistic to think we could make something work when we could only be together half the year. But if I give up on this job—”
“You’re stuck in the grist mill of competitions.”
“Which would mean travel. That and taking other gigs to make ends meet.” He shook his head. “What kind of father could I be with that kind of schedule? Taking the part lets me be more of a father than not taking the part in that I could provide financially, but it also removes me from her life.” And Tessa’s life.
Josh heaved a sigh and shook his head, then fell silent a moment. “Dude, there’s no easy answer here. I can tell you that if I were in your situation and I’d missed out on as much as you had, I wouldn’t settle for being a part-time father. There’s no reason you couldn’t hire a nanny and have her on the set with you. How much time do we spend sitting around picking our noses because the directors are brainstorming or the cameramen are setting up? That could add up to a whole lot of quality bonding time with your little girl. You could even have her tutored by the onsite teaching staff. Hell, I know kids who blew through their high school curriculum by the time they were twelve. Sure, there can be unsavory elements on a set, but there are unsavory elements in public schools too, and on a set, you’d be there to control them.”
“All good points,” Zach said.
“But?”
He paused. “But they don’t include Tessa.”
“It could. Does Tessa feel the same way about you?”
Zach thought about that for a minute only to realize he wasn’t sure. When he’d told her he was crazy about her the night before, she hadn’t responded in kind. Even when they lay together after sneaking wicked-hot sex on the sofa, she hadn’t opened up to him about how she felt.
“I don’t know,” he admitted.
A moment of silence stretched. “Well,” Josh said, “at the end of the day, she’s your daughter. Your flesh and blood.”
“But Tessa’s raised her. Tessa’s more of a mother to her than even her biological mother was.”
“Which is commendable. But it doesn’t change the fact that you’re her father, that you’ve met her and risen to the occasion and that you want her in your life. The situation has changed, and maybe it’s just me, but I don’t like the way you’ve accepted the fact that it’s okay for Tessa to take Sophia back to live in DC with her, but not okay for Sophia to live here with you.” Josh lifted his hands, palms out. “I’m just saying, bro. I know Tessa loves her, but it seems to me that she’s only willing to make concessions that suit her.”
That pinched. His natural inclination was to defend Tessa. To tell him that Tessa was just putting Sophia’s best interest first. But his frustration kept those words in his mouth, because the reality was that Tessa hadn’t made any offers to adjust her lifestyle or schedule to include Zach. To this point, she’d expected Zach to make all the changes.
“Daddy!” Sophia’s call dragged his gaze to the sliding glass doors where she stood dripping on the threshold. “Come watch me dive.”
Zach’s smile was instant. His love all-consuming. That was his baby girl, and letting her go would be soul crushing. “Coming, baby
.”
Josh slapped Zach’s shoulder. “Consider connecting with Ellen one more time before Tessa and Sophia head east again?”
Zach nodded but didn’t immediately follow Josh outside. He needed a minute to get his heart and his head in the right place.
Tessa picked at the fruit salad in her bowl as she watched Zach in the pool with Sophia. He had her on his shoulders where she played three-way catch with Wes, Jax, and a beach ball.
The other women were chatting about their jobs and travels, about where they lived in Southern California, and their men. But Tessa only listened with one ear. Zach’s spontaneous “I’m so fucking crazy about you” had been playing over and over in her head since last night.
Part of her wanted it to be true—so badly. Another part of her told her that Zach’s definition of “crazy about you” meant he loved the sex, but her brain kept sabotaging her by pulling up memories of the way he wrapped himself around her while they’d slept in the extra bedroom. The way he’d combed his fingers through her hair. The way he’d woken her up twice more during the night and made love to her. Slow, sweet love, while looking into her eyes, while kissing her. His whispers in the dark swept through her memory like angel wings.
Even with Sophia in the next room, it had been a night of ultimate nirvana.
“When do you go home?” Lexi’s question drew Tessa from her thoughts, but the topic wasn’t a pleasant one.
Her phone buzzed with a text from Gordon. “Mmm,” she said around a grape. “Speak of the devil.” She ignored the message and smiled at Lexi. “Way too soon.”
Sophia squealed, drawing Tessa’s gaze to the pool just as Zach launched Sophia into the water.
“What did you and Zach work out for Sophia?” Rubi asked. “When do we get to see her again?”
The idea of having all these new people vying for Sophia’s time was uncomfortable. And knowing her daughter now had this new group of friends and family, like aunts and uncles, was foreign to Tessa. For so long, it had been just Corinne, Tessa, Abby, and Sophia. No family. Very few friends. All Corinne’s so-called friends had disappeared as soon as they’d heard she had cancer. Tessa’s boyfriend had moved on for greener pastures and her friendships had withered to those few colleagues she worked closely with at her firm.